My Snake is Unwell

Hi everyone,

I have been enjoying reading around the forum, but I apologise that my first post has to be like this.

I got my ball python mid-december, so about six weeks ago. Apparently he would be about 5.5-6 months old now.
He has been feeding every week, a rat fuzzie, and he shed just fine just over a week or so ago. He has a lovely character, and seemed to settle in just fine.

However, I have made a mistake. The last feed was 6 days ago, last Sunday. I made an error of giving him an extra fuzzie, which he ate without hesitation. 2 days ago, he started to become slower, and seemed under the weather. He just wants to curl up, and goes underneath his newspaper. I am hoping beyond hope that it is just that he is putting his energy into digesting his meal and will be better.
I have also seen him moving around his cage slowly, then moving his head as if deciding to go on a different direction quickly. He did that a bit last night. This is not like him at all.

I try to maintain the temperature at 28-30 degrees celsius on the hot side and 55%-65% humidity.
I weighed him about a week ago, and he was only about 120 grams which I didn't understand how that was possible. He didn't look or act weak, and the fuzzie was a little smaller than the thickest point of his body.

I know I have made a big mistake with my feeding error. I will never ever do it again. I really am so very worried, and I know it's best just to try and leave him alone. I also moved his cage to my house before he changed behaviour, so there is the added stress of being moved.
He had a good pee last night, and I really hope he goes to the toilet soon, because it will indicate he may get better.

Has anybody else made this error, or know another who has? I feel so foolish. I would never want to bring harm on any creature.

Don't beat yourself up. Your snake will be fine, that's not that crazy of an intake. Just give some extra time for digestion before handling.
The target weight of your prey should be 10-15% of the snakes weight. But they CAN go much larger, granted that doesn't mean they should.
Snakes don't have the luxury of weighing their prey items in nature, so if they CAN eat it, chances are they will.
Worst case, it's too big and they regurgitate the prey item.

Try to breathe easy, your snake will be ok.

I have always fed mine 2 a week. Your snake should be fine. Think of it like after thanksgiving dinner. Like posted before, wait a couple extra days before handling. Also, be prepared for poo times two

Thank you both for the reassuring words.
He is my first snake. I know I fed him double the weight he was supposed to have.
I realise now that for the time that I've had him, I may have been handling him too much, mostly every night (but not for 2-3 days after feeding). He always seemed happy, but I think I will only hold him a couple times a week now. I've fallen in love with him.

When I held him yesterday just to change his wet substrate, I notice he is weaker than usual.. usually, his tail curls around my hand with strength, but now not so much.
Right, I'm going to take your advice and quit worrying, because it doesn't serve any purpose. I'll just leave him to it!

He will be fine... Before too long you will probably be wishing you could get him to even eat once a month... lol

Haha, yes I have heard about their infamous fasts and pickiness. I was actually feeling really lucky to see him eating so well, but I guess the tables can turn any time. Thanks :)

I disagree that your snake is fine. Your temps are too low. 28-30 Celsius on the hot side is barely warm enough. It should be closer to 32-33 celsius at the hottest spot for digestion, especially after a big meal like that. You never mentioned your ambient temps either. Your ambients temps should be 25-27 Celsius.

He is probably not digesting the big meal well, and feels sick from the low temperatures. What are you using to heat the cage?

of course, I could be totally wrong, we need more information on what you are using to control and to measure the temperatures.

Godzilla has a very good point !

Normally, a double meal such as that wouldn't faze a young Ball Python. They will just curl up no the heat and be lazy for a little longer.
While it shouldn't be done regularly, it shouldn't hurt this once.

BUT!!!! If you do not have the correct heat to help that snake out to digest this big meal properly and quickly enough, you can run into issues. You never want a meal to start rotting inside the belly, before it can be digested.

Is your heat the "ambient" (in the air) heat on the warm side ? Does he have an additional heat source under him, such as belly heat ?

If your temps are the ambient temps on the warm end, that wouldn't be so bad, but he really should have some belly heat around 90 Fahrenheit (32 degrees celsius) while digesting.

If your temps are the warmest (ambient and / or belly) that you have, you should bump them up a tad. Your snake is probably just fine. He is just FULL and doesn't feel much like moving. But to be on the safe side, get your heat up to where it should be ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Godzilla78

I disagree that your snake is fine. Your temps are too low. 28-30 Celsius on the hot side is barely warm enough. It should be closer to 32-33 celsius at the hottest spot for digestion, especially after a big meal like that. You never mentioned your ambient temps either. Your ambients temps should be 25-27 Celsius.

He is probably not digesting the big meal well, and feels sick from the low temperatures. What are you using to heat the cage?

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I disagree just a little bit. That would be 82-86 Fahrenheit if I'm not mistaken. Most of the people I know that have Balls including myself say they use the Cool hide 90% of the time. His would be warmer than any cool hide at 82 to 86 as cool hides are usually 76-81.
I do agree Godzilla that a Hot Basking hide should always be provided as mine have stayed in the Hot Hide for a couple days at a time so i do know they regulate themselves when needed..
Considering the small amount fed (mine eat 2 appropriate rats twice a week for the first 4-5 months) I think the snake is most likely fine and the OP is worrying more than they need to.
Like Godzilla said dial in your husbandry, up your Hot Hide temps a bit and Id let your snake be for a few days. Let us know how things are going in a few days.

Thank you for your helpful pointers. I have one of those LCD thermometer/hygrometers with the rod, and I realised that I should re-position it to get a more accurate reading.
I have a heatmat under the one side of his tank, and it is reading 30 degrees celsius for that side.
I do not know the ambient temp, and I am waiting for my other thermometer to arrive. Humidity is at 69% right now.

I just went to have a little look, and he is out of his hide, and in the middle of the tank, so he is coming out at night.
I do feel better than I did, and I will keep an eye on him and post how he is.
I appreciate the help, I really do.

I am at a loss to know how to make it hotter than 30 celsius to be honest, considering he has the heatmat.
I do not have a lamp, and I understand that the heatmat is usually sufficient.
I make sure to use the central heating in my house for a few hours in the morning/night, just to make sure the house isn't cold.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FractalVision

I am at a loss to know how to make it hotter than 30 celsius to be honest, considering he has the heatmat.
I do not have a lamp, and I understand that the heatmat is usually sufficient.
I make sure to use the central heating in my house for a few hours in the morning/night, just to make sure the house isn't cold.

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First of all if you use Celsius to measure the heat (I do too) the rules are a bit different.
The hot spot should be around 31 to 35 degrees (but it shouldn't fluctuate too much; maybe one to at most two degrees)
The ambient temperature should be at 26 to 28 degrees
The cold spot should between 26 and 27 degrees.
This winter the heating in my apartment cut out for a week so it was freezing cold.
In order to keep the heat in the terrarium (mine is wooden) I put a blanket on top of it and put a hot water bottle on the hot side (outside of course).
Might I also suggest to get a daylight heat lamp. You can get one that doesn't get too warm but it think that it will help you to solve your problem. During the day you can get the temperature up to 32 degrees and at night it will drop naturally. Night drops aren't necessary but in your case I think it'd be a practical idea.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FractalVision

I am at a loss to know how to make it hotter than 30 celsius to be honest, considering he has the heatmat.
I do not have a lamp, and I understand that the heatmat is usually sufficient.
I make sure to use the central heating in my house for a few hours in the morning/night, just to make sure the house isn't cold.

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I dont know what your enclosure looks like or what its made of but you need some kind of heat for your cool side unless your Room temp is warm. As far as making the Hot Hide warmer you would most likely need to insulate. If the Top is a screen cover it etc..if its a Tank use Foam Insulation Board around 3 sides or Cardboard...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FractalVision

I am at a loss to know how to make it hotter than 30 celsius to be honest, considering he has the heatmat.
I do not have a lamp, and I understand that the heatmat is usually sufficient.
I make sure to use the central heating in my house for a few hours in the morning/night, just to make sure the house isn't cold.

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Are you talking about the air temps on the hot side, or the temps of the bottom floor where the under-tank-heater is? The hotspot where the undertank heater is, is where it should be 30-32. The ambient air doesn't need to be that hot at all. Sorry, for any confusion. I measure the hotspot over the UTH with an infrared thermometer, and measure the ambient air temps with a thermometer probe dangling on the side the enclosure.

Yes, the 30 degrees is the hot spot on the bottom, just at the UHT on the bottom of the tank.
I have a towel over the top of the enclosure to conserve warmth.
I have him in the start-up enclosure that I bought him with, a plastic tank measuring 16x10 inches. I was planning to buy him a wooden/glass front vivarium when he got bigger - measuring 36 inches in length. This was the advice I was given by the man in the reptile store.
He has a cold hide, a hot hide, a waterbowl, and a branch.

Tomorrow I will have another thermometer for the ambient temp. He is in the warmest central room of the house, upstairs. It is peaceful and quiet here, as it is just my husband and I.
To give him a warmth boost, I could get an oil filled heater for the room tomorrow morning too. I can't see it doing any harm right? I won't put it too close, just at the side of the room where his heat mat is?

A lot of people run heaters in their herp rooms to boost the ambient temperature.

Also are you regulating your UTH to ensure it doesn't get hot enough to burn your snake? It should be controlled by a thermostat.

Yes I am now using a thermostat with the UTH.
I realise where the holes were in my understanding.. I did not know the best way to position the thermometer/sensors etc, and could not get accurate readings.
The heat spot is now consistently between 34-35 degrees celsius.

I am pleased to say that Amadeus is much more himself again. After a few quiet days, he is more relaxed and moving around tonight. When I positioned the sensors, I had to hold him briefly to move him, and he felt alot better and stronger, his tail curling around my hand as normal.
I will see how he gets on in the coming days.