My Son Dropped My New Ball Python!

I'm in a rough space right now. I just purchased 2 new ball pythons. They arrived last week on Thursday. I was planning to feed them on Tuesday but I had surgery so I pushed it back to today. My son has been begging me for the last week to hold them. He normally helps me with our original ball python that we brought back in June. He normally does pretty good with that snake, so I said well, let's hold them and then we can feed them. I was in the bathroom, prepping the mouse for the ball python while my son was sitting on the couch. The python was in his hands and he panicked and dropped it from maybe somewhere around 2 feet off the ground. In his panic, he tried to catch it and only made things worse as it looks like the snake hit the ground head first. He seems fine and had no visible bruises but it does seem like his mouth looks a little weird.

Also, this ball python was a little jumpy and now he's extremely jumpy. I'm mad at my son but I'm even more mad at myself for going against my better judgement. Have any of you ever dropped a ball python?

You made some big mistakes (besides overestimating your son's abilities) in handling snakes that you're planning to feed- especially ball pythons, which are shy 'ambush feeders'. Handling is a distraction at best, but at the worst (like for a new snake) it's frightening & kills their appetite. They're more worried about this big strange "predator" (you or your son) that might be about to eat THEM. Remember that snakes rely on instincts, & the only thing that picks them up in the wild is normally a predator about to have lunch.

Actually, you're far better off (so you don't end up with a snake that refuses to eat) if you don't handle them AT ALL until a new snake has had time to "settle in" and time to have eaten AT LEAST 3 or more meals at normal intervals. That may seem like "torture" for you or your son, but trust me, it's a good policy. It's just no fun when snakes keep refusing to eat.

Even after that, I recommend NO handling at all for the day prior to offering a meal, as it might get the meal refused, even when the snake wasn't dropped or mishandled. BPs are best fed where they live, not handled, & never moved elsewhere to feed- and feeding during evening/nighttime hours usually works best.

The snake that was dropped is probably okay- his jaw is probably out of alignment- or maybe painful & swollen. A vet visit is in order if something really seems wrong, but we aren't seeing the snake, & cannot diagnose anything online anyway. I wouldn't try to feed for at least several days at the very least- a week would be better (assuming his jaw isn't broken, & only a vet could tell you that for sure) & it probably won't work anyway if you did try. Sure can't blame your snake for being jumpy now, can you? Ouch.

I've never dropped a snake, but someone holding one of my snakes did once- :mad: :( The snake was fine, fortunately. But it's not a given.

If you need to find a qualified herp vet near you, this may help: https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

We've had many dropped snake and snake waste threads lately. Can somebody please change the channel?

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Originally Posted by KMG

We've had many dropped snake and snake waste threads lately. Can somebody please change the channel?

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Well we're here to help with whatever issue someone is having- it's just the way it goes sometimes- that similar threads happen in clusters. I'm quite sure the OP wishes this never happened.

Thanks for the reply Bogertophis but I think I should have put more info in the original post. I wasn’t attempting to feed him while my son was hold him. My plan was to let me son hold him for a moment while I laid the mouse out to thaw. Then I was going to put it back in it’s tub. And once the mouse thawed, I was going to feed it in it’s tub.

I do it all of the time with the ball python that I had since June. My son normally holds him with no issues and we hold him on days that I feed him and 15 or 30 minutes later once he’s back in his enclosure, he has no problem eating his food.

I would never take him out to feed and I have never taken a snake out of it’s enclosure or tub to feed it. I will always find them in there enclosure/tub. I will monitor his jaw and take your advice about taking him to the vet if it doesn’t go back to normal.

It provides some comfort knowing that your snake wasn’t harmed when it fell. I’m hoping my snake will be alright too.

This was my first time posting and I was in a state of panic. I’ll look through some of the other threads as well.

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Originally Posted by bow313

Thanks for the reply Bogertophis but I think I should have put more info in the original post. I wasn’t attempting to feed him while my son was hold him. My plan was to let me son hold him for a moment while I laid the mouse out to thaw. Then I was going to put it back in it’s tub. And once the mouse thawed, I was going to feed it in it’s tub.

I do it all of the time with the ball python that I had since June. My son normally holds him with no issues and we hold him on days that I feed him and 15 or 30 minutes later once he’s back in his enclosure, he has no problem eating his food.

I would never take him out to feed and I have never taken a snake out of it’s enclosure or tub to feed it. I will always find them in there enclosure/tub. I will monitor his jaw and take your advice about taking him to the vet if it doesn’t go back to normal.

It provides some comfort knowing that your snake wasn’t harmed when it fell. I’m hoping my snake will be alright too.

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No, I understood what you were describing very well. It's just not the best practice- just because you've been lucky with your first BP & he's an easy-feeder, don't assume that the next one will be too. Sooner or later, you'll probably find this out. ;) That's why the most common threads we get are "my BP won't eat!"

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

No, I understood what you were describing very well. It's just not the best practice- just because you've been lucky with your first BP & he's an easy-feeder, don't assume that the next one will be too. Sooner or later, you'll probably find this out. ;) That's why the most common threads we get are "my BP won't eat!"

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I see where you coming from now. I did buy these 2 ball pythons with the expectation that they would be more like the first one. He's an OG. He eats like a Kingsnake! So, yes, that's true, I can't get caught up in using the same tactics with the new ball pythons, that I use with him.

Even with the almost 30 yrs experience I have handling snakes, if I'm handling little babies I will handle them seated on the floor because you never know when they will startle. It really depends what kind of enclosure you have whether that's really possible while getting them out, but at least afterwards, it's a good practice.

Agree that you shouldn't handle them the day before (or 2 days after) feeding, and the first month or two when you first get them. You really did get lucky with your first. I have a routine on feeding day where I make sure any check-up, misting, water filling is early in the morning, so that by the time I try and feed in the evening, they have calmed down from whatever stress I caused them. Colubrids typically are less fussy about it but there are even exceptions there where it's best not to mess with them prior to feeding (my hognose comes to mind).

Hopefully he will be just fine. I'd watch for any serious swelling and get him to the vet if it gets bad, a little will probably heal on its own though.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Well we're here to help with whatever issue someone is having- it's just the way it goes sometimes- that similar threads happen in clusters. I'm quite sure the OP wishes this never happened.

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I am aware and I'm sure the op does wish that, I certainly do. I was just expressing a hope that it stops. That's what I meant by changing the channel. Nothing negative toward the OP or anybody else. I believe you misinterpreted my comment. I don't like reading about dropped snakes. Obviously we are here to help because of we weren't we would have given up a long time ago with the endless revolving door of noob questions.

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Originally Posted by KMG

I am aware and I'm sure the op does wish that, I certainly do. I was just expressing a hope that it stops. That's what I meant by changing the channel. Nothing negative toward the OP or anybody else. I believe you misinterpreted my comment. I don't like reading about dropped snakes. Obviously we are here to help because of we weren't we would have given up a long time ago with the endless revolving door of noob questions.

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Thanks- I pretty much assumed that's what you meant, I just wanted to make sure that the OP didn't get the wrong idea or feel their questions were unwelcome.

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Originally Posted by nikkubus

Even with the almost 30 yrs experience I have handling snakes, if I'm handling little babies I will handle them seated on the floor because you never know when they will startle. It really depends what kind of enclosure you have whether that's really possible while getting them out, but at least afterwards, it's a good practice.

Agree that you shouldn't handle them the day before (or 2 days after) feeding, and the first month or two when you first get them. You really did get lucky with your first. I have a routine on feeding day where I make sure any check-up, misting, water filling is early in the morning, so that by the time I try and feed in the evening, they have calmed down from whatever stress I caused them. Colubrids typically are less fussy about it but there are even exceptions there where it's best not to mess with them prior to feeding (my hognose comes to mind).

Hopefully he will be just fine. I'd watch for any serious swelling and get him to the vet if it gets bad, a little will probably heal on its own though.

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Thank you! This makes me feel a lost better. I appreciate the advice and the encouraging words.

Hi everyone, I have an update and a few questions. Hi mouth was fine the next day. I think it was just out of alignment from the fall but no behavior changes. I have attempted to handle him since the fall. I have tried to feed him on several occasions but he isn't eating frozen/thawed at all. I tied to feed him on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday last week. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since he eat. The last time he eat was right before the breeder shipped him to me. I am worried since it has been so long. I contacted a local mice/rat breeder since non of the local pet stores in my area sale any live mice or rats. Since yesterday, was the last time I tried to feed him froze thawed, when should I attempt to feed him a live mouse? Do you think that he is still stressed from the fall. The other ball python that was shipped with him, eat twice last week with no issues. When I originally opened the box the one that eat crawled out the bag he was in but the one that hasn't eaten as balled up in a ball for 2 hours straight when I first put him in his tub.

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Originally Posted by bow313

Hi everyone, I have an update and a few questions. Hi mouth was fine the next day. I think it was just out of alignment from the fall but no behavior changes. I have attempted to handle him since the fall. I have tried to feed him on several occasions but he isn't eating frozen/thawed at all. I tied to feed him on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday last week. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since he eat. The last time he eat was right before the breeder shipped him to me. I am worried since it has been so long. I contacted a local mice/rat breeder since non of the local pet stores in my area sale any live mice or rats. Since yesterday, was the last time I tried to feed him froze thawed, when should I attempt to feed him a live mouse? Do you think that he is still stressed from the fall. The other ball python that was shipped with him, eat twice last week with no issues. When I originally opened the box the one that eat crawled out the bag he was in but the one that hasn't eaten as balled up in a ball for 2 hours straight when I first put him in his tub.

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Glad that his mouth looks okay now. Also glad you haven't been handling him since the fall, he may still be sore internally.

So he's NEVER fed for you, is that right? What did the breeder feed him? You should first be offering the same exact prey (size & type- rats or mice).

One thing you're doing wrong is offering TOO often. Don't offer more than once a week, please, as that adds stress too, making him LESS likely to eat.

Then, if a snake refuses once a week for a couple times, you might lengthen the time between offerings to every 10-14 days. I realize that's a long time for a hatchling though & not ideal-:confusd:

The thing is- we aren't seeing the snake- & we cannot fully diagnose issues online- only try to help you with husbandry issues. Have you double checked ALL his "husbandry"? (what are the hi & low temps in his home? Hides? Humidity? Location of enclosure relative to other home activities- ie. is he in a quiet, unbothered location?)

Are you only offering while he's in his regular enclosure? I hope so- as moving a snake to a side container often results in non-feeding. Be more specific as to HOW you offer him food- tongs? drop feed? time of day? room lighting? It may be time to either try a small live feeder of the right type rodent, OR a vet check (& maybe x-ray for internal problems- broken bones?).

If you need to find a qualified herp vet, this may help: https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

Good luck, & please keep us updated.

QUICK AFTERTHOUGHT: I just double-checked how long it's been since you got this snake. We often advise not to offer food for at least a week or two from the date of their arrival, due to the stress of shipping/new home, AND to avoid meal refusals. The handling & fall surely made this worse (harder for him to settle in) but it hasn't been an outrageous amount of time since he last ate for the breeder- that was around the 10th from what I can tell in your first post???

But DO make sure you find out WHAT the breeder was feeding him! Mice or rat, what age/size, live or fresh-killed or f/t? And by tongs or drop-fed if dead prey? Best results come from doing what the snake has learned to expect from prey.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Glad that his mouth looks okay now. Also glad you haven't been handling him since the fall, he may still be sore internally.

So he's NEVER fed for you, is that right? What did the breeder feed him? You should first be offering the same exact prey (size & type- rats or mice).

One thing you're doing wrong is offering TOO often. Don't offer more than once a week, please, as that adds stress too, making him LESS likely to eat.

Then, if a snake refuses once a week for a couple times, you might lengthen the time between offerings to every 10-14 days. I realize that's a long time for a hatchling though & not ideal-:confusd:

The thing is- we aren't seeing the snake- & we cannot fully diagnose issues online- only try to help you with husbandry issues. Have you double checked ALL his "husbandry"? (what are the hi & low temps in his home? Hides? Humidity? Location of enclosure relative to other home activities- ie. is he in a quiet, unbothered location?)

Are you only offering while he's in his regular enclosure? I hope so- as moving a snake to a side container often results in non-feeding. Be more specific as to HOW you offer him food- tongs? drop feed? time of day? room lighting? It may be time to either try a small live feeder of the right type rodent, OR a vet check (& maybe x-ray for internal problems- broken bones?).

If you need to find a qualified herp vet, this may help: https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

Good luck, & please keep us updated.

QUICK AFTERTHOUGHT: I just double-checked how long it's been since you got this snake. We often advise not to offer food for at least a week or two from the date of their arrival, due to the stress of shipping/new home, AND to avoid meal refusals. The handling & fall surely made this worse (harder for him to settle in) but it hasn't been an outrageous amount of time since he last ate for the breeder- that was around the 10th from what I can tell in your first post???

But DO make sure you find out WHAT the breeder was feeding him! Mice or rat, what age/size, live or fresh-killed or f/t? And by tongs or drop-fed if dead prey? Best results come from doing what the snake has learned to expect from prey.

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1) Yes, he has never feed for me. The breeder fed him a small f/t mouse twice before shipping to me. It was around the size of a hopper.
2) I regret offering food as many times as I did. He was very active on Monday last week so I offered him a f/t mouse. Then when the other snake eat on Wednesday, I got excited and that he might eat. And then yesterday when the other snake eat again, I thought, he might eat last night. I was wrong all three times. I'll try to feed him a live mouse on Friday or Sunday this week. It depends on if the place I need to get live mouse from is open on Sunday. If they are only open on Friday, I will have to buy it Friday and then try to feed him so the mouse doesn't sit in my house for 2 days.
3) Hopefully, he will eat this upcoming weekend.
4) He's on paper towel at the moment. His temps on the cool side are 75 - 77 degrees and his temps on the hot side are 90 - 92 degrees. I keep both snakes in my office. I work from home. I don't make a ton of noise when I'm in there and I placed towels over their tubs to block out any light. It's the only place in the house that I can close off from my kids.
5) I only offer food in his tub/bin. I feed all of my ball pythons in their bins/tubs. On Monday, I offered the mouse on tongs and then I left it overnight inside of his hide. Wednesday, I just left it in the opening of his hide. This worked for the other snake. Yesterday, I left it in the opening of his hide. I checked back a few hours later and he was just laying on top of it, with half of his body in the hide and the other half laying on the mouse like a pillow. I grab the mouse with tongs, which he didn't seem to mind and them I offered it to him. He just buried his head under half of his body like he was scared of it. At that point, when I took the mouse back out, he went into his hide. I waited about 30 minutes and then heated it with a blow dryer and then I stuck it in the opening of his hide. This morning he was just crawling around the bin trying to push up the lid but the mouse was still in there. I took the mouse out and threw it away. I changed his water and misted his bin. I haven't bother him since. I will just leave him be for now until Friday or Sunday when I try to feed him the live mouse.
6) Thanks for the link to the vet info.

It's so frustrating when a snake won't eat- believe me, I understand.

The normal "first food" for BPs is a "smallish" mouse hopper. But right now that might be too much for him (in terms of their activity)-it might scare him off a lot! If that was my snake,

I'd try offering a live fuzzy mouse (eyes closed w/ short hair); once a rat or mouse opens their eyes, as with hopper mice, they can & do fight back. If he really was raised on f/t mice, that would likely scare him. OR, if you can find a very small pinky/fuzzy type baby rat (eyes closed), he might take either of those. :please: Neither one poses any risk, & isn't as much as he should be eating per meal, but it's a start, & may tell you what he wants to eat. Also, when a snake (or a sick person, for that matter) doesn't eat for a while, they lose their appetite & in the case of humans, if they didn't have an I.V. in the hospital for nutrition, most would never get well- they'd never feel well enough to eat. Your snake needs to get HIS "energy" back, so a fuzzy rodent will help a great deal if you can get him to eat it. He'll likely decide he likes the "feeling" of food in his tummy. ;) So do your best to make that happen.

If he's in his hide & looking out, like he might eat or be thinking about prey- you can first try offering it by tongs to see if he'll grab it...BUT don't make it seem like the rodent is coming AT him!
That sure wouldn't be normal in the wild- rodents don't volunteer to be dinner, lol. Slightly wiggle it (using tongs) just out of his reach, going "past him" (not "at") to see if he's interested. If he backs up & doesn't follow it, what I'd do is leave it in his home overnight, in a shallow flat-bottom bowl that's heavy enough that it won't tip if he sit's on the side of it watching for a while to get up his courage. I've seen many snakes get up their courage this way- it may take hours or all night though. The scent & body-warmth should attract him- but don't watch, as that might scare & distract him- he needs most to summon up some courage & "be a snake"! :snake:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

It's so frustrating when a snake won't eat- believe me, I understand.

The normal "first food" for BPs is a "smallish" mouse hopper. But right now that might be too much for him (in terms of their activity)-it might scare him off a lot! If that was my snake,

I'd try offering a live fuzzy mouse (eyes closed w/ short hair); once a rat or mouse opens their eyes, as with hopper mice, they can & do fight back. If he really was raised on f/t mice, that would likely scare him. OR, if you can find a very small pinky/fuzzy type baby rat (eyes closed), he might take either of those. :please: Neither one poses any risk, & isn't as much as he should be eating per meal, but it's a start, & may tell you what he wants to eat. Also, when a snake (or a sick person, for that matter) doesn't eat for a while, they lose their appetite & in the case of humans, if they didn't have an I.V. in the hospital for nutrition, most would never get well- they'd never feel well enough to eat. Your snake needs to get HIS "energy" back, so a fuzzy rodent will help a great deal if you can get him to eat it. He'll likely decide he likes the "feeling" of food in his tummy. ;) So do your best to make that happen.

If he's in his hide & looking out, like he might eat or be thinking about prey- you can first try offering it by tongs to see if he'll grab it...BUT don't make it seem like the rodent is coming AT him!
That sure wouldn't be normal in the wild- rodents don't volunteer to be dinner, lol. Slightly wiggle it (using tongs) just out of his reach, going "past him" (not "at") to see if he's interested. If he backs up & doesn't follow it, what I'd do is leave it in his home overnight, in a shallow flat-bottom bowl that's heavy enough that it won't tip if he sit's on the side of it watching for a while to get up his courage. I've seen many snakes get up their courage this way- it may take hours or all night though. The scent & body-warmth should attract him- but don't watch, as that might scare & distract him- he needs most to summon up some courage & "be a snake"! :snake:

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Thanks, I'll follow your tips this weekend when I attempt to feed him again.

Ugh, I'm sorry you had to go through the stress of a dropped snake. They are extremely resilient and, as long as you can't feel anything out of place and he is acting normally, he is probably fine. Both of mine have fallen while climbing and I'm sure it happens in the wild. However, if you have a young snake who has never eaten in your care (5 months now?), he honestly shouldn't really be handled until he is eating. Something is clearly stressing him out and I'm sure you received some good recommendations above. And, to reiterate what has already been said, offering food 3 times in a week is most definitely stressing the animal. If it were me, I would only offer every 7-14 days at this point.