Won't eat and shedding wierd

I've had my BP for about three weeks now. He's close to 3 months old. He ate once rite after I got him. I first tried feeding him a pinky (thats what the girl at PetCo told me they were eating when I bought him) and he wouldn't touch it. Then I tried a fuzzy and he ate it right away.

I keep him in a 20 gallon tank, I use aspen shavings as the substrate, he's got a warm side and a cool side, two hiding spots, large water dish, under tank heater...all that good stuff, but he's not eating.

He started shedding 2/01 and still hasn't finished so I haven't tried to feed him since. I'm worried about him because he's not shedding in one piece (as I was told is healthy).:confused:

Any suggestions on how I can help him or what I'm doing wrong would be really appreciated.

As far as shedding goes, what is your humidity at? It sounds too low.

Are you using a screen top? If so there's a sticky on glass tank set ups that will walk you through raising the humidity. You could also make a humid hide (also a sticky). To have a garenteed great shed humidity needs to be at least 70. Every bit lower than that really risks a poor shed. You could also try soaking, but if you do this I would suggest setting up the sink you've got with your thermometre probe in it for about 5-10 minutes first, and keep the temp around 83-85 - too warm and he'll heat up too quickly, and too cold cool off too quickly.

As far as eating, he could be stressed out right now from the bad shed, or could have been offered while in blue and mostly blind. Wait till you get the shed sorted out and then worry about food.

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Originally Posted by bluemisscutie

I've had my BP for about three weeks now. He's close to 3 months old. He ate once rite after I got him. I first tried feeding him a pinky (thats what the girl at PetCo told me they were eating when I bought him) and he wouldn't touch it. Then I tried a fuzzy and he ate it right away.

I keep him in a 20 gallon tank, I use aspen shavings as the substrate, he's got a warm side and a cool side, two hiding spots, large water dish, under tank heater...all that good stuff, but he's not eating.

He started shedding 2/01 and still hasn't finished so I haven't tried to feed him since. I'm worried about him because he's not shedding in one piece (as I was told is healthy).:confused:

Any suggestions on how I can help him or what I'm doing wrong would be really appreciated.

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Read this article

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=43403

Should do the trick if you follow the advice.

What are your temps and humidity?

Do you measure them with a digital thermometer/hygrometer?

Are you hides tight and identical?

Have you handle your BP since you have had him?

Remember that pinky and fuzzy are WAY TOO SMALL for a BP, most BP are started on hoppers and quickly transition to adult mice.

Did you offer live?

It's a glass tank with a screen top. The temp on the warm side normally stays between 75-80F and the cool side is always around 70F. Is this too cold? The hides are identical but I wouldn't say there tight (after reading some posts I'm going to go to PetCo today to get new hides and cover the sides of the tank with black paper) I'm hoping this will solve any security issues.

The humidity stays at about 60...i'm still reading a post on how to raise it.

I feed him F/T fuzzys. Should I try something else?

He's only been handled maybe three times since I bought him. I was not to mess with him for a few weeks until he gets more used to the enviroment.

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Is this too cold?

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Yes your temps should be 80-84 on the cool side and 90-94 on the warm side (this mean having an accurate reading with a DIGITAL thermometer/hygrometer)

And keep in mind temps below 75 are un-healthy and will increase the risk of RI (Respiratory infection)

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I feed him F/T fuzzys. Should I try something else?

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Your BP is very young and if he was fed live before I would suggest you to feed live for 4 to 5 feeding before attempting to switch to F/T

Feed a prey slightly smaller than the girth size (widest part of your BP's Body) - Again pinky and fuzzy mice are too small.

Once you make your changes leave your BP alone for a week (no handling) before offering food.

Thanks for the help. I'll post again after I try some things and let you know what happens.

First of all, don't get anything from petco unless its an emergency. I ordered one hide, background paper, water bowl, bendable tree, substrate bricks, mister, tongs, two UTHs, dual thermo/hydro gauge and red light bulb online from reptile supply and with shipping that was 1/3rd the price I would have to pay at petco. I also got two thermometers from LLLreptiles.

To raise humidity, put the water bowl either under a lamp (if you have one) or directly above the UTHs. You can also insert an additional water bowl with wider tops. During sheds what I do is I wad together 3 papertowels, damp them and put them in the tank. When they dry you can either mist them or re-damp them. That is a great way to ensure your humidity will stay high enough over night. Also, I'm not sure if this works or not but while my Bp was shedding I damped a towel and covered the top of the tank (the screen)

On a side note if you get a chance, take measurements (weight, length) of your bp. And take a pic in some kind of a box (shoe box or whatever) Trust me in a year or two you can take another pic in the same or similar box and enjoy the huge growth difference.

When I got home yesterday I sat his water bowl on top of the undertank heater...within an hour the humidity had raised from 60 to 70 so I was happy about that. I covered the sides of his tank with a towl which seemed to help the temp. problem.
I tried feeding him again lastnite to no avail. I'm worried because it's been 11 days since he last ate.

11 days isn't a major issue get your temps up and stable first. Many snakes don't eat while they are shedding so try getting your snake through that first.Once your temps are steady and the snake has shed then try feeding it again it may take a few tries and a pinkie is way to small for a bp.

I haven't been able to get the temps regulated on either side of the tank. The only time the warm side heats up enough is when I've got the mesh top covered and the lamp on. Any suggestions on how I can regulate it?

Get a tub? :confused:

Tanks are awful for holding heat or humidity, and the clear glass causes stress on the snake's part. You would have a MUCH easier time regulating everything in a plastic enclosure with just a simple undertank heater.

If he's a baby, get a 15qt tub(boot box), if he's a larger yearling you can use a 28qt-32qt tub(sweaterbox).

You just need to get an inexpensive soldering iron from Big Lots of WalMart to put a few holes in the sides of the tub for air flow.

Put newspaper in, put one or two hides in and the water bowl, put your digital thermometer in, get your undertank heater warming up and see how it goes. Put the snake in after the tub stabilizes, wait a week, pre-scent the room for 15-20 minutes with a live small adult mouse, and drop it in the tub. Close the lid, turn the light off and watch from afar. If he doesn't take it within 5-10 minutes, remove it and wait until next week.

Either turn off your airconditioning, or turn up your heat.

If your ambient temps are in the low 70's range (as you said earlier) then it's going to be almost impossible for you to raise the ambient temps inside whatever enclosure you're using to 80 without some other source of heat. Using a glass tank you may as well give up unless you put it in a closet with a space heater, or raise the temperature in the home. If you add a light to raise the ambient temps your humidity will most likely be too low etc. You might be able to raise it enough using a tub, however even my tub stays very close to our ambient temps on the cool side.

I would get your snake out of a glass tank and into a tub as it should be better able to regulate the heat. That might help get steady temps.

What about the ceramic heat emitters? I've heard from a few friends that they work well with glass tanks. Any comments?

Changing the type of "light bulb" still won't fix the fact that your snake is stressed out. Ditch the tank, get some flexwatt and a good thermostat, and put him in a tub.

The CHE will just dry out the air as well, which still creates the same problem. You'll keep running yourself in circles trying to fix it. Get a small tub, and fix it once and for all so your snake can settle in and start being a happy, healthy boy.

Thanks for all of the great advice. I'll get the plastic tub set up tonight and see how it goes.

I'm not clear on how you're going to heat the tub...? I have lots of racks from Rich at RBI (http://www.reptilebasics.com/Reptile...p-1-c-251.html) and also have several of his cages (http://www.reptilebasics.com/2x3-Cag...h-p-16286.html). They all come with the heat installed and shipping is paid. You'd need a t'stat to moderate the temps and a temp gun; also something like an Accurite for the hygrometer/temp spot probe. I don't know how much money you have, but it might be something to save for. His cages stay really steady and so do the racks. You can get the 32 qt rack system and his dividers to use when your snake is little (like now!)
Anyway, just something more to look at and factor in...glass tanks really are difficult to maintain.....

Don't offer for several days. Then try again

Remember that when you make any major caging changes you need to give this snake a few days to a week or more to settle in. These are quite shy snakes, they don't always react well to change - even changes done for their own good. Allow the snake to settle in properly then pick a quiet evening, pre-scent the area with a live small mouse and offer it to your snake. If you do a search here on both pre-scenting and live feeding you should find tons of threads on how to do both of these things properly. If not, please ask.