new ball not feeding yet

I bought my first ball about 4 weeks ago, and he is still a bit reluctant to feed. he is about 40 inches long and the pet store had been feeding him once every week on F/T rats in a separate container.

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...u/DSCN1403.jpg

i just got my temps and humidity finally worked out, so i'm guessing/hoping that after Lennie readjusts, he should be fine. since this picture was taken, i have covered the lid with heavy plastic window wrap. also, i'm going to get a second hide in there soon. if anyone has some tips for getting a new snake feeding, i'd love to hear them

Make sure he is comfortable. I would provide more places to hide, with more dark spaces. Your tank is lovely, but has a lot of open room.

Stress can prevent an animal from eating very quickly. Once stress and husbandry issues are prevented, there should be no issues with feeding.

You say temps/humidity are OK but I dont see where you are measuring them in your picture? Since your using heat lights I'm almost positive your humidity is off. Also the log hide isnt really a hide. I use to use these back when I first started until I found out they werent really good. I use Zilla hides now and theyre like 3$ for a baby one. I dont see a heat pad or a thermostat which are a must have for BPs... Id look at some set up posts under general care. At the top there are a few stickies on how to set up a tank and what youll need.

I think your on the right track. There is a lot of open space, but that can be fixed easily.

It's best to give your snake an option of two identical hides on each temperature gradient. Meaning, have a hide for the hot spot, and a hide for the cool end so he can choose to thermoregulate without having to choose security over warmth.

It's also a very good investment to buy an Accurite thermometer/hygrometer. The probe should go on the hot spot, and the unit should be placed on the cool end to measure the air temps and the humidity.

Other than that, putting crumpled newspaper in for him will help him feel secure and move between both ends. Ball pythons like to feel something touching them on all sides, their number one priority is security. Even more when they are young. ;)

i have a infrared thermometer and a digital thermometer/humidity sensor. as i said, some things have changed since that picture was taken, the lid was covered to prevent humidity loss, which is now hovering at about 50-55%. the acu-rite was also added after the picture was taken. as far as the UTH and thermostat are concerned, for right now, i'm not sure i need them. warm side is sitting at about 88-90*, cool side at about 84* and airtemp at 85ish.

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Originally Posted by gmcclurelssu

i have a infrared thermometer and a digital thermometer/humidity sensor. as i said, some things have changed since that picture was taken, the lid was covered to prevent humidity loss, which is now hovering at about 50-55%. the acu-rite was also added after the picture was taken. as far as the UTH and thermostat are concerned, for right now, i'm not sure i need them. warm side is sitting at about 88-90*, cool side at about 84* and airtemp at 85ish.

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Do you think you'll be able to bump the humidity up to around 70% when he goes into shed? I'm wondering because you already have the lid covered and the humidity is 50-55%; is that with the big bowl of water in it? Anyway, I'm wondering if this might be a reason for thinking about a UTH and t'stat and ditching the light...? What do you think? :)

Also UTH's are critical in the digestion process for balls. Belly heat is far more important than heat from above.

thats a good point, although i *think* i should be able to get up to that range. i'll experiment with it and see what i can do. if not, then i may need to revise my train of thought and order one.

another way i have herd of doing this is instead of raising the humidity of the entire tank to 70%, have a 'humidity box' like another hide filled with wet moss. this was suggested to me by the pet store, although i have yet to see that method posted on this forum.

Some people use them temporarily as a means to help a snake shed. It is not a permanent solution in many cases because unless the snakes spends a majority of his time in the humid hide, he is not getting the benefit of higher humidity.

Leaving a humid hide in all the time can breed harmful bacteria, fungi, mold. If the snake prefers the humid hide too often, he can develop scale rot and possibly an upper respiratory infection.

If you leave the humidity too low, you risk stuck sheds, and quite possibly a URI.

I found that if you cannot get the temps up with just a UTH, to cover the 3 back sides with house insulation board or cork board. Try to get rid of the ceramic heater or light since it does suck out humidity extremely fast.

You may also have to mist a few times a day. We dont want the substrate too moist, since that can also breed harmful bacteria and promotes belly rot.

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Originally Posted by JoshJP7

You say temps/humidity are OK but I dont see where you are measuring them in your picture? Since your using heat lights I'm almost positive your humidity is off. Also the log hide isnt really a hide. I use to use these back when I first started until I found out they werent really good. I use Zilla hides now and theyre like 3$ for a baby one. I dont see a heat pad or a thermostat which are a must have for BPs... Id look at some set up posts under general care. At the top there are a few stickies on how to set up a tank and what youll need.

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I can't see the picture, but if you are talking about the half log pieces, you can turn those into good hides. I took the back half of my tank and covered it in black construction paper. I then took the half log and stood it up, so it looks like a tree trunk. Vincent sits in there for hours and hours. I have a piece of cardboard on top to keep it dark on that side and he LOVES it. I hope this helps, instead of taking the $15 log and trashing it.

Also, if you wanted to experiment, live foliage in potted plants can also help raise the ambient humidity.

Always, never use chemically treated soil or plants. Just an idea, and it would provide cover while raising the ambient humidity.

Look up non-poisonous plants like hibiscus and umbrella plants. Something strong, hardy that does not require too much effort. ;)

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Some people use them temporarily as a means to help a snake shed. It is not a permanent solution in many cases because unless the snakes spends a majority of his time in the humid hide, he is not getting the benefit of higher humidity.

Leaving a humid hide in all the time can breed harmful bacteria, fungi, mold. If the snake prefers the humid hide too often, he can develop scale rot and possibly an upper respiratory infection.

If you leave the humidity too low, you risk stuck sheds, and quite possibly a URI.

I found that if you cannot get the temps up with just a UTH, to cover the 3 back sides with house insulation board or cork board. Try to get rid of the ceramic heater or light since it does suck out humidity extremely fast.

You may also have to mist a few times a day. We dont want the substrate too moist, since that can also breed harmful bacteria and promotes belly rot.

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thats kinda what i figured. i think the store was intending for it to just be used around shedding time. after checking my humidity again, its still sitting around 55% on the warm side of the cage, under the heat lamp. i think later today i'll move the sensor to the other side and see how that side looks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Also, if you wanted to experiment, live foliage in potted plants can also help raise the ambient humidity.

Always, never use chemically treated soil or plants. Just an idea, and it would provide cover while raising the ambient humidity.

Look up non-poisonous plants like hibiscus and umbrella plants. Something strong, hardy that does not require too much effort. ;)

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i was actually thinking about that for a while, but i'll most likely wait on live plants until i get everything else somewhat stable, and i get a few successful feeds and a shed. i just found a new pet store (the local one closed), so i should be able to make more changes with out having to order everything.

hey about the hides the log is not the best, i had it when i first got mitch and he would never go into he would jus hide behind his water bowl, but insted of throwin the log out i cut it kind of like u would a sandwich corner to corner and leaned the open space up against the walls and covered the entrance with a bit of the sub and mitch loves it now spends all his time between the 2 and loves 2push the sub around so that it almost covers the whole entrance. worked for me and is an easy way to make 2hides out of 1.:gj:

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Originally Posted by naba2002

hey about the hides the log is not the best, i had it when i first got mitch and he would never go into he would jus hide behind his water bowl, but insted of throwin the log out i cut it kind of like u would a sandwich corner to corner and leaned the open space up against the walls and covered the entrance with a bit of the sub and mitch loves it now spends all his time between the 2 and loves 2push the sub around so that it almost covers the whole entrance. worked for me and is an easy way to make 2hides out of 1.:gj:

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thats actually a really good idea, hadn't thought of that yet. right now, lennie uses it a lot, but like a lot of people seem to be suggesting, that may be just because its the only one in there. he only takes up about half of the space under it most of the time anyway.