Is this normal?

I am new to the world of ball pythons and have a question about my new ball python's behavior......or lack thereof.

She was hatched in the middle of April. I bought her towards the latter part of April. While holding her I noticed that she was going through a shed. The breeder informed me that it was her first shed and should be ready to eat in a few days.

Approximately 5 days later I went to the store and bought a pinkie mouse because they were all sold out of fuzzies. Although she did not show much interest in it I placed the live pinkie inside her cave......she ate it.

The next feeding I fed her a live pinkie/fuzzy mouse (it was just a bit bigger than a pinkie but had hair but could not walk) and once again she ate it......and snagged it quick I might add.

The following week I fed her a rat pinkie (once again the store was out of fuzzies) and she gobbled him down pretty fast as well.

After the three feedings she would go into her cave for a day or two and come out in the afternoons and roam her cage.

The next week arrived and I attempted a frozen/thawed hopper mouse. This prey item was obviously larger than the previous food items. She ate it no problems. After she ate she stayed in her cave 24/7 all week until I fed her again the following week. She ate the second frozen/thawed hopper and retreated to her cave and has not come out since.

Her basking spot is between 90 and 93 degrees while the cool side is around 80 degrees.

Can I attribute her hiding out all the time to her being satisfied hunger wise?

sounds normal to me. balls spend most of their time in their hides. a stressed one will roam a lot more.

i'd give her some more time to adjust. some also prefer the warm side others prefer the cool side.

normal, thats what they do.

also, i would suggest getting an appropriately sized feeder to work with instead of constantly changing food sizes.

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Originally Posted by hawaiianice99

normal, thats what they do.

also, i would suggest getting an appropriately sized feeder to work with instead of constantly changing food sizes.

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That was the problem......finding the fuzzies. I finally tried to switch her from live to frozen/thawed. A local pet store had a bag of three frozen fuzzies and a bag of three frozen hoppers. Next week will be here 3rd hopper. I will continue feeding her hoppers until the time comes for a mouse.

Sounds normal to me. When they cruise, it usually means they are hungry. So the fact that she is not cruising is a good indicator that she is nice and full :)

Yea they will naturally retreat for a couple days at a time after eating, they go to the warmth to digest. Because in the wild, they are most vulnerable after eating.

I think I figured out what was going on........besides a tummy full of mouse :).

I cleaned her tank to day. I lifted her cave and observed that her skin was EXTREMELY dull. I looked in her eyes and they were dull with a crack going from side to side.

I saw some flaked off skin.......you know the rest.

Hopefully in a couple of days she will be shed free!

An incomplete shed could do it, too. Especially if there are retained eyecaps. Congrats on having a healthy eater, by the way. Many BPs are so picky/finicky. Mine has almost never rejected a meal. Question for you: Do you feed in the residential tank or in a separate feeding container?

I have been feeding her in the same enclosure that she lives in. However, I recently put down aspen in her tank and I will try to feed her next in a rubbermaid shoebox.

I am hoping that she eats in a new environment.

There's really no reason to feed her outside her enclosure.

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Originally Posted by iCandiBallPythons

There's really no reason to feed her outside her enclosure.

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I have heard and read a lot of mixed opinions on this. I personally feed her in a separate enclosure. And actually, it's best to feed her separately due to the fact that when feeding your snake may accidentally eat some of the bedding, causing him/her to become impacted. This is what I've read in the books and on the sites.

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Originally Posted by Meghan

I have heard and read a lot of mixed opinions on this. I personally feed her in a separate enclosure. And actually, it's best to feed her separately due to the fact that when feeding your snake may accidentally eat some of the bedding, causing him/her to become impacted. This is what I've read in the books and on the sites.

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These guys rarely get impacted. They can digest bone and hair, a little aspen won't hurt them. Even so, I put down a piece of paper towel and then put the prey item on top of that just so nothing gets stuck to it.

Right on, good post.
I just got my bp too, and I've noticed the same thing.
Just in her little cave on her warm side all day..she's only interested in me if I have food for her!
Mind you, she seems to love climbing on her branch and spilling her water all over her tank when I'm trying to sleep...