I could really use some advice, please.

[_Victoria]

I'm very concerned about my ball python and I feel as if I've tried everything but a trip to the vet. The problem is that he's very restless. Every night he is out trying to escape, pushing the screen of the tank and doing laps after laps for hours. He's even doing this during the day occasionally which was a red flag. When he does this he has started making a noise I believe to be from heavy breathing/stress and also a huff every now and then. He does have periods of time where he'll stay in his hide for days and during that time he never makes the noises, it's only after being active for long periods of time. I've checked all of my temps multiple times with two acurites on each side to make sure they're correct. Sometimes it'll drop of 75 and my heater kicks in and it just a to 82 degrees. He hasn't eaten since September except for one mouse he took after shed. I have also opened his mouth every now and then but every time there hasn't been any bubbles or mucus. I can't keep his mouth open for more than a second or two though and hate doing that to him anyway since I feel like I'm hurting him. I don't know what to do anymore. Has anyone experienced anything like this or know anything else I should do? If a vet visit is necessary I'll do it in a heartbeat but I don't want to take him to a vet I've never gone to for the first time and stress him out of its not a must yet.


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[Reed12321]

What are you feeding him? Live or f/t? Try feeding him the opposite of what you've been trying to feeding him. My snake does EXACTLY the same thing until she eats. Once she eats and stays eating regularly, the pacing around the tank stops. She's also the only snake that I have that eats live.


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[_Victoria]

What are you feeding him? Live or f/t? Try feeding him the opposite of what you've been trying to feeding him. My snake does EXACTLY the same thing until she eats. Once she eats and stays eating regularly, the pacing around the tank stops. She's also the only snake that I have that eats live.


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I've offered food several times he just never takes. I feed f/t mice and rats. ....maybe it's times to try live. Oh I hope it'll work.


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[DVirginiana]

I've offered food several times he just never takes. I feed f/t mice and rats. ....maybe it's times to try live. Oh I hope it'll work.


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Quick safety tip if you've never fed live before; stay in the room until either the snake has killed the prey or you take the prey out of the tank, and have something (like tongs) in your hand to put in the rodent's mouth if it starts to bite.

Good luck, hopefully she'll eat and stop pacing for you.

[dr del]

Hi,

You mentioned the cool end temps but not the hot side and humidity?

Could you tell us those too?

[_Victoria]

Hi,

You mentioned the cool end temps but not the hot side and humidity?

Could you tell us those too?

Cold ambient temp: 76-83
Cold surface temp: 78-81

Hot ambient temp: 77-83
Hot surface 88-93

humidity typically ranges from 40-67 depending on when I spray or wet the towel I have to keep on top.

I added another light getting the hot side to around 86 right now. It seems like when j bought the new lamp it made him even more active. Occasionally the cold surface has dropped to 73 if for some reason my furnace doesn't kick on but it only stays like that for a short time. My house is almost unbearably hot half the time trying to meet these temps.

I tried checking his mouth again by i couldn't get his mouth all the way open and I stopped. I think it's time for me to stop checking since apparently I don't know how and I'm probably doing more harm than good.


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[anicatgirl]

Depending on what you are looking for in his mouth, you don't need it open all the way. I just slide her lower lip over to get a peek. This kinda sounds like normal BP, mine anytime I change anything at all she will pace and try every angle to see if there is an escape route.

It may be anxiety. You can try covering the sides with paper or the plastic aquarium sticky backgrounds that adhere to the outside of tanks.

One time when I had her at my breeders, she was roving around quite a bit and started huffing and breathing heavier. My breeder said my snake was kinda out of shape and chubby (what makes BPs soooo cute!) and that for her activity level it was normal.

That's all I know, hopefully someone else can offer more advice.

[Reed12321]

Put aluminum foil over the screen. Make sure it covers the whole screen minus the area for the lamp with some holes at the opposite end for ventilation. Those holes can be the size of a quarter. This will help you retain heat and humidity. Tape the aluminum foil down so it doesn't move and put the water half under the lamp. It'll help provide humidity to the rest of the tank. I used to use towels and I used to have to mist my tanks all the time, but when I put aluminum foil there, it literally solved all of my problems


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[AnnaK231]

How old is he? Does he have things to climb on? A log or "tree branch"? Do you take him out at all? Is there enough ventilation and air flow?
Did he eat a live mouse? Are you offering too big of prey? Does he have fresh clean water?

If it's none of that he may have a respiratory infection and you should take him to the vet. The wheezing and mouth thing worry me if he's not hungry. Definitely try smaller prey f/t if that's what you usually use.

[tbowman]

How old is this snake? It's not uncommon for mature males to go off of food this time of year. He may be searching for a girl.