Ball python kept away from people too long?

[Lari]

Hello everyone. I'm a fresh ball python owner and I have a few questions regarding my beautiful snake.

I got into the possession of this snake in November 2017 when someone asked me to take care of it while they were away for eight months. Prior to this, the snake had a terrarium with all the necessities (hygrometer, tree branch, light, etc) and I handled it occasionally but I wasn't the owner. The snake was about a year old then. When it came into my possession, the owner brought it in a big plastic container and said it can live in the container til they come back eight months later. I was to feed it, make sure it was warm, watch when it sheds, but the basic instructions were to leave it alone cause the snake was hibernating, according to the owner's words.

Since Nov 2017 til Aug 2018 the snake was fed four times (twice inside the container with live prey, twice outside the container with dead prey, and no, I didn't touch the prey at all when I was feeding it), shed three times, and I tried my best to pull it out from the container once a month, leave it on the bed or on the floor or just keep it in my hands if it wanted to be on me. It would move around as it usually does, as it did before with the old owner when I would watch it or touch it.

Circumstantially I'm it's owner now, but it seems to me the snake is behaving different than it used to before. I bought it a new terrarium last week, big terrarium, and I've been watching it a bit. It shies away from contact sometimes and it tenses up its' neck occasionally, and a few times it just laid on the bed or on the ground and didn't want to move. I'm afraid it being locked up in the container affected it and I'd appreciate some advice on what to do now, how to handle the snake, because it seems apprehensive and tense.

Might be worth mentioning it was fed about three weeks ago the last time and shed after that.

Thanks in advance!!!

[Cheesenugget]

Idk about older snakes but I hear older animals are more set on their habits and adapt the change a little slower, or on rare occasions not at all. I know with shyer types like bp, especially ones with a more shy disposition, anything that throws them off their 'schedule' can be stressful to them to the point that they may stop feeding for awhile or become more hesitant to the things around it. For example, my bp has always been a shy one. I moved his tub to a different location for a few days before moving him back to the original location. He had been a great feeder who would try to get at the rat before I even open the lid. After that move, he became hesitant for a few minutes but eventually took the rat. Nothing changed other than the location within the same room. No foot traffic, no handling and he was left alone since the move to the new spot and back to the old spot.

With that said, I would give your pet some time to settle down and figure things out at his pace. Bp's do well in tubs because they feel secure. Glass tanks may seem too exposed so you may want to cover the sides for now until he feels comfortable. Too much open space may be too much for a shy snake too so lots of fake plants and hides to clutter up the free space can help.

And assuming when you said container you meant your typical sterilite tubs, some snakes do well in it while others don't. Lots of owners uses tubs, myself included, for bp because it works for humidity, cleaning, and other things that work for the bp as well. As long as it has things inside the tub to keep it stimulated (ie changing out cork bark for a brick, etc), it is not a bad thing. Same for glass tanks. As long as its needs are met, including things for it to do if it chooses to, it will work for both owner and snake.

[Sonny1318]

It is probably going to take a little while for it to feel comfortable in its new home. Make sure your husbandry is on point, and provide plenty of clutter (hides, fake plants) and give him a month or two to get accustomed to its new home. That’s a change for him going from tub to tank. Hope this helps.

[Bogertophis]

Welcome Lari...snakes are naturally shy animals that rely on instincts. They hunt for prey using vision (not to identify but to go after motion), scent, & their
heat-sensing pits. They also understand a great deal through their sense of touch. Even captive-bred snakes are "wild" animals that rely on their instincts
for survival, and in the wild, they learn their way around, returning to familiar hiding places to escape predators & adverse temperatures, so when we change
their entire world by re-homing them or changing their enclosures, it understandably stresses them greatly...they do not understand it and it takes time for them
to again feel secure & know their way around. Be patient.

Hides that meet their needs (offer a cozy fit & with only one opening that's "just big enough"), one on the warm size & one on the cool side (so they don't have
to choose between proper temperatures and feeling secure) should help, as can adding other privacy elements as already suggested. (covering 3 sides of the
enclosure, etc)

Remember that in nature, the only thing that normally picks up a snake is a predator about to eat them, so until they get to know us, most snakes aren't thrilled
about being handled...understandably. But with patience and considerate handling they do learn and mostly accept us. One typical sign of stress is that a
snake won't eat, so be happy that you don't have that issue. As you probably know by now, BPs do not "hibernate" so don't believe everything the former owner
said.

[Lari]

Hey guys, thanks everyone for replying! I put the snake in a new terrarium and decorated it promptly and fed it again so we're good now. It's still a bit apprehensive with the touching, but I see it's used to the habitat by now.

Should I be worried its' skin and body isn't hard to the touch? It's all soft and wobbly, not hard and sturdy like it was before.

[Bogertophis]

...Should I be worried its' skin and body isn't hard to the touch? It's all soft and wobbly, not hard and sturdy like it was before.

Not sure what you mean, can you post pictures?

[Armiyana]

A couple of photos can help us figure out what's up. And something common like a soda can to guage the size and width of the snake as well.

Without seeing photos...to me, Soft and wobbly can be one of two things....

The snake may have been too tense with the occasional handling that you had before. The muscles held tight when out and about. Now even though it shies away, once out it may be more mellow and less alert.

Alternatively... and what seems a bit more likely given the timeline you gave, the snake has only eaten 5 times in 9 months? Sounds like the snake is now loosing weight from being underfed. The skin may be a bit looser without the muscle and fat that it had prior to last year.
Every snake is different with its habits. I would consider offering an appropriate sized meal every 7-14 days. Some may eat every week like clockwork. Others can be a little less consistent.

I'm glad the noodle is gonna be with you and that you are looking into improving the quality of life this one has!

[Armiyana]

Also, adding in.... don't feel like this is your fault! The info the prior owner left you with was flawed. So at some point in the 8 months you were 'babysitting' the snake could have been wanting for another couple of meals.

However...Even the healthiest ball pythons will sometimes decide to fast for a few months without warning. So the occasional food strike and weight loss is not unheard of. This may have been something to trigger the previous owner to say the snake was hibernating.

[Lari]

Hi everyone and thank you so so much for your replies and advice.
The snake is definitely doing better after a month of acclimating in the new terrarium. He's been curious and active and less apprehensive during handling, although we do keep the handling at a minimum. We barely ever take him out of the terrarium at this point, and here and there we touch him inside the terrarium just to see if he's warm enough.

I managed to snap a few pics finally when we were changing the heating in the terrarium yesterday - we cleared out everything on a towel so I took a ton of pics, here are a few of them - the first one addresses my worries the most, how the skin stretches over my hands instead of being nice and firm.






And here's one just for the awwws, I think this pic is supercute

[Lari]

Here's a pic from nine months ago when he was with me for just a month.