Please Help, Me and My Baby Ball are Desperate

[JRLongton]

Best of luck with her but you need to get a thermostat. An inexpensive one is called Jumpstart, but there are others.

Without a t-stat you'll be amazed how easy it is for a snake to get burned. Even temps that wouldn't hurt you can injure your animal.

[MissterDog]

On the topic of thermostats, here are some links where you can purchase some! Ideally you'd want to get a proportional thermostat instead of an on/off style one.


Herpstats are top of the line and most recommended. They're more expensive but are well worth it due to their high quality and reliability.

http://www.spyderrobotics.com/index....=index&cPath=1


Vivarium Electronics are also well regarded proportional thermostats.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermostats


Jumpstart is a decent and very affordable On/Off thermostat to get started on. However I would treat it more as a placeholder to save up for a higher quality thermostat like a Herpstat, which has a much longer lifespan.

https://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-Ger.../dp/B000NZZG3S

Good luck!

[Toad37]

I read it, and I’m sure others will chime in. Never a good idea to gently bop a snake on the nose (I wouldn't be hungry if someone smacked my face with pizza)Lightly rub it up against the neck or midsection and see if it takes defensive action like tensing up or pushing back with its coils. Make sure they prey is properly “warmed up”. Of course people are going to mention it’s never a great idea to buy a snake from a chain, You now see why first hand. Also your hot temp is definitely a little high for a juvenile. I just don’t think you should be assist feeding so much. If it takes live to getting going, then that’s what it takes, it’s part of being a snake keeper. Best of luck, hope some of this helped.

Not to contradict any good advice but I have an adult bp and most of the time the only way I can get him to take his food is by booping him in the snoot with it. I dangle it every time in front of him and all he does is sniff it until I very lightly boop him and he strikes it every time. All my other snakes will take it after the "zombie dance" he's the only one who won't. I guess every snake is different.

[pretends2bnormal]

Not to contradict any good advice but I have an adult bp and most of the time the only way I can get him to take his food is by booping him in the snoot with it. I dangle it every time in front of him and all he does is sniff it until I very lightly boop him and he strikes it every time. All my other snakes will take it after the "zombie dance" he's the only one who won't. I guess every snake is different.

This is true, though I think you have an exception to the norm with that one.

Plus most baby snakes I've seen are even less likely to accept it that way than adults as far as ball pythons go, so that can make a difference too.




OP - You will definitely need to get a thermostat ASAP. It is tied for 1st place as the most important piece of equipment for owning a snake along with the enclosure itself.

I've saved this handy-dandy picture for how to set up thermostat probes, so I'll leave that here in case it is confusing.


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[Bogertophis]

Thank you for your advice. That's very interesting about her maybe not registering them as food. It never even crossed my mind. The vet did suggest pinkies because she was so small but as I said, I think she's gotten bigger. My vet is a good guy and specializes in reptiles but I always value a second opinion and understand that the vet isn't always right. I may get her a live fuzzy but that may even be a little smaller than her width. My concern is the mouse hurting her but because I've never had a snake this small, I don't actually know at what age a mouse or rat can start to hurt a snake. Obviously pinkies don't have claws or teeth yet and I don't think fuzzies are very dangerous but if I were to go up to a hopper, is there a chance she could get hurt? Again, thank you for your help. I appreciate it so much.

I will attempt to post photos a little later. (I'm at work right now and don't have access to the photos on my computer.)

FYI, rats or mice with eyes closed DO NOT FIGHT (BITE) BACK...they are safe...virtually living meatballs (sorry). I prefer to feed f/t or fresh killed rodents whenever
possible...but right now, in this instance, it's not possible. You don't want a snake to go so long with too little food that their immune system is suffering...you can &
should switch them later, but first "let them be a snake" (use their instincts to survive) so they don't become sick. It's much easier to keep a snake healthy than to get
them well again. Vets are mostly there for medical help...I prefer to consider them a last resort, as husbandry issues are generally not their strength. I would get a
fuzzy mouse or rat (eyes closed) for this snake 'in a heartbeat'...and don't feel guilty.

Now "hoppers" are a different ballgame...it depends what the seller means by hopper...some mean active larger fuzzies with eyes closed, while others mean eyes open-
risk is still minimal from a hopper with eyes open, but I would avoid that...get the largest mouse with eyes closed that you can.

[Bogertophis]

Not to contradict any good advice but I have an adult bp and most of the time the only way I can get him to take his food is by booping him in the snoot with it. I dangle it every time in front of him and all he does is sniff it until I very lightly boop him and he strikes it every time. All my other snakes will take it after the "zombie dance" he's the only one who won't. I guess every snake is different.

I agree that it's not the first thing to try, as "booping" will turn OFF many snakes (especially timid ones as most BPs are), BUT...there are some snakes that didn't
"read the manual" & for whom this works well. Gotta read (interpret) each snake...they have their own personalities...and do whatever works.

[JodanOrNoDan]

Not to contradict any good advice but I have an adult bp and most of the time the only way I can get him to take his food is by booping him in the snoot with it. I dangle it every time in front of him and all he does is sniff it until I very lightly boop him and he strikes it every time. All my other snakes will take it after the "zombie dance" he's the only one who won't. I guess every snake is different.

Yup. All different. The zombie dance is pretty reliable though. One of my girls will only eat if I bang the rat against the side of the tub. This was a learned behavior and a long story. From her I learned with enough repetition I could get most of them to eat how I want them to eat. I prefer to feed FT without having the rat directly on the paper. So for the snakes that I am going to have around for awhile, they are conditioned to take rats hanging by the tail. For girls that I know I will never sell, this has evolved into getting them to raise up cobra like (I don't recommend this, it is a good way to get bitten but it keeps me on my toes and entertained when I have a lot of animals to feed). The best feeding behavior I have seen is displayed by just one of my girls. I crack her tub open and she will casually come about halfway out take a rat out of the bucket and return to her tub.

[Toad37]

Yup. All different. The zombie dance is pretty reliable though. One of my girls will only eat if I bang the rat against the side of the tub. This was a learned behavior and a long story. From her I learned with enough repetition I could get most of them to eat how I want them to eat. I prefer to feed FT without having the rat directly on the paper. So for the snakes that I am going to have around for awhile, they are conditioned to take rats hanging by the tail. For girls that I know I will never sell, this has evolved into getting them to raise up cobra like (I don't recommend this, it is a good way to get bitten but it keeps me on my toes and entertained when I have a lot of animals to feed). The best feeding behavior I have seen is displayed by just one of my girls. I crack her tub open and she will casually come about halfway out take a rat out of the bucket and return to her tub.

I would loooove to see a video of that!!!

[pretends2bnormal]

Yup. All different. The zombie dance is pretty reliable though. One of my girls will only eat if I bang the rat against the side of the tub. This was a learned behavior and a long story. From her I learned with enough repetition I could get most of them to eat how I want them to eat. I prefer to feed FT without having the rat directly on the paper. So for the snakes that I am going to have around for awhile, they are conditioned to take rats hanging by the tail. For girls that I know I will never sell, this has evolved into getting them to raise up cobra like (I don't recommend this, it is a good way to get bitten but it keeps me on my toes and entertained when I have a lot of animals to feed). The best feeding behavior I have seen is displayed by just one of my girls. I crack her tub open and she will casually come about halfway out take a rat out of the bucket and return to her tub.

I've got a young male right now who did something similar to the bucket thing this week.

I usually crack tubs open enough to feed before I blow dry the rats to get the smell and heat them up, but this boy just popped out and snapped it right out of the tongs "cold" (aka room temp, about 75) before I could heat it at all.

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[JodanOrNoDan]

I would loooove to see a video of that!!!

The bucket one? I'm going to shoot one now that it has become consistent. She did it once like a year ago on her own and I have been reinforcing the behavior ever since. This time a year though, she and most of my other girls are off food and super pregnant. First clutch of the year was laid last week by a very old female that had never laid for me before. I thought she was going to have six eggs tops. She gave me 11 so she kind of made up for her laziness over the last 3 years I have had her. Anyway maybe I will start to make some videos. I have been very hesitant to do so because many of the things I do are not conventional and I don't want to listen to people's "expert" opinions. I am not for the most part talking about people on here, just the youtube world in general. I am now kind of at a point though that I don't care if people don't agree. My snakes are healthy, have "character", and it is looking like I will be well over 200 eggs this year.