My Son Dropped My New Ball Python!

[Bogertophis]

I am aware and I'm sure the op does wish that, I certainly do. I was just expressing a hope that it stops. That's what I meant by changing the channel. Nothing negative toward the OP or anybody else. I believe you misinterpreted my comment. I don't like reading about dropped snakes. Obviously we are here to help because of we weren't we would have given up a long time ago with the endless revolving door of noob questions.

Thanks- I pretty much assumed that's what you meant, I just wanted to make sure that the OP didn't get the wrong idea or feel their questions were unwelcome.

[bow313]

Even with the almost 30 yrs experience I have handling snakes, if I'm handling little babies I will handle them seated on the floor because you never know when they will startle. It really depends what kind of enclosure you have whether that's really possible while getting them out, but at least afterwards, it's a good practice.

Agree that you shouldn't handle them the day before (or 2 days after) feeding, and the first month or two when you first get them. You really did get lucky with your first. I have a routine on feeding day where I make sure any check-up, misting, water filling is early in the morning, so that by the time I try and feed in the evening, they have calmed down from whatever stress I caused them. Colubrids typically are less fussy about it but there are even exceptions there where it's best not to mess with them prior to feeding (my hognose comes to mind).

Hopefully he will be just fine. I'd watch for any serious swelling and get him to the vet if it gets bad, a little will probably heal on its own though.

Thank you! This makes me feel a lost better. I appreciate the advice and the encouraging words.

[bow313]

Hi everyone, I have an update and a few questions. Hi mouth was fine the next day. I think it was just out of alignment from the fall but no behavior changes. I have attempted to handle him since the fall. I have tried to feed him on several occasions but he isn't eating frozen/thawed at all. I tied to feed him on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday last week. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since he eat. The last time he eat was right before the breeder shipped him to me. I am worried since it has been so long. I contacted a local mice/rat breeder since non of the local pet stores in my area sale any live mice or rats. Since yesterday, was the last time I tried to feed him froze thawed, when should I attempt to feed him a live mouse? Do you think that he is still stressed from the fall. The other ball python that was shipped with him, eat twice last week with no issues. When I originally opened the box the one that eat crawled out the bag he was in but the one that hasn't eaten as balled up in a ball for 2 hours straight when I first put him in his tub.

[Bogertophis]

Hi everyone, I have an update and a few questions. Hi mouth was fine the next day. I think it was just out of alignment from the fall but no behavior changes. I have attempted to handle him since the fall. I have tried to feed him on several occasions but he isn't eating frozen/thawed at all. I tied to feed him on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday last week. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since he eat. The last time he eat was right before the breeder shipped him to me. I am worried since it has been so long. I contacted a local mice/rat breeder since non of the local pet stores in my area sale any live mice or rats. Since yesterday, was the last time I tried to feed him froze thawed, when should I attempt to feed him a live mouse? Do you think that he is still stressed from the fall. The other ball python that was shipped with him, eat twice last week with no issues. When I originally opened the box the one that eat crawled out the bag he was in but the one that hasn't eaten as balled up in a ball for 2 hours straight when I first put him in his tub.

Glad that his mouth looks okay now. Also glad you haven't been handling him since the fall, he may still be sore internally.

So he's NEVER fed for you, is that right? What did the breeder feed him? You should first be offering the same exact prey (size & type- rats or mice).

One thing you're doing wrong is offering TOO often. Don't offer more than once a week, please, as that adds stress too, making him LESS likely to eat.

Then, if a snake refuses once a week for a couple times, you might lengthen the time between offerings to every 10-14 days. I realize that's a long time for a hatchling though & not ideal-

The thing is- we aren't seeing the snake- & we cannot fully diagnose issues online- only try to help you with husbandry issues. Have you double checked ALL his "husbandry"? (what are the hi & low temps in his home? Hides? Humidity? Location of enclosure relative to other home activities- ie. is he in a quiet, unbothered location?)

Are you only offering while he's in his regular enclosure? I hope so- as moving a snake to a side container often results in non-feeding. Be more specific as to HOW you offer him food- tongs? drop feed? time of day? room lighting? It may be time to either try a small live feeder of the right type rodent, OR a vet check (& maybe x-ray for internal problems- broken bones?).

If you need to find a qualified herp vet, this may help: https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

Good luck, & please keep us updated.

QUICK AFTERTHOUGHT: I just double-checked how long it's been since you got this snake. We often advise not to offer food for at least a week or two from the date of their arrival, due to the stress of shipping/new home, AND to avoid meal refusals. The handling & fall surely made this worse (harder for him to settle in) but it hasn't been an outrageous amount of time since he last ate for the breeder- that was around the 10th from what I can tell in your first post???

But DO make sure you find out WHAT the breeder was feeding him! Mice or rat, what age/size, live or fresh-killed or f/t? And by tongs or drop-fed if dead prey? Best results come from doing what the snake has learned to expect from prey.

[bow313]

Glad that his mouth looks okay now. Also glad you haven't been handling him since the fall, he may still be sore internally.

So he's NEVER fed for you, is that right? What did the breeder feed him? You should first be offering the same exact prey (size & type- rats or mice).

One thing you're doing wrong is offering TOO often. Don't offer more than once a week, please, as that adds stress too, making him LESS likely to eat.

Then, if a snake refuses once a week for a couple times, you might lengthen the time between offerings to every 10-14 days. I realize that's a long time for a hatchling though & not ideal-

The thing is- we aren't seeing the snake- & we cannot fully diagnose issues online- only try to help you with husbandry issues. Have you double checked ALL his "husbandry"? (what are the hi & low temps in his home? Hides? Humidity? Location of enclosure relative to other home activities- ie. is he in a quiet, unbothered location?)

Are you only offering while he's in his regular enclosure? I hope so- as moving a snake to a side container often results in non-feeding. Be more specific as to HOW you offer him food- tongs? drop feed? time of day? room lighting? It may be time to either try a small live feeder of the right type rodent, OR a vet check (& maybe x-ray for internal problems- broken bones?).

If you need to find a qualified herp vet, this may help: https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

Good luck, & please keep us updated.

QUICK AFTERTHOUGHT: I just double-checked how long it's been since you got this snake. We often advise not to offer food for at least a week or two from the date of their arrival, due to the stress of shipping/new home, AND to avoid meal refusals. The handling & fall surely made this worse (harder for him to settle in) but it hasn't been an outrageous amount of time since he last ate for the breeder- that was around the 10th from what I can tell in your first post???

But DO make sure you find out WHAT the breeder was feeding him! Mice or rat, what age/size, live or fresh-killed or f/t? And by tongs or drop-fed if dead prey? Best results come from doing what the snake has learned to expect from prey.

1) Yes, he has never feed for me. The breeder fed him a small f/t mouse twice before shipping to me. It was around the size of a hopper.
2) I regret offering food as many times as I did. He was very active on Monday last week so I offered him a f/t mouse. Then when the other snake eat on Wednesday, I got excited and that he might eat. And then yesterday when the other snake eat again, I thought, he might eat last night. I was wrong all three times. I'll try to feed him a live mouse on Friday or Sunday this week. It depends on if the place I need to get live mouse from is open on Sunday. If they are only open on Friday, I will have to buy it Friday and then try to feed him so the mouse doesn't sit in my house for 2 days.
3) Hopefully, he will eat this upcoming weekend.
4) He's on paper towel at the moment. His temps on the cool side are 75 - 77 degrees and his temps on the hot side are 90 - 92 degrees. I keep both snakes in my office. I work from home. I don't make a ton of noise when I'm in there and I placed towels over their tubs to block out any light. It's the only place in the house that I can close off from my kids.
5) I only offer food in his tub/bin. I feed all of my ball pythons in their bins/tubs. On Monday, I offered the mouse on tongs and then I left it overnight inside of his hide. Wednesday, I just left it in the opening of his hide. This worked for the other snake. Yesterday, I left it in the opening of his hide. I checked back a few hours later and he was just laying on top of it, with half of his body in the hide and the other half laying on the mouse like a pillow. I grab the mouse with tongs, which he didn't seem to mind and them I offered it to him. He just buried his head under half of his body like he was scared of it. At that point, when I took the mouse back out, he went into his hide. I waited about 30 minutes and then heated it with a blow dryer and then I stuck it in the opening of his hide. This morning he was just crawling around the bin trying to push up the lid but the mouse was still in there. I took the mouse out and threw it away. I changed his water and misted his bin. I haven't bother him since. I will just leave him be for now until Friday or Sunday when I try to feed him the live mouse.
6) Thanks for the link to the vet info.

[Bogertophis]

It's so frustrating when a snake won't eat- believe me, I understand.

The normal "first food" for BPs is a "smallish" mouse hopper. But right now that might be too much for him (in terms of their activity)-it might scare him off a lot! If that was my snake,

I'd try offering a live fuzzy mouse (eyes closed w/ short hair); once a rat or mouse opens their eyes, as with hopper mice, they can & do fight back. If he really was raised on f/t mice, that would likely scare him. OR, if you can find a very small pinky/fuzzy type baby rat (eyes closed), he might take either of those. Neither one poses any risk, & isn't as much as he should be eating per meal, but it's a start, & may tell you what he wants to eat. Also, when a snake (or a sick person, for that matter) doesn't eat for a while, they lose their appetite & in the case of humans, if they didn't have an I.V. in the hospital for nutrition, most would never get well- they'd never feel well enough to eat. Your snake needs to get HIS "energy" back, so a fuzzy rodent will help a great deal if you can get him to eat it. He'll likely decide he likes the "feeling" of food in his tummy. So do your best to make that happen.

If he's in his hide & looking out, like he might eat or be thinking about prey- you can first try offering it by tongs to see if he'll grab it...BUT don't make it seem like the rodent is coming AT him!
That sure wouldn't be normal in the wild- rodents don't volunteer to be dinner, lol. Slightly wiggle it (using tongs) just out of his reach, going "past him" (not "at") to see if he's interested. If he backs up & doesn't follow it, what I'd do is leave it in his home overnight, in a shallow flat-bottom bowl that's heavy enough that it won't tip if he sit's on the side of it watching for a while to get up his courage. I've seen many snakes get up their courage this way- it may take hours or all night though. The scent & body-warmth should attract him- but don't watch, as that might scare & distract him- he needs most to summon up some courage & "be a snake"!

[bow313]

It's so frustrating when a snake won't eat- believe me, I understand.

The normal "first food" for BPs is a "smallish" mouse hopper. But right now that might be too much for him (in terms of their activity)-it might scare him off a lot! If that was my snake,

I'd try offering a live fuzzy mouse (eyes closed w/ short hair); once a rat or mouse opens their eyes, as with hopper mice, they can & do fight back. If he really was raised on f/t mice, that would likely scare him. OR, if you can find a very small pinky/fuzzy type baby rat (eyes closed), he might take either of those. Neither one poses any risk, & isn't as much as he should be eating per meal, but it's a start, & may tell you what he wants to eat. Also, when a snake (or a sick person, for that matter) doesn't eat for a while, they lose their appetite & in the case of humans, if they didn't have an I.V. in the hospital for nutrition, most would never get well- they'd never feel well enough to eat. Your snake needs to get HIS "energy" back, so a fuzzy rodent will help a great deal if you can get him to eat it. He'll likely decide he likes the "feeling" of food in his tummy. So do your best to make that happen.

If he's in his hide & looking out, like he might eat or be thinking about prey- you can first try offering it by tongs to see if he'll grab it...BUT don't make it seem like the rodent is coming AT him!
That sure wouldn't be normal in the wild- rodents don't volunteer to be dinner, lol. Slightly wiggle it (using tongs) just out of his reach, going "past him" (not "at") to see if he's interested. If he backs up & doesn't follow it, what I'd do is leave it in his home overnight, in a shallow flat-bottom bowl that's heavy enough that it won't tip if he sit's on the side of it watching for a while to get up his courage. I've seen many snakes get up their courage this way- it may take hours or all night though. The scent & body-warmth should attract him- but don't watch, as that might scare & distract him- he needs most to summon up some courage & "be a snake"!

Thanks, I'll follow your tips this weekend when I attempt to feed him again.

[Team Slytherin]

Ugh, I'm sorry you had to go through the stress of a dropped snake. They are extremely resilient and, as long as you can't feel anything out of place and he is acting normally, he is probably fine. Both of mine have fallen while climbing and I'm sure it happens in the wild. However, if you have a young snake who has never eaten in your care (5 months now?), he honestly shouldn't really be handled until he is eating. Something is clearly stressing him out and I'm sure you received some good recommendations above. And, to reiterate what has already been said, offering food 3 times in a week is most definitely stressing the animal. If it were me, I would only offer every 7-14 days at this point.