Breaking The Habit

[SatanicIntention]

Why would you leave a live prey item in the snake's enclosure for days? Overnight max... Anymore and you're just going to stress the snake out and likely kill the mouse/rat pup via dehydration/starvation.

The OPs set ups are not correct. Ball Pythons don't eat when their environments are not up to par, be it temperatures, humidity, hides, too much exposure, too much room activity, etc. Until the OP decides on his own that the snakes' enclosures are incorrect, the snakes will suffer until then.

[cinderbird]

Hissy's cage is correct when it comes to temp, hides, humidity, etc and Oakley is currently in quarantine due to an injury of unknown origin. Oakley will be downgraded to a 10 gallon aquarium setup similar to Hissy's to help regulate temperatures.

people want to help you here. in order for them to do that, you need to give exact information. EXACT numbers on cool and warm side temps, exact humidity, how long you have had them, any other information that people are asking for, give. It is to help you and your snakes.

leaving in a rat pup or a crawler wont hurt your snake. from waht i understand, crawlers teeth have not emerged, and therefor pose no threat in that way to your animals.

PLEASE refer to the caresheets on this site for accurite information on enclosure set ups.

[Little B-Py]

I feed rats they are easier for me to breed. I would try a rat chub. A big rat chub is about the same size as a mouse and it want hurt your snake.

I am glad you made this post. In order for us to help you, you really have to give us a whole bunch of info. Trust me. If you put in the time and effort to give us every last detail you can think of, we as a community will help you fix this. Here are some starter questions. Please answer all these AND whatever other info you can think of.


1 How long have you had these snakes?
2 are they kept together in the same tank?
3 Where did you get your snakes from?
4 How old / big are your snakes?
5 What is your setup / temps / hides / substrate / way of measuring temp and humidity / humidity % / type, size of enclosure
6 What exact steps did you take before resorting to assist feeding?
7 how often are you feeding?
8 What exactly are you feeding, and what is your procedure when feeding (before trying to assist feed)
9 How much are you handling the snakes?
10 When is the last time they shed? How did that shed go?

I know it will take some time to answer all these quesitons, but answer in as much detail as possible, and be willing to hear the replies. I promise you we can turn your snakes around.


Mike

1. Oakley since around mid November and Hissy around the end of November.
2. They are kept in separate tanks, Oakley in a 40 breeder (I know too big but I plan to downgrade) and Hissy in a 10 gallon aquarium.
3. I received Oakley from a friend who could no longer keep him and Hissy from Emerald Bay, a reputable source that is local, they do a lot of business with famous people and athletes.
4. Not sure how old, I suspect Hissy is slightly older because she is a few inches longer. They are both fairly small I am not sure about exact age or weight. But they are a bit larger than the snake on this thread.
5.Oakley, (currently in quarantine) before the incident 40 breeder, coconut bark, hide, water dish, and some foliage. 95 hot, 65 cold. I have an accurite thermometer for each cage measuring hot w/probe on bottom glass. 100% humidity.
Hissy 10 gallon, coconut bark, small hide, water dish, log hide, foliage. 95 hot 70 cold. 100% humidity.
6. I have always fed f/t and I dangled the mouse in front of them for about 5 minutes with no reaction at all.
7. I feed them about 7 days apart
8. I feed them medium f/t mice, resort back to 6.
9. I handle Oakley almost every day but mainly because of placing neosporin on his injury. Hissy once every few days.
10. Oakley must have been this past Saturday or Sunday and it was a full shed, Hissy has been about 3 or 4 weeks and hers was complete, too.

I am going to try the tubs idea to get them to eat and maybe have them as their permanent homes depending on how it turns out. I guess I'm slightly stubborn because I really enjoy the look of the glass aquariums. I'm assuming I would need to build a small rack system to house both of them on it at once.

[Purrrfect9]

65 and 70 degrees is too low for ball pythons. is there any way that you could bump up their cool end to 75-80? maybe a small room heater or something? Have your snakes ever taken frozen/thawed from you, or eaten for you yet (on their own)? If not, I would try live just to get them started. Assist feeding/force feeding is 100 times more stressful and potentially more dangerous for BP's than feeding appropriate sized live mice/rats will ever be. It's all about being responsible and supervising live feedings every time, and not being afraid to jump in and put something in the rodent's mouth if he starts chewing.

[771subliminal]

1. Oakley since around mid November and Hissy around the end of November.
2. They are kept in separate tanks, Oakley in a 40 breeder (I know too big but I plan to downgrade) and Hissy in a 10 gallon aquarium.
3. I received Oakley from a friend who could no longer keep him and Hissy from Emerald Bay, a reputable source that is local, they do a lot of business with famous people and athletes.
4. Not sure how old, I suspect Hissy is slightly older because she is a few inches longer. They are both fairly small I am not sure about exact age or weight. But they are a bit larger than the snake on this thread.
5.Oakley, (currently in quarantine) before the incident 40 breeder, coconut bark, hide, water dish, and some foliage. 95 hot, 65 cold. I have an accurite thermometer for each cage measuring hot w/probe on bottom glass. 100% humidity.
Hissy 10 gallon, coconut bark, small hide, water dish, log hide, foliage. 95 hot 70 cold. 100% humidity.
6. I have always fed f/t and I dangled the mouse in front of them for about 5 minutes with no reaction at all.
7. I feed them about 7 days apart
8. I feed them medium f/t mice, resort back to 6.
9. I handle Oakley almost every day but mainly because of placing neosporin on his injury. Hissy once every few days.
10. Oakley must have been this past Saturday or Sunday and it was a full shed, Hissy has been about 3 or 4 weeks and hers was complete, too.

I am going to try the tubs idea to get them to eat and maybe have them as their permanent homes depending on how it turns out. I guess I'm slightly stubborn because I really enjoy the look of the glass aquariums. I'm assuming I would need to build a small rack system to house both of them on it at once.

drop your humidity down to 50-60% temps 92 and 80-83 ball up a bunch of news paper and throw it in your big tank to take up alot of that extra space for now. (i got a big tank too i just keep it filled) dont touch your balls for a week then get a live weanling mouse and throw it in the tank and leave them alone. just cause your bp didnt eat a mouse after 5 min dont mean anything my one used to make me hold that thing for 15-20 min like it was some sort of game, she likes to stalk her prey (she eats live now) im missing something but someone will catch it

oh and stop force feeding they can go sometime with out eating my one girl hasnt ate since oct

[Little B-Py]

since ya'll are much wiser than i am i'm gonna switch them to the tubs. 10 qt? new uth? what about substatre? i would like something more than paper. would it be ok to go back to coconut bark?

[SatanicIntention]

There's no need to. It would create too much humidity. Try aspen or cypress mulch.

I use newspaper and it's much easier to clean. Plus, when you clean, you KNOW it's clean. There's no questioning if there's urine or a BM hiding somewhere.

[Little B-Py]

well I may have to just jack some Brawny from my mother in law then. lol. I guess I could go with the paper so they too can see how lousy the world is. lol.

I am assuming that everything else was correct? How long, theoretically, would it be before they grow out of the 10 qt? Also, what style am I looking for as in long, deep?

[Lateralus_Love]

Wowwww 100% humidity is WAY too much! That much humidity can actually be extremely harmful to their health. 50%-60% for usual humidity, and 70% during shed. You never wanna go more than 80%. I'd say that's probably one of the biggest reasons they're not eating. And it's way too cold. Fix the cool side, get the humidity down, and I bet you they'll start eating in a few weeks if you leave them alone. Plus Oakley's probably been stressed from the very beginning because of that gigantic tank, which is pushing it even if he was an adult.

You should've tried giving them live before assist-feeding. Supervised live feeding is perfectly fine. You do not want to leave a mouse/rat in overnight. All of my snakes accept my adult male are great feeders. I usually give him about half an hour before I take the rat out. If they don't eat, wait until next week. It won't hurt the snakes to go without food for a little while.

[Little B-Py]

like I said i'm gonna try and go to walmart within the next few days and get them tubs. I can get the rest on trade in credit at the pet store I go to because I am bringing some stuff back. I can also get some spare wood together and make thema rack for our room.