Fish?

[candidecoating]

My BP has a beautiful viv, with 1/3 of the land area being filtered water. In that water I have 8 fish (or I did last Thursday when I brought home 3). They are all community non-aggressive fish, Mollies, Platies, Tetras. One disappeared a few days ago and another yesterday.

There is no...evidence of the fish being attacked, jumping out of the water to their death, being sucked into the filter, etc. None of the fish seem large enough to have eaten the fish that are missing and smaller fish have managed to survive thus far.

So my question is, is Slide eating these fish? I've seen him hovering his head over the water.

[jason_ladouceur]

Although there are many species of snakes that can and do eat fish I am not aware of any accounts of ball pythons being one of them. That being said a fish eating ball although odd, I don’t think would be beyond the realm of possibilities, they are predators after all and lots of different types of snakes take prey in captivity that they might not eat in the wild (milks, kings, corals just to name a few). Maybe it’s time for slide to get a “nanny cam”. If he’s really eating the fish that’s something I would really like to see

[TrpnBils]

What's the substrate in the water area? Our tentacled snakes get fed live fish and if they die, they decompose really quickly and become "part of" the gravel substrate on the bottom if we happen to miss one or two when we're doing our daily cleaning.

[LOSTCOAST_BALLZ]

ya post pics that sounds awesome

[smd58]

If a fish passes away in a tank and you dont find it, it could have been eaten by the others. Dosn't matter the type, fish will eat other fish. I see it everyday at work.

[candidecoating]

I have gravel and large rocks on the bottom of the tank, and I look at it everyday. If I fish died, there's no way it was dead more than a day without me seeing it. Plus, if that's it, what is killing them initially?! I mean we're talking like 2 inchx3/4 inch fish here roughly...

I did just buy a video camera...maybe I should set it up, that seems like the only way I'm going to know for sure what is going on. LoL

[WingedWolfPsion]

It sounds like a beautiful viv--just make sure that the land area is completely dry, and never damp, as damp substrate isn't good for ball pythons (it tends to lead to blister disease and skin infections).

As for the fish--I'm really guessing the others ate the missing fish after they died, but as others have said, if the ball python is eating them, that is likely a discovery new to science, and I'd love to see it.

[smd58]

I have gravel and large rocks on the bottom of the tank, and I look at it everyday. If I fish died, there's no way it was dead more than a day without me seeing it. Plus, if that's it, what is killing them initially?! I mean we're talking like 2 inchx3/4 inch fish here roughly...

I did just buy a video camera...maybe I should set it up, that seems like the only way I'm going to know for sure what is going on. LoL

Fish are also dependent on a good enverment, the most commom problem with fish dieing is water quality. Bad water can kill a fish in hours to days. Take some water to a fish store and have it tasted. Most of the time its free.

[Austin C]

Is the water heated? Mollies, platies, etc are tropical fish and require heated water. If the water is just room temp the fish will die. And yes, once the fish die, the others will eat the dead ones

[TheSnakeEye]

Pics of said enclosure!!