BP won’t eat after shed

[wickedserpent]

My ball python hasn’t eaten in about a month. He finally shed, it wasn’t a very good shed though. It’s been 2 days since the shed and he didn’t eat. Should I be worried? I know it’s normal for ball pythons to fast but he’s never not eaten after shedding. He’s normally a pretty good eater and his husbandry is the same as it’s always been(I’ve had him for a year in March).

[dakski]

My ball python hasn’t eaten in about a month. He finally shed, it wasn’t a very good shed though. It’s been 2 days since the shed and he didn’t eat. Should I be worried? I know it’s normal for ball pythons to fast but he’s never not eaten after shedding. He’s normally a pretty good eater and his husbandry is the same as it’s always been(I’ve had him for a year in March).

Yes, normal for BP's to fast. If you've had him for a year, he should be fine, if healthy otherwise, not eating for a lot more than a month.

Why wasn't it a good shed?

What's humidity?

How much does he weigh? How old is he?

What's the rest of the husbandry like? Temps (hot side, cool side, ambient) and how are they created/maintained, and how are they regulated?

What does he eat and how often?

What size and type of enclosure is he in?

Thank you in advance. All this info would be helpful.

[wickedserpent]

Yes, normal for BP's to fast. If you've had him for a year, he should be fine, if healthy otherwise, not eating for a lot more than a month.

Why wasn't it a good shed?

What's humidity?

How much does he weigh? How old is he?

What's the rest of the husbandry like? Temps (hot side, cool side, ambient) and how are they created/maintained, and how are they regulated?

What does he eat and how often?

What size and type of enclosure is he in?

Thank you in advance. All this info would be helpful.

He is in a 40gal. tank with a heat pad and thermostat set to 90. I have all the sides and top of tank covered. The warm side stays between 88-91 and the cool side 79-82, I use a red 100w lamp to help with ambient temp since I am using a tank for right now. I use a repti fogger to help with humidity which stays between 40%-60%. I like to bump up the humidity to 70% normally during sheds but this shed crept up on me and did not have the humidity up too high which is why I think the shed went badly. He has shed for a me a total of probably 8(?) times and they have all been good solid sheds. I am not exactly sure of the weight or exact age. I would say he is about a little over a foot long(if that helps) and eats medium sized rats every Tuesday. I think I covered everything you asked for!

[dakski]

He is in a 40gal. tank with a heat pad and thermostat set to 90. I have all the sides and top of tank covered. The warm side stays between 88-91 and the cool side 79-82, I use a red 100w lamp to help with ambient temp since I am using a tank for right now. I use a repti fogger to help with humidity which stays between 40%-60%. I like to bump up the humidity to 70% normally during sheds but this shed crept up on me and did not have the humidity up too high which is why I think the shed went badly. He has shed for a me a total of probably 8(?) times and they have all been good solid sheds. I am not exactly sure of the weight or exact age. I would say he is about a little over a foot long(if that helps) and eats medium sized rats every Tuesday. I think I covered everything you asked for!

Thank you for all the information.

A couple of things.

1. You should check the temps with a temp gun. If you do not have one, you should get one. If the temps are checked with a temp gun, awesome, however, they likely vary when the repti-fogger runs. They likely drop. Is it on hot side or cool side? Either way, I know you are working with a glass tank and you know it's not ideal, but think about upgrading when you can for better humidity control.

In the meantime, if temps are what you say and consistent, that sounds good.

2. 40% is too low for a BP in terms of humidity. You should have 50-60%, more on the high end, all the time. Raising it in shed to 65-70% makes sense.

So not surprised about the poor shed.

3. He has to be way more than a foot, especially if he's eating medium rats (90-140G or so).

Please get a scale so you know you are feeding appropriate size meals. Male BP's, unless very large, can probably eat small rats their whole adult lives.

If you are feeding medium, and he's a normal size male, that's a big meal. He may be full and/or irritated from his poor shed, or just doing a fast, which is common for mature BP's, especially males.

Re-take temps with the repti fogger running, check size of your BP and your food items, and do not offer food for about two weeks. Also try to get humidity up in other ways, if possible (different substrate for example), or consider a better enclosure as soon as you can.

[wickedserpent]

Thank you for all the information.

A couple of things.

1. You should check the temps with a temp gun. If you do not have one, you should get one. If the temps are checked with a temp gun, awesome, however, they likely vary when the repti-fogger runs. They likely drop. Is it on hot side or cool side? Either way, I know you are working with a glass tank and you know it's not ideal, but think about upgrading when you can for better humidity control.

In the meantime, if temps are what you say and consistent, that sounds good.

2. 40% is too low for a BP in terms of humidity. You should have 50-60%, more on the high end, all the time. Raising it in shed to 65-70% makes sense.

So not surprised about the poor shed.

3. He has to be way more than a foot, especially if he's eating medium rats (90-140G or so).

Please get a scale so you know you are feeding appropriate size meals. Male BP's, unless very large, can probably eat small rats their whole adult lives.

If you are feeding medium, and he's a normal size male, that's a big meal. He may be full and/or irritated from his poor shed, or just doing a fast, which is common for mature BP's, especially males.

Re-take temps with the repti fogger running, check size of your BP and your food items, and do not offer food for about two weeks. Also try to get humidity up in other ways, if possible (different substrate for example), or consider a better enclosure as soon as you can.

thank you for the info! I never thought about the medium rat being too big since I’ve read that the meal should be the same width as the thickest part of the snakes girth or bigger. I defiantly plan to get a rack system by the end of this year and plan on getting a temp gun and scale soon as well. So a small rat every other week should be plenty for him then? Thanks again for all the info! Also for substrate I use coconut fiber on top of a layer of paper towels. Would it help if use warm water in the repti fogger instead of room temp?

[dakski]

thank you for the info! I never thought about the medium rat being too big since I’ve read that the meal should be the same width as the thickest part of the snakes girth or bigger. I defiantly plan to get a rack system by the end of this year and plan on getting a temp gun and scale soon as well. So a small rat every other week should be plenty for him then? Thanks again for all the info! Also for substrate I use coconut fiber on top of a layer of paper towels. Would it help if use warm water in the repti fogger instead of room temp?

Get a temp gun ASAP. The thermostat will almost always be off, even if the probe(s) are placed properly.

If it reads 90, it could much hotter in the tank.

You get them on amazon.com, or home depot, etc. You will also have to calibrate it. They are usually off a degree or so, or more, depending on brand and room temp and how close you are to the substrate.

If you hit your house thermostat, or a reliable thermometer, with the temp gun, you will be able to adjust reliably. For example, if the thermostat/thermometer reads 70F, and the temp gun reads, 71F, you will adjust temps down 1 degree when you get a reading at the same distance. You will have to do this until you know the temp gun well, room temps are consistent, and/or temps are completely dialed in.

Get your temps figured out ASAP.

Not sure what to do for humidity for now. Filling the repti-fogger with warm water won't help because it will only be hot for a little while, then will drop to room temp.

Maybe others can chime on on what substrate you are using and how to wet it/dampen it. I rely on a proper enclosure for humidity and temps and use paper substrate for cleanliness.

I cannot advise accurately on size of rat unless I have a weight of your snake.

However, I would not be feeding a medium rat weekly, especially to a male, unless he's huge.

My female BP, at 1600G, eats a medium rat every two weeks, and she also fasts every winter. They say a medium rat is fine for BP's up to 4000G.

Males rarely need medium rats, as stated before.

Try to get a temp gun and make sure temps are correct and safe. Then address the humidity issue. Get a scale and users here can more accurately tell you what to feed.

Also, are you feeding live or frozen thawed (F/T)?

[CALM Pythons]

My ball python hasn’t eaten in about a month. He finally shed, it wasn’t a very good shed though. It’s been 2 days since the shed and he didn’t eat. Should I be worried? I know it’s normal for ball pythons to fast but he’s never not eaten after shedding. He’s normally a pretty good eater and his husbandry is the same as it’s always been(I’ve had him for a year in March).

You answered your own question when you said you know its normal for Balls to fast. Its also a Male & Winter so even more so.. What your feeding leads me to believe thats whats going on. Fewer feeding of a appropriate size will possibly keep steady feed schedule and thats still not a guarantee. I know i read you had him for a year but how old is he if your feeding that big of a Rat which is a Adult meal (3/4/5 years old)? Most adult balls would only take a Med at most. These are small Pythons not large ones and it in fact makes them go off feed for months.
( just read in another reply he is a Foot Long?? Theres no way. Most Hatchling are a foot in length and they certainly dont eat Med Rats.)
Where do people get there Care info!!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wickedserpent]

You answered your own question when you said you know its normal for Balls to fast. Its also a Male & Winter so even more so.. What your feeding leads me to believe thats whats going on. Fewer feeding of a appropriate size will possibly keep steady feed schedule and thats still not a guarantee. I know i read you had him for a year but how old is he if your feeding that big of a Rat which is a Adult meal (3/4/5 years old)? Most adult balls would only take a Med at most. These are small Pythons not large ones and it in fact makes them go off feed for months.
( just read in another reply he is a Foot Long?? Theres no way. Most Hatchling are a foot in length and they certainly dont eat Med Rats.)
Where do people get there Care info!!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok there is no way he’s over 2 feet, I haven’t measured him yet because he is a very good eater and a beautifully healthy snake and I don’t feel it necessary atm. Also I’d say he’s probably about 2 years old, I got him from snakes at sundown and they did not provide any information on how old he is. I think my question was answered by dakski, he is most likely full because he ate 3 medium rats 3 weeks in a row before going into shed. All I simply wanted to know is if it’s normal for a snake to not eat after a shed because I know they usually get pretty hungry after wards and he’s always eaten after every shed.. I have done plenty of research on caring for ball pythons before even looking into purchasing one, i am pretty confident in my abilities to care for my snake, like I said before all I simply wanted to know is if anyone else’s snake has ever not eaten after a shed. I will be feeding him smaller rats from now on. Thank you for your concern and input it is greatly appreciated. ��