Hi, I am new to the forums and I found this website through google search.

I am very worried about my ball python, I just can't seem to get their temperatures or vivariums right. They are either always too small or too big, I have changed his vivarium from plastic tubs to wooden to glass and back to wood.

I have no idea what the best type of vivarium is for snakes, some people say wood, some people say glass and others just keep them in plastic tubs. There is so much information out there that it's really confusing me.

Call me a bad owner, but literally I have tried and tried and it's always just seems to be one god damn problem after another. I have spent over 300euros on friggen bulbs, vivarium sizes, different food, heat mats, hides...etc

My problem is this

Recently I have moved my male 3 and a half foot ball python to his wooden vivarium. The vivarium size is 4feet long, 2feet wide and 1 foot heigh.
As a substrate I am using coconut shavings mixed with spangum moss and wood chippings. He has two hides one of the warm side and one of the cool side.

Thing is, he NEVER uses the hides. All he does is just ball up in a corner on the warm side... and the warm side is not even friggen warm. he has not eaten in about 3weeks, and I have tried various tricks to get him to eat like smearing the rat pup with rat blood, exposing the brain, different colors like brown and black, the only thing I haven't tried is live feeding but with the thawed prekilled rats he really was not interested in them. I also tried feeding him at night, leaving him alone for like an hour with it and just nothing.

I have a 100W ceramic heat emitter and it is only about 12-15inches above the floor, and yes it is guarded. The vivarium still feels cold to the touch and so does the snake and the substrate. He avoids the heat mat all together and I have touched it, it isn't really THAT hot to make him avoid it.

I am also worried about his health, I have had him for about a month and he has not shed once, whenever I handle him I feel a couple of loose scales here and there.

I really thought I had everything right but clearly there is something wrong and I have no idea what it is I am doing. Clearly I am a bad owner and I think I am going to sell him so some one who does know what the hell they are doing cause clearly I don't. No matter how much research and books I read and videos I watch, there is always something wrong. No one seems to help me what so ever and I am really stressed out to the point where I just want to destroy everything.

Below is a picture of the snake's vivarium and his enclosure how it's set up. Sorry it isn't a realistic picture of his actual viv, currently I do not have a camera but this is how it is set up.