Hello everyone, first post here. After finishing seems it was longer than I expected but wanted to give a detailed explanation about the situation so please bear with me and thanks in advance for taking the time to read!
I'm having an issue with my new 4 month old pastel ball python not wanting to eat. I have him in a 30cm by 25cm by 16cm tall tub with one hide on the hot end and a water dish on the cold end. As far as humidity goes, I'm from Costa Rica and humidity here doesn't go lower than 60% and inside the tub is between 60%-75% mesured by an exoterra analog hygrometer. Temp on hot end is 30-31°C I'm mesuring with a zoomed infrarred thermometer and newspaper for bedding. I got him november 29 and was told by the breeder he had eaten exactly a week before that day so to wait two days and offer food. I offered him a f/t weaned mouse last saturday whixh was 3 days after but he had no interest whatsoever in it. Had more interest in climbing up my hand to get out than to eat the mouse. He was very active which I took as a sign of hunger but seemed he was not used to his enclosure yet so I decided to give him time. I gave him the whole week with no handling or anythong other than providing water. He started using his hide more during the day and exploring on nights although he seems to always be afraid since his breathing is heavy and fast, even shaking sometimes by his breathing. He seemed calmer for the last few days, spending more time in his hide which was a good sign as I thought. Tried today with a live weaned this time and no luck. At first I just drooped the mouse in but after 15 min he didn't come out his hide so I took it off. When he saw the mouse at first he was terrified the breathing was even heavier, he was almost jumping with his breathing. Then he calmed down and he did go an smell it a couple of times but as soon as the mouse moved or turned to him he would get away. After an hour and a half of supervising I took the mouse out and check for RI sings but didn't have any. No bubble or mucus on lips or sides when pilling down on them and inside looks great as well, light pink color and no mucus or bubbles so as far as health he's great. He was veri active when i chose him and no signs of dehydration or anything. Was just a little bit thinner and smaller than his normal brothers but other than that just great. He's 72.6g and haven't measured him
He's not my first snake. I have a 5 months old aberrant BCI which I have had for a month and a half now from the same breeder and he's doing great. Ate the very next day he came and every week ever since other than a week he was in shed and did shed perfectly
I don't know what could be wrong with the python or my set up as for what I have researched and read everything seems on point. Even now he's chilling in his hide which i put back since he didn't eat.
I have done lots of research both for months before getting any snake and since I got them as well and my research was focused on ball pythons as it was what I wanted at first. I did have one before the boa but it died since it had some health issues that for my inexperience I didn't notixe when i got him and after fighting for over a month and even resurrecting her once she didn't make it. Then I got the boa as it was what was available at the time (snakes are very hard to legally acquire here for pets due to laws and regulations, only one legal breeder in the country) and took a preventine reptile medicine course to be better prepeared to tace care of them
Any Ideas on what could be wrong or what I could do to get him to eat? Any input will be greatly appreciated!
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