Few questions.

[cweimer4]

I havent had my ball python long but since i got him the first 4 weeks he didnt eat. then the next 6 weeks he ate like a champ. Hes back to not eating again. I feed live and the mouse would sit there and clean him self off like a cat does and my BP literally got an inch from the mouses face but wouldnt strike. He did this about 5 or 6 times. He wouldnt strike at the thing. I finally left the room and he ate. Which is a relief but I didnt see it so he couldve done the same thing numerous more times.

Also he hasnt went number 2 in about 2 weeks. I know they can hold it but thats longer then usual for him. And also to be honest. I cant remember the last time he has shed. He isnt full grown. Im not sure how old he is and i dont have a scale but hes about 2 feet long and has only shed one time since Christmas... Any ideas as to why? Hes just acting differently.

Temps are 81 cool side 89 warm side im trying to get it warmer on the warm side and im trying to get the humidity up its at 48% I have half the screen covered as well.

Might be blowing it out of proportion but worried about my lil guy..

[bsash]

If you have not had it long it may not be comfortable in its new environment yet. Don't get too stressed out yet, ball pythons can go about six months with out eating, if at a proper weight. However, that is highly unrecommended. Just try not to handle the snake often, and offer food every week. You can feed live or frozen/ thawed, yet, you should find out what it was eating previously to you owning it. If you do choose to stick with live just don't leave them unattended for the feeding time, mice and rats can seriously injure a snake if left alone.

[cweimer4]

My mother got him for me for Christmas, the pet store said they were feeding him live. So hes been under our care since about Dec. 22, 2009. I know they can go a long time without feeding so thats not my number once concern. But I am really wondering why hes only shed once since then. Is that normal? I thought it was supposed to be every 4-6 weeks.

[jbean7916]

My little guy wasn't eating either until today so I got him a f/t and put it in his enclosure and covered it and turned off his light and after about an hour I checked and the mouse was gone.

Maybe he's just a little shy

[bsash]

I have never had a ball python that shed every 4-6 weeks unless they were seriously being power fed. Your snake should shed soon though, given the fact it will have to start eating a little bit more. All of my ball pythons that I have had would shed every 2-3 months, as long as they stayed on feed, some will go off feed for the winter due to breeding season, therefor, they will not shed as much due to not growing as much. Granted, snakes will shed whether they eat or not, just not as frequently as a snake on a regular feeding schedule.

When in shed you should bump the humidity up to ensure a good clean shed rather than a stuck shed. Regular humidity should be between 50- 60% and when in shed, I always kept the humidity between 60- 70%.

[cweimer4]

Hmm. now when u say "bump up" the humidity, how can i go about doing that? I have over half the screen covered. A large water dish and aspen bedding. still cant get the damn thing over 50. Like i said its at 48%

[bsash]

You could mist the tank more often or switch to a better substrate that actually holds humidity. No offense, I hate aspen, it always gave me humidity problems. I use eco-earth expandable dirt, you put it in a bucket of water and the dirt will expand to fill a 40 gallon breeder tank. If you do not want to be bothered with expanding it, you could get the loose coconut husk substrate.

You will eventually need to mist any substrate, but with eco-earth or loose coconut husk substrate, you mist it way less than aspen.

[jbean7916]

I LOVE my eco-earth!!! I had problems with my humidity the first week and switched to this and it sits at a fairly constant 55% now. This helps a ton since I spend most of my day misting my silly Mountain Horned Dragons!!!

[cweimer4]

so i went back and checked... i guess he didnt eat. thats 3 weeks straight now

[bsash]

You are not trying to feed the snake every day are you? If so, don't, you could be stressing it and that could be why it is not eating. Only offer food once a week, and try to do it at night, you will most likely be more successful since they are nocturnal. Also, if you wanted, you could pre- kill the mouse/ rat and leave it in the cage over night, I have had success that way as well. If you do not want to pre- kill, then you should make sure the mouse/ rat does not touch the snake while in the cage, it kind of freaks them out, then they usually won't eat.

I know you said where you got the snake from they fed it live, which is fine, but do you know if they were feeding mice or rats? There is a big difference if you are trying to convert over to one or the other, and it is even harder to convert over to frozen thawed.