blood python problems

[eightleggedfreak]

I've had a Blood Python for a few months and it's a constant flow of issues. Bad sheds are an issue which I don't understand because my ambient humidity is around 50 to 60% and my other snakes don't have problems. I keep her in a rack where the warm side is 86 to 93 degrees and the cool side is 5 to 7 degrees less. Water dish is on the warm side to bump humidity.


Another problem was she wouldn't defecate. Finally I soaked her in warm water which loosened things up. But since that happened she won't eat. And it's not for lack of trying, I offer her rats weekly, just hoping that she'll perk up and start pounding them again. But she's definitely thin, and I really don't want to lose her.

[2kdime]

First off, humidity is too low, 60-70% at all times.

When they come out of blue and are getting ready to shed, DUMP the water bowl and flood the cage and you should get a perfect shed. Its worked for me on all my animals, big to small every time.

Secondly, temps are too high, for now, you need an ambient temp of 80-82 with NO HOT SPOT. When these snakes get too warm they wont eat.

They also arent known to defecate very often, its just one of their things. There are several ideas as to why, but thats another topic. For what its worth, mine are currently going every 3 to 6 months.

I will say however that those too high of temps and too low of humidity are going to cause defecation issues, as well as possibly cause Respiratory issues such as infections.

Also, give FRESH water every other day. Dont just top the water bowl off with more.

You need to let us know how old/big the snake is...

And

What its housed in....

And we can make some suggestions from there.

[eightleggedfreak]

Shes about 2 1/2 feet long. I keep her in a rack system which I bought last year to house my Ball Pythons. Don't know the brand, I didn't buy it new. It's black melamine, quite heavy and uses heat cable instead of flexwat.

I change and clean all the water bowls twice a week. But I'll start doing it every other day like you said. Should I keep her in the rack (at lower temps) or look to moving her into something else?

[eightleggedfreak]

What about bedding? I used to use newspaper but I thought that might have been causing an issue with humidity so I switched to aspen.

[2kdime]

Should be fine in the rack, depending on how large it is.

How big are the tubs?

Though I have put some smaller animals in seemingly larger tubs, and have been ok. BUT, every other aspect of their husbandry was spot on.

You dont need to clean her bowl, just take it to the sink and dump it, rinse it out, and fill it with fresh water. Giving these snakes fresh water is really beneficial. They wont drink old water, and we all know how important keeping hydrated is.

If you cant lower the temps for that animal in that rack to the 80-82 ambient temps, NO HIGHER, and get the hot spot down to NO HIGHER than 85 or 86, then you need to do what it takes to get her into an environment such as that. Whether that be lowering your temps, or moving her to another cage/rack. I personally would ditch the hot spot for now....

These snakes just dont like warmer temps. I have had my husbandry spot on before, and had the temps rise up a bit too high and they didnt feed.

How big of rats are you offering?

[2kdime]

Do wash the bowls out once a week in your dishwasher though, or however you do it.

They just dont need cleaned entirely between water changes, just dumped, rinsed, and fresh water given.

[Tim Mead]

As Trevor said,
and newspaper is fine,its all we use and get good sheds..These snakes are heavy,triangular in shape with a prominant back bone and wet newpaper aids in the shedding process..Like ball pythons they also are a bit timid and often perfer dead/ f/t food left in the enclosure overnite..

[2kdime]

Stick with the newspaper

What about bedding? I used to use newspaper but I thought that might have been causing an issue with humidity so I switched to aspen.

[eightleggedfreak]

thanks a lot. I'm going to move her to the top bin in the rack so I can remove the heat cable in that slot. I give her small rats, I have a f/t rat thawing out for her right now.

[eightleggedfreak]

fed her a live rat today, she killed it but doesn't seem to be interested in eating it. I left her alone with it and I'll check on her later.