Question about my Ball

[jess]

the other day i think 2 days ago.I was just sitting here watching TV and i started to hear this weird ass sound coming from beside me ( where the snake tank is ) i thought i was coming from the heat register but it was my snake (Shadow).. He was making a weird Noise and He was crapping and regurgitating his food from More than a week ago, there was blood in his tank, my man says it came from his mouth.. Does anyone have any idea what the hell is going on with my boy?? Thanks for any advice or info you have..i emailed a mod but no answer back from him yet..

[1nstinct]

What are the Temps in the cage?/Humidity?, How old is he? Is the blood from the regurge or defication? how big was they prey item you feed him? Food from a week ago being regurged probably means your temps are too cold or the food was to big for him, if it is still semi whole. does he have hides?
Tom

[jess]

What are the Temps in the cage?/Humidity?, How old is he? Is the blood from the regurge or defication? how big was they prey item you feed him? Food from a week ago being regurged probably means your temps are too cold or the food was to big for him, if it is still semi whole. does he have hides?
Tom

The temp is around 70 and the humidity is around 85?, that's just a range since I'm not right beside him at the moment. His temp Never! Changes at all. He's about 5 years, The blood was from the regurge, the rat was a medium rat, the same size he always eats with no problem, the regurge wasn't smie whole,it looks like Puke..and Yes he has hides..I know what I'm doing with my snake, I just don't know why this happened, and he's fine now, he's back to his normal loving,adventurous self

[ballpythonluvr]

The temp is around 70 and the humidity is around 85?, that's just a range since I'm not right beside him at the moment. His temp Never! Changes at all. He's about 5 years, The blood was from the regurge, the rat was a medium rat, the same size he always eats with no problem, the regurge wasn't smie whole,it looks like Puke..and Yes he has hides..I know what I'm doing with my snake, I just don't know why this happened, and he's fine now, he's back to his normal loving,adventurous self

I think you mean the temp is around 85 and the humidity is at 70. If this is the case, 85 is too cold for a hot spot. It should be 88-92. No one said you do not know what you are doing but obviously something is off if your snake regurged like that.

[satomi325]

The temp is around 70 and the humidity is around 85?, that's just a range since I'm not right beside him at the moment. His temp Never! Changes at all. He's about 5 years, The blood was from the regurge, the rat was a medium rat, the same size he always eats with no problem, the regurge wasn't smie whole,it looks like Puke..and Yes he has hides..I know what I'm doing with my snake, I just don't know why this happened, and he's fine now, he's back to his normal loving,adventurous self

Your temps are too low. Dangerously low to the point of possible illness. Temps should ideally read 88-92 for hot side and around 80 for the cool side of your tank. How are you heating his tank and reading the temps?

Do you feed frozen thawed rats? If so, perhaps it wasn't thawed out enough. This is the reason for a lot of regurgs as well as low temps. The snake didn't have enough heat to properly digest.

And what do you mean by adventurous? Like, is he always active in his tank? An active ball can mean he's stressed. A happy ball usually likes to sit snugly in a hide.



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[Dave S]

Most of the time he stays in his hide. Normally at night he is out wandering his tank. I keep a close eye on his temps and humidity and they are within range. I know he's a happy snake. He's always been gentle with us (not including the 1 time I got bit on feeding day, lol). It just freaked us out when a week after eating he regurged and there was blood present. Up until this last feeding everything had been fine. Same sized rats, temp/humidity always the same, clean water.


Also, he eats live. When we got him he was eating F/T rats, but went through a period of not eating and would only take live when he started to eat again. So rats not being thawed enough is ruled out.

[jess]

Your temps are too low. Dangerously low to the point of possible illness. Temps should ideally read 88-92 for hot side and around 80 for the cool side of your tank. How are you heating his tank and reading the temps?

Do you feed frozen thawed rats? If so, perhaps it wasn't thawed out enough. This is the reason for a lot of regurgs as well as low temps. The snake didn't have enough heat to properly digest.
And what do you mean by adventurous? Like, is he always active in his tank? An active ball can mean he's stressed. A happy ball usually likes to sit snugly in a hide.



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My boyfriend made a post that you can read and I've NEVER heard that 88-92 is the ideal temp for a tank..and by aDventurous I mean he's an active snake, at night time he likes to roam around his tank and check things out.. He is far from being stressed out.. He wouldn't be as gentle as he is if he saw stressed..

[Slim]

The temp is around 70 and the humidity is around 85?

I hope these numbers are a typo.

I keep a close eye on his temps and humidity and they are within range.

Dave, what do you call within range? There seems to be some conflicting information as to the temp and humidity level in the tank. I'm not so concerned about the humidity right this minute, but the temps are another matter all together. Low temps could be the direct cause of the regurge.

I've NEVER heard that 88-92 is the ideal temp for a tank

That would be the ideal temp for the warm side. It's pretty standard, and listed in most any caresheet you choose to read.

He wouldn't be as gentle as he is if he saw stressed..

That is an assumption, and with ball pythons, often an incorrect one.

[satomi325]

My boyfriend made a post that you can read and I've NEVER heard that 88-92 is the ideal temp for a tank..and by aDventurous I mean he's an active snake, at night time he likes to roam around his tank and check things out.. He is far from being stressed out.. He wouldn't be as gentle as he is if he saw stressed..

Like all reptiles, ball pythons need a temperature gradient throughout their enclosure. A 'hot side' and a 'cool side'. This gives them the ability to thermoregulate themselves.
Like Slim said, 88-92 is pretty standard for the 'hot side'. And the 'cool side' should be around 80. Ball Pythons need that kind of heat as they do come from Africa after all. Any temperature under 75 is less than ideal and potentially dangerous. It can lead to regurgitation and respiratory infection. A basking temperature helps balls digest meals as well.

So since the temperature is currently 70, is that the ambient temperature? Are you using heat lamps, an under tank heat mat, or nothing? If you're using a heat source, what is the temperature of that? How are you reading temperatures.

Sorry for all the questions, but it really helps to determine the root of the regurge problem.

Night roaming is normal, so that's good to hear. If he was wandering during the day, that might be a little concerning.

[AK907]

I will also second what Slim and satomi325 said and I have to strongly recommend that you heed their advice. A lot of us here have been keeping and breeding reptiles for many years, so we have a pretty good idea of what we're talking about and we are just trying to help.