BEL Problem

[BIO]

Noted all the suggestions. I already put in a makeshift hide and placed her inside. I will let her settle-in for a week and then I'll offer her a live hopper in her tub. Will let you guys know next week.

Thanks again for all the responses. I appreciate them.

[BIO]

Just wanted to update everybody about my BEL. Here's what I did:

1. A few days after I received these suggestions, I decided to change her substrate into plain newspaper and add in a make-shift hide from an ice cream tub. This is so I can easily observe how she was doing. It's too difficult when she burrows in the other substrate.
2. She stayed in the hide and rarely even moved, which got me really worried.
3. Every 3 days I tried to offer live mouse, but to no avail.
4. I made sure that her tub is heated every morning for a couple of hours.
5. Then the other day, I suddenly found out that she shed. Then followed by poop in the afternoon.
6. Things were getting better when I observed her exploring her tub late night. I tried to offer live mouse again while she explores, but she shied away and went back to the hide.
7. I picked up the mouse and left her alone for another night.
8. Tonight I found her exploring again, and so I tried again to offer the live prey, but again she hid into the makeshift hide.
9. I pre-killed the mouse and left it outside the hide. After about an hour, I checked her out and she was out of the hide and the dead mouse is already missing! YAY!! I dropped another one, a much bigger than the last one and left her again in complete darkness. Checked her out again after an hour, and voila! She just had her 2nd head.


So happy now! Again, thank you guys for all the tips and suggestions.. I really appreciate them.

[Don]

I would get her a dark hide. She will feel more secure if it is dark and secure. In fact, put two in there one on the warm side and one on the cool side.

When you say the tub is heated for a couple of hours, do you mean you check on it for a couple of hours, or it is heated for a couple of hours? There needs to be a heat gradient all the time, not just for a couple of hours. Ball Pythons need a warm spot to sit and digest their food.

Glad she ate for you. You might also want to offer smaller prey items. If you are feeding a full size mouse to a small snake, it can stress them out. Try a mouse hopper. Good luck.

[oskyle1567]

Shes going to be just fine i have had a couple new arrivals that have not eaten for a couple weeks and once they start they normally dont stop. She does look quite under weight for her size though.

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[BIO]

@Don: Yes, I am feeding all my baby BPs with hopper mice. I live in the Philippines and the room that they're in are quite warm all day. I just expose her tub to a heating lamp for a few hours every morning to make her space warmer than the rest as she settles in, as well as for the water to evaporate faster inside. I was suspecting she's on pre-shed.

@Osk: Yup, she was underweight when I got her from the breeder. Only 79g at 3 months. I will try to make sure to have her feeding steady to gain her correct weight as soon as possible.

[Don]

BIO, raising and lowering the temperatures could make the baby more susceptible to respiratory infections. It is really best to use an under the tank heater with a thermostat and get the temperature constant and steady, providing a heat gradient. This could be the issue with her not eating. Many non-eating snakes are that way because of improper husbandry. Good luck. I spent a lot of time in the Philippines when I was in the service and have some fond memories of the country.

[Freakie_frog]

Also 79 grams for a three month old ball python isn't drastic. There are allot of things that can attribute to this, mabey she was a fussy starter and had to be assist fed the first few meals. Maybe she hatched late Aug, and then took 4-6 weeks to start eating you're not talking allot of time there.. glad you got her going again.. Congrats.

[BIO]

Also 79 grams for a three month old ball python isn't drastic. There are allot of things that can attribute to this, mabey she was a fussy starter and had to be assist fed the first few meals. Maybe she hatched late Aug, and then took 4-6 weeks to start eating you're not talking allot of time there.. glad you got her going again.. Congrats.

Yes, you're right. The breeder was a friend of mine, before I got her, I told him to take care of her until she starts taking rat pups or hoppers, as I don't have easy access to pinkies in my area. He told me, she only started eating at 4 weeks and she was fed with pinkies. I think pinkies are not as nutritious as rat pups or small hoppers. When I got her about 2 weeks ago, she just started taking small hopper mice. Thus, maybe the weight. She hatched on Aug.8 btw.

@Don: I guess I just got paranoid, technically she just skipped for 2 weeks because of pre-shed, as well as the new environment to settle-in. I just got her from the breeder. I heated her tub because another breeder friend advised me to raise her tub's temperature a little more, especially in the morning since it's a bit cold in my place in the morning this time of the year.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your stay here in my country.

[hitman3303]

Some of my snakes are like yours, they only eat if you just leave a f/t or killed in the rack and leave them alone. I also have one that will only eat if she can strike while in her hide. Some have their own little quirks, you just have to figure out what works, which it sounds like you did.