Off to a bad start...

[atomicwave]

Also, could anyone maybe help us identify his morph? There are so many and a lot of them are very similar. We think he's either a Black Head Spider, Black Pastel, Bald Gene or Normal.

[I-KandyReptiles]

IMO looks normal.
Need better pics.

[angllady2]

Yeah he's thin, but we have seen way worse.

If his mites are minimal now, go ahead and offer him food. He may just be hungry enough to take it if you offer him live. If live is a problem for you, just make sure you really heat the prey well. A live mouse has a body temp of around 100, so if it's room temperature, he's not likely to touch it.

Gale

[atomicwave]

I'm worried that the stress he's been under due to us moving him around a lot to take care of his mites is going to keep him from wanting to eat. Also, if I buy him a live mouse to try to eat, should I feed him in his terrarium or in a separate container. Also, if he doesn't eat the mouse, what do I do with it?

[Capray]

Feed him it in his enclosure, there's a much better chance of him eating.


No worries of cage aggression, it doesn't really exist, at least in primitive snakes like ball pythons.

[atomicwave]

Great news everyone, Sting ate, and totally willingly!

Bought a white adult mouse from Petco tonight and put it in a cardboard box with a paper towel on the bottom with Sting. After about 5 minutes, Sting started looking around, the mouse got too close to his head, and BAM! Dead mouse. He ate it like a champ. I guess our little guy is gonna be ok after all.

Thanks to everyone for your tips and support! I'll be posting here for many years to come I'm sure!

[Capray]

Great to hear!

You still didn't NEED to feed him outta the cage..but..ehm. It doesn't really matter.

[angllady2]

Good deal!

I told you he just might surprise you. One thing I have found in my experience with baby/young ball pythons. If the prey is too small, they tend to ignore it. Almost like they don't recognize it as food. I guess it would be like you come to the dinner table all hungry, mouth watering, can't wait to eat, and someone give you a single carrot stick. It's more effort than it's worth to even eat the thing, so you just leave it on the plate and go rummage in the fridge for the real food.

Gale

[snakesRkewl]

Congrats on getting it to eat! sadly it looks like you continue to get bad tips from this forum too.

No oils on any snake, that's just bad bad bad.
95 degree hot spot is just fine, in fact it's necessary in some cases to get the ambient temps you need on the cool end.
I've kept my ball pythons in tubs with 92 to 95 degree hot spots for years and haven't had a single issue doing so.
I would feed the snake in it's home, moving it is not necessary at all, and in the future might mean he doesn't eat now and then due to being moved.

Your snake is a normal ball python, not a morph

Please read and be very careful with Provent a mite, do not spray the snake, allow the snakes home to dry fully before placing the snake back into it's home.
Paper towels is best for keeping the snake on during the outbreak and during treatment.
Lightly spray the paper towels and let them fully dry before placing in the snakes home.
Lightly spray the tub/tank/enclosure and the outside of the snakes housing also, allowing to fully dry before placing the snake back in it's home.
You can also spray anywhere around the snakes enclosure that the mites could have laid their eggs, in many cases when the mites come back are probably coming back because the eggs aren't being killed on the outside of the housing.

Good luck!

[atomicwave]

The provent-a-mite just got here today but I am uncertain if I am going to use it or not. While I was waiting on it I purchased some Natural Chemistry Reptile Spray that I used on Sting for the mean time, it seems to have worked wonders. We sprayed it on the snake, wiped the enclosure with it, replaced his newspaper. We're going to do this one more time in 3 days if there is any evidence of mites remaining. He seems to be on the fast road to recovery now!