Hello everyone,
My obsession with Ball Pythons started when I met a 5 year old male regular Ball Python by the name of Beast. The next day I went to Petco and purchased a 40 gallon breeder, heat lamp, uth, hides, and a baby regular BP I named Ekans. Ekans was very timid and would ball up every time "he" was handled. About a week later I stopped at a pet shop that had a going out of business sale sign, saw a bunch of great used hides that were a steal, and at the checkout was a tank with two regular BPs in it. I asked if I could see one, and this snake was so friendly, didn't ball up at all, and was the exact size of Ekans. I surprised my girlfriend who was in love with Ekans and told her this was her snake, she named "him" Stretch. The two snakes seemed to get along great and they were always found under the hides together.

Another week goes by and Ekans won't eat, neither will Stretch. I'm offering F/T pinkie mice. I go back to Jim's which is where I bought Stretch, and asked the lady how she feeds the snakes. She only feeds live. So I go to a different Petco from the one I bought Ekans at and get two white mice, the smallest ones they had. I first tried feeding Ekans, he was terrified of the mouse. Next I put stretch in the feeding tank and then the mouse, he hit the mouse so hard they flew across the tank. He swallowed it head first and I gently put him back under his hide. So a month passes and I'm so nervous because Ekans won't eat. I bought frozen mice the same size as the live mouse but still Ekans won't take it. So every Wednesday I'm offering a live mouse to Stretch and he won't eat, and a f/t mouse to Ekans but he wants nothing to do with it. Another week passes and I pick up Ekans and notice his eyes were cloudy, I got excited and thought that's why he wasn't eating, he was going to shed. So that Wednesday I offer stretch the live mouse that had now been living with me for a month and a half, he doesn't want it. I then offered the same mouse to Ekans expecting nothing and what do you know he kills the mouse, and slithers away. At this point he's gotta eat, the Petco I got him at didn't keep a feeding record so I don't know if he's ever eaten. So I take the freshly killed mouse and press it to his mouth and he bit into it and coiled around it like he was killing it again and ate it. Finally, it felt so good to have a semi successful feeding. The next morning I grab Stretch and we go to find my girlfriend, but he wasn't acting right, he was really straight, but his spine was very "scrunched" for lack of a better word. I went back to my room and laid him on my bed, and he kind of moved, but his coordination seemed to be gone. I got a very bad feeling and rushed him back to the store to see if the lady there could tell me why this happened. She simply said he's dying and or dead and its my fault. I said what did I do wrong? She just shrugged. Once I got home I took Stretch and looked him over, and on his belly was a large green spot. I still don't know what killed him. So I'm waiting and watching Ekans hoping that whatever happened to Stretch was not contagious. Weeks go by, jump to today. Ekans shows no signs of anything except a rough shed, which was my fault. I'm getting ready to feed him tomorrow, and I ended up purchasing Beast yesterday, who shed for me perfectly in under 10 minutes. I've weighed both snakes today, Ekans weighs in at 50 grams and Beast weighs in at 1475 grams. I purchased an ir temperature gun to stay on top of my temps, they were too high as far as the under tank heaters go, Beasts hide was 93 degrees so I've unplugged the heaters till I can get a dimmer switch. I know I did things wrong and I've corrected all except my humidity issue and the newly discovered heat issue. I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions. If any one can give me more info on Stretch or the green spot you'll be my hero. Still trying to figure out pics, I'll get them up as soon as I do.