Is my Python shedding ? please help

[BP99]

I got kids a ball python for Christmas , she is about 6 months old .
she always ate for us,active at night, sleeping during the day.
My temperatures were always good, 90-93 hot side, 76-82 cold.
Humidity was always a problem, until 2 weeks ago . I put plastic cover on the top of the tank with drilled holes for heat lamps and air flow.
My snake started acting very weird , super lethargic always hiding day and night , she would come out for few minutes to drink and this is it, no other activities at all and today she has refused her food.
Is she going into shed ? I don't see any physical signs, no pink belly, no cloudy eyes, no wrinkled skin.
I don't see any signs of RI either . When I tried to hold her last week, she acted very squirming trembling and pulling away.
Is she getting used to new environment " clear ceiling instead of foil ? Is it shed ? Is she just happy with a normal humidity and temperature , but why is she not eating than?
Also I usually feed her "arctic mice " from petsmart but today I gave a mouse that I got from oaks reptile show from one of the local dealers. It looks fine to me, but could there be some other problem with it?
Thanks, Jay

[kriegsmom]

She sounds fine to me. The squirmy part is a little weird to me but, I don't think it's a problem. Ball pythons are lazy animals. They hardly move. They are also prone and known for going off feed for up to months. Also long as she doesn't look physically skinnier, I think you're fine. I would take her out of a tank though. She might be stressed. I recommend putting her in an appropriately sized tub. Someone else can help you with the size, sorry. Good luck with your new pet!

Sent from my SM-G530T1 using Tapatalk

[Mustang5]

Has she shed since you got her? If not, do you know when she last shed? I doesn't seem like she is shedding to me although a pic might help, it is tough to judge off of words. It could be that she has just settled in to her new enclosure and feels comfortable. My BPs only explore when it is close to feeding day and they relax the other 4-5 days. When you took her out was she slow? I know you said she seemed a little nervous but was her tongue and movements slow?

On to the eating issue, how long has she been off food? It is probably just a fast, a lot of BPs fast this time of year, I wouldn't worry about it to much unless she starts losing serious amounts of weight. It probably isn't a husbandry issue because all your temps sound right. Also I probably wouldn't feed the Arctic Mice, they aren't very good quality. Maybe try ordering online from a rodent breeder, there are lots of good ones out there.

One last question how much does she weigh? Because at 6 months she can probably take more than a mouse. Sorry if I over whelmed you with questions, just trying to help.

Good luck!

[Merk]

I got kids a ball python for Christmas , she is about 6 months old .
she always ate for us,active at night, sleeping during the day.
My temperatures were always good, 90-93 hot side, 76-82 cold.
Humidity was always a problem, until 2 weeks ago . I put plastic cover on the top of the tank with drilled holes for heat lamps and air flow.
My snake started acting very weird , super lethargic always hiding day and night , she would come out for few minutes to drink and this is it, no other activities at all and today she has refused her food.
Is she going into shed ? I don't see any physical signs, no pink belly, no cloudy eyes, no wrinkled skin.
I don't see any signs of RI either . When I tried to hold her last week, she acted very squirming trembling and pulling away.
Is she getting used to new environment " clear ceiling instead of foil ? Is it shed ? Is she just happy with a normal humidity and temperature , but why is she not eating than?
Also I usually feed her "arctic mice " from petsmart but today I gave a mouse that I got from oaks reptile show from one of the local dealers. It looks fine to me, but could there be some other problem with it?
Thanks, Jay

My snakes don't like it very warm they move away from the hot spots all of the time, i always find mine in the areas of about 74-76 degrees even if there is no hide available at those temps they will lay out in the open they will NOT spend time in the high heat for long...I thought i was keeping them too cold but they like it at 50-70% humidity and about 74-84 degrees unless they just ate then they like it hot 90 degrees for about 4 hours...that is my own experience...

[BP99]

This is the first time she had missed her meal. I left it in a cage for over night , maybe she will eat it. So far, she is just laying, not even in the hide and starring at it for a past 3 hours.
It was just such a drastic change, from happy and curious snake to completely lethargic and not moving ever.
She usually would it on Monday and than digest for 2 days, sitting in the hide, but than I would see her drinking at night or getting from hide to hide, but now nothing. I don't think she is stressed , because I assume , she would want to escape and climb all over , instead of just laying in the hide.
Could it be lack of ventilation and if she finally adjusted why sudden lack of appetite , she acted as weird last week but still ok her food.
She never had a shed with us and we had her for a month.
Please see pictures attached of her and the setup
http://imgur.com/oz5X4Du


http://imgur.com/eE8a2D8

[Mustang5]

This is the first time she had missed her meal. I left it in a cage for over night , maybe she will eat it. So far, she is just laying, not even in the hide and starring at it for a past 3 hours.
It was just such a drastic change, from happy and curious snake to completely lethargic and not moving ever.
She usually would it on Monday and than digest for 2 days, sitting in the hide, but than I would see her drinking at night or getting from hide to hide, but now nothing. I don't think she is stressed , because I assume , she would want to escape and climb all over , instead of just laying in the hide.
Could it be lack of ventilation and if she finally adjusted why sudden lack of appetite , she acted as weird last week but still ok her food.
She never had a shed with us and we had her for a month.
Please see pictures attached of her and the setup
http://imgur.com/oz5X4Du


http://imgur.com/eE8a2D8

It is strange that she is just sitting there not using her hide. I would give her a few days off and leave her alone and see how she does. Are those heat lamps? She probably doesn't need them all she needs is a uth (Under tank heater). Also the cage might be a little big for her right now but it should be okay since she has been living there for a month or so.

Don't worry about the food, BPs can fast for several months and maintain their health. I wouldn't even worry about a missed week of feeding, just give her some time and see if she snaps out of it.

[Lady mkrj58]

You might think about the plastic top being or getting heated by the Lamp which could send toxic fumes into the air and tank, you stated she was fine until you did that it's worth investigating... Plastics that are not designed for heat do strange things. Just a thought in trying to find the problem....
Also check at TheBigCheese.com for ordering your Frozen mice you pay 29.00 for delivery they always arrive nice and frozen and you can make volcano plumes with the dry ice lol it's cheap entertainment don't let the kids do it without adult supervision.

[BP99]

By plastic, I meant plexiglass. And it is not being heated, since it has holes cut out in it, so lamps are laying on the mesh and I don't think there are any fumes from it.
I do have under tank pad as well, on the right side, controlled by herpstat 1, but it didn't look like it was enough, so I'm running 2 infrared basking spot and ultrasonic humidifier to keep humidity up. Maybe it is an overkill, I tried with one lamp on the hot side, over the heat pad, but the cold was staying around 74-75 most of the time.
It is possible that this is just normal behavior, and before she was just stressed , because humidity was to low, and she was moving to much, trying to escape, because she was climbing on everything, even sides of the glass tank.
I was just checking on her now, and she was moving a tiny bit, drinking.
As I said, that I just bough new mice at the Oaks expo past weekend, I wonder if there maybe something wrong with it.
She didn't even get exited from the smell, as I was heating the mouse in front of the cage, and continued just being in her hide.
I agree, that tank is a bit big for her, but it is very crowded, with hides and plenty places to get away, and since she was sleeping and eating just fine for a month, I assumed it was ok for her.

[Lady mkrj58]

Ok sounds good sometimes Its good to investigate in these odd type situations that come up. The mouse maybe or maybe not the problem, I would not buy that brand anymore I do think there are better choices for us in this day and age Give the Big Cheese a try or Rodent Pro, you will pay 29.00 for shipping so maybe order 2 or 3 bags of the size you need and store them in your freezer. I ordered different sizes of mouse and rats to last me 6 months I live in the country and the closest place to buy rodents is a 100 mile trip. Please let us know how this all turns out.

Sent from my SGH-T999