Another "my BP won't eat" thread

[melcvt00]

3 weeks ago I was given a 4.5 year old ball python and all of his supplies. He was no longer wanted by the adult son of friends of ours. He was being kept in a tank with a completely open screen top, a heat bulb that didn't seem to be doing the job (no thermometer, so no real clue), a soaking/drinking dish that had a nice layer of slime, and his next meal (a mouse) that had been cuddling with him for two weeks and not really getting fed. Mr. Mouse died after a week at my house.

I have covered the screen top almost completely with foil to keep in the humidity, I did a full tear-down and cleaning of the tank (smelled of mouse urine, and a couple spots had moldy bedding), got a new heat bulb (ceramic), two thermometers, and sphagnum moss. Heat and humidity are stable, the dish is clean (I have seen him drink!), and a couple weeks ago he did a full shed that was all in one piece, with nothing left behind
He has a hide on both the cool and warm side. I used some i sulated bubble wral to cover 3 sides of the tank to help hold heat in.

He hasn't eaten since Spetember. He has not eaten anything but live mice. Someone gave me a couple frozen ones to try. I got it all nice and toasty, and dangled it near him until he realized it was dead and started hiding from it. I tried a live one a few days ago. No luck.

So, I have completely covered his tank and plan on leaving him that way for a couple more days.

Apart from that, and seeing if I can get my hands on some used gerbil bedding to "bathe" the mouse in, any auggestions? He seems like he is more thin than he should be, but he was already like this when I got him.

Suggestions?

I should also throw in there that I have never had a snake before.

[highqualityballz]

What are your temps?

[Hammertime1977]

I just happen to be browsing as this post came up, I'm not the most qualified to answer as I am new to snakes. But well experienced in keeping animals.

Proper set up is really important. I have had nothing but success since getting my BP, but my set up was planned ahead of time and seems to be working out well. I actually continue to tinker to get things closer to perfect.

I have a tank set up also with a mesh top. But I have made a cover that drops between the lid clips and has a cut out for the light. It covers roughly 95% of the lid, leaving enough room for airflow. Also I have positioned the openings to the cooler side of the tank to allow humidity to collect on the hot side. I currently have a 100w heat light, but will be downgrading to a 75 w the next time I hit the store. I also use under tank heaters, but only have the one on the hot side plugged in...but one under each hide.

There is a "hide" on the warm side and a "hide" on the cool side so the snake can choose hot or cold and still have the security of a hide. Water bowl is between and I have about a 5" x 8" rock from my fish keeping days that he uses to help his sheds.

I'm using cypress in the bottom and I soak it first, this really helps keep the humidity up. Also using moss can be helpful. Both retain moisture well, cyprsss to the best of my knowledge won't mold. I have used it in my gecko cages for years for this reason alone.

I believe I am in the 92 degree range on the warm side and 80 degrees on the cool side.

As for feeding...

Observe your snake. It will tell you when it's hungry. If it's not eating, it's not comfortable in it's tank...or it could just be not eating because of the time of year. My more experienced friends tell me that from November to May, BP's are hit and miss for feeding. Otherwise you should be able to feed the right size feeder once every 7-10 days depending on your snake. Mine seems to have settled into the 8-9 day range, but we watch for his activity levels to increase before even thinking about food.

What we do (and I stress that I'm not overly experienced and just maybe lucky) is watch for an active night where is out and what we call hunting. Patrolling around the tank and poking his head up to the lid is what we normally see. At this point, we just go to bed as the snake is displayed in our bedroom. The following night after him being active, if he is repeating the same routine the next night...we will offer him food. We are very careful to feed him when he is active, which is normally long after the sun has set. I would say I am normally doing the zombie dance with a small rat and my tongs between 10pm and 11pm at night.

Pre-feed I will put the thawed out rat on his tank to put out the scent. I will use a few pieces of metal on either side of the rat to straddle it and heat it up using the heat light. Normally 5 min on each side and your snake is going nuts doing the cobra pose and trying to get at it from underneath.

We're not experts, we just try to swing everything in our favour.

[melcvt00]

What are your temps?

90/72-75. After shedding, he spends most of his time on the cool side. Before shedding, he stayed mostly on the hot side. Average humidity is 60-65%.

[BCS]

Is he losing weight? What does his body profile look like? Are you in an area that generally gets cold during the winter months? Does it look like he is drinking at all? Are you handling him? If so how often?

[melcvt00]

Is he losing weight? What does his body profile look like? Are you in an area that generally gets cold during the winter months? Does it look like he is drinking at all? Are you handling him? If so how often?

I weighed him during the first week, but haven't again - trying to keep stress to a minimum. It does get cold here over the winter - some snow yesterday, even. I have seen him drink 3 times. I would assume he is drinking still, just not when I am watching. Before I covered the tank, except for a rare couple of minutes outside the tank, I was handling him very briefly twice a day when I resoaked the moss, as much to get a brief look at how he was doing, if anything.

Overall body condition? Color is great, eyes are clear, nose is clear, but I can tell where his spine is - even not knowing nuch about snakes, I can tell that he is not at a good weight.

[Coluber42]

I wouldn't worry yet, if he's not looking too skinny and otherwise doing normal ball python things (thermoregulating, drinking, hiding out during the day). That's a long fast, but it isn't unheard of for a BP. You could also try a different prey type; if he was living with a mouse in his cage for two weeks, he might have just decided they're part of the landscape, not food.

But it sounds like he was pretty well ignored for awhile, and now he's had a big change, so maybe he just needs a little more time to think about that. If he isn't excessively skinny, you don't need to offer more than once a week.

My baby BP is very timid, and will strike readily if he's in his hide with just his head sticking out. But if he's all the way out when I offer, he gets much more nervous or confused or overly excited or something, and takes a lot more zombie dancing to get him to strike. Sometimes I just take the mouse away, leave him alone to settle down for awhile, then come back and offer it again.

You might also ask about how he'd typically been fed in the past. Maybe it's worth trying at the same time of day or with a similar procedure to what he's used to. I had a BP years ago that would only take food that was dangling by its tail. I always figured it was likely because I'd fed him like that since he was a baby, and that's just how he thought food showed up.

[Albert Clark]

I weighed him during the first week, but haven't again - trying to keep stress to a minimum. It does get cold here over the winter - some snow yesterday, even. I have seen him drink 3 times. I would assume he is drinking still, just not when I am watching. Before I covered the tank, except for a rare couple of minutes outside the tank, I was handling him very briefly twice a day when I resoaked the moss, as much to get a brief look at how he was doing, if anything.

Overall body condition? Color is great, eyes are clear, nose is clear, but I can tell where his spine is - even not knowing nuch about snakes, I can tell that he is not at a good weight.

Just curious, are you controlling the heat with a thermostat or dimmer? As you continue to improve on his enviornment he will eventually eat for you.

[melcvt00]

They just tossed the mouse in the tank before, so I have done the same thing. Mouse is living alone right now.

Controlling the heat? I just have a ceramic bulb right above the screen on one side. I did the bulb change on one of days off so I could see where the temp would go. The temp shot up over the first 4 hours, then stayed put. I bet he also liked the fact that there was no longer a freaking glowing heat bulb that gave him no break from the light.

[melcvt00]

Still no luck. I *really* thought he would eat last night, he was so active. Nope. So, I did a tank cleaning and did a bedding switch - went from aspen to newspaper.

He is down 0.2lb since I got him. He was NOT happy about being moved. I am lucky - he would rather get away than try to strike.

If he is actove again in the next couple days, I will try a mouse scented with hamster bedding to see if that works (I don't have access to gerbil bedding).