Concerned about new Banana Ball

[Karyana]

Hello everyone!

My name is Kara and I just registered to the site, I've done a lot of previous research on here though.
Well, I'm a worry wart in general, but especially about my new (juvenile) banana ball python, Tidus. My partner
also has a ball python, Cassie. So, I ordered him using MorphMarket and received him not long ago. I don't want
to specifically list which seller because he seems like a really great guy and I don't think he was trying
to do anything shady. Tidus was born in November of 2015 and he currently weighs in at 75G. From everything I've read
(and also knowledge from this awesome local guy who is trying to seriously help out), that seems extremely small and underweight.
The seller says that he was only being fed every two weeks and I'm fairly certain he said that's how he feeds all of his babies.
I was under the impression that they should be fed around every 4-7 days (up to a certain general weight). He's very well mannered and a handsome little guy
and I don't want anything to happen to him. We fed him yesterday, but we ended up having to assist feed him. He killed his prey (he did strike and latch on from the "wrong" end)
and then he couldn't seem to figure out how to eat it, though he gave it a good long effort. Right now he seems to be holding it down. Also, he is a pretty active one and he really
seems to love water. He sits in his water bowl, comes out of his hide when I mist the cage, and he'll occasionally just dunk his head under water and then come back up after a few seconds.
It's adorable. lol. Anyways, I would love and greatly appreciate hearing any feedback and maybe some advice.


Thank you,
Kara Aryana

P.S: He has zero interest in frozen thawed. We've tried several and he won't even acknowledge them.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Stewart_Reptiles]

First DO NOT Assist this animal any longer it's a huge step backward and there are a lot of things to do before doing this IF the animal does not eat, or is willing to eat on it's own which is not the case here.

and I don't want anything to happen to him. We fed him yesterday, but we ended up having to assist feed him. He killed his prey (he did strike and latch on from the "wrong" end)

You do not assist because an animal eats backward.

If I take in consideration the age and weight than yes it would be underweight however looking at the body shape I am not seeing an underweight animal.

Here is what need to be done if not done so already.

Set him up in a 6 quarts tub

Use aspen as bedding

Provide a 6 inches flower pot saucer as a hide.

Provide temps on the warm side no higher than 88 degrees.

NO MORE HANDLING until your BP eats at least 3 to 5 consecutive time on it's own.

Once you made the changes weight a week

Offer a live small mouse in it's enclosure, close the tub, remove if un-eaten after 15 min.

99% of feeding issues are new owner/husbandry related and based on the fact that he is active, stays in his water dish I can only conclude that this animal is stressed because his needs are not met, this setup will help with that. Number one thing with BP is SECURITY


Tub



Hide

[Karyana]

I'm sorry if something came across the wrong way and if any clarification is needed, I will provide it.

WE DID NOT assist feed him because he had it backwards, we assist fed LONG after the prey
was dead. (We tried frozen a few times before live, he's only been fed live by the seller)

He tried many times to eat it and then he gave up. We covered the tank and left
him with the prey for a while. When we came back, everything was exactly how we left it, minus he was in his hide.

He's very long and very skinny. Also, his enclosure was set up before he even got here. He doesn't just sit in his water bowl, I'm not
exactly sure where or how that even came across like that. I was adding that he is active, like "normal", to get across that he wasn't not moving or whatever.

I feel like there's potentially some assumptions going on here.

Edit: Thank you

[IMG][/IMG]

[Morjean]

Just to make sure, did you thoroughly check for mites? On the body, in the enclosure, around the eyes --- Could be absolutely nothing and him just liking to do that, but "bathing" is often trying to drown mites. Better be safe than sorry, doesn't hurt to check!

[LadyEnfinity]

Hi Karyana

Grats on the new baby! He sure is a handsome devil.

As far as feeding FT - I prefer this, others don't, it comes down to your preference for your snake. If you really don't want to feed him live, there are quite a few tricks to getting them interested and I'm sure that you can find most of them on this site.
If you stick with it and find a trick that works, I'm sure he'll be fine.

I, too, worry like crazy about every single one of my snakes. Just try to get him on a regular schedule and hopefully he'll gain some weight. Most of the snakes I've purchased or adopted seem to be on the same 2 week feeding schedule, which I personally disagree with. I think that may be what they consider "maintenance feeding" - basically so shops and breeders can keep their feeding costs down.

Thankfully, he sounds happy and active - I wouldn't worry too much unless he's still unable to eat on his own after 2-3 feeds, but that's honestly just a guess on my part.

Best of luck to you and your new ball!

[Karyana]

Hey!

Yeah, we've looked him over top and bottom for mites and I'm still keeping a close eye on him.
We're going to have the local guy also take a look at him, just to be safe.
He seems (happy) and all, I'm just really worried about his weight. He uses his hot and cold hide,
explores, etc. We're both thinking that he might just be odd and like water a little more than most.

[Albert Clark]

I know Deborah was only highlighting the basics for setting up the enclosure and the proper things that need to be in place for the ball python to continue on and finish his meal. It's okay if he makes a kill and then for whatever reasons decides he doesn't want the prey item. What experience has taught us is that in that situation what we do is either abort the whole feeding attempt until the next scheduled feeding day or we can rewarm the already freshly killed prey to the snake one more time. Why? Because the python is making his own kills and therefore doesn't need to be assist fed. Assist feeding is a very stressful procedure on the animal and should only be done as a last resort. We know you mean well but don't let one missed meal make you resort to the extreme measures of assist feeding.

[Karyana]

Hey Lady,

Thank you! He definitely is a looker. =P Our other ball, Cassie, is on frozen. But, she has zero issues with either one. She'll eat both with no hesitation.
We are probably going to breed feeders for a while, for a few different reasons. We've also discussed keeping him on live until his weight is up.
Once he's in a healthier weight range and we feel like it's safe for him to be stubborn, we are going to try and switch him over to F/T. My partner is also telling
me I need to stop mentally stressing out about it, he's taken his first meal and he's holding it down. Even though we assisted him, which we only barely pushed it
in his mouth and attached it, he did the rest of the work. I feel like that's a step in the right direction, as far as getting his health/weight up!

[chrid16371]

You don't assist feed every time it eats wrong and gives up. You need to give the snake time to settle in. Do exactly what Deborah says. She is very knowledgeable and is giving you the best advice so you can have a happy healthy snake. Assist feeding comes in when your snake is losing a lot of weight in a short amount of time. Yes your snake is young but it struck its food so it knows how to eat it just happened to take it the wrong way. Next time that happens don't jump right on assist feeding, this can actually cause stress and a regurge which can be very harmful to your snake. It will get it the right way eventually, maybe even next feeding.

Your tank seems big for a young snake. The hide on the right is very wide open and unsecure, you should have matching secure hides like the ones from reptile basics. Also tell us what your heat source is, what you take temps with, what your temps are, what you use to regulate heat source, humidity level, anything that could help us help you.

Also this is the care sheet, even if you have already read it read it again.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[Karyana]

Hey Albert,

I didn't take anything Deborah said in a negative way, I just wanted to make sure that everything
was understood and clarified. I respect what everyone here has to say and I hope I didn't come off
as rude.

Also, I don't know if you meant what you said literally. It -wasn't- just -one- missed meal. We didn't want to assist feed because
we know it puts an extreme amount of pressure/anxiety on him. Again, we had our reasons of why we went ahead and did it. It's not
something we took/take lightly. We also didn't force it down his throat, we put it in his mouth and hooked it.
To add, we don't know if everything the seller is true, unfortunately. I know there were a few things that were definitely off and not
done in the right way. I guess that can be the risk of buying online.