Worried about my baby mojave ball python Delilah

[Baeboo43]

I've been home all day with her and she has been moving around her tank all perfectly fine. My worry is I put her in the tank after holding her for about an hour and a half and she didn't move from the spot I put her down at, so after ten minutes my husband picked her up because he noticed she was breathing heavily and hasn't moved from when I put her up and he held her for a good 10-15 minutes and put her back into her tank and she hasn't moved since (it's been 47 minutes) her tank temp is 78degree Fahrenheit on "cool" side and 86 degree Fahrenheit on "hot/basking" side and the humidity is at 66%... she got fresh water change this morning. The only thing is she has not been feed at all since we only got her Friday August 26th 2016. They said not to feed her until a week into her being in her new habitat (which I already knew since I have two other morph ball pythons). My question is why isn't she moving around after we put her up/why is she just sitting all tense and heavy breathing after we put her up?

[cchardwick]

Actually I think you have it backwards. A snake constantly moving around is either stressed or hungry. And a snake just sitting there motionless is most likely perfectly happy. Is this your first snake? You should post a photo of the setup, snakes like to be hidden out of view either in a hide or in a plastic tub, that's why rack systems work so well. If you can see your ball python and it can see you it's most likely too exposed and that could be stressing it out.

[Aste88]

More than not feeding until a week into her new habitat is important not to stress the animal until it gets used to it. That means not handling, especially not for an hour and a half.

That said, it is a bit weird she's not moving after being put back. My guess is that's stress related and, not being used to the enclosure, she doesn't know yet where to hide and is to afraid to look around. Just let her be, maybe cover the tank with a sheet to make her feel more secure, she'll be fine.

Also hot spot temp for a ball python should be 88-90.

[PythonBabes]

A hiding ball python is a happy ball python. Other than when it's first been placed in its enclosure or maybe during some time during the night, if you can see your BP its most likely trying to escape because something is wrong.

[Baeboo43]

No this is not my first ball python, I have two others my male is a enchi/pinstripe/spider morph and my girl is a firefly I've had them for about 6 months. They are perfectly acting normal they hide and eat very well and love when they are handled.

And ok so what I need to do is....
1 don't handle her to much
2 get basking/hot side little hotter
3 get more places to hide
she has two half logs but she sleeps Ontop of them she doesn't like to be under them. I wake up in the middle of the night a lot in general so I tend to look over at the tank in the corner of my room and see she is moving and looking around for a good 30 minutes and then she gets upon the log and doesn't move, so I go back to sleep. I wake about 4 times in the night and half those times she's also up and moving. she also has some fake leaf bunches in the corners of tank.

The he only thing she doesn't have is a little perch, she did have one but she got stuck inside of it the first day we got her she jammed herself in there and started heavily breathing so we made a hole for her to excape from and she happily came out herself and we got rid of it until we could find another bigger one she can't harm herself with.

I I guess what I'm asking is if any of you have the tank set up if I you can post some pictures so I can see a better idea of what to have in the tank?

(p.s. She's a baby hatchling mojave)

[Ax01]

your baby BP sounds really stressed after that 1.5hours of handling. she's balled up and frozen, not moving and breathing heavily b/c u are a giant and she thinks u might eat her. u just got her last Friday, 8/26, and she hasn't eaten with u yet. usually leave a new snake alone to get acclimated to it's new home for like a week at least, esp. babies. peep them and do spot cleaning, but hands off until they begin eating. also next time u handle her (after she's adjusted) and she's balled up, place her on the hotspot in the enclosure and place the hide on top of her. she might calm down faster if she's warm and secure.

also here's my 2 display tanks. they're 18 gallons and have held my Normal girl and Mojave boy since they were little. i followed this guide (http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-With-Pictures!) and went a step future to an additional hide and foliage for extra clutter and security.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

The only thing is she has not been feed at all since we only got her Friday August 26th 2016.

Given how much you have been handling her and the fact that she is in a 40 gallons tank it's not really a surprise.

If you want her to eat and do so with consistency you will need to do some more research and it starts here on how to provide the optimal care for an hatchling http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-hatchling-101

The rest is up to YOU

[BMorrison]

^Deb's advice and I'd switch the half logs out for RBI hides they're much more secure for a BP. Half logs offer little to no security. I don't think I've ever held any of mine over 25 minutes ever.


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