Quote Originally Posted by LittleTreeGuy View Post
First, I'm sorry for your loss.

Now, unfortunately you will not know the cause of the snakes death unless you take him to a vet and have tests done. That's the only REAL way to know.

Several things concern me and since this is only your second post, I'm not sure if you're being serious here or not.... You said you did a lot of research, so I'm surprised this is only your second post here and even more surprised you've done some of the things you say you have done.

1. For a BP you've only had for three weeks, 2 feedings, handling by you and your friends, and soaking him sever times, all while just putting him in a new home, could be extremely stressful for a bp. It's good practice to pretty much leave them alone, with little or not handling for the first week in their new home, and then ease into the handling over a week or two with brief handling sessions that increase in frequency and duration as time passes.
2. Soaking a BP really isn't going to help them. If they have stuck shed, increasing the humidity in their enclosure to 70% will allow them to take care of this themselves in the majority of cases.
3. Putting tape anywhere near a snake is a huge No-No in my opinion, and in the opinion of many snake owners.... especially their eyes. The risk just far outweighs any benefit.
4. The warm side needs to be around 90-92F at all times while the cool side can be around 75-80 degrees. Giving identical hides on both the warm and cool side will prevent the snake from favoring one side or the other and in turn, moving from hide to hide as his body needs thermoregulation.


Now, I apologize if that comes across as harsh/mean, I don't mean it to be. Your snake could have very well had some issues and you got stuck with a sick snake from the start. Like I said before, unless tested, you have no way of knowing. I would recommend, if you decide to purchase another ball python, you continue to research them and more importantly their husbandry requirements. Best of luck.
oh it did come off as very harsh, but thanks for your help. I took the body to a vet to get him checked out which he was then diagnosed with IBD. Call my husbandry horrible, but I knew what I was doing. My mother was a herp breeder. I got a sick snake from the start, and now that I know that I know I did nothing wrong with him. He was a very happy and curious snake. I never saw him stressed out at all. When friends held him ig would be for a few minutes at the least. I also don't need an account on here to have a ball python, I just find the fact that you stated that so ridiculous. I know you don't agree with tape, but with moisture and tape that isn't sticky anymore, many breeders take the eye caps off. Eye caps can become infected so i took a drastic measure to remove them since he had had them on for a few weeks. Soaking a ball python in warm water CAN help it move its bowels so I really don't understand. Also, I did mist the cage up to 70% humidity during his shed.