What ambient temperature is too cold for them?

[canicemok]

Ambient temperature in my room is 23 degree in daytime and 21-22 degree at night. I have provided a hot spot of 32 degree. However, my baby ball python has stopped feeding for 3 weeks. Yesterday when I fed her, she missed her strike and became afraid afterward.

So I wanna know whether 23 degree ambient temperature is too cold for them. Also, she seems interested in the mouse but seldom strike. Should I try a live mouse to stimulate her feeding response?

[redshepherd]

Maybe post a picture of your setup and info about it? It's not necessarily the temp that's causing her to refuse food, it could be a combination of things.

If she's already eating f/t, I wouldn't give her live... It's easier to see if you could fix something in your setup than getting her stuck on live mice.

[canicemok]

[canicemok]

The UTH is controlled by a thermostat. She was eating 20 gram regular frozen mice for twice before. She is 88 gram now.

[BeelzeBall.]

i don't let it go below 75.F which is 24C? lowest you can go without it being an problem where you get Ri i don't know, anybody?

[Regius_049]

I couldn't say what the lowest temp to trigger an RI would be, but with a hot spot of ~90F, I would say it is extremely unlikely that is the cause. I suspect his snake is just hugging the hot spot a little more than a snake with a higher ambient would. Now that said, an RI can result from a litany of other things, but unless the ambient temp is quite cold, I don't think it is often the case in cages with sufficient hot spots.

You can try the following:

(1) For troublesome snakes, the easiest method I have successfully employed is turning out the light during feeding. It seems to add security and makes them more likely to strike F/T mice.

(2) The enclosure you are using is extremely small, which in of itself may not be an issue, but from the picture it looks pretty open and light. What I mean by this is that the white surrounding self makes the area quite light and the coconut hide is not very deep. It is possible this is making your snake feel insecure. Irritatingly enough, some snakes just decide at a random point in time that this is a problem, even though they have fed under identical conditions in the past. I suspect there is some imperceptible difference, but often I am never able to figure it out. More useful is the solution - which almost always easily solved by cluttering the enclosure with paper towel balls, fake plants, or whatever. In your case you might try artificially darkening it to make it feel like a "deeper burrow".

(3) When I really have trouble, I keep my special gerbil helper, Scentmaster Bob, on standby. Turns out gerbils hate this, but rub the F/T prey item against the gerbil so it gets the scent on it, then feed it to your snake.

[BeelzeBall.]

I couldn't say what the lowest temp to trigger an RI would be, but with a hot spot of ~90F, I would say it is extremely unlikely that is the cause. I suspect his snake is just hugging the hot spot a little more than a snake with a higher ambient would. Now that said, an RI can result from a litany of other things, but unless the ambient temp is quite cold, I don't think it is often the case in cages with sufficient hot spots.

You can try the following:

(1) For troublesome snakes, the easiest method I have successfully employed is turning out the light during feeding. It seems to add security and makes them more likely to strike F/T mice.

(2) The enclosure you are using is extremely small, which in of itself may not be an issue, but from the picture it looks pretty open and light. What I mean by this is that the white surrounding self makes the area quite light and the coconut hide is not very deep. It is possible this is making your snake feel insecure. Irritatingly enough, some snakes just decide at a random point in time that this is a problem, even though they have fed under identical conditions in the past. I suspect there is some imperceptible difference, but often I am never able to figure it out. More useful is the solution - which almost always easily solved by cluttering the enclosure with paper towel balls, fake plants, or whatever. In your case you might try artificially darkening it to make it feel like a "deeper burrow".

(3) When I really have trouble, I keep my special gerbil helper, Scentmaster Bob, on standby. Turns out gerbils hate this, but rub the F/T prey item against the gerbil so it gets the scent on it, then feed it to your snake.

great post.

[canicemok]

I couldn't say what the lowest temp to trigger an RI would be, but with a hot spot of ~90F, I would say it is extremely unlikely that is the cause. I suspect his snake is just hugging the hot spot a little more than a snake with a higher ambient would. Now that said, an RI can result from a litany of other things, but unless the ambient temp is quite cold, I don't think it is often the case in cages with sufficient hot spots.

You can try the following:

(1) For troublesome snakes, the easiest method I have successfully employed is turning out the light during feeding. It seems to add security and makes them more likely to strike F/T mice.

(2) The enclosure you are using is extremely small, which in of itself may not be an issue, but from the picture it looks pretty open and light. What I mean by this is that the white surrounding self makes the area quite light and the coconut hide is not very deep. It is possible this is making your snake feel insecure. Irritatingly enough, some snakes just decide at a random point in time that this is a problem, even though they have fed under identical conditions in the past. I suspect there is some imperceptible difference, but often I am never able to figure it out. More useful is the solution - which almost always easily solved by cluttering the enclosure with paper towel balls, fake plants, or whatever. In your case you might try artificially darkening it to make it feel like a "deeper burrow".

(3) When I really have trouble, I keep my special gerbil helper, Scentmaster Bob, on standby. Turns out gerbils hate this, but rub the F/T prey item against the gerbil so it gets the scent on it, then feed it to your snake.

Thank you very much! I will add some newspaper balls in the cage and cover the cage with clothes to increase security. So according to you, temperature is unlikely to be the reason it refusing food if the ambient temp is above 70 degree and having a hot spot of 90 degree?

[Regius_049]

So according to you, temperature is unlikely to be the reason it refusing food if the ambient temp is above 70 degree and having a hot spot of 90 degree?

Indeed, while anything is possible, I highly doubt temperatures are your problem.

For what it is worth, temperatures in Ghana (one area with natural ball python habitats) tend to range anywhere from 70 F to 95F on depending on the season. You can use this as a guide of sorts.

[Neal]

I wouldn't let the temps drop below 75 personally, and I would see about getting a different enclosure.