New Ball Python Concerns

[pilot]

Hi everyone, looking for some advice/suggestions on my new ball python. As far as the back story goes, I purchased this ball python about 2 weeks ago from Petsmart. Now I realize its not at all recommended to get reptiles from there as there not always healthy taken care of well/ etc. While I walked in knowing this, they had a very colorful what i believe to be pastel that appeared to be healthy. I took the approach that it was an animal that I could take in and take good care of. When i purchased it, they had given me the feeding chart and for the two weeks they had had it in store it had not yet eat. I brought it home and after about a week I attempted feeding it a F/T fuzzy. After it refused that meal i gave it about another week of little to no handling and tried again. After refusing this meal I realized it had gone quite a while without eating already. I attempted to assist feed it but it refused that as well. One week later, tonight, i attempted to feed a F/T fuzzy again, after refusing i again attempted the assist feed and it refused. (forgot to mention earlier that i thawed it sitting on top of its 10G tank the put it under a light to heat up prior to feedings). Now i know that BP's are said to be picky eaters, but is this something i should start to become concerned about? I realize that i made the mistake of getting snake from a petsmart with an unknown past feeding history/ history over all, as well as purchasing it from there without it have since they received it. I have hope for the snake as its a very pretty color, but at the same time I would also like some advice/suggestions that anyone else might have. I have up until tuesday to return the snake if I really wanted to, but this is something I am hoping to avoid as i want to raise this snake to be as healthy as possible. Again, any suggests or input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[omglolchrisss]

Hi everyone, looking for some advice/suggestions on my new ball python. As far as the back story goes, I purchased this ball python about 2 weeks ago from Petsmart. Now I realize its not at all recommended to get reptiles from there as there not always healthy taken care of well/ etc. While I walked in knowing this, they had a very colorful what i believe to be pastel that appeared to be healthy. I took the approach that it was an animal that I could take in and take good care of. When i purchased it, they had given me the feeding chart and for the two weeks they had had it in store it had not yet eat. I brought it home and after about a week I attempted feeding it a F/T fuzzy. After it refused that meal i gave it about another week of little to no handling and tried again. After refusing this meal I realized it had gone quite a while without eating already. I attempted to assist feed it but it refused that as well. One week later, tonight, i attempted to feed a F/T fuzzy again, after refusing i again attempted the assist feed and it refused. (forgot to mention earlier that i thawed it sitting on top of its 10G tank the put it under a light to heat up prior to feedings). Now i know that BP's are said to be picky eaters, but is this something i should start to become concerned about? I realize that i made the mistake of getting snake from a petsmart with an unknown past feeding history/ history over all, as well as purchasing it from there without it have since they received it. I have hope for the snake as its a very pretty color, but at the same time I would also like some advice/suggestions that anyone else might have. I have up until tuesday to return the snake if I really wanted to, but this is something I am hoping to avoid as i want to raise this snake to be as healthy as possible. Again, any suggests or input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

What are your temps and humidity?

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[cchardwick]

It would be helpful to see a photo of your setup. I'm assuming that this ball python is probably close to a hatchling size? Do you have a scale to where you can weight it in grams? Personally I would never assist feed, have you ever done this before? It usually makes the snake very stressed and can cause them to go off of feed even more. I'd suggest finding a pet store that has live pinky rats and put a rat in it's cage in the evening and I can almost guarantee that by morning it will be gone. A live pinky rat with it's eyes closed is perfectly safe to leave in there overnight. Any other live rodent needs to be checked after about 5-10 minutes and removed if not eaten to prevent the rodent doing damage to the snake (i.e., a small mouse).

PetSmart needs to stock some live pinky rats to feed it's ball pythons if it intends to take care of them properly. Or at least outsource it, have a real breeder come in after hours and drop in some pinky rats if they don't have the stomach to do it themselves. Getting the weight of the snake in grams is helpful, you should feed a rodent that is about 10% of the weight of the snake, usually 5% - 10% is the rule of thumb. So for a 100 gram snake you should feed a 10 gram pinky rat. A small snake like that should be fed every 4-5 days. I usually feed small snakes on Sunday and Wednesday, usually 1-3 rodents back to back (multiple smaller rodents or one larger rodent). If I have an excess of rodents in my rack I feed the smaller ones off in larger numbers to balance out the rodent population. If you feed a rodent that is less than 5% of the weight of the snake it may not see it as a food item and may refuse to eat it (i.e. a pinky mouse)

[BluuWolf]

We will need to know more about your set up before we can really assess what the problem is. The reason ball pythons are such picky eaters is if their husbandry isnt correct then they will not eat.

What are your temps and humidity? How are you measuring them, like what sort of thermometer? How are you heating the enclosure? Are your heat sourcing being regulated by a thermostat? How many hides do you have and how much coverage does he have to hide in? A pic of you setup would help a lot (If you don't know how to upload pics the easiest way is by using the free app Tapatalk)

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[pilot]

Don't have a picture at the moment, but it is a 10 gallon tank with a small zoomed heating pad, about 1-2 inches of aspen. Hide is on half with heat pad, with some fake greenery all over. Opposite side just has water bowl Room temp is about 75-80 on average. Don't have a heating lamp because i have read that the heating pad should be sufficient. humidity is around 40-45%. Cant say ive heard of feeding it a live pinky, but do you think this would initiate its want to feed? currently have been attempting fuzzy mice so I'm not too sure it had been fed rats before and is now refusing mice because it's never had them before. Also, don't have a scale either that i can weigh it on.

[omglolchrisss]

Don't have a picture at the moment, but it is a 10 gallon tank with a small zoomed heating pad, about 1-2 inches of aspen. Hide is on half with heat pad, with some fake greenery all over. Opposite side just has water bowl Room temp is about 75-80 on average. Don't have a heating lamp because i have read that the heating pad should be sufficient. humidity is around 40-45%. Cant say ive heard of feeding it a live pinky, but do you think this would initiate its want to feed? currently have been attempting fuzzy mice so I'm not too sure it had been fed rats before and is now refusing mice because it's never had them before. Also, don't have a scale either that i can weigh it on.

A heating pad doesn't raise ambient temps 40-45% humidity is too low should be between 50-60% and is your heating pad regulated by a thermostat And do you have thermometers in the enclosure?

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[pilot]

As far as how i measure temps/humidity, I just have the basic thermometers that velcro onto inside of tank. Nothing extremely special but will definitely take recommendations/ suggestions on specific brands/ things to buy. I also do not have a thermostat to regulate the heating pad.

[pilot]

Suggestions as to raising humidity? also would adding a heat lamp them be the next step as to raising ambient temps as well?

[Sunnieskys]

Don't have a picture at the moment, but it is a 10 gallon tank with a small zoomed heating pad, about 1-2 inches of aspen. Hide is on half with heat pad, with some fake greenery all over. Opposite side just has water bowl Room temp is about 75-80 on average. Don't have a heating lamp because i have read that the heating pad should be sufficient. humidity is around 40-45%. Cant say ive heard of feeding it a live pinky, but do you think this would initiate its want to feed? currently have been attempting fuzzy mice so I'm not too sure it had been fed rats before and is now refusing mice because it's never had them before. Also, don't have a scale either that i can weigh it on.

Change substrate. Aspen will not hold any humidity. Use Eco earth if you want a fast solution. You need TWO identical hides that are small. BP like to be tight and enclosed. Water bowl goes in the middle. You need to regulate that uth with a thermostat. You need a heat lamp. Ambient temp should be no less than 80. Hot side should be 90. Humidity should be 60%. Look,up,the pinned thread of a glass tank set up and the other is hides my way. Your husbandry is off which is most likely why your beep is t eating.

[Sunnieskys]

As far as how i measure temps/humidity, I just have the basic thermometers that velcro onto inside of tank. Nothing extremely special but will definitely take recommendations/ suggestions on specific brands/ things to buy. I also do not have a thermostat to regulate the heating pad.

Get those out of your tank right now! Nothing sticky ever goes inside your enclosure. Ever. Sorry to sound harsh but if you have ever had your snake get stuck on them you will know. Take those out!