Having some issues PLEASE HELP need opinions and input .

[Joelgriz8124]

I have a young banana yellowbelly femaleball I got from from dynasty reptiles . I got her along with another banana pewter mojave female .
My banana yb is a picky eater and she’s was eating adult mice . I had issues with her eating at first because I used to try to dangle the mouse in front of her and get her attention to eat it , but that just scared her . I realized if I just left it in front of her hide she slowly make her way over to the mouse and then eat it . Once I figured her out I fed her for 4 weeks every five days . 5/17/18 was her last meal and I decided I was going to convert her over to eat pups along with the other female I got from dynasty . The other female had no issue she just took the rat pup no problem but Delilah will not even look at the rat pup . I tried the first meal by heating both a rat pup and a mouse in the same bag and then rubbed the two together and there was no response so I just decided to wait until her next meal to try again . I tried again and still nothing . All in all I have tried to feed her 4 times and she still hasn’t eaten . Now she is in shed and she is having a weird shed where her shed did t come off clean. I have her humidity at 60% as often as I can keep it there . I have her hot spot 85-90 and her cool spot at 75 she had multiple hides and always clean water .
*Her weight on 3/23/18 (258Grams) keep in mind I fed her on adult mouse 3/17/18
*Her weight today 4/2/18 (226 grams) I gave her a warm bath for about 30 mins yesterday with the wash cloth (temps not too hot and not too cold ). She still has residual shed on her ......
So my questions for you guys are these

Should I offer her a mouse today and try to get her weight back up before I try to get her on to rats ? Or should I keep with trying to switch her now ?

Should I wait till after this shed is all cleared up and the. Try to feed her a rat pup

Should I give her another bath today to try to get the rest of her shed off ?

Is there any other tricks you guys know or any shed easing products you guys use to help a problem shedder ?

Oh also I read u can scent the face of the pup with the mouses guts .... I tried it and it was disgusting but she still didn’t eat ..... I’ll include some pics thank you guys for any tips and help you can offer . I really appreciate it .





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[Joelgriz8124]

this is her setup btw


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[kthoms104]

It looks like she doesn't have a lot to use in order to get her shed off! I had seen some of the same problems w/ shedding, and I think that incomplete shedding (when good humidity is present) can sometimes be due to the snake not having enough 'rough' things in their tank. For this reason I bought my snake a bark-covered hide and a couple pieces of driftwood / bark, which helps them with their shedding process.

She may just be a bit more nervous/irritable/frustrated due to her stuck shed or just her shedding process in general. I have heard that some snakes will be harder to feed when in shed. Here's some things you might try:
-I like feeding my snake when he's on the cold side of his tank, as I've heard that it helps them to distinguish the heat signatures.
-Go up in sizes (if you have the option) in mice, just to try to get her back into a healthy weight before trying w/ rats.

[kthoms104]

Also, in my opinion, bathing the snake should really be a last resort. It can really stress them out, as ball pythons aren't like South American boas (who soak quite often) and don't swim in the wild for the most part.

[Joelgriz8124]

It looks like she doesn't have a lot to use in order to get her shed off! I had seen some of the same problems w/ shedding, and I think that incomplete shedding (when good humidity is present) can sometimes be due to the snake not having enough 'rough' things in their tank. For this reason I bought my snake a bark-covered hide and a couple pieces of driftwood / bark, which helps them with their shedding process.

She may just be a bit more nervous/irritable/frustrated due to her stuck shed or just her shedding process in general. I have heard that some snakes will be harder to feed when in shed. Here's some things you might try:
-I like feeding my snake when he's on the cold side of his tank, as I've heard that it helps them to distinguish the heat signatures.
-Go up in sizes (if you have the option) in mice, just to try to get her back into a healthy weight before trying w/ rats.

Thank you , you think her weight is unhealthy right now or should I give it one more week of trying the rats once her shed is all off ?


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[Joelgriz8124]

Also, in my opinion, bathing the snake should really be a last resort. It can really stress them out, as ball pythons aren't like South American boas (who soak quite often) and don't swim in the wild for the most part.

It was not very deep but good to know , I had read that if there were shedding issues to try that .at what point does someone want to let them soak



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[kthoms104]

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I don't think her weight is unhealthy-- I know that during certain times of the year BPs can lose some weight from feeding strikes just like this, and it isn't something to be extremely anxious about.
And yeah, maybe try again w/ rat pups! If you can manage to get her on them it'll make everything a lot easier. Just try to do as much as you can to reduce her stress (ie. don't handle her for a few days before you feed her. I've also heard that putting more things in the tank like fake plants and wood can make them feel more secure

[Craiga 01453]

Just an FYI, making your threads easier to read will get you more replies. Many people skip over threads that are one giant run-on paragraph....

Now, to help with your questions:

1) I would want to make sure she's eating. If she'll accept mice stick with mice til she's eating consistently, then try to switch

2) I would offer 5-7 days after you last offered

3) As for the bath, where is the stuck She's? Eyes, vent and tail clear? Is there a lot stuck?

4) honestly, the best trick for good sheds is good, consistent husbandry. Not just bumping humidity while in shed. Of course, bumping helps, but new sheds start from the tim the old akin comes off. Just keep your husbandry right and the clean sheds will come. Dont waste your money on commercial shed products when its as easy as proper husbandry.

5) I've never to do any scenting or braining, so I'm no help there.

When it comes to getting young snakes eating the issue is most often husbandry or stress. Your husbandry seems like it's pretty good, so could it be stress??
Are you handling the snake?
Maybe adding some more clutter might help the snake feel more secure. Are the sides covered with dark paper or cardboard or anything? Making BPs feel secure is very important.

[kthoms104]

Soaking isn't super bad or anything, it just can tend to stress out the snake and I wouldn't recommend doing it more than once a week/few weeks because you don't want to provide extra stress for the snake. In the case that the snake has had bad sheds a few times in a row, or has had it stuck for a very long time, I would then soak it.

Just make sure to keep humidity up (a lot of people bring it up into the 70s when the snake is in shed just to make the process easier). I can't really tell, but the substrate that you're using looks like aspen? If you have a hard time keeping up humidity during the snake's shed, you could try switching substrates to something that better holds humidity (as aspen doesn't hold humidity very well) like coco fiber.
If changing substrates isn't possible, then maybe put some wet moss into the 'cold' side of the terrarium. However, you want to make sure that you aren't making the whole tank wet, because if your snake doesn't have a dry place to go, it can result in scale rot.

[Joelgriz8124]

Just an FYI, making your threads easier to read will get you more replies. Many people skip over threads that are one giant run-on paragraph....

Now, to help with your questions:

1) I would want to make sure she's eating. If she'll accept mice stick with mice til she's eating consistently, then try to switch

2) I would offer 5-7 days after you last offered

3) As for the bath, where is the stuck She's? Eyes, vent and tail clear? Is there a lot stuck?

4) honestly, the best trick for good sheds is good, consistent husbandry. Not just bumping humidity while in shed. Of course, bumping helps, but new sheds start from the tim the old akin comes off. Just keep your husbandry right and the clean sheds will come. Dont waste your money on commercial shed products when its as easy as proper husbandry.

5) I've never to do any scenting or braining, so I'm no help there.

When it comes to getting young snakes eating the issue is most often husbandry or stress. Your husbandry seems like it's pretty good, so could it be stress??
Are you handling the snake?
Maybe adding some more clutter might help the snake feel more secure. Are the sides covered with dark paper or cardboard or anything? Making BPs feel secure is very important.

I will try to make my threads easier to read . I’ve never been good at writing and stuff like that .
I handle the snake maybe once a week to check her out and make sure she’s looking good and that there are no physical issues . When I handle her I don’t handle her before feeding .usually 2 to three days after when I got through the cage to check for poop and fluff their substrate and move it around to make sure there is no siting mold or anything .

My husbandry is pretty spot on I try to keep them at 50% humidity and their hot and cool are regulated by herpstat 2.

As far as her being secure shes got two completely blacked out hides and a third hide in the middle of her cage. And the sides of her cage aren’t see through just the front and lights are always set on dim .


Thanks for the response and tips I appreciate it


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