BP not eating

[valerie.militeeva]

Hello everyone.
I just got a ball python almost four weeks ago, who is about 3 months old. She has a 40 gallon tank, I use paper as her substrate, she has two dark hiding spaces, and plenty of places to climb on. I change her water every other day, and clean her cage 1/month. In the store we bought her from, she was supposedly eating frozen fuzzies, but we have offered her thawed fuzzies four times already. We always attempted to feed her after 9:00 p.m., and we tried to move her to a separate container with a towel on top, we tried feeding her in her cage when she was awake, and we tried putting her and the mouse in a paper bag over her heat source, but she always seems uninterested. She usually sniffs around the mouse, and she'll even touch it, but then she just slithers away. Her temperature stays between 95 and 76ish, (warm and cool ends), and her humidity is around 50-60. I'm worried she hasn't eated in over a month . I really don't want to feed her live. Any suggestions?

[midg8290]

How are u warming the food?

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[Craiga 01453]

Your best bet is to leave the snake in her enclosure. Don't use a seperate feeding tub, don't use a bag. You're just stressing the crap out of your snake.
Let her eat where she feels comfortable.

There are two main reasons a new BP won't eat.
1) husbandry
2) stress

In order to help you determine which one, or both, your snake is dealing with we'll need to know more. But off the bat, your snake is stressed from being moved. Stick to offering in her enclosure. Stick to a routine. Every time you move her or change the routine it stresses her out.
Also, you may want to start with a smaller enclsoure, 40 gallons are huge for a juvenile BP.

But, like I said, we'llneed to know more to help you

1) how are you heating the enclosure?
2) are your heat sources regulated by a THERMOSTAT???
3) what are your temps?
4) How are you measuring temps? And where?
5) is there tons of clutter in that huge tank to make her feel secure?
6) are the hides the right style and proper size?
7) are you handling the snake (aside from moving it to try to feed)??
8) is the enclsoure in a high traffic area of the house?


Also, fuzzies are WAY too small for a BP. BPs eat hoppers fresh out of the egg, and only for their first 3-5 meals typically. Then they quickly move up to small adult mice.

Remember, the more you tell us, the more we can help you and your snake.

[Wharf Rat]

Hi, just some general tips/advice. If you are handling her at all, stop. Until she has fed 2 or 3 times don't handle her at all besides changing water and cleaning poo or pee. Stress is a major factor in ball python feeding issues. If you can, get that 95 degree warm end down a few degrees to 88 - 90, and warm up the cool side to 80.

Good luck with her

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[SMTHook]

Drop that 95 to 90 first. Now we'd need more info. Especially the above, how do you heat? You're not just thawing and offering correct? From experience, I have more success with warmed food at around midnight after a poop while not in shed holding it away from my heat signature after he gives me the head out of hide feed me look.

[Jakethesnake69]

I would get the temps in check and as stated leave the snake alone. You say the hot side is 95, is that surface temp? What’s your ambient temperature? If all your using is a UTH it’s not going to affect ambient temps. A secondary heat source should be used. I have a 40 gallon tank that has both a UTH(8 x12 16 Watts I think)and CHE ( 150 watts) both on thermostats. My ambient in the tank is 82 at the moment that is in the center of cage ambient in hot spot is 84 and surface is 87-89. It’s about 79-80 on the cool side surface. UTH is set to 90 and CHE is at 86.
I had a different setup at first and ambient temps were low but surface temps were great but Athena would not eat. After getting the ambient temps right as well as the surface temps she was a different snake and ate in seconds. Athena thrives in this environment. She utilizes the whole cage, several hides, water in two spots. Granted she is in her hide all day, at around 5 or 6 in the evening she always comes out for a stroll.
Just a thought. I know it’s stressful when they don’t eat, especially if they are young. I think my UTH is 16 watts and my CHE is 150 Watts. I did encase my tank and top with foam board. Tanks are very inefficient for heat but it’s a workable problem.
I had faulty equipment in the beginning, apparently “brand new”means nothing anymore. Thermostate was screwed up and resorted to a dimmer switch briefly.

[Jakethesnake69]

I do have to spray for humidity, part of using a CHE or bulb I have noticed.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Hello everyone.
I just got a ball python almost four weeks ago, who is about 3 months old. She has a 40 gallon tank, I use paper as her substrate, she has two dark hiding spaces, and plenty of places to climb on. I change her water every other day, and clean her cage 1/month. In the store we bought her from, she was supposedly eating frozen fuzzies, but we have offered her thawed fuzzies four times already. We always attempted to feed her after 9:00 p.m., and we tried to move her to a separate container with a towel on top, we tried feeding her in her cage when she was awake, and we tried putting her and the mouse in a paper bag over her heat source, but she always seems uninterested. She usually sniffs around the mouse, and she'll even touch it, but then she just slithers away. Her temperature stays between 95 and 76ish, (warm and cool ends), and her humidity is around 50-60. I'm worried she hasn't eated in over a month . I really don't want to feed her live. Any suggestions?

Do this https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-hatchling-101 to a T and I mean to a T do not pick and chose, a 3 month old BP should not be in a 40 gallons tank that is designed for an adult. Your temps are also WAY TOO HOT.

The animal is 3 months, and probably has only had 5 meals total you have to do what you need to do and it start by getting everything right, so long the husbandry and the food offer are not adequate the animal will not eat, and you are entering a viscous circle.

[Coluber42]

You've gotten good advice about temperatures. Many reptiles will not eat if they don't have access to the right temperatures for digestion; but another related reason is that if they don't feel they can safely move between different temperature zones to thermoregulate, that might count as not having access to those temperatures.

With a baby in a 40 gallon tank, she might also need more visual cover, such as tubes (paper towel and toilet paper tubes are great for babies) and foliage (real or fake) so she can get from one side to the other without being too visible. It might help to cover all sides of the tank, even the front, with paper leaving just small gap or window so you can see in. Also cover the top so you're not a looming presence overhead. When my BP was a shy new baby, he refused a meal or two and the thing that got him eating for me was covering the front of the tank except for a small gap to see through. He's an adult now and not nearly as shy as when he was a baby, but he still does not care for being watched while he eats and I swear he can tell when someone across the room turns to look at him.

And when you warm up the prey, make sure you warm it up to around 99 degrees. Ball pythons use heat to target their prey, and many won't know what to do with a prey item that isn't the right temperature. Some people find it helpful to make the head warmer than the rest of the body. You can warm it up with a blow dryer, or by putting it in a ziploc bag to keep it dry and floating it in warm water.

[valerie.militeeva]

Im warming with the mouse in a plastic bag and hot tap water for 20 minutes.