Please, please help me feed this ridiculously picky creature.

[noodle.obsessed]

I am only going to use the uvb light for my royal when she has at least 3 consecutive feeds with me, this means if she starts to suddenly decline I will know it is most likely the problem. I would recommend not using the light for at least a week so you can see if any changes occur, I don't think this will be bad tbh as many keep them in pretty much constant complete darkness their whole lives anyway and this will let you know if it could be a stress factor.
ALSO WHY ARE YOU TURNING YOUR LIGHT ON AND OFF HOURLY???!!!! This will be so stressful and confusing to the snake - possibly the most stressful thing you can do! Turn it on with a timer at 7AM and then off at 7PM (or something like that) do not turn it off and on constantly!
I think you should try to just keep things consistent for a few weeks as pets, especially reptiles need consistency to thrive, let him acclimate for awhile without doing anything to him or the enclosure apart from changing the water daily.

[smakemom]

I am only going to use the uvb light for my royal when she has at least 3 consecutive feeds with me, this means if she starts to suddenly decline I will know it is most likely the problem. I would recommend not using the light for at least a week so you can see if any changes occur, I don't think this will be bad tbh as many keep them in pretty much constant complete darkness their whole lives anyway and this will let you know if it could be a stress factor.
ALSO WHY ARE YOU TURNING YOUR LIGHT ON AND OFF HOURLY???!!!! This will be so stressful and confusing to the snake - possibly the most stressful thing you can do! Turn it on with a timer at 7AM and then off at 7PM (or something like that) do not turn it off and on constantly!
I think you should try to just keep things consistent for a few weeks as pets, especially reptiles need consistency to thrive, let him acclimate for awhile without doing anything to him or the enclosure apart from changing the water daily.

I didn’t realize toggling the light would be such an issue. I will fix the timer. This may very well be the biggest issue. I can’t afford a uvb right now. But what should I do, turn it off totally or keep it on through the whole day?

[cincy]

"And finally, last night, I stayed up until 4 in the damn morning watching and waiting for every chance he to poked his head out of his cave, offered, and removed and reintroduced several times over the course of several hours."


Surprised I haven't seen anyone touch on this. I have been lucky with feeding BP's during my short 3 year experience with them. From everything I've read and seen, especially on these boards, this came off as something alarming. I think you could be stressing out the little fella even more, repeatedly offering in the same night, hours apart. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me. I personally would offer once, and if he doesn't eat, I would wait a full 6-7 days before offering again. Hope he eats for you soon!

[noodle.obsessed]

"And finally, last night, I stayed up until 4 in the damn morning watching and waiting for every chance he to poked his head out of his cave, offered, and removed and reintroduced several times over the course of several hours."


Surprised I haven't seen anyone touch on this. I have been lucky with feeding BP's during my short 3 year experience with them. From everything I've read and seen, especially on these boards, this came off as something alarming. I think you could be stressing out the little fella even more, repeatedly offering in the same night, hours apart. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me. I personally would offer once, and if he doesn't eat, I would wait a full 6-7 days before offering again. Hope he eats for you soon!

OOh I didn't catch that, if a snake doesn't eat when offered just leave the prey in the enclosure overnight ensuring it is not right in front of the cave, if still not taken take it out do as stated above and wait.

[noodle.obsessed]

I didn’t realize toggling the light would be such an issue. I will fix the timer. This may very well be the biggest issue. I can’t afford a uvb right now. But what should I do, turn it off totally or keep it on through the whole day?

I think you should leave it off for a whole weak at this point so the snake can acclimate, after that it really depends on his behaviour.

[smakemom]

"And finally, last night, I stayed up until 4 in the damn morning watching and waiting for every chance he to poked his head out of his cave, offered, and removed and reintroduced several times over the course of several hours."


Surprised I haven't seen anyone touch on this. I have been lucky with feeding BP's during my short 3 year experience with them. From everything I've read and seen, especially on these boards, this came off as something alarming. I think you could be stressing out the little fella even more, repeatedly offering in the same night, hours apart. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me. I personally would offer once, and if he doesn't eat, I would wait a full 6-7 days before offering again. Hope he eats for you soon!

I have observed through many of these replies that the stress is likely mutual between me and my snake. I have left him completely alone for about two days now and will continue to do so until I get my sh*t figured out. It's more common for 2-3 offers before quitting, and I went well over that. I'm doing my best to take every post here into consideration and reevaluate his establishment.

[smakemom]

First of all, thank you all for your helpful advice and weighing in your own opinions on his tank, heating, and my methods of feeding.
So far, I have come to understand that my snake is not only stressing me out, but I am stressing HIM out.

As far as feeding goes, I will try some suggestions that I have not done exactly (i.e. thaw rat in cool water, focus blow dryer on head, stand as far away as possible when offering, etc.) and have actively made adjustments to my tank (only from the outside) to improve his conditions. The only major change that I've done so far is cover all four mesh quads with aluminum foil, secured with foil tape. The two lamps (ceramic heat emitter, basking lamp) have direct contact- I cut a hole in the aluminum around them.

I've received a LOT of (respectful) distaste for my basking lamp. I am conflicted because I do trust my vet, but I also cannot dismiss such a collective opinion. I do not want to set up a UTH because I feel like that will screw with his environment's balance, which I have almost exactly where I want it now. Starting tonight, when his timer clicks off, I am going to leave his lamp off for a week and see how he fares. Granted, I won't be able to observe him myself. This brings me to probably the biggest issue that I haven't brought up yet and will likely frustrate some of you.

I am moving away to college.

Before sh*t hit the fan, I had everything lined up for him to come with me. A sea of paperwork, medical professionals' approval, and forms were completed to get him registered officially as an assistance animal. I do have an actual DSM-5 diagnosis, which I received as a child, and have been in therapy for close to 10 years. I recently exited therapy (congrats, me) but still, as all mentally ill people do, struggle with some things. Having an animal around mitigates my symptoms and helps me maintain my own care because I have the need to care for someone else.

This Thursday, I move into my dorm. Because of Smake's current condition, I will not be taking him with me. On top of his circumstance, my university has refused to raise the beds in our rooms, so now there is not nearly as much space as I anticipated. I been in heavy contact with the accessibility department, and despite my borderline begging, they have made it crystal clear that I will be no exception.

Instead, he will stay home with my parents, and be under my father's care. However, he won't do much other than make sure he doesn't escape, refresh his water now and then, and attempt to feed him per my direction. He can also inform me of the temps and humidity levels, and I will show him how to work the thermostat controller and timer, which is about all that may need future adjustment. I will only live an hour away, so I am able to go home on weekends, though I don't have a car and will need my parents or friends to transport me. Still, I should be able to visit home fairly often. Smake may come with me later on in the semester or later in the year, but will be home for some time yet.

With that said, I wanted to present a few ideas that I could do before I leave, and see what you all think.
- I could put him back into his 10 gallon tank. I am not inclined to do so, though, since he's already stressed and a tank change may only worsen that right now.
- I will be turning the lamp off for a while and letting the CHE do the work. I do not want to attach a UTH without talking to a second vet, which I will see about doing.
- I could acquire some more greenery and truly clutter the tank and improve his security.
- With the lamp off, I wouldn't want to blackout the sides, so I'm going to leave that be for now.
- Until he's relaxed again, I could see about attaching a cloth sheet in front of the glass doors (almost like curtains, lol) to limit view.

If these sound like good ideas, let me know. And as always, feel free to make your own suggestions.

I truly appreciate all of your support and advice. Thank you so far, and I hope you will continue to assist me.

[Mr. Misha]

With these current changes, his temps are now 75-77 on the cool side and 85-89 on the hot. Humidity is up to 55-60 with occasional misting.

You're heading in the right direction.

Don't worry about UVB lights or lights at all for that matter. Ball Pythons don't need UVB lights because even though limited studies have been done (see links below), they are not even sure whether BPs can metabolize D3 vitamin so don't waste your money.

https://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/173/14/345
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is...captive_snakes

Your cool side is definitely still a bit low.

If you decide to use your 10 gallon, that's probably is going to be your best bet. With the current CHE acting as primary heat source, it should be more manageable for you to keep temps around 80-82 on the cool side and around 88-90 on the hot side. With all the stuff you already have in the 40 gallon, you should also be able to make a nice environment for him.

As someone already mentioned, constant feeding does stress your BP out so give him a break for about a week.

[smakemom]

You're heading in the right direction.

Don't worry about UVB lights or lights at all for that matter. Ball Pythons don't need UVB lights because even though limited studies have been done (see links below), they are not even sure whether BPs can metabolize D3 vitamin so don't waste your money.

https://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/173/14/345
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is...captive_snakes

Your cool side is definitely still a bit low.

If you decide to use your 10 gallon, that's probably is going to be your best bet. With the current CHE acting as primary heat source, it should be more manageable for you to keep temps around 80-82 on the cool side and around 88-90 on the hot side. With all the stuff you already have in the 40 gallon, you should also be able to make a nice environment for him.

As someone already mentioned, constant feeding does stress your BP out so give him a break for about a week.

I might get a few more plants for the walls of the tank to get more clutter goin' on. I just secured a towel over the front of his tank (which was previously the only glass left exposed) for some extra privacy. I'll get those temps up.

[GoingPostal]

Do you have a plan for if/when this snake continues to refuse food? I'm concerned that you've been unable to keep temps up and stable and now he's going to be taken care of by someone who is less invested in him. A note on your vet/vets opinions. All vets are not created equal, technology and knowledge are constantly changing, it took me three exotic vets to find one that actually knew ferrets and I went through two vets, called six more to find one near me that could actually do surgery on a snake. "Will treat reptiles" or "used to keep reptiles 30 years ago" is not the kind of info you should blindly trust. How many of each species do they see monthly or yearly? What sort of health issues are they used to treating? Do they do surgeries? How would you treat an RI? We see all the time on here where vets are dosing antibiotics without a culture or even known issue, force feeding snakes that don't need it, giving outdated or bad advice. I do think swapping him to the ten gallon (black out the sides/back) might be your best bet, easier to heat with a CHE or heat mat on one side, smaller. Remember ball pythons hide all day, they would not be caught hanging out under a bright light in the open. No light needed.