New BP - reluctant to eat at first & sriking + hissing

[aubrey]

Hi all, this is my first post. I thought I'd share my first experience with you all! Bought my first BP 'Lottie' last week, its a boy despite having a girls name! (I wasnt responsible for naming him! :-) ) I gave him several days to settle in, and had handled him several times with no problems. I was unsure which method to choose to feed him, so I put him in a separate tub with some substrate and dangled a large f/t mouse in front of him. I thought he would take it quickly as the pet shop told me he'd been feeding regularly on the same. He struck at it several times and started hissing loudly but did not seem in the least bit interested in eating it. So, I tried to dangle it in front of him again only to get more strikes and LOTS of hissing! He was starting to get quite angry by now, so I gave up and left him and mousey in the tub together for a few hours to see if he calmed down and ate it, but to no avail. He had calmed down by now, so I put him back in his tank and put the mouse in the hide with him, and this morning it was gone, what a relief! However when I walked past his tank later when he was out, I heard a bang to see him strike at me through the glass and coil into an S position.

You are all far more experianced than I so I just thought I would bounce it off you all! What did I do wrong? Perhaps not give him enough time to settle in? Or maybe I should feed him in his cage next time? Of course I want to do the right thing, so hopefully you can give me some guidance on what to do next. When I have handled him, I notice that he is very head shy and will pull his head back if you make a sudden movement, no matter how small. He is about 8 months old. I now plan to leave him for 2 or 3 days before handling him again, give mousey time to digest. Thanks for your time.

[Nate]

sounds like he's pretty stressed.

There's no need to put him in a separate enclosure to feed. Try putting a towel over the cage so he can't see you, then he won't strike at the cage. I wouldn't handle him till he's on a good solid feeding schedule. you can always try balling up some news paper and putting it in his enclosure to help add to his security.
What's your current set up like?

[Freakie_frog]

Welcome to the sight and welcome to the world of keeping snakes.

Everything you describe sounds right on for a ball python. The hissing and the head shyness all part of owning a Ball. With some it goes away and some it doesn't. just work with your snake and make slow movements to keep from stressing it out. Normaly it takes a week or longer for them to adjust to their new enviroment. But over all sounds like your own the right track..

Good luck

[aubrey]

Hi, thanks for those thoughts. At the moment he is in a 3' aquarium, with an undertank heater under his hide end, and a heat lamp that goes on during the day. Temp during the day is about 80 and drops down to about 70 at night. The tank is fairly exposed, but against a wall. I handled him this evening, two days after feeding with no problems. He was a little head shy again, and I got a small hiss, however nothing like as bad the the first time (see above) I had him out for about 10-15 minutes and he seemed quite happy. I hope perhaps we just got off to a bad start, but all seems well now. I think next time I feed him, I will do it in the cage, I've read lots about pre-scenting the room, however I'm only using f/t mice so dont know if this will work? I plan just to dangle mousey in the tank and see if Lottie comes out of her hide. I've also got two corns and they are quite happy eating any time and any place! I'll keep you updated! Thanks very much for making me feel welcome, I'm sure this wont be the last of my questions!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Hi, thanks for those thoughts. At the moment he is in a 3' aquarium, with an undertank heater under his hide end, and a heat lamp that goes on during the day. Temp during the day is about 80 and drops down to about 70 at night. The tank is fairly exposed, but against a wall. I handled him this evening, two days after feeding with no problems. He was a little head shy again, and I got a small hiss, however nothing like as bad the the first time (see above) I had him out for about 10-15 minutes and he seemed quite happy. I hope perhaps we just got off to a bad start, but all seems well now. I think next time I feed him, I will do it in the cage, I've read lots about pre-scenting the room, however I'm only using f/t mice so dont know if this will work? I plan just to dangle mousey in the tank and see if Lottie comes out of her hide. I've also got two corns and they are quite happy eating any time and any place! I'll keep you updated! Thanks very much for making me feel welcome, I'm sure this wont be the last of my questions!

Well first welcome.


Your temps are too low and husbandry problem will cause your BP to go off feed will put your BP at risk for RI.


Temps should be constant 90-94 on the warm side and 80-84 on the cool side.


I would strongly suggest you to read this http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&id=59 and make the appropriated changes

[aubrey]

I've upped the temps now, running at 90 in the hot end and 80 in the cooler end, and I've covered three sides of the tank now, l he seems much happier now, thanks for your help, just hopes all goes well next meal time. Thanks.