Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i built my own cage...its all sealed up ..wood treated then covered with polyerythen coating to hold heat and humitidy and its plexiglass top 1/4 inch think...i bought a electric thermometer ...placed it at the bottom of the cage...humidity currently says 55 percent minimum and 95 degrees for the heat minimum...does that sound ok? i have a big water dish in there and a fountain...im worried about the humidity not being high enough or it being to hot in there...since i put in all the new stuff i bought yesterday ...the male finally ate...after 2 weeks ...he hogged up 2 full grown mice but the female still wont eat im getting worried im doing something wrong here
please help me

update- put therm. at bottom readys 48 hum. 92 f ..female just nudges mouse and cuddles with it ..i added in a waterfall to hold the humidity steady

Are you feeding frozen/thawed or live food. You said the female nudges it, so I'm guessing F/T. If so try to make sure the food item is nice and warm, then use a pair of tongs or something to grab the mouse with and wave it for the snake. She may be expecting it to move.

Humidity doesn't seem to effect feeding in my experience. Temps do but your sound fine. That is if the 90 degree temps are the warm spot and the other side of the tank is around 80.

no..they are alive mice..she cuddles dead f/t wether its thawed or heated up in warm water to above temp...my male eats great ..he took 2 full grown mice yesterday...she's really skinny at this point so i dont know what to do

>>Humidity doesn't seem to effect feeding in my experience. Temps do but your sound fine.

This is not my experience at all. My ball pythons often go off feeding when the humidity falls too low. When this happens I mist down their enclosures (and sometimes them) in the evening for a few days straight and it usually gets them feeding again. I've seen a very direct relationship between humidity and feeding in my ball pythons.

another update turned off lamp near hide...temp still seems to be falling ...85 degress but humidity going up and down 56 percent right now

most females are picky..they do what they want when they want to.HA HA..iv had females go 9 months with out eating no biggy she didn't even get overly thin...try feeding her at night leave something small that cant hurt her and make it dark this has worked for me before... the other thing is if you have house them to gether at all resintley she may be gravid.. they wont eat if there gravid....the other thing i have had work i don't know where you live if they have feed and grange stores around try a baby chicken( don't feed them this as there diet but a couple times a year wont hurt...im sure someone will have something to say save it) i have had snakes that would't eat anything but they would eat a chick..if can't find a chick try a new prey item besides rats or mice...not only that but some snakes will take a week or so to get use to a new home...don't worry to much yet

thanks for your reply as much info ppl can give me is really appreciated im like a try sponge now waiting to soak up info lol !!! nice metophor huh ? anyways thanks

Hmmmm...gotta love Ball pythons....unexplicably it seems all of them for some reason unknown, even in the perfect temps, they stop eating. I'm sure we've all experienced this some time or another.
Another thing to try thats worked for me in the past is to put a little bit of chicken broth on the mouse. Make sure your thawed mouse is warm and move it with tongs. That way you get a good feeding response.
Also, if this isn't working or the other person who suggested to try a baby chick doesn't work seperate the two snakes. Sometimes, they get stressed out if they are housed together. Or maybe your enclosure is too small for the both of them. I never suggest housing them together for multiple reasons. Unless breeding. Hmmmm....or you might want to take your snake to the nearest herp vet (experienced herp vet is key). Not, right away, but as a last resort. And have them checked for parasites. If your female has them, most likely your male has them also. I do strongly suggest to get another enclosure for your female though however way it works out.

Good luck!

Hmmmm...gotta love Ball pythons....unexplicably it seems all of them for some reason unknown, even in the perfect temps, they stop eating. I'm sure we've all experienced this some time or another.
Another thing to try thats worked for me in the past is to put a little bit of chicken broth on the mouse. Make sure your thawed mouse is warm and move it with tongs. That way you get a good feeding response.
Also, if this isn't working or the other person who suggested to try a baby chick doesn't work seperate the two snakes. Sometimes, they get stressed out if they are housed together. Or maybe your enclosure is too small for the both of them. I never suggest housing them together for multiple reasons. Unless breeding. Hmmmm....or you might want to take your snake to the nearest herp vet (experienced herp vet is key). Not, right away, but as a last resort. And have them checked for parasites. If your female has them, most likely your male has them also. I do strongly suggest to get another enclosure for your female though however way it works out
well i will try chicken broth on a live mouse since i've used all the ft with no progression ..i have the snakes in sepererate hides...special one for the female only she can get in..the enclosure is actually 42 long by 24 high by 22inch wide so no problem with to few space i have been putting lots of things in there to take up space..unfort. i cant afford a vet bill due to the money i have spent trying to get the temps right and feeding them..i really appreciate the help from you all ..more info would help any ideas are awesome and i will try..and also anything you might think will help me now and in the future raising them would be great since im a beginner

sorry i messed it up lol

well i will try chicken broth on a live mouse since i've used all the ft with no progression ..i have the snakes in sepererate hides...special one for the female only she can get in..the enclosure is actually 42 long by 24 high by 22inch wide so no problem with to few space i have been putting lots of things in there to take up space..unfort. i cant afford a vet bill due to the money i have spent trying to get the temps right and feeding them..i really appreciate the help from you all ..more info would help any ideas are awesome and i will try..and also anything you might think will help me now and in the future raising them would be great since im a beginner