Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have had my ball for about two months...
he has not eaten...have tried different size, color, sex, dead/alive mice, rats, n gerbil. he seems to have been burnt by the undertank heater..but i can not get ahold of him to soak the wound... it's seems he is hungry, when introduced to food (taken out of cage to feed) he snaps, gets ahold of, but then lets go ( if alive) does not seem interested at all when dead. he's starting to get thin and being as this is my first snake, i have no idea what to do. have researched on the net, but nothing seems to help. his temp during the day is around 90 and at night goes down to around 80, had a hide box but that seemed to make him more aggressive, he has already shed bout two weeks after i got him. i'm at a stand still..any suggestions? thanks all

I'm no expert, but I can tell you this - you are keeping your snake too warm. Ball pythons are more comfortable around 75 low to a day high of 85. 90 degrees is a bit hot for them. Are you misting your cage a couple times a week? And, please, please try to handle that snake. Does he try to bite you? Being too hot may contribute to the aggressive behaviour. Frequent handling will tame most snakes, especially balls. Most importantly, you need to get that burn treated. Do you have a temperature control for your under-tank heater? If you don't - you really need to get one SOON! First, bring down the temp. of the cage, mist his cage a couple times a week. Balls don't require a lot of humidity, but they do need some. Try to handle the snake at least to get the burn treated. You will need to soak him to not only treat the burn but to re-hydrate him. Sounds like he is de-hydrated as well. If you have a large plastic container w/ lid and drill holes in the lid - it makes a good soaking pan for snakes. Soak him in luke-warm water that is not much deeper than the width of the widest part of the snakes body to re-hydrate. I have heard that putting pedialite or gatorade in the water will help re-hydrate a snake, but I've never tried it. Once the snake is at a comfortable temp, re-hydrated, and his burn treated - try feeding him again. I hope I've helped!

i thought from what i read that it was a lil high temp..but talked to a vet n they said it should b higher...so i'll lower it.

i am trying to handle him, but i even walk near the tank n he strikes at the glass. kinda scares me. n when i put my hand in even to just change his water, he hiss's n strikes at me.

he does have a plastic shoe box with a hole cut in the lid, but doesn't seem to b using it..which he did at first.

what is gonna b the safest way for me to get him out to soak him, i know the burn needs treated, n think that's y he's snapping, but being my first ball i'm a bit ignorant when it comes to behavior.

thanks for the quick response, he's startin to scare me with this behavior

I say get a pair of garden gloves. then he won't see the heat and if he does strike you are protected. also if you can get him out maybe another trip to the vet, they are really good at being able to control them and treat them. they might give you some saline (that is what I am soaking mine in this week, since he had an injury on saturday) to soak him in wich would be even better than just plain old water. good luck

Most animals become mean when hurt. And ta-da, your snake's burnt. I say get him to a vet, and get him some Baytril IMMEDIATLY. I've lost a snake to burns, because I thought I could treat her. I was wrong, and by the time I got her on meds, it was too late.

Also, the reasons he might not be eating:
1- Internal parasites. Get him some Panacur.
2- When are you feeding him? BPs are nocturnal.
3- Try leaving him alone with the (dead!) food over night. Sometimes they're too anxious to feed with you around. So leave them in a box, in the dark with no disturbances, overnight.

As for the aggression-
1- Wear gloves. If he bites, it'll only hurt the gloves. Plus, he's getting used to being handled.
2- Put one of your stinky (smells a lot like you - wear it for a couple of days) shirts in the cage with him. If he gets used to your smell while he knows it's safe, he'll be less likely to bite.
3- After you get the burn taken care of, if he's still aggressive, try leaving him completely alone for about a month. I had to do that with one of my aggressive ones. Eventually settled down on her own, once she knew there was no danger.

Here's my big tip of the day - go to a vet who knows what they're doing. Just start calling vets in the phone book, and ask who treats snakes. When you find someone, remember "Baytril" (an antibiotic, most common treatment for burns and resp. infections) and "Panacur" (good for the more common parasites). If they prescribe anything else, ask WHY. If they can explain to you why, in detail, then they're good snake drs. Also, you should get a cream for the burn. I can't remember the name of it off-hand, but yeah.
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-Irish
My Snakes

thanks all...appriciate the help...i'll let ya all know how he's doin in a few weeks....again...thanks