Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 3 Ball Pythons and a Boa Constrictor. One BP is 3 1/2 ft long and when I feed him (I just call it a guy i dont really know its sex) he regularly eats and around winter he slows down eating a bit. I just recently got 2 baby BP's somewhere between 16-20 inches long and I tried feeding them a baby fuzzy mouse each (where they have little fur and their eyes arent open yet) but they wouldnt eat them. Neither one showed any interest in the mice. I wonder if it is because the mice are so young that they barely move and they dont stimulate the snake enough or something. I tried holdin them with tongs and wiggling them in front of their faces but that didnt help either. Im just gonna wait 7 more days and just get the smallest adult mouse i can get so its more appealing or something. But I was wondering if anyone could help me out here with any suggestions? What should I do? And if they dont eat this next time what should I do? They live in the same tank, but thats how they all were at the Chicago Reptile House where I had bought them, so I dont think thats a problem but if so let me know. I seperated them to try and feed them. I keep them in a 15 gal tank with clean bedding and clean water always available, 2 hide spots, a heat lamp with roughly 93 degrees on warm side and 85 degrees on cool side with about P humidity. Should I be doing something differently? Ive never had this problem with my first BP ( the 3 1/2 ft one) when he was their size. And I got the boa a couple weeks before these guys from the same place and it is eaten great, but I know not to compare it to the BP's pickiness. Ive only had the babys for a lil over a week now so they havnt eaten once since Ive had'em at home. Any comments will be greatly appreciated, Thank you so much!.....

I would defiantly separate them. Also The cool side needs to be lower. It should be around 75, Hot side about 85. i would ditch the light, and get a Under the tank heat mat. Get them set up correctly then leave them be for at least a week or longer, then feed them a small mouse.Good luck with them.

Like melindaste said, you want to seperate the babies. Doesn't matter if they were lumped together at the place you bought em at - petstores and reptile expos are rarely good examples of how to house your animal properly. So, here's what you'll prolly wanna do:

- Seperate the babies into their own tanks/tubs. I keep my similarly sized babies in 12 qt sterlite tubs.

- Get a heat pad/mat/cable as well as a rheostat/dimmer, and ditch the light. Your first ball might have adapted to the lights and tank, but the new babies don't seem to have done the same. Ball pythons are nocturnal animals that spend most of their time hidden in rodent burrows - lights stress them out and dry out the air.

- Ideal temperatures are between 85-90 on the hot side, and 75-80 on the cool side. Your babies are probably a bit too warm.

- Once you get all that taken care of, leave em alone except to change their water and check on them. NO HANDLING AT ALL UNLESS ITS AN EMERGENCY. This is the hardest part! Don't mess with them at all until they've eaten at least twice for you.

- And don't panic. Balls are known for their tendencies to cause headaches about getting them to eat regularly. Don't start to really worry until they either start to noticeably lose weight or they haven't eaten for a month or two after you got them.

- When you DO start feeding them, don't worry about getting the "smallest adult mice" you can find. At 16 - 20", they can handle a regular adult mouse just fine. My babies are between 20 and 24" and they eat two mice a week.

Good luck and keep us updated!

~jenny
-----
"The python has, and I fib no fibs,
318 pairs of ribs.
In stating this I place reliance
On a seance with one who died for science
This figure is sworn to and attested,
He counted them while being digested."
~Ogden Nash

jenny.thegreenes.org

"If you're happy and you know it,
Bomb Iraq!
If you cannot find Osama,
Bomb Iraq!
If the terrorists are frisky,
Pakistan is looking shifty,
North Korea is too risky,
Bomb Iraq!

Oh my god thank you two so much for the feed back. Thats incredibly helpful, I will get everything corrected right now. Ill let u know if I need more help and Ill post also if it works out. Thanks again for the info!
-Baller420

Best of luck and post pics when you can of you babies..I do not think anyone gets tired of looking at pretty snakes..