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my blood stays in his burrow under his water bowl on the cool side of his cage most of the time. it is 80 degrees down where he stays. the hot side is 92 degrees about. i spray daily to keep humidity up a little bit. he does not eat very often. he has passed up 6 or 7 mice since last time he did eat which was about 3 weeks ago. is it okay that he eats so little? also i can see him in his burrow and he keeps opening his mouth like something is bothering him. there are no visible obstructions like dirt or anything. does anyone know why he would be doing this?

on the flip side he appears healthy and is not thin or showing signs of weakness, i just wish he would eat more. luckily the mice he does not eat do not go to waste. my monitor thoroughly enjoys them. he has been eating f/t and that is what i have been feeding him.

First off, how big/old is this snake? Secondly, how big is the enclosure?

The open mouth sounds like respiratory trouble. Have you taken the snake out to inspect for fluid in the mouth or popping sounds when he breathes? A vet visit may be in order. If the snake does have an RI, that could easily be the reason for the lack of interest in food.

More details, please.

>>my blood stays in his burrow under his water bowl on the cool side of his cage most of the time. it is 80 degrees down where he stays. the hot side is 92 degrees about. i spray daily to keep humidity up a little bit. he does not eat very often. he has passed up 6 or 7 mice since last time he did eat which was about 3 weeks ago. is it okay that he eats so little? also i can see him in his burrow and he keeps opening his mouth like something is bothering him. there are no visible obstructions like dirt or anything. does anyone know why he would be doing this?
>>
>>on the flip side he appears healthy and is not thin or showing signs of weakness, i just wish he would eat more. luckily the mice he does not eat do not go to waste. my monitor thoroughly enjoys them. he has been eating f/t and that is what i have been feeding him.
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Bloodpythons.com - Whats YOUR Blood Type?

now that you mention it he has always (as long as i remember) had a popping noise coming from his nostril when he breathes. the snake is about 2 feet, i have had him for about 8 months and he is in a 20 gallon enclosure. perhaps a doc visit is in order if the consensus view is a respiratory problem. there is a good reptile vet in town too, luckily.

one of my 2 bloods generally stays at the cool end of his cage both my bloods are kept exactly the same temp is 90 down to 80 with a 2 degree night drop both setups are the same both have 4 hides(waterbowl acts as one thats the one the blood generally stays under) humidity is right now 80% but i just out new fir bark in their cage in 2 days or so itll go down to 60. that blood that stays under the bowl a lot has only eaten for me 2 times since i got them in oct about a month apart, u might try live im tryin that next prolly in two weeks that will be 5 weeks since he ate. try expeirimenting with the hidees to im gonna put aother empty bowl the same type on the hot end to see if its just the hide. then ill adjust the temps maybe bring it down to 88 on the hot end 78 cool end.also do you have a good thermostat,and do you have a humidity gage.

well i have had other hides in the enclosure, but the water bowl is the only one he ever uses, i guess for the humidity factor cause its pretty damp under there. i do have a kick ass digital thermometer but nothing to measure humidity. i think if anything is the problem it would be humidity, because i do have a screen top on it and it is not that humid...except for under the water bowl where he stays, it is very humid. so i think if any problem would come it would be from lack of humidity which a respiratory infection is not, so i'm pretty much confused. i have an appt with the vet tomorrow just to be safe.

i use cheap dial humidity gages that were 4$ each and high humidity generally causes ri easier than low and by thermostat a thermostat controls temps were as a thermometer reads temps, hides may have something to do with it , but if mine doesnt eat with three weeks hes definitley goi to the vet,(by the way the other blood eats everything u put in its cage within seconds) i feed my snakes every 6 days.

yeah i would like to get something to measure humidity. i do have a thermostat and thermometer i think my temps are okay but am concerned for the humidity. he was eating fine at avery chance he got until last time he shed which was about 3 weeks ago. he ate right after he shed but not since then. i'll get it figured out tomorrow hopefully thanks for the info/help.

my picky blood just ate with much gusto. i just hope his next feeding he will eat frozen thawed(he ate a live rat pup) otherwise i will have to drive 100 miles to get him live rat pups every week( i hate rats will not breed them)
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1.1 jungle carpets
1.1 sumatran bloods
1.1 het albino rtb

Low humidity will cause respiratory infections....In bloods it's one of the most common husbandry mistakes. A fish tank with a mesh top is not adequate housing for a blood.

oh you mean i am not supposed to house my blood in a water filled fish tank full of piranas with a sunken pirate ship? dang! at least i know the ph levels are correct. :/

haha you are funny....

Too bad your blood is suffering from your lack of knowledge. Please go read some care sheets.

You should cover the tank 3/4 of the way with something like aluminum foil or seran wrap to keep the humidity in. What substrate are you using?

I go by the vpi.com blood python care sheet considering they are probably the most successful blood python keepers in the country...They suggest the humidity stays between 60 and 70 percent...I keep my blood in a standard 10 gallon with a mesh top and a good sized water bowl and my humidity stays around 65. This may be because the water bowl is over my under tank heater because my vet suggested to put it there to increase humidity. I do mist the cage with hot water (the water cools down quite a bit once it is in mist form, so i use the hottest water the tap has to offer) every other day. When i mist i cover most of the top with seran wrap to get the humidity up to about 90 for a few hours, then i take off the seran wrap and it goes back down to the 60-70 range. Also the mistake your probably making is it sounds like its too hot in the cage. VPI suggests keeping the cage between 80-82 during the day and 78-80 at night, and then if there is a heated basking spot it should be between 86-88...I would not recommend keeping the cage in the 90's that is just too hot.

The link for the care sheet im referring too is:

http://www.vpi.com/publications/blood_pythons_information_and_care