Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone have any tips on how not to stress out a ball python when they are moved to a new home? I'm talking about when it is sold and leaves your facility, or when it outgrows one enclosure and you move it to a bigger one, or when you switch from one type of enclosure to another (like aquariam to tub)?

We all know how some balls can turn into very picky eaters or go off feed for a while when moved, so how do you overcome this problem? Anyone already figure this one out?

Please post your suggestions!

Thanks
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Alice Cobb
Florida Reptile Room

you want to hear a crazy one..........i had a female in a smaller tub enclosure that ate decently on mice or weaned rats. the moment it was time to move her into a bigger enclosure she stopped eating rats and will only take mice. i've got her to take F/T mice now so it's not that bad but she refuses to take a rat, while before she did with ease. i've tried to make her newer enclosure smaller by added crumbled newspaper but nothing. she get's me frustrated, lol she and another het albino i have just want mice.

i've tried to break her, but i'm tired of it, lol. her siblings are all around 700-800g while she's stuck at around 500g. that's to show you how stubborn she is, and how long i tried to break her.

i breed my own rats but i just can't do the mice, they smell to bad.

balls that eat make you happy, balls that don't drive you crazy!

good luck

Pitoon

Good luck! This is what I do:

1) Don't package the animal up until just before it needs to be picked up or dropped off with the delivery facility. Do not overheat them when shipping.

2) Make sure the animal has plenty of fresh water prior to shipping so you know they are well hydrated.

3) Let the buyer know exactly how you had them setup (cage size, temps, hides, etc.). It's a good idea for the buyer to duplicate this setup. I can't tell you how many times a buyer has messed this one up and moved the animal from cage to cage looking for a "silver bullet", all the while further stressing the animal.

4) Let the buyer know how the animal is currently feeding. If feeding F/T mice and they drop in a live rat... well...

5) I have a short paragraph I ship with my animals that suggests leaving them completely alone for a short period of time. I wonder how many actually follow it.

IMHO, the key is to minimize change for the shortest period of time.

Something else. Many animals have the ability to "sense" different kinds of environmental changes - changes in barometric pressure, temperatures, humidity, etc. I have shipped many animals to CA that were pounding food, get to CA and stop for a while - almost like it was time to go into the winter fast. Of course, it could just be that crazy state?
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

One thing I do is ship a small amount of bedding that they were in with them so the next owner can put it in the cage.

I haven't (knock on wood) had much problems with this so far (knocking on wood again).

However -- my albino does get a bit stressed when I clean his tub -- if I take away too much of his smell -- he'll do the whole nose rub routine for days -- so when I do clean his tub I make sure that I put back a little of the old substrate and it seems to keep him calm and feeding just fine. Just as routine if I'm moving animals up in cage size I do normally move their hide with them -- so maybe that little bit of scent security is enough -- I don't know.

As for Jays CA comment - I remember when I first started getting balls shipped most of the ones from FL spent their first week or two in the water bowl which was bothersome -- I've since learned that if I order from a FL breeder I need to make sure that I keep their tub nice and humid and then wean them off of it. LOL - and just for the record my most pain in the butt feeder is the one Jay sent some 3 1/2 years ago and she did spend a good week or more in the water bowl -- LOL -- but she is now a fabulous feeder and a new mom to boot!!
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Tosha
JET Pythons

(cough) Hollywood living LOL!
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

I've only had problems getting one newly purchase adult acclimated. But even that was only 3 weeks. I emailed the breeder and found out what substrate they had been keeping her on. Once I switched to what she was used to, and left her alone for a week she started eating.

With any change (substate,cage etc) I try to wait 2-3 days before or after feeding if possible. If not possible due to travel etc... usually 3/4's feed anyway.

In moving them to larger containers, I transfer some of the old substrate, and the same hide. I handle them as little as possible, and leave them alone to get used to their new abode until the next feed.( aside from peaking in to check water)

I have found that all my animals have gone through a juvinile delinquent stage and go off feed around 5-600gms regardless of any changes. Also the likely hood of them feeding decreases porportionally to how badly I want them to eat.
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