Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys,
I'm having feeding problems again, but it's different this time. My pinstripe was feeding just fine on frozen thawed. It took her three weeks to get going and then she ate four weeks straight. Now it's been three weeks without a meal again. Next week I'm going to attempt f/t again, but if no success I'm going to get a live to get a meal in her. I'm almost afraid to put a live meal in the cage with her though she's a super shy snake and when I go to pick her up or introduce food into the tub she jumps back into her hide. I'm afraid if I put a rat in there it might tear her up. It may be possible that she's outgrown her cage, but would that make her scared I would think it would make her more secure. I'll post pics when I get home. I don't think it's an issue with the frozen thawed cause like I said it's not like she hasn't eaten before. She just isn't eating now. And again it's not like she's just going off feed. It's like she's scared. The only other thing that I can think of is I switched from paper towel bedding to newsprint. The week she stopped feeding.

This brings up another question. If I switch back to paper towels would this make it better or would it just be another change and make it worse? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks guys.

Welcome to ball pythons!!!!!! Balls don't like tubs that are too big so as long as she has room to thermoregulate she should be fine. A change in substrate could definetly trigger a snake to go off feed for a while. Three weeks is not a problem ....frustrating........ but not an issue. I would stick to one substrate and if you really want her to eat offer live. It just depends on who's more stubborn. Sometimes feeding a live will get them back into eating mode and they will start taking f/t again. Good luck Chris

I just came home and went to take the picture and she ate. So The old leaving the rodent infront of the hide trick worked this time around. I'm still concerned though. I guess we'll just see what happens in the future. I have another question though. Well two. I had to remove her hide to be sure that she ate and whether to remove the rodent or not and the only way I could get the hide back in was to set it on top of her. I've seen guys do this in videos before so I'm guessing she'll be ok, but the corner right where the hole is was sitting on her. It's a super light hide and the corner isn't sharp, but should I be concerned with her hurting herself? Also she was extremely scared when I was in her tub moving things around. I usually don't mess with my snakes for atleast 24hrs after I feed. And Ive never had a snake regurgitate. I know people preach not to handle right after because of regurgitation, but how likely is it? Again I didn't handle. Just removed the hide and took a little time to reposition the hide best I could so not very much was sitting on her.

Anyhow here's a picture what do you guys think. Plenty Big enough or too small? It's not a full picture of the tub, but you get the idea. You can see the back corner which is at the far upper left of the photo. So she takes up half the tub. There's run of the mill plastic large hide I keep in the back for her, sometimes she can squeeze in, but sometimes the hide just rests on top of her. I've seen that in videos so I guess that's ok. Please just give your opinions.

Oh and just for information this is an Iris Sweaterbox tub. I guess one step below a CB-70. I'm ordering a stack of CB-70s in a few months to put her and my in and to have room for my growing females for later, but I'd like to get a good idea of when it's necessary to move them up. I've heard males can live in Sweaterboxes their entire lives any truth to that?

Oh and one last question for the future. When breeding do you guys leave the hides in the tubs or do you pull them when there's going to be two snakes in the tub? and if so? How does this affect the stress of the snake that's used to having a hide? or are they just too busy getting busy?

that tub is fine. Like others have said, bp's quit eating if you fart to close to them sometimes. I wouldn't worry about a few weeks or even a few months of no eating as long as the animal isn't looking bad or loosing weight. As far as animals living in tubs big or small that is up to the keeper. I have females that are over 3k grams living in 32 qt tubs and they do just fine. I do have a stack of about 30 41qt tubs and my next racks that I build may be built to fit those so I can have a use for them but I personally feel no need to put animals in larger tubs unless you have monster 4k gram animals. Here is a 2700+g female het pied ovulating in a 32qt tub so something must be ok with my set-up, lol.

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Josh & Krysty Hutto

Various Ball Pythons, boas, dogs, cats, fish, a couple sulcatas and a few other odds and ends.

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrier as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

they do that. you changed stuff up, a lot of the time that causes them to go off feed. if it doesn't eat, forget about it for that week, don't stress and try again next week. repeat those steps over and over each week until it breaks down and eats. that way you don't also confuse it more by switching food on it all the time
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www.bamreptiles.webs.com
www.facebook.com/bamreptiles

Hi,

The 3 s's that hold true for all herps are:

Security, security and security. In that order

Please don't forget that these are living creatures that have survived as a species for millions of years. They have done so by taking advantage of dark, secure homes. We often forget that, as they have proven to be adaptable in our relatively short relationship with them (40yrs). My opinion and advice would be: cover the sides of the enclosure, or provide a good hide, or better yet, both; and the snake will regain its feeding ferocity quickly.

Also, check your temps. Ball pythons love heat, but they also appreciate and need access to cool. Make sure you have a good range of temps that the snake can access in complete security. They are fairly tolerant of a wide range of humidity unless shedding, so that should not be too much of a concern.

Check those factors in order of importance and I'm sure it will regain its appetite quickly. Although your animal certainly does not appear to be starving. Good luck.

Will

Ball python keeper since 1979

Thanks for the help will yeah that pic. Might have been a little misleading. That's just my spare tub I put them for cleaning, but it's the same size. I was just looking for a size comparison. Their regular tubs have hides. Hers it actually just about too small for her. Depending how she gets in some times it sits on top of her. And the tubs go into an enclosed rack. All the rest of my snakes feel very secure and are feeding very well. She's just being a problem child. After I went back and checked she actually did eat that night though. I'm hoping it all boiled down to her concern over the bedding change and my impatience. And hopefully she'll keep feeding well from here on out. Now my only concern is when I switch from a sweaterbox to a blanket box. I wonder when if that will affect her.