Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey i was wondering a few things....i got my first ball python a week ago, and the times that i saw him he seemed to change color, like get brighter over his whole body and then sometimes hes real dark except his tail. Lastnight i took him out for the first time, he was agressive the first night i got him home(trying to bite) and when we took him out he was completely relaxed and seemed to study us more when he was out of the cage (he seems to watch me sometimes from his cage lol) anyway when i put him in the tub to eat (fresh killed mouse) and he showed no interest at all, didnt even go into feed mode, im thinking he may have not been interested because it was his first time being out of his cage and being disturbed since he was home, he is very fat and healthy looking, im hoping it was just he was not hungry. After a few minutes of sitting in the feeding tub, he came back out and moved towards me and my brother to come sit with us and taste the air and everything, i was wondering when i should try to feed him again? i was thinking maybe wednesday or tueday...anyway if anybody has any advice/answers to the changing color (it may have been the light but i swear he was really bright when he was out with me, his whole body
anyway thanks for the help in advance
Chuck

What are his temperatures? Does he feel warm or cool when he looks dark? Is he going into shed (blue eyes)? Try to feed him once a week until he eats. If you try more often you could stress him out further. Maybe one of the more knowledgable people will answer.

they do get lighter sometimes. nobodies sure exactly what plays into it. health is one. a normally bright ball python will get darker if it is unhealthy. it coud also depend on when the last tiem it ate was or what the temperatures are. idfferent lighting would certainly change the way it looks so maybe what you see is a combination of the two. also just after a shed it will be lighter in color. as it gets closer to a shed it will get darker.
and for feeding...just try every week. i think thats the safest thing. if it starts losing weight thats when you should really worry. maybe, just to get it started with you, try feeding it in its cage the first time.

i was gonna try to feed him in his cage, after i put him in i dangled the mouse infront of him but he just moved around his cage after, i was thinking maybe a rat pinky would be a better size for him? and then i could probably do it live because it cant hurt the snake and then eventually just get him onto fresh killed from there...i wont try to feed him until next weekend again, as for the color, i think he may be going into shed but it happens over a few minute span where his body seems to light up to the color i saw him in the store, he does it sometimes when im looking at him through the glass, or he will be half dark and half bright, its really weird maybe its just the light i look at him in tho i dunno, anyway ill try something else next weekend, im might do a 50-50 substrate mix with repti carpet on one side and aspen on the other so i can feed him in the cage still for the first few times. thanks for your help
Chuck