Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well i bought this Adult (the pet store said male) Ball Python a few months ago. He is supposedly a CB but i think they lied and that he was a WC... He looks almost axanthic but thats not the topic the topic is he hasnt eaten in a month and it seems today that he is increasingly aggrsive! He has been striking the glass when i tryed to handle him he tryed to tag me! That was only the like 3rd time since i had him he tryed that... Any way he hasnt eaten in bout 2 and a half months now he is refusing so now that hes striking like a mad man i decided to drop in a fk rat whack almost instantly tagged him... BUT he didnt choke it out he just tagged it pulled it into his hide then kinda pushed it back out... I was shocked i never seen anything like it! I was pondering.... and pondering... and pondering... all i can think of is he is really stressed out... or he is actually a she who is gravid... I havent probed her myself but the dudes in the pet store did and tyhey didnt seem to sure about their descision... if he is a she she will be laying in bout 15 days cause he/she had shed bout 15 days ago.... I'll keep you posted and any info will be greatly appreciated...
B. Sleeper
Here is a pic of him

Here is a little info on him

Sorry

What does he/she look like lying relaxed and stretched out on the floor? Where is the thickest point? If it hasn't eaten in a month but the thickest point is in the last third of it's body then you might be on to something. Also, how much does he/she weigh?

Here is a picture of one of my 1,500 gram females the day before she laid. Most of my limited experience has been with lighter weight females and they seem to be pretty obviously pregnant with the eggs dropping like this in the last week or so. Maybe bigger ones will be harder to tell (but I'm pretty sure I have one now).

In my experience you are better off flipping a coin to determine sex than taking the word of most people who think they can sex snakes, but maybe it’s getting better these days.

Good luck!

>>Well i bought this Adult (the pet store said male) Ball Python a few months ago. He is supposedly a CB but i think they lied and that he was a WC... He looks almost axanthic but thats not the topic the topic is he hasnt eaten in a month and it seems today that he is increasingly aggrsive! He has been striking the glass when i tryed to handle him he tryed to tag me! That was only the like 3rd time since i had him he tryed that... Any way he hasnt eaten in bout 2 and a half months now he is refusing so now that hes striking like a mad man i decided to drop in a fk rat whack almost instantly tagged him... BUT he didnt choke it out he just tagged it pulled it into his hide then kinda pushed it back out... I was shocked i never seen anything like it! I was pondering.... and pondering... and pondering... all i can think of is he is really stressed out... or he is actually a she who is gravid... I havent probed her myself but the dudes in the pet store did and tyhey didnt seem to sure about their descision... if he is a she she will be laying in bout 15 days cause he/she had shed bout 15 days ago.... I'll keep you posted and any info will be greatly appreciated...
>> B. Sleeper
>>Here is a pic of him
>>
>>Here is a little info on him

LOL

I guess i am lost, if you read what you wrote, you said he did not eat for a "Month" in the begining of the post, then later on you said "2 1/2 Months". Thats a huge difference, so which is it, 1 month or 2 1/2 months? JAZ

2 1/2

Try putting the animal in a very small tank. Ball pythons naturally in the wild live in small holes thats why they love the hideboxes. Anyway try putting the snake in a very small container maybe big enough to only fit the snake and a water dish or try feeding it a gerbil. Pythons in Africa eat gerbils mostly instead of mice and rats. Try the container first though it works for me all the time. Or maybe try turing the lights out for an hour or so then feeding with a flashlight that seems to work great as well. Good luck

[img]http://serpentnetwork.4t.com/images/dscn2306.jpg">
Over Head

Same Pic Without Flash (Darker)

Climbing abut

Well that didnt work!!!

Over Head

Same Pic Without Flash (Darker)

Climbing about

Streached Out

I'd get an incubator ready. Might be fat but I'm thinking eggs.

I'm just trying to learn to palpitate so maybe someone can correct me if I get it wrong but I've been able to feel a few of the actual eggs in some of my females this year. What I do is let them crawl back into the cage through my hands. I form a bit of a restriction with my palms pushing down on the top of the snake and use my fingers pushing lightly into her belly to feel for eggs as she crawls through. I'm thinking that if they are just fat you will not feel individual lumps. I'm being pretty careful as I'm worried about hurting them or the eggs but I think as long as you let them crawl through they can stop if it's hurting them. I'm not good enough at this to get a good count of eggs but have been able to feel the last one or two individually on a couple of girls now.