#ball python questions

Lots of things wrong here. You should never ‘boil’ thawed prey, ew wtf, I don’t recommend that at all. I leave the frozen prey out in a bucket for about an hour at room temp and then warm it up with hot NOT boiling water before offering it.

But prey preparation is the least of the issue here. I’d like to gently remind you of the points I made in the corn snake post, just a day or so ago:

1) if a snake’s species-specific desired temperature ranges for hot and cold are not correct or correctly regulated, it will not eat

2) snakes can go months and even years without eating so it is not a concern that requires forcing them or trying to make them eat a live prey item

You have a ball python. They’re notorious for not eating for long periods because they’re a species that lives in termite mounds in Africa and rarely encounters prey. They’re made to not eat, in fact—look at the fat reserves on the body. If it’s a male, this is actually incredibly common during winter, as well, as males do not eat while in breeding season. So it’s fine! Don’t force your animal into a dangerous confrontation with a fully armed and toothed rodent because you have a human perception of when is healthy to eat!

Instead, check your environment. Ball pythons need a warm spot of around 90-95f, with a cool zone in the 73-75f range, and should ideally be housed in a cage around 3-4’ or more, with lots of hiding opportunities. They should have a heating device regulated by a thermostat, and you should be checking those temps daily when you go to clean the cage or check the water dish. Offer a humid hide as well, and be sure the humidity is reading 60-80% inside. Again, this is a fossorial (burrowing) species that lives inside of a giant mound of dirt in the wild, so don’t make the cage too barren or they will be stressed. Give them lots of hiding opportunities and areas to feel secure—fake plants, branches, etc.

If all of those options are met, and you’re double sure your temps are right, then just wait it out. The snake will eat when it’s ready to eat. Get a bag of appropriately sized (ball pythons should be eating rats, not mice, and the correct size of prey is determined by the size of the snake, check out MJ Python’s sizing guide on youtube) frozen rats and thaw one once a month using the method I described above to offer it. DO NOT BOIL IT. If the snake won’t eat, okay fine, you can re-freeze the rat one more time to try again next month, or if not, throw it away. Just keep those temps correct and the snake will eat in time. Like I mentioned before, this is a species that is known for this behavior and a quick google search of ‘my ball python isn’t eating’ will reaffirm that right quick.

should what prey they are currently feeding on (m|ce, live) be a dealbreaker if I am willing to do the gross snake parent thing and brain/scent/drum/heat etc. to switch them over to F/T r@ts? The only thing I really would not want to do is prekill, and the pet store a few blocks from my place will do that if necessary? How bad is food fixation with bps in general?

Are there lots of genes that look crazy different as the animals age? Older bananas look way different than babies, but I actually like the freckling more. Pastels seem to get super dark and more normal looking. A good 80-90% of morph photos are fresh out of the egg and I don’t know enough about what markers to look for (if any) to get a sense of how they will look a decade or two from now.

Becoming more concerned about quarantine. I have read some horror stories about reptile convention and online buys and my place is pretty small. Looking for tips to make quarantining one pet easier and more successful. Is being in another room and following typical “don’t handle me right before or after the others, wash hands before and after, keep tank clean” enough to limit most things?

100% the last thing I want is to bring something home to Ori and Ico. So much so that I am questioning another snake entirely.

Honestly what are the odds me bringing home something gross from a convention? If I shower immediately afterwards and do laundry that night the risk of getting ori and ico sick should be pretty low, right? They came from the same breeder at the same pet store so I was much less concerned when I picked up ico.

I think I know what to look for on animals themselves but is there anything specific to BPs I should be looking for besides the normal clean nostrils, clear eyes, no bubbling or gaping mouth, good body condition, responsive behavior, no stuck shed, no sign of neurological issues when choosing a pet?

Nope, still off base a bit here!

Number one, don’t assume everything is ‘good’. Remember that laser temp gun I mentioned on Amazon? Get one, and check it daily that that hot spot is within 90-95. Winter is on us now, and there are power failures, power surges and equipment failures all the time. If you only check your cage once a week, the heater could have died by then. What does your hot spot thermometer say, exactly? Where is it? Is your heating device hooked up to a thermostat? What does the thermostat say? See? There’s a lot to this. I don’t mean to be overwhelming, but never assume when it comes to reptiles. The number one thing I hate is to hear the environment is ‘good’ or ‘fine’. Give me temp specifics. If those numbers match what I’ve said, then yes, that’s good! But I and anyone else you ask for help with this do need those numbers to be sure, otherwise there’s a myriad of things that could be wrong.

Second, feeding every 4-6 weeks is not over feeding, so I would not suddenly start trying to feed every two weeks in the winter (how is that feeding less, also??) I would actually just wait like I recommended in the other post, and you definitely should not be offering mice—ball pythons need to be on rats as they are a more fatty and larger prey item than a skinny mouse. 

Again, you need to double check your basic info here. Check those YouTube resources, check out VPI’s ball python book, check well, anything and then come back to me because you’re missing some key pieces and your snake will suffer if you don’t course correct. But thank you for trying and thank you for being concerned about your animal, those are good signs!

A 5’ ball python should absolutely be on rats, yes. If you were offering smaller prey, it could be that she simply didn’t want to eat something that small. She’s a big adult female! They are also known for hunger strikes. And yes, it sounds like she simply isn’t hungry, or she could be in shed. Be sure to offer her a humid hide and/or mist down if the snake has blue or milky eye caps and a duller coloration. Don’t leave the prey in her cage for longer than an hour, and offer it to her in her habitat.

What I do is: take the prey on long metal tongs by its scruff (between the shoulder blades) and wiggle it in front of the snakes face. If there is rapid tongue flicking or the snake shows interest, it will usually strike on its own, but you can also nudge them with the prey around the mid body area, as that will also usually provoke a strike. Once they hit the prey, wiggle it a few more times to convince them to wrap it, and then leave them to eat, which should take about five to fifteen minutes. If they don’t strike, they’re probably not hungry, 8/10 times, but they could just have a weak strike response, so leave it out by the snake’s hide on the ground for no longer than an hour, then remove if uneaten and toss it.

finally got my thermostat heat controlling thing and large heating pad I ordered, but now i’m having more problems. I was unaware that you couldn't stick the heat pad on acrylic and that it needed to be off the ground so it didn’t crush the cord((duh)I just used wood boards to elevate it) I haven’t been able to keep the tank above 72F at the most and I was crying from all the stress and didn’t know what to do (I know its silly I was so worked up allot’s just been going on.) I just cleaned the bottom of the tank and stuck the pad on anyway bc my dad kept saying it would be fine over and over. the thermostat should keep it from getting to hot though I don’t know why it says not to use with acrylic. maybe bc a while later I noticed it was falling off and wouldn't stick after reapplying it twice. I just pinned a bit of it under the wood boards to hold it in place. I didn’t pin the bulky part where the cord sticks out though. :/  i’m so frustrated. I can get a new 55 at the dollar per gallon sale if I have to, it’s just the worst timing(one of my aquariums just cracked and I have to replace that as well) 

playdo(the snake) has been shedding and it didnt all come off like it should, it was clumping up around his belly when I lifted up his hiding rock to check on him and was all wet and gross looking. I carefully tore off the loose bits of old skin until all the clumps were gone I think that was the right thing? I was worried it could make him sick or get moldy idk, it’s old skin so it shouldn't hurt him I think...  he doesn't leave his hide rock ever so I check on him about once a day just to make sure... i’ve been keeping the humidity up, but I heard somewhere that to much humidity can make mouth/scale rot??? what kind of snakes illnesses should I be watching for?