my bp wont eat!!!!!!!

[juviniles_5]

ok well my bp is 7-8 months old and i got him about 2 weeks ago and he toke a fresh killed rat pup but he wont take f/t so he ate last week but yesterday i left the rat in there over night but he dident take it

he is a captive bred
no signs of respatorie infection
hes got lots of hides and a big water dish
the hot side is 83-85.8
the cool side is 79-80.3
and i dont know the humidity but i know it is preaty damb good because i have a 180 gallon fish tank and a 55 gallon fish tank in the same room and i am also running a humidifyer and i can realy feal the humidity

all of these temps are during the day and it will probly be dif at night because i dont use a red light at night i use a UTH and i dont use both because it was getting over 100 on the hot side

right now i am using a 50 watt red bulb and one of those night bulbs on the cool side durring the day and the night bulb stays on the cools side 24/7 and the red bulb is on for 12 hours/off for 12 hours

[nita]

You just got him 2 weeks ago, you should give him at least 2-3 weeks to get acclimated. Leave him completely alone, they can stress out easily and he is probably just stressed over the move. You should also invest in a Hygrometer to measure your humidity, if you are feeling the humidity maybe it is too high. Also what do you have for hides, he should have one on both the cool and warm side.

My best advice is to look up the care sheets on ball pythons and do some reading. First thing you will see is that 2 weeks isn't a long time to go with out eating!! Mine dropped down to 1 mouse a month over the winter months. If it was a large rat pup he may not be hungry yet and they won't eat if they arent' hungry. Also you could leave your infrared light on they don't see into the heat spectrum so it won't disturb your BP to leave the red light on, mine never gets shut off. Once again emphasis on the readin care sheets. There is a good one here on ssnakess, if you go to the main page, also you can find them on VPI.com, ballpython.com as well as **************. They all have care sheets. There are some very good books out there too. Good luck.

[juviniles_5]

iv have red many care sheets and the only reson i am feeding him is because the breeder told me 2 feed him but not bother him at all except for water changes and spot cleens and this is a well deserved respected breeder that has had many years with bp's infact that was the first snake they ever started breeding

you can look at there web site at www.reptilia.org

[Vengeance]

Your temps seem a little low to me.

90 - 95 Should be the hot side and 80 - 85 should be the cool side, atleast that's what I keep my Ball at, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Also too much hummidity might be a bad thing as well you need to find out what it is because if for an example he is living in a 80% + hummidity enviornment the chances for Resp. Infection are greatly increased.

[juviniles_5]

iv herd about ppl kepping there bp's at a high humidy like 80 and they say that there as health as they can get and never miss a feding so i belive that the humidy and respatory thing is just a myth

[nita]

Originally posted by juviniles_5
iv have red many care sheets

If you are concerned after 2 weeks of not eating you haven't read too many.

Originally posted by vengeance Also too much hummidity might be a bad thing as well you need to find out what it is because if for an example he is living in a 80% + hummidity enviornment the chances for Resp. Infection are greatly increased.

Vengeance is right especially with a low temp. I know been there, not fun, expensive vet trip.

My cool side is 80 ambient and 83 under the hide. Warm side is 85 ambient with hot spots on and under hides reaching 93-97.

You seem to get defensive right away, remember you came and asked a question we are just trying to help with information that has helped us. Don't take everything personally.

[juviniles_5]

the only reson that im a little concerned is because this would be his last meal for 2 weeks because i will be in flordia all of march break but i have sumone 2 change the water but they wont feed him

[juviniles_5]

and i dident realy get defensive like this might sound defensive but its not and theres no way of telling if sumones getting defensive over the web cuz u cant hear there voice

[mykee]

Simple:
1. Up the temps on the hot side. (90-95)
2. Up the temps on the cool side. (80-84)
3. Leave him alone and let him be for a while, allow him to acclimate.
4. Ditch the reb bulb, it's not necessary.
5. Buy a hygrometer. Whether you believe the humidity is fine or not is not important. The ACTUAL humidity level is.
6. Buy a rheostat or a proportional thermostat, allowing the temps to get over 100 is unacceptable.

Most important would be to buy a GOOD book on the captive husbandry of ball pythons and read it, read it again, again, and then another 40 times. Learn all you can, and then learn more.

Sidenote: Reptilia, though an acceptable retail store, are not breeders, they dabble. If you 'd like some advice from some truly respected breeders, there are a bunch on here.

[juviniles_5]

ok cool thanks i have a book and i forgot about and posted here when i could have just looked in the book

[mykee]

Don't JUST take the books advice, many books on husbandry can be outdated. For a second opinion ask here, you'll get a few answers and we're all here to help.

[sapphire_moon]

what everyone here has said :) You have some really knowledgeable people answering you.

If you read care sheets then you would know to let the snake acclimate for 2-3wks.
The hot side temps are way to low. How are you measuring your temps?

IF you are using those stick on thermometers throw those away, and get a digi thermometer, put the probe right over the UTH on the inside of the cage.

As I said if you had read "plenty of caresheets" then you would know that no matter how much you read, there is always more to learn, and that BP's can go for a very long time without eating.

My 7-12 month old BP has been off feed since Nov. 25th 2003, almost 4 months so far. And I've heard of them staying off feed for a year and over.

If your bp is eating f/k then give it f/k and try to put it on f/k rats.

[Auskan]

You came on to ask for advice but as soon as anyone offered it, you argued with them. The advice you have been given here is sound - I suggest you pay attention to it. Two weeks to acclimate is a minimum for a ball python, before offering food. This is the time of year when a lot of BPs are off feed - or only just starting to feed again after being off for several weeks or months. Going without food for two weeks while you are gone won't be a problem at all.

[juviniles_5]

ya iam using one of the thermomotors with a prob and what do you sugest that i do 2 bring up the temps because i cant use my uth because it gets over 110 with out the light on so i dont use it and i like the red bulb so im gunna stick w/ it but get a higher watt(right no iam using a 100 watt bulb) is the next wattage a 150 or can i get one like 130 cuz i would think 150 would get 2 hot

[Vengeance]

You need to get a rheostat / lamp dimmer so that you can controll the tempature in the cage. Buy a lamp dimmer and then attach it to you UTH. Then adjust the dimmer untill yout UTH outputs your desired temps. If you leave a UTH on full blast then you get the problem you having of temps reaching over 100o F

[mykee]

Again, ditch the red bulb, it is not an adequate heat source for a ball python. Do some research. Get a heat pad from Wal-Mart or some heat tape, do some research, and use it properly. Hook up a rheostat or a proportional thermostat to the heat source (do a search online to find out more about them) and set it to no more than 95.

[daver676]

Originally posted by mykee
Again, ditch the red bulb, it is not an adequate heat source for a ball python.

I use a 75W red heat light in my 15 gallon for my bp, and it works great for keeping the temps where they need to be. I have it on a rheosat at about 60% output. Just my 2 cents. :)

[Vengeance]

I also use a red bulb in my 50 gallon tank to keep the ambiant air temps in the low 80's. Surface temps were great without the light but I wasn't getting very good ambiant air temps so the lights help that.

[mykee]

A properly regulated UTH or heat tape would also provide good ambient temps.