Ball python...sick???

[Kisha_Llewellyn]

So, we bought a ball python....a week and a half ago now. The people at the store told us to feed him the day after we purchased him.....we tried. No interest. So left him with the mouse (frozen, thawed) overnight.....next morning it was still there. Two days later, we tried again, nothing.....we have been trying to get this thing to eat for a week and a half now, and it knows the mouse is there, since it sniffs at it occasionally but it just doesnt want to eat. It never wants to move, we never see it come out of its house. It only moves when we remove the house from its aquarium and at that time it will come out to drink but nothing else. Its also starting to get skinny.....Ive never seen a skinny snake before but this thing is definately skinny! Its really odd. I want to take it back to the store, but my boyfriend has grown really attached to it.....any suggestions would be great! Thanks!
P.S. Just to cover all the bases, no we dont handle it. It has been out of its aquarium maybe twice since we got it just for a moment or two. We know it needs time to get used to its environment.

[Tim_Cranwill]

I would take it back and get a WELL established one from a breeder. That will make all the difference in the world. Believe me.

If you do wish to keep this particular one, make sure you are offering a WARM mouse. Dunk it in some pretty warm tap water... almost hot even. If he's showing some interest in it, it might be too cool for him to really respond to.

A few quick Q's...
- What kind of temperatures does he have access to in his tank?
- How large is his tank?
- Can you get a picture of him, just for us to see how skinny he is?

Best of luck! :)

P.S. Are you related to a Chris Llewellyn from Winnipeg?

[Kisha_Llewellyn]

Hi, and thanks for the response....his tank is 30 gallon...its the one they suggested for him at the store, they said he would be fine in for just under one year and that we would need to upgrade at that time. His temperatures at the cooler end of his tanks (where his house is) is around 80 at all times, the end where the water bowl is is around 90, we were told to do this to increase the water evaporation to ensure a humid environment for him. Unfortunately I cant get you any pics of him....no digicam at this time :(
And no, no relation, Kisha Llewellyn is my online name, not even vaguely similar to my real name ;)
Oh yeah, and as for heating the mouse, we defrost our snakes mice under their heat lamps so they are always warm when they first get them....my cornsnake loves food! Shes a little piggy :) Jumps on it the second you put it in her home....thats why I was rather confused by the lack of interest by this one...same store.

[jglass38]

Right away I see some problems that may be contributing to the lack of eating. First off, a 30 gallon with a single hide is way too big for a baby ball. BPs are shy and need places to hide and security. You should have a hide at both the cool end and the hot end. Your first investment should be a thermometer/hydrometer with a probe that can measure humidity and temps at both the basking spot (warm hide) and the ambient temperature. I think the brand is Acurite and they are about $15 at Walmart. I would suggest not having his water over the heating pad as this just increases bacteria in the water. The humidity should be between 50%-55% when the snake is not in shed. How big is the mouse? Maybe it is larger than he is used to. Maybe he has never eaten anything but live. Pet stores tend to feed live. There are plenty of posts about switching from live to F/T. Mine had no problem. I thawed the mouse and held it with tongs in front of him and made it move around a little. Hope some of these suggestions help.

Jamie

[Kisha_Llewellyn]

Thanks for your imput. Our 30 gallon aquarium is not really all that big, since it is pretty tall. The ground space is just big enough for his hide home and his water bowl. There really isnt too much room for anything else, so to have more than one hide would not be possible. Plus, I failed to mention another thing...he is in no way a hatchling, Im not sure how old he is but I would guess around 3-4 months. Plus, I never said that I had his water over a heating pad....I just said that I have his heat lamp located over his water bowl to increase evaporation. There are no heat pads in his home. As for the size of the mouse, I dont think that it makes too much of a difference to him. We tried him on the mice that the store gave us. That didnt work. So we switched him over to some hopper mice, didnt work. We even offered him one of my cornsnakes pinkies and he blatantly ignored it. I had thought about the live/frozen issue myself with him not being a hatchling. When I got the corn, she was a hatchling and it was simple to get her to eat the thawed pinkies, but since this guy is older, maybe that is the problem. I have tried dragging it around the cage, I have tried dipping it in chicken broth, I have tried leaving it out in the open overnight, I have tried leaving it in his home overnight. He just wont eat. I thank you all for your responses, but I think we are just going to have to take him back.