going fasting crazy

[CallDawg]

Hi been here a while but i mostly just read and glean the information I need from previous posts

now some information before I get to my ?

Snake: fluffy a beutiful male (i believe ) Ball python
purchased @ superpet --> I know hind sight is 20/20 about purchasing from a pet store
length : 30"

enclosure : fish cage (20/20 again )
humidity 50% -55%
temps
day: cool side : 83F
hot side : 93F

night: cool side : 80F
hot side : 89F
(temps are avgeraged over 10days )

last meal was 10days before I purchased him on the 8th of DEC 2004

what I have tried
frozen thawed warmed under heat lamp for 5 min till approxx 100F (small rat Little less the girth of snake ) --> no effect

tried prekilled (mice) --> no effect

tried double thawed rat --> no effect

last night tried scenting prey with gerbil bedding --> more intrest shown but no effect

attemps are kept to every 2 weeks now and I "try" to keep handling to a min ( couple times a week for 10min)

Any suggestions would be mucho appreciado
and thanks for all the advice that you all gave me with out even knowing it

CallDawg

P.S. awsome site with great ppl and info
one of my main info sources but I still have a lot of learning to do
pls bear with me


any other suggestions

[HumphreyBoagart]

Don't handle him at all, until he has had 3 consecutive meals.

Hump.

PS. Rubbermaid
PSS. Damn I'm starting to sound like Jeff! LOL! : )

[CallDawg]

I know the not handling but it is so hard not to and I do need to check his cage so that is when I handle and only if he is already out. I will not move a hide just to handle him.

but I will try harder not to handle him till then

and as far as the tank goes my house is very humid any how and I have been having no problem maintaining levels thus far

for some seclusion I have made foam board panels to cover all sides with the fronts being removable when needs be so I figure it is not hurting any thing there

but thanks for the advice hump, and I will exibit extreme will power and not handle unless absultly nessesary

[mykee]

Try a live fuzzy rat. Chances are that the "meal 8 days before you received him" is a load of BS unless you say him eat. Your husbandry seems good, and I'm pleased that you have done so much research, it's refreshing. Good on ya'. Try a live fuzzy rat. Kick his feeding response to the roof, once he realizes how good food is, you can most probably get him on to F/T or F/K no problemo. Keep up the good work. Also, you seem to have the husbandry down for a fish cage, but a rubbermaid is an excellent suggestion.

[MarcB]

As others have pointed out, your set up seems right but the aquarium might not be adequate for a ball python.

You might want to view your new pet BUT on the other hand he does not feel the same way (High traffic in front of the tank can and will stress him)

A 30" ball python from SuperPet is almost guaranteed farm raised or wild caught and will need to be acclimated. Not an easy task mind you but with patience can be done.

Take a stool sample to your local vet for a cropo (sp?) to determin if snake has pathogens and/or parasites.

Your snake should be handled the least possible until properly acclimated. If you could provide weight on your 30'' ball python, we might be able to judge on his health.

You did not mention if a hide was provided in his set-up, a hide could very well make a big difference in his feeding response...

You've done your homework and advise is much easier to give if we know the basic husbandry has been covered.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask more questions....

[CallDawg]

I have three hides for him
2 on the hot side
1 on the cool side
water in the middle towards the warm side

and as i said the sides are ussually blocked by black foam board to give him seclusion during the day

and the cage was in the family room but has since been moved to my bedroom so that there is less traffic

but yes I am seriously considering moving to rubbermaid
more so that I can get a bearded dragon.

yes it is part of my master plan to convince my wife, no sence having a glass viv that is empty right

[CallDawg]

live fuzzy rats sounds good but I am hesitant to feed live

can a Fuzzy cause any damage to Fluffy either by passing along parasites or causing physical damge while fighting back

might seem dumb ? but remember I'm still new

[pythonmdk]

sounds like you got pretty much everything covered, I would recommend you try live too, I know the superpet around here only feeds live so I am guessing it will probably be the same in your area too, did you ask if it was eating, live, f/t or p/k and if it was eating rats or mice? If not I'd give them a call and find out for sure, but ya don't handle till he's got a few meals down and then slowly get him used to the whole thing. good luck.
~John

[greenman1867]

So long as you are feeding fuzzies for now, it won't be a problem. I had 2 real problem chilrdern BP's who wouldn't eat. I tried everything then, I dropped a fuzzy in there.....BAM!! She didn't care the lights were on full blast and I had just jostled her cage around. She hit that rat so hard I couldn't believe it. So, she will get live for a few more weeks and then I will try getting her in F/T. But at least She (they actually) are eating. So I now have 6 feeding Balls which makes me very happy.

Try live but small. Even if its eyes are just open I would say go ahead, and not worry. If you try bigger than that I would be more carefull.

Shawn

[HumphreyBoagart]

I agree with marc. It's almost a 100% guarantee that it was farmed or wc if it was at superpet, and there's a good chance that it has parasites. You should get a fecal (poop tested for parasites) done at the vet for sure. If it is wild caught you should try a gerbil as that's what they eat in the wild, could explain the interest in the gerbil scented rat too. Also get dark colored rats as there is no albino lab rats in the wild. Good luck.
Hump.

[CallDawg]

1st week he went to the vet in kingston to get that done and it came back clean so i'm not to worried about that to much

and all the rats were dark colored or at least mostly dark

[CallDawg]

thought about a gerbil but they are expensive for just feed

and with my kids by the time the gerbil got to the snake it would be named. and you can't feed a named animal to the snake apparently. found that out when I tried a live mouse now my youngest has a pet mouse named mickey.
this is truthfully the main reason i want to steer clear of live LOL

[mykee]

The colour of the rat is insignificant, snakes don't see in colour, they see in infrared through their heat pits (think Predator).
Also, any parasite that may be on a rat, (highly unlikely), is host-specific and can do ZERO damage to your snake. Good luck.

[HumphreyBoagart]

CallDawg,
You could name him "Snack"!
Mykee,
Good point. I can't remember who told me that about the albino rodents not being in the wild, I was just like "yeah that makes sense." ANd I knew they went by heat sense but I never really put 2 and 2 together that it wouldn't matter what colour it was. So now I'll say it for real this time. "Yeah that makes sense!" LOL!

[nita]

I have had snakes not take a food item and prefered a different color. My first BP would only eat white mice, offered a colored mouse and she wouldnt' touch it, hmmmmmm. At the time she was on live so temp wouldnt' have been an issue for her.

On the issue of feeding a picky eater, definately try live and if that doesnt' work, my guess is seasonal and he will eat when he wants. I have a young male that is not eating right now too, hoping he will smarten up soon though!

[CallDawg]

OK I have decided to next try a Live Victim (fuzzy rat) also I think i will scent the rat with the gerbil shavings because It seem to Peak his intrest the other night

also no Handleing till next week

[pythonmdk]

I'd say try the rat without scenting it first, you don't want to get it hooked on the gerbil smell, if you have to then scent it but try a plain rat first. it may take a few times too, so don't jump to the gerbil right away until you have to, btw what is her weight like, has she been looking weight or not? Anyways good luck.
~John

[pablo111]

Originally posted by mykee
Try a live fuzzy rat. Chances are that the "meal 8 days before you received him" is a load of BS unless you say him eat. Your husbandry seems good, and I'm pleased that you have done so much research, it's refreshing. Good on ya'. Try a live fuzzy rat. Kick his feeding response to the roof, once he realizes how good food is, you can most probably get him on to F/T or F/K no problemo. Keep up the good work. Also, you seem to have the husbandry down for a fish cage, but a rubbermaid is an excellent suggestion.

I hate to break this to you- but I used to work at a pet shop, and these kinds of things happen.

Sometimes they're not being irresponsible on purpose. I've seen several times where the information is read for the wrong snake by accident. I almost took home a ball for myself I thought was eating every five days- then I noticed I was looking at the wrong sheet and the snake hadn't eaten well at all.

If you can buy anything from a breeder (preferably a reputable one) you're better off no matter what kind of animal you by.

As far as balls are concerned I get the feeling that more and more and more people are selling off imported babies as "CB"... as a lot of other people have mentioned on this forum.

At the show on the 27th some guy, who shall remain nameless, but tisk tisk, had a 55G LITERALLY piled with balls, all about 1000G or so. There was literally a two or three snake deep pile- and they were selling like hotcakes because they were like 90-100 dollars. I asked the guy and atleast he said they were WC.

Balls are, in my experience, some of the worst eaters ever, if they want to be. Once they get going they're great- but I say ask to see it eat before you buy it- and try to go through a breeder next time says I.

[CallDawg]

as I said Pablo hind sight is 20/20 on that and my next one will definatly come from a breeder

as for the other thing like the super pet telling me that it ate and all
it is chalked up as a lesson learned and experience gained

will def. try unscented first that is a good point made and well taken pythonmdk thanx

as for the wieght I don't as of yet have a scale that will come next pay but there appears not to be any weight loss upon inspection of him and pictures taken when I 1st got him. no ribs or back bone showing and his skin is tight too

On that subject though what is the correct type of scale to use i'm thinking a digital postal type deal.