Ball Python stressed out, not eating, and glass surfing throughout the day, advice wanted!

[nerd4pythons]

My 5 month old ball python, Comet, has been glass surfing during the day, during most of the hours I’m home (anytime after 3:30-5 pm) constantly poking at the mesh of his enclosure to get out, and trying to escape when I open his tank. He’s been refusing food, though it’s been a week today since he ate, so I’m not worried about it, but he did refuse his last meal, paid no attention to it at all.

He’s about 90g and roughly 2 feet long (22-24 inches), in a 40 gallon tank (he can stretch out his whole body in the tank with room to grow) has 3 hides, a warm one, a cool one, and one in the middle, aa medium sized water dish, and several climbing branches, ledges, and a hammock. Also has a couple plants for enrichment.

His heat is between 80-84 F right now, which I think could be the problem. If he’s not trying to get out of the tank, he’s basking under the light, which he never used to do, and rarely goes in any hides anymore. His humidity is about 55%- 70%, and he’s on a mix of sphagnum moss and coconut fiber. He shed last week in full.

Yesterday, I bought him a reptile thermostat to aid with the heating issue, a 100w bulb for it (he’s on a 75w right now) three new hydrometers with probes, and another hide for some more clutter. I’m hoping that all of this might help him out a bit.

When I last fed him, I fed him a pinky mouse, which I know was too small, and he did start surfing after I fed him that, which I researched and learned was probably because it was too small for him, but it’s all he’s eaten with me because I’ve never gotten him to show interest in hopper mice, I don’t know what’s up with that.

I really don’t know what’s wrong with him; this is not the first time he’s been sick or stressed or had a big issue, and I got him in July. This is a lot for me, he’s my first snake, and I’m very stressed, so any help or advice in any way is extremely appreciated!

[armiyana]

First off, how long have you had the little one?
Second, is it possible to see a photo to check his body condition?

So for an enclosure of that size, there should be a cool temp, a warm temp and a ‘basking spot’ temp. The basking spot should be the warmest at around 87-90F. The cool side around 75 is great and the warm side at 84 would be fine.

If adding extra clutter doesn’t help, I would consider sizing him down to a smaller enclosure. There’s a lot of talk about providing a BP a big enclosure, but I tend to have the best luck starting most of my little ones out in a smaller space and growing them up a bit before the move to a bigger place. These are shy little guys who like to huddle in rodent burrows and termite mounds as babys in the wild. The like to ambush prey from these hiding places, so that could also be why you have had trouble getting him to eat anything larger than a pinky mouse. At his age he should be past hopper mice already. I feed mine hoppers right out of the egg. Or at the very least rat pinkies for the shy or small ones.

The sometimes refuse meals while in shed, so that could explain not eating until that point. After a shed though a young BP should be ready to go. How often are you trying to feed? offering too often can stress them out amd make them less likely to feed also.

[caron]

@armiyana

There’s a lot of talk about providing a BP a big enclosure, but I tend to have the best luck starting most of my little ones out in a smaller space and growing them up a bit before the move to a bigger place.

Totally agree on this!

@armiyana

At his age he should be past hopper mice already.

Most definitely!

[cmsreptiles]

@nerd4pythons

He’s been refusing food, though it’s been a week today since he ate, so I’m not worried about it, but he did refuse his last meal, paid no attention to it at all.

@nerd4pythons

He shed last week in full.

This is likely why he refused, as @armiyana said. A week without food is not a concern at all for a BP.

Though it will be a good idea to share a photo so we can see the condition of the snake and enclosure.

Your parameters look good, though a 40gal is quite large for a 90g baby… you may want to try moving them to a temporary enclosure, I house my babies in 12qt bins until they are juveniles or 250+ grams. This smaller space may help your little one feel more secure, just use the same substrate, hides and enrichment thats in the original enclosure so the baby has familiar scents and that will lighten the load of stress from an enclosure swap. You can use a heating pad with a thermostat + probe set up to the appropriate temps.