Hi guys!! It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. I needed time to mourn losing Overlord, but now I’m back and very determined to help my guy Atlas, my first snake, to make strides and come back strong.
Ever since I’ve had him he’s been extremely fussy with his food. He will often kill but not eat his meals (I’ve tried frozen/thawed with when I got him and he absolutely refused and seemed to even kind of kickstart his eating problems) unless you pester him about it. I always supervise his meals until he’s killed the prey and then I let him alone to eat and check on him later.
He is currently eating adult mice because he’s too thin for rats at the moment. Today he took his meal and ate it no problem, but that is unfortunately rare for him. I know rats are generally better because they’re a little more fatty, but I’m not sure of the size of rat he could currently take safely. Perhaps a rat pup or pink rat? If I stick with mice how often in a week would I be able to feed him? I don’t want to get him too full if that makes sense? Would it be helpful to buy several mice at a time and keep them in reserve? I do have a rodent enclosure that I’d be able to do that, it’s just a matter of keeping them away from my very curious dog!
Today I was able to upgrade his enclosure to a pvc enclosure and I also installed an automatic misting system to help keep the humidity in range for him. He was previously in a glass terrarium which was having trouble holding the heat gradient/humidity optimal for a ball python. I’m going to be closely monitoring his parameters and am very hopeful the new terrarium will be helpful in keeping them more stable. My other snake, Aster, has thrived in a pvc enclosure. He also has much more room in his new enclosure as I was able to upgrade the size.
In all, I want my boy to get back to a healthy weight soon, and any advice from more experienced keepers is always appreciated!! He’s a sweet (though has always been a little grumpy) boy, and I’d love to see him thrive once more.
First of all, do you have pictures of him? How big is he, how many grams does he weigh? Unless he’s a fresh hatchling, he can probably take rats with little issue.
As for the feeding, we can help you troubleshoot with a little more info. What is the humidity in the enclosure? What’s his hotspot temp and then ambient temp? How often would you say he kills the prey but doesn’t eat it?
A suggestion off the bat is that if he continues not eating, you might need to move him to a smaller enclosure, as this can sometimes trigger picky eaters to start eating again.
Having gone back and looked at your previous post where you had a picture of Atlas, he is absolutely big enough to take weaned rats or even potentially small rats -something in the 50-60g range easily, which is probably roughly 3x the mice you’re currently feeding.
I agree with @inspirationexotics about trying a smaller enclosure, a tub, for awhile to see if that makes a difference with eating.
However I definitely think a misting system is not necessary at all. I have 20 plus ball pythons and none of them have ever seen a misting system. They are all in tubs but that doesn’t make any difference.
Since you have a pvc enclosure for him now the humidity should not be an issue. Humidity should be 50 to 60%. You can always move his water bowl to the warm end when he is in shed if he is having issues.
I have one ball that will invariably strike and coil around his ft mouse and then eventually drop it. I found that putting his tub in the dark somewhere like a bathroom did the trick. He doesn’t drop his food now.
Awesome, I do have a feeding tub prepared that I can certainly try putting him in for his next meal! Thankfully my bedroom, where his enclosure currently is, gets plenty dark with the lights off since I have black out curtains. My bathroom is very cold this time of year because I live in a 120 year old house and the bathroom is unfortunately very poorly insulated.
The reason for the misting system is with my sleep disorder I can occasionally forget to mist the snakes if I’m having a really bad tired day. I wanted to avoid Atlas having a missed misting while he’s recovering.
I really appreciate the feedback, guys!! I’m going to go and get him a rat (Aster needs one as well) and feed him on that ASAP and put him in the feeding tub for his next meal
I would absolutely not do this. Ball pythons are ambush predators, and taking him out of his enclosure, where he feels comfortable and secure to put him into a separate ub is only going to stress him out more and make him less likely to eat. You also shouldn’t be handling or moving him right before or after eating. Leave him where he is or move him to a smaller enclosure where he’ll live for the time being.
Instead some tips you can try:
Feed after dark, when he’s most active
Make sure he has plenty of hides and clutter in his enclosure so he feels secure
After offering him the prey, cover the enclosure or leave the room
Make sure his enclosure is warm enough (I aim for around 88)
Actually I meant putting him in a tub to live for awhile, not just eat in. He may need to feel more secure in his environment, at least secure enough to eat comfortably.
I never advise anyone to remove their snakes from their enclosures to eat. This is a stressor for some snakes……
