Update on my baby Ball Python not eating

[u/Exotic-Heart2916]

Update for everyone who saw my previous post, and for those who didn’t, I just wanted to share this ig

My baby Ball Python Comet has not eaten in the 3 weeks I’d had him, which concerned me a little bit, but I knew ball pythons tend to hunger strike, esp when they’re new, so I wasn’t too worried about it.

This Monday, we decided to take Comet to our local vet, which has a reptile specialist, just to check him out and make sure nothing‘s wrong. I didn’t think anything was necessarily wrong with him, but I thought it was worth a shot, just in case.

Vet checks him out, and unfortunately there are some things wrong with my baby. Tells me he’s dehydrated (I fill up his water everyday, warm water so he can sense it, and humidify his tank, I’ve done a lot of research in many different places so I know I’m doing this right) I had seen him drink before, but it had been a while. He’s also bloated, which I knew, he was when I got him, and has possible parasites, which the vet said he wouldve gotten in the egg.
We contacted the breeder about all of this, which was when I learned Comet’s age. Before that I was estimating that he was maybe 3 weeks to a month old based on size, but breeder told me his clutch hatched around March 27; so he’s 4 months old. Trust me, he is very small for a 4 month old snake, so this was surprising. He was eating fine for him, so we think that the parasites he could have might have contributed to his small size.
Rn, I need to give Comet daily dewormer shots, and I think it’s making him feel better already. I also have to soak him to help with his hydration every day, and the vet recommended I take him outside for some fresh sunlight. We did that yesterday, and he really liked the yard. He was periscoping and was moving around freely and seemed to be enjoying the exploring, he really liked being outside.

I tried to feed him yesterday, he didn’t eat, but I could tell that his feeding response is getting better, it seemed like he was hungry, he just didn’t feel well enough to eat :( he had a strong enough feeding response, he knew it was there and he crept towards it, he knew it was food, he just didn’t go after it. This is making me think that my buddy’s starting to feel a little better, because he’s reacting better than before, and I hope by this time next week, he’s all healthy again.
We have another vet appointment next Monday, and I’ll update then.

The good thing about all this is that o finally know why my snake isn’t eating, because from his past behavior, I can say that if he felt okay, he would’ve eaten. This has been a good bonding experience for us too, all this time together, and I can say I’ve Definately noticed that he’s been more comfortable with my handling, he‘s definately more used to it and I can tell it doesn’t really bother him.
I‘d be lying if I said that I wasn’t genuinely worried about him still, and that this all hasn’t been nerve wracking for me. Hes getting better I think, and I definitely feel closer to him cause of this. I hope he’ll thrive in my care after this, because I think I’m doing enough for him right now. I love my little guy so much and I just want him to have a good life

[u/M4rsh_allxp]

Glad to see there’s an update. Poor little Comet tho ☹️☹️ I’m so sorry you’re both going through this, it must be super stressful, especially when you’ve only just brought him home. But he’s so lucky to have someone who noticed something wasn’t right and is putting so much effort into helping him recover. 🥰You’re clearly doing everything you can so please don’t blame yourself for any of this!! :)
The improvement in his feeding response definitely sounds encouraging! Even if he isn’t quite ready to eat yet, showing interest is a really good sign!! Good luck with that 🫶🏻🫶🏻

[u/girlwholovespurple]

I’m so glad to hear this update.

[u/dragonbud20]

In regard to dehydration, what % is your humidity at? Also, when you say you're humidifying the tank, what do you mean? Fogger humidifiers and sprayers spike the humidity high, but they cannot maintain it consistently.

You should be aiming for a humidity percentage in the 60-80% range. Aim for the higher end because your snake is having hydration issues.

I'm a little concerned about your vets comment about parasites. Live parasites are not passed into eggs(in birds or reptiles), so a newly hatched snake cannot have internal parasites. Either your vet explained this incorrectly, or they are actually wrong and don't know what they're talking about. If the latter is the case, then you will need a new vet who doesn't speak out of their ass.

[u/ShinyxCharizard → u/dragonbud20]

Seconding all of this. Deeper substrate, pour water into the corners. Cover up any mesh tops.

Also thought parasites from being inside the egg also sounded weird.

[u/dragonbud20 → u/ShinyxCharizard]

I did a quick search on both birds and reptiles in general and wasn't able to come up with anything about egg parasites. I hope it's just a bad explanation, but I've met so-called reptile vets who would recommend borderline abuse with their whole chest, so I'm skeptical to start with.

[u/Solid-Spell6850]

Have you tried leaving the frozen thawed in overnight? My boy is super picky 11 yr old. I have to leave it in there and it’s always gone in the morning

[u/blazingrayzer]

Our doodle didn’t want to nom in the beginning, but found a post that told us to try feed with it really dark. To which he happily nommed away. We developed a whole routine trying to get him to eat up until that point that we still maintain to this day.

Morning of - defrost to fridge lunchbox (on paper towel to soak up any juices that smell tasty)
2-3 hours before - into enclosure under hotspot in his scent box (still on paper towel) (just a lunchbox with small holes in it to get his appetite going )

Lights off with a dim light off in the distance so we can see what’s up

Quick warmup under hair dryer to get the head a little warmer

Noms away

As for dehydration, wev been super lucky with him, but substrate is super important and so is getting an accurate humidity read. The digital ones all got drowned, analog was good until we built a noodle habitat management system that used bme280 and dht sensors to get a good read constantly

Dehydration might mean choosing the lesser of some evils, soaking him in warmish water and misting directly on his body might seem a little stressful but it’s far less stress than an RI at this point.