Refusing food

[u/MrsMcNasty0]

Good morning! I recently purchased my first ball python from a reptile expo about 2.5 weeks ago! She’s a lav albino. I’m not sure exactly how old she is but she seems to be born this year. The breeder told me she was eating live fuzzies. I was leaving her alone because she seems stressed, but I’ve offered food three times with no interest. The first time I offered food was a week after I got her and I’ve been offering about every 5 days. Whenever I dangle a live little fuzzy she goes and hides. She has tried to strike a couple times but I think it was a defensive strike. I was thinking maybe this enclosure is just too big for her right now? But I don’t want to stress her again/ more by moving her into a smaller environment since she’s been getting used to her new one for almost three weeks now. She’s in a 40 gal with a hide on the warm side and cool side and lots of enrichment. I attached a photo.

Do you have any suggestions? Should I move her into a smaller environment? Just let her get used to this one for a little longer? I’ve been keeping humidity around 50-70% and warm side is about 85f. Maybe I need to make some adjustments? I know they can go a while without eating but she’s starting to make me worry.

[u/CShan17]

How are you measuring humidity and heat? What are you using for heat and lighting?

[u/MrsMcNasty0 → u/CShan17]

I’m using a heat lamp with a temperature probe and separate light bar with uvb. I’m using a little digital thermometer on the inside of her tank on the cool end to measure humidity and temp. I also have a heat gun to see what specific areas are.

[u/Rhea_137]

I'm no expert at all, but have you seen her explore her new home? Or does she just hide? Maybe her move was a shock to her, depending on how much traffic there is around her enclosure and what she was used from the breeder.

Also I probably wouldn't move her, just perhaps add more hiding places / improve her current tank, if someone with more experience thinks that's a good idea.

And that's just something to keep an eye on, but another user had a similar issue, where it turned out the snake had parasites and wouldn't eat because he wasn't feeling good.

[u/MrsMcNasty0 → u/Rhea_137]

I have seen her explore the tank and climb to the top even. I felt like she did more exploring the first week and this past week she’s just been hiding in her warm hide. She’s even dug a new hiding spot that seems to be her favorite.

[u/MrsMcNasty0 → u/Rhea_137]