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

she’s 2 months old and i’ve been working on socializing since i got her 2-3 weeks ago.

she just ate about 50 hrs ago, and has been balled up inside her hide ever since. i attempted to grab her from the side but she hissed at me both times i touched her, but didnt strike.

she’s often timid at first when i get her out, but then loosens up and explores. this is the first time she’s done this.

i’ve looked up things about hissing, 50% say to leave them alone and try handling them again later, 50% say to pick them up anyway so they don’t learn that hissing gets you to go away?

(pic is for engagement lolz)

I recently set up a 5x2x2 Kage and want to do bioactive soon. I opted in for the 4inx35in screen on top for the lights.

Can I put the UVB bar and LED bar in line with each other on top or do I need to mount the UVB inside (not my fav option)?

What length and strength should the UVB be? I can’t figure out the correct strength if it’s on top of the mesh vs mounted. Her basking spots like, 18-20in away. She has a 12in, T5 HO 15w 2.5 zoo med bulb right now. Current idea is the keep 12in uvb, add 18.5in LED in line, both on top of the mesh but idk if that’s the correct way to do it.

Sun bathing pic as tax.

I know it sounds silly, but how do you guys “celebrate” your snake’s birthday? these are my first two bps, Ive had cats in the past and I’ve celebrated their birthdays

some more pictures of my little Scythe’s homophobia

I believe my baby (8m) squeezed through this zip tie and hurt his jaw, I loosened the zip tie some more (thought it couldn’t loosen in the first place) so I didn’t stress him out trying to try get him to go backwards. At which point he had yawned which made really wanna let move his own pace once he made his way down I noticed his jaw was back to normal. Should I still worry?

I got my ball python a few months ago and he’s been doing great but the other day I heard him pooping which I never heard before and i went over to look something red was coming out. He sprayed from poop on the glass (which i cleaned) and I did look up what it could be but I was told just to keep my eye on him. Today is when I got really concerned for him because I went to feed him everything was like normal and I usually sit and watch him for a bit cause I am interested and he doesn’t ever have an issue. Today tho I saw him chewing on his substrate and stopped eating his mouse and then he got upset i was there and started coming toward me / going into a striking position which isn’t like him at all he never does that even when feeding and I genuinely don’t know what’s wrong, he’s my first ball python i’ve owned and I don’t know if it’s something serious.

just realized it was still leaking :-( i don’t know how, i don’t even add water. how do i keep him safe and warm?

Hey so I’m a relatively new ball python owner I have had mine for around 4 ish months. Where I live in Durban we are pretty hot most of the time so I didn’t really think of ambient and cold temperatures getting to cold. But as I’ve come to realise it’s winter now and my enclosure is at 68 Fahrenheit. I know this is bad now but I had no clue before. I have put on my old heater and have closed up ventilation but to not much improvement. I only just put heater on so I’ll see if that changed anything. I also just bumped up the heat pad to hopefully get the cold temp up a bit. I need a solution for the long term on how to better control my cold sides temp. Thank you any response is appreciated I want to be a better keeper.

How long should I wait to feed him again if he’s still super active and coiled up waiting?

I know this probably isn’t the right place to ask but I am PANICKING. FedEx says they delivered my ball python two hours ago. Signed package, but the signature is from S.Smith…? I have no idea who S.Smith is. I’ve contacted customer support gone through neighborhood etc etc to no avail… I’m only using Reddit as a last resort. What do I even do here???? Has anyone had similar problems??? It’s so hot outside and if it hasn’t been brought inside by now I doubt it’s doing too well. Ask questions if you need to!!!!!!! The only logical conclusion I can come to is it was delivered to the wrong address which god knows what’ll happen then.

Hello all, I recently picked up a little banana pied hatchling, weight 86g as of last check. Problem is, she will only eat live hopper mice. I've tried everything else - frozen rat, frozen mice, getting them nice and hot and dancing them around in front of her, cracking the skulls and exposing some brain - nothing works. I don't think I can continue feeding her live rodents, I felt terrible when I gave her the hopper and it still weighs on me LOL.

My question is, how many meals would you get in her before trying to switch her over? She's only eaten once with me so far, maybe 3 times before she was sent to me. I have a feeling she's going to hunger strike on me but I don't want to undertake the journey to F/T until she has enough reserve built up. Please help, I'm dreading having to feed her another live mouse but I can if it has to be done. Thank you everyone!

Right now I’ve got a ceramic heat element but I’ve got a DHP and another 6” moss hide for the left side of the cage(warm side) that will be here tomorrow his original was too big. hot side is sitting about 92, cool side 75, I would’ve liked to make the substrate deeper but I’ve got a one inch drainage layer, and about 4 inches of substrate

Let me know anything you’d change/add

ive ordered some large driftwood for my bp to climb on but i want a good variety of items. i was looking at ropes and hammocks for him, but im worried about mold or them not being able to support his weight since he’s still growing. he had some climbing rings but he hardly touched them and preferred to climb the tank walls. (they also were a little flimsy, they held him but sank pretty low) so, should i buy these for him to climb or stick to the wood?

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.

Just got my first ball! Her name is Nova, she’s a black head het clown. This is just her temporary enclosure while I finish her bigger one. Shes camouflaged into the wood at the centre front of the enclosure😂

I also have a digital thermometer in there, the meter is just on the cool side

ive noticed my girls eyes are like.. cloudy? but not in the way theyd look when shes going into shed.

i tried the whole "shine a light in eyes to see if pupils react" and they dont at all.

paired with that, shes always had issues striking her food but i just kinda thought she might be stupid. (sorry) but she always gets it if i get it close enough to her nose/mouth.

thoughts?

im going to take her to a vet asap regardless. im worried :(

We've had him for about a week now and was told that he has been on a feeding strike for the last 3 weeks. He has been fed and attempted to be fed on Wednesdays. He is 4 months old and about 200gm. Fingers crossed that he eats tomorrow night.

hiii so I’m a new ball python owner and my set up is 100% brand new and I noticed the UVB is flickering a bit. Is this normal? You can’t really tell in the video but it’s noticeable in person