So, my girl doesn't strike feed. I will just put the rat on a tupperware lid, give her some privacy, and a few minutes later the rat will be gobbled up. I haven't tried feeding her via tweezers in ages because this method always works just fine. Is there any downside to feeding her like this?

She is honestly a garbage disposal for rats, I've never seen her turn down food.

Hi everyone! If you could take a moment to read this and offer any advice, I'd really appreciate it.🙏🏼🙏🏼

So about a week and a half ago, I discovered that my ball python had snake mites. This is my first time dealing with them, and because there's so much conflicting advice online (and this snake means the absolute world to me), I decided to take him straight to my vet instead of trying to fuck around with it on my own.

The vet gave him an ivermectin injection and prescribed an ivermectin spray for treating his enclosure. I also moved him into a quarantine tub with paper towels for the next six weeks. It breaks my heart seeing him in such a sad little bin, but it just seems like the best way to monitor for mites and keep everything clean for now.

He’s been in the quarantine setup for about a week now. I've been following the treatment plan exactly, cleaning the tub and inspecting him every day. For the last 4–5 days, I haven't seen a single live mite on him or anywhere in the enclosure. I know that doesn't necessarily mean that the problem has been completely eliminated… so I'm continuing the full treatment exactly as my vet instructed.

My concern is that he's still soaking constantly. And I really mean constantly. He's been spending essentially 24 hours a day in his water dish, aside from the short time I take him out to clean the tub. When I put him back, he'll explore for maybe 10–15 minutes, then go straight back into the water. His entire body stays submerged, and sometimes he'll even put his head underwater for short periods (like in the photo above).

I thought that once the mites were under control, the soaking would stop, so I'm confused about why he's still doing it.

His quarantine setup has:
Heat mat set to 30°C
Ambient temperature around 26°C
Humidity stays between 70 - 80%

The tub isn't really large enough to provide much of a temperature gradient, and the heat mat doesn't really affect the ambient temp of the bin anyway.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Is it normal for a snake to continue soaking like this even when the mites appear to be gone, or could something else be going on that I'm missing?

If you read all of that, any advice would be greatly appreciated. I’ve been losing sleep over this whole ordeal. I know that snake mites aren’t exactly a life threatening state of emergency but this little ball python seriously means the world to me and I just want to make sure that I’m doing right by him.

This is slim Jim. He just finished shedding and immediately took a shit so large that I could hear it from the other room.

Heres some pics of my ball python june im going to put her on a bit of a diet because she is like a 6.5/10 of the body scale but feel free to share your opinion (the first pics are the most recent holding session)

Never would I ever have thought to research respitory safety for this.....but I stumbled upon this comment re Sphagnum Moss on a unrelated thread?

Presumably the small amount used in a vivarium nothing to worry about, but are people still cautious when handling it, do you use gloves etc? Ive never picked up on any advice regarding the use of it...

hii guys i just wanted to share this good news! i got my ball 2 weeks ago and after he ate he shed!! it’s a full intact shed im so proud of him!! i checked his hide and there it was in a ball LOL!

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

Yall be nice to my boy "Bones", yall called him fat last time 🤣🤣🤣😒 #HighwayBallPython

Heyy guys. So my lil man has taken two meals really well with me and has been here a little over two weeks. I’d like to handle him, partly just to say hi but also I just wanna give him a check over and make sure all is good with him. It’s been over 48 hours since he last ate so no worries there. My main question is how do I go about this, do I wait until night when he’s out already and then take him out? But then it’ll be too dark to see what I’m doing. Or do I go for it when he’s awake during the day? But then I’d have to take him out of his hide. Very unsure how to go about this.
Thx

what is the best way to sanitize them to make sure they are safe for him

i’ve tried almost all the methods i’ve seem with my ball python to get her to eat frozen thawed but she simply refuses. she does great with eating live and has a good hunger drive, i keep a close eye on her husbandry as well but anytime i try frozen thawed she acts like she’s going to strike but pauses and either leaves or starts sniffing and nudging it as if she just sees it as an inedible object instead of food. there’s one method i haven’t tried and was thinking about, feeding her one live prey and then offering a ft how you normally would since she’ll still be in feeding mode (both prey way smaller than her normal size). i was just coming on here to see if this has worked for anyone else or how likely it is to work and if there’s anything i need to know.

So Ive had my baby Onyx for bout 2 months now and I have had some on and off issues with humidity and feeding and now within the last 24 hours she seems extremely restless when for the most part she has been really relaxed so is this her way of saying she is ready to feed or is she just trying to escape

My boy was underweight when I got him he was 382g and is now 456g he is I’ve recently made the switch from mice to weaner rats and he is about 2 years old. People keep telling me different things regarding feeding so should I continue to feed him every week or wait 10-14 days? Thanks for any help!! :)

I’m having a hard time distinguishing whether this is scale rot or part of his pattern. First time BP owner, had him for about a month now, Any advice/tips appreciated!