Fed ball first rat and I am worried

[Spidey_Girl]

Ok heres the deal...

I've had my ball for a few weeks. I have fed it 3 times since I had her. One adult mouse every 7 days. I did that 2 times.

I fed her her last mouse on Monday, August 9th. Then I fed her a fuzzy mouse for a snack the next day. I have recently learned that she is big enough to start on rats.

Then I learned it would be ok to fed my ball every 4-5 days. So I fed her a medium rat (I guess you could call it a sub-adult) yesterday. It was about the same size around as the biggest part of my ball's body. She got it down with no problem. And she kept it down.

This is the part that worries me. A few hours later I noticed she was completely submersed except for her head in her water bowl. She stayed that way for several hours. I have never seen her do that before.

Later that night she went back to her hide box where her UTH is.

When I woke up at 12 noon she was back in her water bowl up to her head.

I left for a few hours came home and she was still in there. She might have got out while I was gone.

Is this normal? I always read that Ball's will stay where it is warm to digest their food.

Also her body is huge now after eating that rat. Should I keep her on rats or go back to adult mice?

 

[Highlander]

Many times my corn snake would do this and then go throw up.4-5 days is kinda often.Usually with my snake I feed about every 10 days.Hope that helps.

 

[Yve]

spidey_girl, depending on the age and size of the ball will determine its feeding regimen. If it is a hatchling or yearling you may feed it every 5 days. Older then that you may feed it every 7-10 days. One food item equal to the size of the thickest part of the snake is the appropriate size.
It doesn't need more than that, and being a ball, it may even refuse food for months at a time, more often during the cooler months. Usually a ball will go and hide in a warm area after eating. If the water is warm it might do that.
But one concern that I have with this is that it may also have mites. Look for black specks running around in the tank and on the snake.
One question, what type of substrate are you using, it looks as if there are two different ones in the tank and I'm worried that one is cedar mulch....if so you have to remove it. this is highly toxic to snakes...pine is also a problem because cedar is oftentimes mixed with it.
A good idea with a new snake in the house is to use papertowels for substrate...this way you can easily see any annomalies in the excrement and spot mites. Mulches as well, are breeding grounds for mites and great hiding places too. Post on how things go with him, and best of luck

 

[sunnymarcie]

HI
First off how old is the snake?
You may be giving it too much and believe me you'll know it if you did

For substrate use the paper to start as suggested.
I never use any type of wood for mine, only recycled white paper.
Its sold in pet shops in the same area as the other bedding.

And check for mites too. Sounds like that may be whats going on to me too
unless the snake is too hot.
Let us know what happens
Good luck

 

[Spidey_Girl]

My snake cannot be any older than 8 months. I know about the size to feed and how often to feed. I did just that and that is why I can't explain her behavior.

I am almost positive she does not have mites. If it is true what it said about how you can see them with the naked eye then she doesn't have them. I have seen nothing live or dead in her enclosure.

I am using 2/3 cypress mulch and 1/3 aspen. I started with aspen but added mulch because I was having humidity issues. The mulch is helping out with that. I know about cedar and that is it toxic to alot of animals so I do not use it. There is no cedar in any of the substrate I use. Why use paper towels? It seems to me that it is best to use something that is more natural. You wouldn't see a Ball hanging out in paper towels in the wild.

Since I posted she has only soaked once.

This morning she was in her "pool". I came home from work today and she was in her warm hide box. She seems to be back to her normal self.

I held her little last night and she was pretty active.

I am new to snakes and all but I think that rat was just too big. I hate to say it but I would really prefer to put her back on mice until she gets a little bigger. Going thru this is a little worrying.

 

[Yve]

ball pythons can become finicky eaters even after seeming to be good feeders. If she is eating rats I would not go back to mice... i've heard of situations in which the ball becomes accustomed to eating mice and refuses rats....once that ball is adult you'll have to feed it many mice per feeding and if thats the case..it will be a pain in the butt...keep her on rats..but small ones. An adult ball can eat a medium rat once a week, its far too big for an 8 month old...I'm a bit confused though, you said in your original post that the rat was the same size as the girth of the snake...that seems wrong...a medium rat is a lot thicker than a yearling ball. Unless someone is selling you smalls in place of mediums...I dunno...sounds a little fishy to me...its sometimes hard to describe the size of a rat...thats why the rat girth = to snake girth works best for explaining proper prey size. if the rat you fed was the same size as the ball then it should be fine. At this point I don't think you need to feed it every 5 days...every 7 is fine.

why use papertowels, well aside from the two previous reasons I gave another would also be ease in cleaning....and its also alot cheaper. The ball doesn't care what its substrate looks like...the aesthetics are more to please the owner...and there is nothing wrong with it if thats what you choose...just a little more maintenance....oh and also you shouldn't feed them on the mulches because they will end up ingesting some. So there's another hassle you need to deal with. It really boils down to personal preference and time allowance.

 

[Darwinsdad]

Since you have had you ball only a few weeks it most likly has not reached a molt. It is very very common for balls and other snakes to soak for extended periods of time just prior to molting. The snake knows best and let it do its thing but I would not be surprized that in a week or so you have a nice shiny new python (and remarkably soft skinded one at that) to parade and show off.
Good luck with it all.

 

[pwilfort]

hi Spidey_Girl
I don't know about your snake but my king snake did the same thing so I called the vet and they told me he/she would be sheding it's skin soon, a week later it did. It will eat mice up to 3 days before it sheds then it will go into the water dish and then it will shed. The vet told me when it is due to shed it will stay in the water until it sheds.
I hope this helps! You have a beautiful snake!
Penney

 

[eksong]

I'm with Penney on this one. My boa submerges itself in water much of the day 1 - 2 weeks prior to its molt.

 

[defour]

I held her little last night and she was pretty active.

With a food item that big, I would avoid handling her after only two days to digest. Otherwise you're asking for a lapful of rat, which, apart from the pleasant aroma is a bad thing.

Steve

 

[Longbord1]

what size tank is she in?

 

[Runaway987]

Already mentioned but if it doesnt appear to be in premoult look for mites, especially around the head.

[Mites dont take kindly to being drowned, they climb up]

 

[Longbord1]

u couldn't like spray her cage with like mite spray or is that toxic?

mike

 

[LPacker79]

u couldn't like spray her cage with like mite spray or is that toxic?

mike

I've heard various opinions regarding that stuff, some good some bad. I personally will never use it because my snakes are in the same room as my T's. Since mites are arachnids, anything that would kill them would also kill your T's. Both of my snakes had mites when I bought them (that's a story for another thread sometime), and what I did was I soaked the snakes in olive oil for a few hours while I let the cages soak in bleach water (this was advice given by somebody I trust completely).

I haven't seen a mite since.

 

[Longbord1]

how did u get the snakes to stay in the olive oil without over stressing them?

and do flea collars kill mites cuz u could put a flea collar on the snake?


mike

 

[Lasiodora]

how did u get the snakes to stay in the olive oil without over stressing them?

and do flea collars kill mites cuz u could put a flea collar on the snake?


mike

Flea collars would not work for a couple of reasons. There are several reptile mite treatments out on the market. Provent-a-mite is one that works well if the directions are followed properly. As someone metioned before, any of these products would kill your tarantulas. Mites are arachnids too. I wouldn't treat any snake unless I found the mites. Places to look for them is the in the scales of the "chin" area, the heat pits, and the edge of the eyes. These are mites favorite hide spots.