help! something is wrong with my ball python!

[JayzunBoget]

I would very much agree. Snakes, unlike other reptile detect their required temps through their belly rather than their backs. If the light source is heating a rock it might do the snake more good but in general they need to find their heat by getting on top of it.

I would like to point out, here, that while most Pythons are thygmothermic, far from all snakes are! Try using a heat mat on an arboreal snake! As well as quite a few day active snakes that are heliothermic, specifically, and want their heat from above.

 

[Beardo]

I live in the Ohio Valley, where the ambient humidity is much higher than Michigan. It has been my personal experience over the last 10 years with over 150 different species of snakes, ranging from fossorial species to totally arboreal that flexwatt heat tape is the most efficient and sensible way to thermoregulate a snake.

Nocturnal/crepucular snakes......do not bask. Heating elements from above do nothing for them.

 

[K-TRAIN]

Heres something I never understand. You purchased a reptile from a breeder and are having a problem with the animal...why not just consult the breeder and ask?

i wanted to talk to the breeder of my snake, but i dont remember who he was let alone what his breeding business was called. all i remember is he was at the northern burks reptile show february 24, 2007. thats all i know.

 

[Meaningless End]

for me the disition between uth and a heat light has more to do with ventilation then anything else. for a large cage or one with allot of ventilation i always choose a heat lamp. the reason for this is because a UTH wont do much for temps in a cage where there is allot of ventilation or space to kill.. for a rack systom its a diferent story. theyre is much less ventilation and cage space so a UTH gives a much better effect and is adiquite in establishing a all around cage temp. also i will use them in conjunction with a heat light for higher tempature animals such as monitors. or bearded dragons, uromastix,exe.

 

[K-TRAIN]

ok..... so far i have put a heat pad under her cage, sprayed the cage every day, covering part of the top to keep the humidity up, and soaked her twice.

is there anything else that might help?

 

[Mushroom Spore]

is there anything else that might help?

What are the temps in the tank?

 

[rollinkansas]

I do not know what the case is here but many people do not purchase from a breeder. I sell most of my snakes through a couple of pet stores I am associated with and the buyers never talk to me directly, though my care sheet info is supplied to them.
People who buy from large chain stores or resellers have no ability to contact the breeder.

If you would have simply read the thread, you would have seen the guy purchased the snake from a breeder at a reptile show

 

[Meaningless End]

ranging from fossorial species to totally arboreal that flexwatt heat tape is the most efficient and sensible way to thermoregulate a snake.

Nocturnal/crepucular snakes......do not bask. Heating elements from above do nothing for them.

so are you seriously saying that i should turn my chondros light off and switch to flexwatt?

thats the sort of information you can sell to the tourests but im not buying it. now if you had mentioned heat pannals for arborials i would come into a bit of agreance with you.. but to say that arborials should only have bottom tank heating is rediculous.

 

[Beardo]

so are you seriously saying that i should turn my chondros light off and switch to flexwatt?

thats the sort of information you can sell to the tourests but im not buying it. now if you had mentioned heat pannals for arborials i would come into a bit of agreance with you.. but to say that arborials should only have bottom tank heating is rediculous.

Are you saying the flexwatt can only be implemented in the bottom of an enclosure? Surely you jest. :?

 

[K-TRAIN]

What are the temps in the tank?

i don't have an accurate reading yet, but i believe its 80-85 degrees. (i use one of the zoomed thermometer things, where it reads both temps and humidity, but i think its busted. im getting a new one tomorrow.)

 

[Beardo]

Get an infared temp gun....they're very cost efficient and work perfectly.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

i don't have an accurate reading yet, but i believe its 80-85 degrees.

The whole tank can't be 80 degrees. One end must be about 80, one end must be about 90.

 

[Meaningless End]

Are you saying the flexwatt can only be implemented in the bottom of an enclosure? Surely you jest. :?

no not at all... but it depends on the size of the encloshure..

i guess im just a light bulb guy.... i find it to be the most acurate way to heat my tanks as long as you use a thermostat..

which brings a good point.. to the original poster... if you are having trouble getting your heating diled in.. or just to eliminate error and make things much easyer on yourself i recomend you buy one of theise..

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...e-1000-watt-electronic-thermostat-with-probe/

that product makes my life WAY easyer.. all of my cages run on them.. you set the temp and forget about it.. its a great product

 

[JayzunBoget]

I'm sorry,

I got so caught up in an interesting panoply of different heating methods that I forgot the OP! Please give us an update, KTrain.
Has she eaten again? Did you ever iron out the temps? Mushroom Spore is very right in that both the hot side and the cool side are both of vital importance.
If she goes back to eating w/o regurge then you are prob'ly in the clear. If, however, she regurges again, you should take her to a vet for some metronidazole or whatever your vet recommends. Either way, please forgive the digression and keep us updated.

 

[ericdhaan]

Substrate?

I took a quick glance through the posts and saw a lot of good stuff, but didn't see anything about what you're keeping your snake ON. I'm pretty new to tarantulas, but I've had my ball python for 5 years. I have heard that any kind of wood bedding (cedar, aspen, etc.) is not recommended - wood shavings can have harmful oils and can irritate the snake if swallowed. This could possibly be another reason for the mice coming back up - although the dehydration theories are probably true, too. I keep my guy on artificial turf - easy to clean, easy to switch out, cheap. I have an under-tank-heater and a lamp on one side to get that side to 90-ish and the other side is cooler. A large water dish deep enough for him to soak in. No problems ever... good luck!
~ Eric

 

[K-TRAIN]

I got so caught up in an interesting panoply of different heating methods that I forgot the OP! Please give us an update, KTrain.
Has she eaten again? Did you ever iron out the temps? Mushroom Spore is very right in that both the hot side and the cool side are both of vital importance.
If she goes back to eating w/o regurge then you are prob'ly in the clear. If, however, she regurges again, you should take her to a vet for some metronidazole or whatever your vet recommends. Either way, please forgive the digression and keep us updated.

i've been soaking her for a few days, spraying the cage, and using a heat mat under the cage. today i plan on taking her out of the 20 gallon tank and switching cages. (my uromastyx is in a 20 g temporarily, and its a cage meant to keep humidity in. so i figured i'd switch cages.)

she hasnt been fed again, im going to wait a week before feeding her.

the temps were out of control this weekend, so its getting back to normal for all my animals now. im guessing just by the feel of the tank its about 90 on the heat mat side and 75 on the other side. (it should be about 80 now though on the cool side) but im going to check it properly in a few minutes.

overall she seems to be doing better. only time will tell though.

i also discovered during the last time i soaked her she had shed, but never lost the shed skin.
so i managed to get it off of her.

 

[K-TRAIN]

I took a quick glance through the posts and saw a lot of good stuff, but didn't see anything about what you're keeping your snake ON. I'm pretty new to tarantulas, but I've had my ball python for 5 years. I have heard that any kind of wood bedding (cedar, aspen, etc.) is not recommended - wood shavings can have harmful oils and can irritate the snake if swallowed. This could possibly be another reason for the mice coming back up - although the dehydration theories are probably true, too. I keep my guy on artificial turf - easy to clean, easy to switch out, cheap. I have an under-tank-heater and a lamp on one side to get that side to 90-ish and the other side is cooler. A large water dish deep enough for him to soak in. No problems ever... good luck!
~ Eric

i heard some substrates made of wood can dehydrate younger snakes (read it in reptile magazine.)

but i use aspen on my ball python, and it seems to be fine. (like i said, ive had it a good while and its been fine)

but im gonna switch to reptile carpet soon.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I have heard that any kind of wood bedding (cedar, aspen, etc.) is not recommended - wood shavings can have harmful oils and can irritate the snake if swallowed.

You're wrong, aspen is harmless. Pine and cedar are the toxic ones.

And wood shavings won't be swallowed if you don't feed in the tank - and it's already recommended to not feed in the tank anyway.

im guessing just by the feel of the tank

I know you're about to get thermometers and measure it properly, but please don't ever try to judge temperatures by feel again. You're a mammal, you just can't judge temps that specifically - especially since you're sensing the temps of whatever you're touching in comparison to your own 98.6F body heat.

Also I don't recommend reptile carpet, I always hated having to take everything out of the tank to swap it when it got soiled, and it never seemed to get clean enough. I stick with aspen nowadays, clean up with a kitty litter scoop, and change everything when it starts to smell stale. (Have I posted about that in this thread? I can't even keep track anymore. )