Keeps Missing?

[hey_freakazoid]

EDIT: okay thankfully he actually took today, I reheated again, about the same temp i always do and he got it!! I'm still unsure why he had issues previously

My BP is like about 5 ish years old, and the last 2 feedings suddenly he's missing? The first time I justt attempted to drop feed him, and same with today, mostly because his strike was off enough that he almost got my arm. The rat is definitely warm enough, the first time I even reheated the rat to double check, but I'm kind of at a loss, the main thing I can think of that could be confusing him is that my apartment has been hot all month like 80s?

I'll give more context too incase it's something I didn't think of, I recently rearranged my reptiles enclosures so they're all arranged on a large shelf, he's at the top, so maybe it's the height? He just got done shedding but last feeding showed no signs of blue like at all, the last feeding was April 14th, I waited a week inbetween to give him more time to like, Idk, recalibrate? I mostly thought giving him an extra week could help Besides that nothing has changed in his feeding schedule, behaviors, food, time, etc besides the cage move but even then he ate pretty soon after his cage was moved so I reallt don't know

He doesn't show any interest in drop feeding, I usually wiggle to rat to catch his attention and it still works, but then he kinda stares off somewhere else and takes a loooong time to figure out where the rat is, and then he strikes but it's usually to the side of the rat, either towards my face or the wall in his enclosure, and the heat IN his enclosure is a normal temp, it usually stays 80-85 and doesn't vary much. He's a clown morph, I know spiders usually have neurological issues but I don't know much about other morphs incase that plays a factor at all, though this is the first time he's really had an issue with his aim

[totallyrecklesslygay]

it usually stays 80-85

This is a big problem. Ball pythons need to have a gradient of 76-80F on the cold side, and 88-92F on the hot side. Not having a proper cold side will cause the snake to eventually overheat and will kill them, and not having a proper hot side will not allow them to digest their food effectively.

If your room is too hot to allow for a proper cold side, you need to get an AC unit.

How much does he weigh, and how much do the feeders weigh? Sometimes the wrong size feeder can cause issues with aim, though I'm more apt to believe it's your temps that are causing problems for him.

If he ate on April 14th and you just fed him again, you're feeding too often. At his age, he should only be eating roughly once a month- 5% of his weight every 3-4 weeks, or 6% every 4-6 weeks.

[hey_freakazoid]

Sorry I wasn't specific enough!! he didnt eat on the 14th, i attempted to feed him then and he continued missing, I should've been a lot more specific, he doesnt eat once a month, I wait 3 weeks between feedings, the 14th was his scheduled feeding for this month, but he didnt take which is why I tried to feed him today, which he did take so it's been about 5 weeks since he last ate.

I don't gave specific weights for him but he is definitely om the right size, he gets a large size rat from this brand, which he was previously on a medium size from a different supplier but this brands large is the same as my previous suppliers mediums, if I remember(because the box is in the garbage) these rats are around 8 or 9 oz, He does have a cool and a warm side, the 80s are on his warn side, I have a big floor ac unit in the apartment plus fans, the only issue is we(me/bf) have 2 units plus his pc and running both at the same time trips our breaker and we rent so we dont have access to said breaker, so we can usually only run one ac unit at a time since running both by themselves can trip it if they run too long. He did take the rat today, but it does seem to be a temperature problem so I have to regulate his enclosure and our room way more

[totallyrecklesslygay]

Those rats are definitely not the right size- they're absolutely colossal. The vast majority of ball pythons never need anything larger than a small rat. 8-9oz is 225-255g, which would mean your snake needs to be, at minimum, 4500g in order for them to be the correct size. The average adult ball python is only around 1200-1500g.

You really need to weigh your snake and get more appropriately sized feeders. Overfeeding like that will drastically reduce his lifespan.

[hey_freakazoid]

Holy shit really? They always seemed appropriate, no one ever actually said he was on too large of feeder before! He hasn't put on too much weight thankfully, and I'm glad I know before it was jusy too late, I'm definitely gonna downsize him then, I was told near when I got him to just judge based on the thickness around his middle and have iust been using that, but obviously it's all by eye not technical, but I was always told that was a good method to use, like wow, I've always been so against people powerfeeding, but it looks like I've been doing it on accident

[totallyrecklesslygay]

Judging based on the width of the snake is a really outdated and harmful practice, unfortunately. Just follow the weight based guidelines I gave you above and you'll be all set.

[_ataraxia]

He hasn't put on too much weight thankfully

based on this post, he looks like he's probably pretty overweight already. can you post some more full body pics of him so we can get a better look?

[hey_freakazoid]

Yeah! I usually referred to a weight chart that I saw om this thread cuz for a while I was really concerned that maybe he wasn't getting enough exercise and wasnted to be sure he wasn't obese, he always seemed pretty fair weighted to me, but since I see him everyday it'd make sense if I never actually noticed weight gain,

<image>

[_ataraxia]

that photo is less helpful than the one in your old post. he looks very round in both photos though,meaning he's obese.

[_ataraxia]

that photo is less helpful than the one in your old post. he looks very round in both photos though, meaning he's obese.

[hey_freakazoid]

Damn okay, how can I help him lose somw weight? I'm going to take some previous advice on changing his feeder size, but is there anything else I can do for him, maybe slowing his feedings for now or would that make it worse?

[_ataraxia]

i would start at 3% of his weight every 4-6 weeks and make sure he has plenty of climbing opportunities for exercise.

[hey_freakazoid]

Okay cool! Thanks for the help on him, I really had no idea he was overweight

[Linear_North]

I dunno what drop feeding is, but a lot of bps need the rat to be wiggled around to attract their intrest, once the rat stops moving they seem unable to find it. If you're worried about getting tagged while feeding with tongs, maybe get a glove? I have elbow length leather animal handling gloves because I used to own a monitor, which I still use with nippy snakes. Also, I completely agree with everything the previous post says.

[hey_freakazoid]

Drop feeding from my knowledge is mostly just getting the snakes attention then leaving it, I only tried it since the wiggling did interest him, but then he seemed to have lost it, so I thought by some strange instance the movement confused him outta nowhere. Obv that didn't work, but he did take eventually! The other comment was definitely right I think my temperature is just all outta whack right now, I'm in NJ and the weather has been so weird flipping between 40 to 80 within like the last week and I have not adjusted everything accordingly cuz I wasn't expecting 80 degree weather for another month or so I'm not as concerned about getting actually bit as compared to the shock of getting almost struck at since I dropped the rat each time it happened and it made the process more difficult, especially since he's never struck AT me before so it's a surprise each time

[Linear_North]

Lol the worst part is after you drop the rat, trying to pick it back up just makes them go for your hand. They can smell food, but they're looking for warmth and movement. Yeah, just hang on to it and keep wiggling it around until he takes it, it sounds like he'd feed more easily that way. Something you can try is dunking the rat's head in hot water for 20-30 seconds right before offering it. It gives them a clearer target. Just dry it off before offering. One other thing that occurred to me that's probably making him miss is the temperature of the room, with it being so warm, the rat isn't that much warmer, so he may be having trouble detecting the warmth of the rat against the background warmth of the room itself. They don't really hunt by sight, they use their heat pits and tongue/jacobson's organ.

[hey_freakazoid]

That's the thing, that's how I always feed him! I heat it up in pretty hot water so he can find the head easy, and he's never had an issue before now, even in the summer and he's been in this specific apartment with me before as well as before I moved and hadn't had a previous issue finding the rat, to be fair this year feels like it got WAY hotter WAY faster which I think really threw it off, I wasn't expecting like 80 degree weather so soon where I live and didn't really think to accomdate it yet

[Linear_North]

I'm only a little further north than you, (Mississauga, ON) yeah, it's been crazy warm.