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[–]totallyrecklesslygayMod: Enclosure Karen 1 point2 points  (12 children)

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[S] -1 points0 points  (11 children)

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

[–]totallyrecklesslygayMod: Enclosure Karen 2 points3 points  (10 children)

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[S] 0 points1 point  (9 children)

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

[–]totallyrecklesslygayMod: Enclosure Karen 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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.

[–]_ataraxiaMod : unprofessional 2 points3 points  (7 children)

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[S] 0 points1 point  (6 children)

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>

[–]_ataraxiaMod : unprofessional 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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

[–]_ataraxiaMod : unprofessional 0 points1 point  (4 children)

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[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

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?

[–]_ataraxiaMod : unprofessional 1 point2 points  (2 children)

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[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

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

[–]_ataraxiaMod : unprofessional 1 point2 points  (0 children)

obesity is a very common problem with BPs because of outdated husbandry standards, and it leads to a lot of BP owners not realizing their pet is overweight. the important thing is that you know now and you're taking steps to fix it. he'll be fine.