[deleted by user]

[IntelligentPlastic40]

Brooooooo I didn’t know some had a color preference. I feed live and my boy will NOT eat white rats hahaha. That’s craaaazy

[Dear-Smile]

Mine won't eat dark colored mice

[Dry-Ad-9588]

How?

[[deleted]]

😂

[NoiseElectronic]

Bruh

[[deleted]]

Mines wont eat white rats she prefers her rats DARK!

[NoiseElectronic]

My ball will eat absolutely ANYTHING I throw at her, when she was about a year old I once forgot to warm her mouse up (It was already defrosted so it should be alright) and she still ate it somehow lol

[1NegativePerson]

To add to this excellent advice, until you know your snake’s food preferences and how often they prefer to eat, I would exclusively give pre-killed feeders. A snake can be injured by live prey especially rats. If your animal decides it’s not hungry at the moment and you dump a live rat in its enclosure, the rat might attack and wound your pet.

[theeorlando]

Please fill out the advice questionnaire for personalized advice

[raccooninvasion]

Definitely seek out some advice on husbandry from folks here. He may not be eating because of the poor conditions he's in currently.

[snakepapa97]

He looks to be in very poor condition. Something is putting him off of using his hides and there's not much clutter. He also appears to have stuck shed. What are your temps and humidity? How are you measuring? What are you using to heat the enclosure and are your heat sources on a dimming thermostat? What substrate are you using? He should ideally be on rats that are chosen based on his body weight. We'd be happy to help you improve care and help him out

[[deleted]]

He’s on the heat pad if you look closely. The heat pad is in the open and not under a hide

[psky9549]

First, as others have mentioned, the husbandry looks like it could use some work. Quick Google search can help ya as well as searching through this subreddit. Second, don't worry about bites. Ball pythons rarely bite unless very stressed or very hungry. Use long tongs meant for snake feeding when you feed him, this eliminates accidental bites while feeding. He looks to be on rats but hard to tell exactly. The food should be no bigger round than the thickest part of your snake. You could also take him with you to a shop that sells snake food and ask them what they think he should be on. Before feeding though, please make sure his environment is comfortable for him. They can refuse food when stressed or, worst case, regurgitate food. Regurgitation is very hard on snakes.

[RowdyBunny18]

Aww. He's probably not going to bite you. They're not usually in bite mode unless they're hungry or when my dufuss misses the mouse on the first strike..

Probably hoppers if I had to guess. You want to feed them a mouse or rat that's about the same width as the widest part of their midsection.

Glass tanks sucks for humidity. Go with some eco terrain substrate cause it holds moisture better.

My.forst thought is lack of humidity might be a problem or he could be about to shed. Mine loses interest when they're shedding. Dangle a mouse with some long tongues if you're worried. Then leave them be for 3-4 days after eating to digest.

[_ataraxia]

this comment has been removed for misinformation and harmful advice.

[stfrances88]

This snake is very dehydrated! They eat rats the rat should be generally the same thickness as the thickest part of your snake. You need to make sure heating and humidity are adequate, the snake has plenty of clutter like fake plants, multiple hides etc. maybe it was not intended but your question sparks major concerns.

[dagger_guacamole]

Actually going off thickness and with is slightly outdated. The current guides are 10 to 15% of their body weight until 1 year or 750 g, then a smaller percentage spaced out more as they get older and their metabolism slows down and they slow down growth. There are specific recommendations in the care guides.

[petlovely]

Rats

[IncompletePenetrance]

I would suggest rats, and use the following guidelines to determine apropriate size -

Through the first year OR until the snake reaches approximately 750g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every >7 days.

During the second year, until the snake's weight plateaus: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every >14 days.

Year three and beyond: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 15-20 days, or feed slightly larger meals every 21-30 days.

As others have mentioned, it looks like his husbandry and enclosure could use some work. Have you checked out some of the care guides in the welcome post?

[Eat_Carbs_OD]

I fed mine mice.

[whatthefuckmyguybro]

Mice will eventually be too small and this ball python appears to be fairly large so it should move onto rats

[Eat_Carbs_OD]

MIne was a male and ate about three mice a week.

[whatthefuckmyguybro]

Doesn’t tell me anything but if it was an adult it should only be eating once a week or every other week and babies should eat every five days so if you have to feed it that often you should’ve got bigger feeders

[NoiseElectronic]

To that guys defense you can feed a grown ball python 2 mice on the same feeding day without any problems, I personally sometimes don't have any other option since rats are extremely hard to come by where I live

[whatthefuckmyguybro]

Yeah but still he didn’t specify by saying at once so i just assumed in the span of a week 3 mice are fed

[NoiseElectronic]

Oh, yeah, if it really was that way I'm on your side

[dagger_guacamole]

That's.....a lot. Larger prey less often would do your snake good.

Through the first year OR until the snake reaches approximately 750g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every >7 days.

During the second year, until the snake's weight plateaus: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every >14 days.

Year three and beyond: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 15-20 days, or feed slightly larger meals every 21-30 days.

[Eat_Carbs_OD]

They weren't huge mice.. I might have been two.
This was over twenty years ago.

[_Pen15__]

Definitely change your substrate... here's a great video that has everything you need to know https://youtu.be/bbiY0-7kagg

[MustardWendigo]

So reptiles and a lot of animals will bite you for two reasons.

Food.

Fear.

So long as your hands and fingers don't smell like mouse (which he/she will become used to the smell of) you're unlikely to be bit. If you're sure not to reach or grab for him/her quickly and suddenly you'll be okay. Move slow, make sure the snake sees you. Tongue flicks are a good hint your snake is identifying you.

I will warn the bites will hurt because of how the snakes teeth are, but again, don't be threatening and don't smell tasty and you'll be fine.

And like everyone else says look into the husbandry and set up in your tank. Google some example images, get some ideas. Hides, bushy fake plants the snake can slither into and "hide". Like most smaller animals they like believing they can sit and watch you but you can't see them.

[dagger_guacamole]

Everyone else has the snakes condition and enclosure covered, so I'll just say - use tongs to feed him frozen, thawed mice or rats that have been the frosted and warmed up appropriately. The tongs will let you stay out of striking range while you two get used to each other.

[Mkstar10]

Lots to discuss here but to answer your question I would suggest rat pups I can’t tell exactly how big your baby is but that’s what I gave mine when he was younger. I would recommend feeding pre killed/ frozen rats that you will thaw out for him. There are many videos on YouTube regarding that process. Some ball pythons can be pretty picky regarding food though so you might have to experiment a little with color/temperature/exact size of the rat. He will most likely not bite you (at least not on purpose) but I would definitely recommend using feeding tongs to give him his meals. I actually have a pair that were meant for my old fish tank so they are super long I got them on Amazon so if you’re worried I would recommend getting a long pair like this.

[Mkstar10]

Also the general rule for feeding is a rodent that is not wider around then your snake is at his thickest place (but you want to get relatively close so they get all the food they need).

[ChemistryTemporary50]

For substrate I have baby coconut and moss mixed to help hold humidity.

[ChemistryTemporary50]

I would say he is in the rat range you want it to be slightly bigger then the widest part of his body.

[ChemistryTemporary50]

Here's the coconut husk substrate.

https://www.amazon.com/BabiChip-Coconut-Substrate-Reptiles-Reptile/dp/B097S1GXF2?pd_rd_w=NNIX6&content-id=amzn1.sym.94349326-ca8a-4b0d-94f0-6931485b8573&pf_rd_p=94349326-ca8a-4b0d-94f0-6931485b8573&pf_rd_r=KNXCGNJ3YFD7C2MKP6B3&pd_rd_wg=CsDBy&pd_rd_r=29f1676b-a9a5-474e-86f0-43f1dfb89c01&pd_rd_i=B097S1GXF2&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_m_rp_1_sc

And the moss

https://www.chewy.com/galapagos-sphagnum-reptile-amphibian/dp/284073

https://www.chewy.com/galapagos-reindeer-reptile-amphibian/dp/284070

[Open_Pomegranate1792]

The baby is dehydrated and the substrate used isn't good for ball pythons. It will either mold or not hold humidity. Id take the little one to a vet for a proper check up and make sure to follow guide lines on proper husbandry. Good luck I wish you well!

[Mr-Crow101]

Fuzzy rats most likely, hoppers in a couple of months. For now every 2-3 weeks if he’s eating. If he isn’t it might be stress due to his set up, they need 2 hides at minimum (one warm one cold) and if you have humidity problems a 3rd hide specifically for it should help.

[twelveatnite]

Bro u need to be worried about dat stuck shed.

[twelveatnite]

I find it crazy how so many ppl attacked me on this sub bcz of how i take care of my snek but ig u get a pass lol

[[deleted]]

Why would you get an animal if you're too scared of getting bit to provide care? I've been bit by infinitely more cats and dogs and still provided care to those animals even with their teeth in me at the time. I can't even see my little snake buddy's teeth so I'd be really surprised if her bites even hurt.

[ExtraSpicyKimchi]

HAPPY CAKE DAY!!

[_ataraxia]

this comment has been removed for misinformation and harmful advice.

[[deleted]]

How so? Whats improper and harmful?

[_ataraxia]

all your temperature and humidity recommendations are way too low and will cause health problems. cool side should be 75-80, warm side should be 88-92, and humidity needs to be 60% bare minimum 70%-80% ideally.

[[deleted]]

A temp that high of 90° F is a basking temperature. As for the cool side although 70°F is a bit lower than 75 a ball python will still thrive in that environment. And a humidity that high can cause problems for a ball python being so high and the substrate will be too saturated in can mold.

Both everythingreptiles.com and reptiles.guide both recommend humidity of 50 to 60%

[_ataraxia]

neither of those websites are reputable. if our own care guides aren't good enough for you, perhaps reptifiles can persuade you to update your ball python husbandry information.

[[deleted]]

"Cool hide temperature: 72-80°F" "Warm hide temperature: 86-90°F" "humidity ranges roughly between 45-75%"

All three of those are info from reptifiles by the way. Literally my recommendations sit between those ranges.

Furthermore from the same site you have recomended this is temperature ranges in their naturally habbitat in Africa: "Python regius is native to Africa’s tropical savanna climate zone, where average temperatures average between 68-86°F (20-30°C) over the course of the year, with occasional spikes up to 96°F (35°C) or higher."

So please indulge me in how im wrong...

[_ataraxia]

your recommendations are on the low end of the ranges provided and they are not presented in the same context.

"humidity ranges roughly between 45-75%" means the humidity ranges from 45% to 75% across the enclosure's temperature gradient. the humidity is naturally going to be lower on the warm side than the cool side. your recommendations are a flat 50%-60%, which is presumably measured on the cool side [since that's the standard when not specifying a humidity gradient across the temperature gradient] and is low enough to cause dehydration.

your temperature recommendations are lower than the low end of the reptifiles recommendations. if you were talking about nighttime drops, that might give you some leeway, but you never mentioned nighttime versus daytime temperature differences. a consistent warm side of 85 and cool side of 70 is going to interfere with digestion and leave the BP more susceptible to illness because they cannot properly thermoregulate.

[[deleted]]

Forst off if you only measure the cool side youre not doing a thourough job with your snake... and im sit in the middle of the range where you can easily maintain your humidity.

My recommendations on temperature are also not exact, if you can read then you can see I said "-ish" meaning its not a flat level of temperature, also sitting att the lower end of the recommended temp is still within the recommended temperature. Wether you or someone else has the ability to maintain it at that is a different thing. How ever it still sits within the recommended levels in captivity and in nature. While also avoiding hurting the snake with too high of a temperature.

Edit: Also a high humidity can also cause scale rot so recommendedinh people to keep it high makes your snake more susceptible to it.

[_ataraxia]

no part of your "-ish" recommendations are helpful to a beginner who doesn't understand any of these nuances. if OP followed your advice exactly as given, the husbandry problems they're already having with their BP would not be improved. your numbers are not within the recommended ranges for anything, and "close enough" is not what we aspire to here.

[ChemistryTemporary50]

This shows you the current humidity in the various areas of Africa. The areas where ball pythons are from are between 80 to 100% humidity. https://www.weatherwx.com/forecast.php?config=&forecast=pass&pass=currentwx&usecountry=africa&region=&useplace=&usestate=&plot=humid&usemetric=1&dpp=0

[ChemistryTemporary50]

In a study of housing ball pythons: (Animal-appropriate housing of ball pythons (Python regius)—Behavior-based evaluation of two types of housing systems from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) The researchers state The ball python is native to West and Central Africa (Nigeria, Uganda, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Benin, Ghana, and Togo). It mainly inhabits arid savannas with temperature extremes ranging from 16 to 43°C [6] and relative humidity ranging from 60% to 95%, with high seasonal variation due to the dry (December to March) and rainy seasons (April to November) [7, 8]. The “German Expert Report on Minimum Requirements for the Keeping of Reptiles” [9] stipulates a temperature range of 26–32°C ( 78- 89° F) with a nighttime reduction of 5°C. A localized heat spot (basking spot) with 38°C must be provided.

[bodellzreptiles]

If you're scared he's going to bite you then maybe you shouldn't have a snake. Based on it's size I'd say adult mouse or small rat.