u/Exotic-Heart2916

My 4 month old ball python ate his first meal, a pinky rat, with me last Sunday; and I was so proud of him. I got him on July 12, and when I got him he was sickly and had an internal parasitic infection that I had to get him treated for, and didn’t eat in about a 4-5 week period during that.

I tried to feed him again yesterday, same kind of prey, and he had a very big food response to it and actually struck it and wrapped around it. After he did that, he let go, and I tried again. He bit at it but didn’t strike several times and also followed it afterwards. In the end he didn’t eat, but was very alert from inside his hide for a long while after that.

He was 90 grams last I had him weighed about 3 weeks ago, but has eaten since, so probably closer to 100 now, so he’s a little guy for his age. His temp and humidity are great, currently 62% humidity and between 85-93 on his warm side, and the enclosure only gets down to about 70-75 at night. I do not over handle him, I handled him about 3 times last week for about 30-1 hr and he hasn’t shown any signs of stress like he was before, so I don’t think it’s that. I use tongs to feed and I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong, or if this is just normal? I’m up for anything right now; Im a bit concerned, but I don’t necessarily think there’s anything to worry about. Thank you!

Update for everyone who saw my previous post, and for those who didn’t, I just wanted to share this ig

My baby Ball Python Comet has not eaten in the 3 weeks I’d had him, which concerned me a little bit, but I knew ball pythons tend to hunger strike, esp when they’re new, so I wasn’t too worried about it.

This Monday, we decided to take Comet to our local vet, which has a reptile specialist, just to check him out and make sure nothing‘s wrong. I didn’t think anything was necessarily wrong with him, but I thought it was worth a shot, just in case.

Vet checks him out, and unfortunately there are some things wrong with my baby. Tells me he’s dehydrated (I fill up his water everyday, warm water so he can sense it, and humidify his tank, I’ve done a lot of research in many different places so I know I’m doing this right) I had seen him drink before, but it had been a while. He’s also bloated, which I knew, he was when I got him, and has possible parasites, which the vet said he wouldve gotten in the egg.
We contacted the breeder about all of this, which was when I learned Comet’s age. Before that I was estimating that he was maybe 3 weeks to a month old based on size, but breeder told me his clutch hatched around March 27; so he’s 4 months old. Trust me, he is very small for a 4 month old snake, so this was surprising. He was eating fine for him, so we think that the parasites he could have might have contributed to his small size.
Rn, I need to give Comet daily dewormer shots, and I think it’s making him feel better already. I also have to soak him to help with his hydration every day, and the vet recommended I take him outside for some fresh sunlight. We did that yesterday, and he really liked the yard. He was periscoping and was moving around freely and seemed to be enjoying the exploring, he really liked being outside.

I tried to feed him yesterday, he didn’t eat, but I could tell that his feeding response is getting better, it seemed like he was hungry, he just didn’t feel well enough to eat :( he had a strong enough feeding response, he knew it was there and he crept towards it, he knew it was food, he just didn’t go after it. This is making me think that my buddy’s starting to feel a little better, because he’s reacting better than before, and I hope by this time next week, he’s all healthy again.
We have another vet appointment next Monday, and I’ll update then.

The good thing about all this is that o finally know why my snake isn’t eating, because from his past behavior, I can say that if he felt okay, he would’ve eaten. This has been a good bonding experience for us too, all this time together, and I can say I’ve Definately noticed that he’s been more comfortable with my handling, he‘s definately more used to it and I can tell it doesn’t really bother him.
I‘d be lying if I said that I wasn’t genuinely worried about him still, and that this all hasn’t been nerve wracking for me. Hes getting better I think, and I definitely feel closer to him cause of this. I hope he’ll thrive in my care after this, because I think I’m doing enough for him right now. I love my little guy so much and I just want him to have a good life

My baby ball python Comet is an orange dream banana pied. From what I‘ve see so far, he looks pretty much like any other baby banana pied; though with that, I’m not sure his orange dream gene is visible right now.

I‘ve been told that as he gets older, the orange dream may become more visible; is this true?

Will the gene emerge as he gets older, or will his coloring probably age like any other banana pied?

I got my baby ball python Comet several weeks ago, and the breeder told me that he had a small eye. I couldn’t tell which one it was, because they both seemed about the same size, until I looked at ball pythons around his age’s eyes, and thought that they were significantly smaller.

Does my ball python have 2 small eyes? Also, does this affect his eyesight now or in the future?

Upgraded Comet’s tank today! How does this look?

Ik it’s long but please read this is very important to me 😭😭

im a long winded person so apologies for that

Hi! I’m new to the ball python hobby and community, as I first got into ball pythons a bit less than a year ago, and bought my first snake, a orange dream banana pied at my local reptile expo around 2 weeks ago (2 Sundays ago)

I did a ton of research for months before getting my snake, and I spent about a month before I got him preparing his enclosure. With that, I decided to attempt to feed him the Wednesday after I got him. Though I’m aware you’re not supposed to, I was leaving for a trip that Saturday and wanted to see if I could get him to eat before the trip, while also in a time that I could monitor his eating.

The first feeding, I attempted to feed him a frozen thawed hopper mouse, of which he had no interest. After that, I did more research on ball python feedings, and I’m aware that they tend to go on hunger strikes, but I decided to try to feed him another mouse that night, to no avail.
After that, I waited until the Friday before I left to feed him again, and I tried to feed him around 12 at night. I dangled the mouse over the enclosure, and he showed small signs of interest at it, such as inching closer to it while smelling. He’d get close to it, brush it, and turn his head. This was disappointin, but that night I decided to keep the mouse in there with him, and he hadn’t moved it in the morning. I took a video of his feeding for my girlfriend and showed It to her, she has a 7 year old ball python with feeding issues in the past, and she told me that I had fed him correctly and didn’t know why he wasn’t eating.

I got back from my 5 day trip yesterday, and he was much more active than he normally is, which I know is a sign that they’re hungry sometimes, so I decided to take the opportunity and try to feed him. He again, showed some signs of interest, he arched his neck into an S and crept towards it from inside his hide, but randomly decided to leave and go take a nap.
He’s probably about a month old, and the breeder I got him from fed him the Monday before I got him, so by the time I had him, it had been about a week. Since, it’s been a little over 3 weeks, and I’m starting to get worried.

Does anyone have any recommendations for me, or tips, or reasons why he might not be eating? Also, when would this get concerning and I’d need to take him to the vet?

im so sorry this was so long, thank you guys!

Got my first baby about 2 weeks ago, I think his tank is looking alright, but I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations about things I should add to his tank or change about his tank?

He’s showed signs of being pretty happy in his enclosure and I think he likes it, but I want to try to make this the best for him that I can