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Blood Python Question

L

LunaLupus

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Hi folks, my house has just recently acquired a young Blood Python. I was wondering about their feeding.

We got her on 8-30, and about a week later she ate a F/T fuzzy rat. However she hasn't eaten since.

Should I just give her some more time before I try to feed her again?

Oh, she has been to the vet for a check-up. The hubby thought she had a respiratory infection, but it seems she just bubbles when he handles her.

She has also had one incomplete shed. She actually shed while I was giving her a soak, however she still has some skin on her head that I am not sure if I should help her with or leave it alone.

Thank you for any input.
 
it would be my guess based on having a stuck shed that the humidity is not high enough in his/her cage. i keep mine at or right around 65% accept when they are actually shedding or going blue then i up it to around 80% and that works for mine.

can you describe his/her cage setup?
 
watch the temperature. I have had bloods go off feed for months and couldnt figure why and then I adjusted temps and it helped a lot. in my experience a respiratory infection would have something to do with off feed as well.
 
She is currently housed in a 29 gallon tank. It has two hides (warm side and cool side), a humidity box and a water dish that have sections in both the hot and cool side. She's currently kept on the reptile carpeting after trying to eat her previous bedding.

The warm side of the tank as an under the tank heat mat as well as a 75watt ceramic bulb. This keeps that side of the tank at 90-92 degrees. The cool side of the tank is 77-81 degrees. The entire tank drops about 4 degrees during the night.

Her humidity was at 50-60 (per the breeder's suggestion :/ ). Once I saw she was getting ready to shed I upped it to ~75 and she seems much happier. She also receives weekly soaks in warm water, and it was during her last one that she shed. In my hands, kind of a weird feeling. lol

As for her breathing, she breaths fine if I handle her, but if my husband handles her she starts to bubble and gurgle. If she were a mammal I would say it's a growl. The vet gave her a clean bill of health though.

Thanks for your help!
 
I have an albino female bp that will only eat a sm-md rat live every 2-3 weeks sometimes a month. if you start to get worried try a fresh killed and put them together in a brown paper bag (with holes). There is a local pet store owner down here that does this method and gets any animal to feed within days of attempting. they usually feed first time you try it.
 
and like I said watch the temps 90-92 is way to hot! I leave my bloods at 85

http://www.vpi.com/publications/blood_pythons_information_and_care

Temperatures: As a general starting point, blood pythons seem to do best if kept in the low-to-mid 80s degrees F. We keep most of our blood pythons at 80-82 degrees F in the day and 78-80 degrees F at night. Most of the time our blood pythons do not have a basking spot available to them. When we do provide a heated basking spot, it is 86-88 degrees F.

If recently fed, blood pythons should not be subjected to temperatures more than 90 degrees F or below 78 degrees F. When empty of food, blood pythons are tolerant of a wider range of temperatures. It does appear that this species is less tolerant of cool temperatures than most pythons; they do fine in the 70s, but we rarely expose them to temperatures below 75 degrees F.
 
Thank you very much!

She just finished her shed, and I altered the heat to cool the tank off a bit. We are also planning on waiting another week or so before we try to feed her again. Hopefully this will work.

Thanks again!
 
Here's my pretty girl the first day we got her.

DSCF0056-2-1.jpg
 
I'd put her in a 15qt tud with a hide and water bowl on newspaper and keep temps 80-85 ...the 29 gal is way too big for a baby like yours...I feed my babies every 7-10 days....
 
BMK. said:
I'd put her in a 15qt tud with a hide and water bowl on newspaper and keep temps 80-85 ...the 29 gal is way too big for a baby like yours...I feed my babies every 7-10 days....
Click to expand...

Are there any specific signs that the snake is unhappy with their enclosure? My little girl regularly moves around her tank spending part of the day in each hide as well as checking out the water dish and every other nook and cranny.
Thanks
 
beautiful Snake!
BMK is right, to much room makes them insecure. you can place a divider in the tank if you want to keep her in it to make it smaller.
just something for you to think about, in the winter in a glass aquarium, it is going to be difficult to maintain your humidity levels. you will need to find a way to cover the top to keep heat and humidity in.
 
LunaLupus said:
Are there any specific signs that the snake is unhappy with their enclosure? My little girl regularly moves around her tank spending part of the day in each hide as well as checking out the water dish and every other nook and cranny.
Thanks
Click to expand...

yes there is, not eating is a pretty significant sign something is 'off'.
 
Muril said:
beautiful Snake!
BMK is right, to much room makes them insecure. you can place a divider in the tank if you want to keep her in it to make it smaller.
just something for you to think about, in the winter in a glass aquarium, it is going to be difficult to maintain your humidity levels. you will need to find a way to cover the top to keep heat and humidity in.
Click to expand...

Thanks! :D

I will definitely keep that under consideration. I think at this point I'm going to leave her alone for a while before I change anything else or try to get her to eat again.

I currently have a half screen top on her tank and it is easy enough to keep the humidity as high as 85 with her water bowl and regular spritzing. I'm home all day so I can check hourly if need be. :D
 
Update

So we've moved our snake to a smaller enclosure. And we're keeping her at ~82 degrees. We spoke with the breeders at Tinley last weekend, and just put a rat pup in with her. Keeping my fingers crossed that she eats. It's been almost six weeks since she last ate. :/
 
LunaLupus said:
She was not coiled to eat it....she was coiled to sit on it. :(
Click to expand...

Ok try this.....get her all set up, and then leave her alone for a couple days, I mean don't even open her tub or even look at her. after two days of her being alone offer her a rat pup(eyes barley open) at night (just open tub and put in) and leave the room till morning.
The reason I say rat pup is it can't hurt the snake where a mouse could kill your snake.

What may have happen is you spooked her when she was going to eat, then she changed her focus rather than eatin she was worried about you....this may work.


I also have a pic of my babies and their set up. Its not that spiffy but they are eating and it's very simple to maintain. Once your snake if feeding regularly then you can modify it set up-but I wouldn't ...good luck:thumbsup:
 

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BMK. said:
Ok try this.....get her all set up, and then leave her alone for a couple days, I mean don't even open her tub or even look at her. after two days of her being alone offer her a rat pup(eyes barley open) at night (just open tub and put in) and leave the room till morning.
The reason I say rat pup is it can't hurt the snake where a mouse could kill your snake.

What may have happen is you spooked her when she was going to eat, then she changed her focus rather than eatin she was worried about you....this may work.


I also have a pic of my babies and their set up. Its not that spiffy but they are eating and it's very simple to maintain. Once your snake if feeding regularly then you can modify it set up-but I wouldn't ...good luck:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm thinking the same thing. My walking into the room startled her. :( So today we are trying the paper bag trick. And yes, it's a rat pup....~24hrs old so I have no worries about her being injured.

Her current set up is near identical to what you've shown. It's just placed inside a larger tank to keep her safe from my klutziness. She's now in my bedroom, so no one goes in there all day. I'm hoping something kicks in and she starts to eat.

One lesson learned from all of this......each snake definitely has it's own quirks and personality. Second lesson learned.....husbands are like kids when it comes to animals. lol

Thanks again!
 
I'm sure once she settles in and gets fully used to her enviornment she will be just fine, and she will take a meal as well. Some of them take more time than others....
 
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