Ball python behaiving odd

[daddyburgi]

My ball python has acting odd. He has been spending a great deal of time outside his hide and trying to look for a way out. I mean he normally does this but not nearly this much. Is he/she maybe looking for a mate or what? I did recently change the bedding about 2 weeks ago. Maybe that has something to do with it, I have no idea.

 

[Deemac6]

How old is he/ what size feeder are you using, it sounds like he is looking for something to hunt, mine does this when it is around feeding time. It might just be what you are feeding him isn't filling him anymore.

 

[Deemac6]

I read through some of your other posts and I just want to say you might want to switch to rats, they are bigger and you it could save you a bit of money, plus its easier to make him eat one meal then trying to for two all the time. Rats are the general feeder for snakes I find as they get a lot bigger then mice. Also as you probably know don't handle within 48 hours of feeding but there is a thing with snakes that if they don't get out enough they start to go off food because they are not getting enough exercise, this can cause death as there are cases of this issue causing snakes to starve themselves. Since being informed of it I take my snake out just as much but I try to put him in the bath to get some swimming action.

 

[daddyburgi]

Thank you for the reply. I am not completely sure on the age of the snake. But is maybe 2 1/2 feet long. I have had him about 1 1/2 years myself. He has done this same action the day after eating but maybe your right and he is just hungry. I just found it odd because it is a very sudden action.

However I do have one other thing that changed recently and that is that I have the three barn swallows that I am fostering. Could he be picking up their scent and just looking for them?

 

[Deemac6]

Unless you hand him after handling them or have them near him I doubt it. The size of the food you are feeding, is it leaving him with a noticeable bump?

 

[daddyburgi]

Unless you hand him after handling them or have them near him I doubt it. The size of the food you are feeding, is it leaving him with a noticeable bump?

There is no noticeable bump. I have just worried about feeding anything larger then 2 large mice. I thought i heard not to feed anything wider then their head. His head is about the size of a large mouse.

 

[Deemac6]

Oh no no no, haha the rule with snakes is no bigger then the widest part of their body, you are feeding him far to little then. Mine is just over a year old and i'm feeding him a small rat every week, you should look into rats, depending on where you get them you might save a lot of money. Rats get much bigger then mice so you will only have to buy one, where as right now you might end up having to feed him three or four mice to keep up with his growth, which will cause problems because I doubt he will take more then two in a sitting.

But yes the prey item should be no bigger then the widest part of his body, they can dislocate their jaw to swallow things much bigger then their head.

Can you post a picture of him?

 

[Deemac6]

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f302/maelstrom666/rat_mousesizespicture.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f302/maelstrom666/rat_mousesizes.jpg

K to put in into perspective cause i'm not very good at describing, my ball is roughly the same size as yours and age, I'm feeding him a small rat, which is bigger then an x-large mouse. You are most likely feeding two hoppers or even two weaned which might be equal to a rat fuzzy.

At this point I think that you either should try and switch to a bigger prey item by the looks of it an x-large mouse might fill him, unless you switch to rats which would be a small rat.


EDIT : This is a video of my snake feeding so you can see how they can dislocate their jaws to eat a much larger food item

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAjZlkPkui4&feature=channel_video_title

This video was a few months ago, he has since grown and is taking a larger food item.

 

[daddyburgi]

OK thank you so much for the replies today. I will look into rats. I just wish I could buy them online in small amounts. Normaly I see them online but you need to buy them like 25 or 50 at a time. I only have the fridge freezer and do not have the room for that many mice or rats. I have not vied the video yet but look forward to it. Oh I forgot to mention that I always wait at least 24 hours after feeding before I handle him. Oh how often do you feed your python the rat? We are doing weekly feedings right now.

 

[Deemac6]

I feed weekly too, and i understand your frustration with ordering online, if I had the space It would be so much cheaper to buy In bulk. Plus my pet store way over charges 11 dollars for a rat I would normally be able to buy for 3 bucks from a breeder, when I move it'll be 3 thank god lol. Let me know how It goes, I have a forum I frequent that is local to me but 95% of the members are snake breeders, ill give you the site if you want to join, its a really awesome community especially for help with snakes.

 

[Fuzzyviper]

He does sound like he's hungry if he's out "cruising" (my snake keeping Biology professor would call it that). Him being on F/T will probably make the switch from mouse to rat easier. My 4 year old male has taken rats before but he's gone off them this past year so it's back to mice (I had to endure a 5 month complete hunger strike where he would rather lose weight/starve than eat a rat). He also went off F/T permanently after a few months of feeding that so he's quite picky. :roll: If the snake doesn't seem interested in the rat at first, try rubbing the scent of one of the mice on it. If that doesn't work, I would wait a few days and try again since he will have more of an appetite.

 

[Deemac6]

Snakes go off food during the winter and breeding months, age known snakes that go off food for over 6 months due to this and its perfectly normal.

 

[daddyburgi]

I just measured his head and at the widest it is about 1 inch. Still think he could do small rats? Just wondering.

 

[Deemac6]

Did you watch my video, as i've said the rule for snakes is no wider the the largest part of their body, so if the widest part of his body is 2 inchs, he can fit a two inch sized rat, if its 3 inchs he can fit a 3 inch rat, head size does not matter, its the widest part of their body.

 

[daddyburgi]

Did you watch my video, as i've said the rule for snakes is no wider the the largest part of their body, so if the widest part of his body is 2 inchs, he can fit a two inch sized rat, if its 3 inchs he can fit a 3 inch rat, head size does not matter, its the widest part of their body.

OK, sorry. Just being a bit cautious I guess. Better safe then sorry. I would say the widest part of his body is easily as wide as my 7 year old sons arm. Sounds like I will be buying small rats on Sunday. Just wish they were not $5 per rat at petsmart.