Im new and I have alot of questions

[MiSsLeSs]

Hey everybody
Last week week I got my first BP im not used to pet snakes, anyway its formal owner said it doesnt have eating problems and its very calm and sweet but i should be gentle with it other wise it might bite! so i got scared, anyway
when I first put it in the tank it moved around i tried feeding it a mouse but it didnt care so i thought maybe it needs to adapt.. but ever since the first day it doesnt leave its house sometimes it sleeps on the heating pad for couple of hours and then back to its house again.. I read its normal.. but I dont know how can i get it out ?? I think removing the house everytime i want to play with it would make Squeeze feel insecure...
second think I didnt play with it yet I feel scared specially when it gets up.. does it bite??
the guy I baught it from said its about 100cm long I didnt check cos i didnt want to scaree it..
anyway her eyes got white and I thought its shedding time so I got her out to have a bath today but I dont think she liked it and when she tried to come out of the tub and saw me comming itfreaked out is that normal??
anyway when i put it back in its tank she ran into her house! i was scared to dry it((
I also couldnt find a UV light in my area and im using the light that came with the tank 2 lights written on each of them F15w i dont know what that is would it hurt squeeze??

[justinsane82]

Wow, that's a lot to take in.

First of all, when you get a new snake and move it into a new environment, you should give it a week without bothering it to become accustomed to everything. You can't expect an animal as skidish as Ball Pythons to just be able to move from place to place and love doing it. It's not a cat or a dog. This would also explain why it wouldn't eat for you. As he's probably scared, expect him to stay in his hides for long periods of time. It will come out when it's ready to.

Secondly, if the eyes are turning a light blue color, leave it alone. That's a sure fire way to get bit. You don't need to bathe it at that point. If anything, you can spray it with some mist and let him take care of the rest. Make sure you have the humidity up to 70% at this point to ensure a proper shed.

[MitsuMike]

First off I'm wondering why it has a heating pad and a house? The house should be on the heating pad a another house on the other side in the cool area.
Pictures of your enclosure would be helpful so we can help.
When you think he is going into shed all you need to do is mist or up the humidity some how to 70%+. I up mine to around 90%.
And about the biting, if he hasn't bitten you yet being as scared as he is, he's prob not going to.

[justinsane82]

I was going to ask for pics, but honestly, I was scared as to what we may see lol. As for the biting, I wouldn't say it won't tag her if it hasn't already. If she keeps bothering it in mid shed, she'll get tagged real quick.

If a concern is being bit, two of the best rules to follow are to leave the snake alone as soon as you realize it's in shed and after feeding, wash your hands before picking the snake up for whatever reason.

[rabernet]

Also, ball pythons don't require UV lighting - they're nocturnal animals. Have you reviewed our caresheet yet?

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules/...warticle&id=59

FWIW, I never soak my animals during a shed process.

[MiSsLeSs]

justinsane heey why are u afraid of what you would see its not like im having snake slaughter and I doo know animals like BP wont move around but the first day she was moving alot and the next days it did go out but now its not doing that... and I bathed it because I found something on google that says u bathe ur snake when theyre in shed ahh this snake is giving me hard time <- Im starting to wonder who is giving the other a hard time now
my poor BP i didnt know i was scaring it

MitsuMike I'll try to raise up the humidity level... would spraying water every couple of hours and putting the water bowl next to the heating pad going to help?? and those are the pictures




and I was looking for some plant or a little plastic bush for the inclosure I didnt find one yet

[MitsuMike]

^^Ok first off he needs a hide like this:
http://www.reptilebasics.com/hide-boxes/

They can be anything really. I use the things that catch the water under a pot. OR another thing for a bigger bp would to buy the cheap plastic flower pots and cut it to height.

One needs to be on the hot side and one needs to be on the cool side. Also what are you using for heating. And to add to all this where is your temp guage? Thermostat? And is that SAND?

Lose the plastic thing in the first pic on the left side. Put a hide on each end/corner and put the big tree and the water bowl in the center.

He is prob not eating cuz he doesn't feed secure with the lack of hides. OH and also he help add some more of that background to the sides of the tank too.

[MiSsLeSs]

SORRY I didnt get the temp gauge yet and for heating im using one of those heating trea stump and the thing on the left side is not plastic its made of clay i dont know what its called fictile i think? and that where the snake spends most of its time should i remove it?? and yes im using sand as bedding is that bad?? I try to add more hiding places but dont u think the enclosure isnt big enough for more hiding places?? I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO to be honest I got the snake as a gift and i feel lost I dont wanna hurt it

[MiSsLeSs]

[justinsane82]

Told you I was scared as to what I'd see. You should've read over some more care sheets before getting the snake. You don't use sand as bedding. Take that out and use either newspaper, paper towels, aspen, etc... Care sheets go into detail as to what you should use. Secondly, you need two hides that are exactly the same on each side of the tank. You need to have gauges for temps to measure the hot side, cold side and ambient air temps as well as one to measure humidity ESPECIALLY IF IT'S ABOUT TO SHED. How can we tell you what will help with the humidity if you don't even know what the humidity level is?

Something that bugged me though was you said that for heat he uses the tree stump...Is that some sort of equipment that gives off heat like a heated rock?