New Snake Owner Advice.

[sorakitty]

Well I'm a new snake owner. And I just got my ball python two days ago. She's about 18 inches long (possible longer, I'm just guessing) and see seem's to be in good health. She's active and loves her new place. She's also just an absolute sweet heart.
Anyways, just because I am a new snake owner, I don't know everything. I've done a lot of research but I couldn't find anything to help with my question.
I've noticed that when my snake goes to the bathroom, it comes out wet and clear with some yellow in it. But when it dries, it seems to dry white. Is that normal?

I keep her tank at around 80 to 85 (which I have read is ideal) and a humidity anywhere from 60% to 70%. It drops down to around 75 at night, but she has her undertank heater which her hide is over, so I don't think it drops that much inside her hide at night. She also does have constant access to water.

But like I was saying, I don't know much on snake feces, and I couldn't really find much on it, and I was just wondering if it's normal. I plan on taking her to a vet my next pay period as I have no money right now, it all went into her. But she was fed Wednesday and she ate fine and when I brought her home yesterday she explored her cage with great ease and very alert. I think she might be going into shed, her eyes where a little cloudy yesterday, but they seemed to of cleared up, so I don't know if she is or isn't, but I'm keeping the cage moist anyways.

If anyone can help me know exactly if her feces is normal or what that would be great. And throwing in advice about signs of shedding, and if she possible is going into shed that wouldn't be rejected either.
Thank you.

Also, the snake was purchased from a personally breeder, not Petco or anything. They also say that their snake is seen by the vet regularly. Which I believe because she and all the other reptiles look nice and healthy. So I wasn't rushed to bring her to the vet the day I got her, which is why I'm bringing her my next pay period just so I can have piece of mind. I get paranoid like that. Thank's again.

[A.VinczeBPs]

It's called urate. Essentially, pee. It usually follows with poop, with some liquid and then the white. In other words, completely normal.

Second, is your hot spot 80-85? Or is that ambient? Ambient is fine at 80, but for a hot spot that's rather low. Second, what temp is the cool spot?

[bads15]

no need to answer your first question since the previous poster was bang on with that one. about the fact that you thought it was in shed but not any more. that's normal. when they are going into blue (shed) their bellies will start to turn pink or even redish. at this time you might start to notice that their skin is a little bit drier then normal. soon after that their eyes will cloud over ( this is where the term "blue" really starts to make sense. by this time you should have already bumped the humidity up to 80%. it's common for them to soak in their water bowl during this period. some do, some don't.
usually a day or two before they drop their outer skin they will clear up. to the point that they don't appear in blue anymore.
sometimes it's clear when they are in blue. sometimes its not.
i check on my snakes daily. and still get the odd surprise shed every once in a blue moon. keep in mind they don't all shed at the same rate. nor does the same snake shed at the same rate every time.
another thing i might add is that when their eyes are clouded over they are pretty much blind ( as if their eye site wasn't bad enough as it is lol.)
you will find that they can be pretty grumpy when they are in blue as it can be very uncomfortable for them. keep your handling to a minimal during this period as it can stress them out quite a bit.
i hope this description helps and welcome to the wonderful world of royals. careful as its very addictive.
john

[mainbutter]

Here's some advice:

1) Don't worry too much, though I know it's easy for new pet owners to do. It sounds like your baby is healthy and well loved.

2) Vet checkup visits are great but not necessary for a snake that is healthy. Don't feel 'guilty' about 'putting off' a vet visit for an apparently healthy animal.

3) a hiding, eating, pooping, shedding ball python is a healthy ball python.

[zantedeschia]

Like everyone said, the white/yellow stuff is urates. Poo looks like poo - it's brown and log shaped. They will quite often pass these separately.

Wouldn't hurt to take your snake to a vet if you can afford it. My first python looked healthy, ate well. Took him to the vet and it turned out he had internal parasites. All my other snakes turned out to be perfectly healthy but fecals are a cheap procedure and give peace of mind.

[sorakitty]

Second, is your hot spot 80-85? Or is that ambient? Ambient is fine at 80, but for a hot spot that's rather low. Second, what temp is the cool spot?

It's an ambient of 80. I honestly don't know exactly what the cool spot temperature is. My guess would be a little under or around 80. I'm going to get another thermostat once I have the cash (I currently only have enough to feed her for the next two weeks). I have her basking light near her hide, which she would be able to crawl on top of. I have a 75w basking light for a 20 gallon tank. After she has her 12 hours of light I switch her to her black light (which is also 75w) for the night. I leave that on for about 5 hours before turning it off. Then her tank drops down to about 75 possibly lower (like it did last night because it snowed. O_o ) But she still had her undertank heater. I made her a little water hid in the cool spot. I got a plastic container and cut a hole in the lid. I just put it in today, but it's better then what was in there. She can at least soak now. Should I get a lower watt day light to put on her cool side, or should I just possible up the watt of her current day light? Or is the 75w fine for her right now? I still have to get her another hid for the cool side, along with a few branches she can climb on. I had enough to get her and a basic set up, which I'm sure is fine for her right now. I wont get cash for at least two weeks, but the cash comes thursday of the second week. Should I be overly concerned or is what she has fine for now? Because when I do switch off her day light, and put on the night one, she comes right out and is all active like you would expect. So I don't think she's stressed or anything. Sorry this is so long, I just wanna make sure I cover everything and give as much detail as possible.

And thank you everyone who replied. I'm more at ease now. I was so concerned when I saw it. But knowing that it's nothing to worry about really relaxes me. Thanks again.

[seeya205]

You should use a infered light bulb and it can be left on all the time. Snakes can't see red light. Also with a new snake you should leave it alone completely for a week and then feed. No handling until it eats. They need to settle in. I know this is off topic but alot of new owners don't know this!

[sorakitty]

I would use a inferred light, if I had one, and if i had money for one. So using the black light is the only choice I have right now. Once I have the cash, I'm going to get a ceramic bulb for her.

[4theSNAKElady]

[QUOTE=sorakitty;1314770]Anyways, just because I am a new snake owner, I don't know everything. [QUOTE]

Even "old timers" don't know everything. Worrying about stuff like pee and poo is just part of the learnin process. You're a brand new snake keeper. Just fish around the forums, there's a wealth of knowledge and data on here. Plus you have a huge panel of breeders and keepers on here. Use these, and you can't go wrong. And give yourslef a break too.

[Kaorte]

Have you checked out the care-sheet on this site? http://ball-pythons.net/modules/Sect...warticle&id=59

If you haven't yet, I would recommend reading it all the way through.

Sounds like you do need to tweak your setup a bit. It sounds like at some times you have too much heat and not enough at other times. You should keep the tank at the same temperature all year round.

Since you don't really seem to know your temps I assume you don't really have good thermometers. I would suggest going to the home depot, lowes, or walmart (if you are in the US) and picking up the accurite weather station. It is in the outdoor section usually. It is an indoor outdoor thermometer that measures your hot spot (right over the UTH on the glass under the substrate) with a wired probe, and ambient temp and humidity on the cool side. Just put the probe where the UTH is and the rest of the unit goes on the cool side.

You don't need a lamp and a UTH on the hot side. Ball pythons don't really "bask" in the traditional sense of laying out on top of a rock. They will spend nearly ALL of their time hiding so they naturally get heat from below. I would ditch the lamp all together unless you need it to keep your ambient temps above 75*. If you need the lamp, just use the "black light" one 24/7 on the cool side.

Chances are you are not regulating your UTH with a reptile thermostat (not the same as a thermometer). A lot of new owners really have no clue that you need a thermostat. A thermostat keeps your UTH from getting too hot. if left unregulated, they can reach temps of 120* which is more then enough to cause burns. I would use your next paycheck to get a reptile thermostat. The cheapest model is the reptitemp 500r which is widely available online for about $25. This piece of equipment will make your life much easier.

Hide spots are extremely important for ball pythons since they are such shy secretive snakes. Make sure you have two tight fitting hides. Those half log hides are too open for ball pythons. I like to use plastic bowls from the dollar store. I just cut a little entrance in the front and tada! cheap hides that are easy to clean.

The water hide just screams unsafe to me. I just don't trust my snakes to be in a confined space with water. I have heard too many stories of snakes drowning in shallow water in enclosed spaces. Ball python honestly do not soak as much as you may hear. They might take the occasional dip, but they are not commonly found soaking unless something is wrong. I would just remove the water hide thing and replace it with a cool side hide.

Hope this helps!