first snake! having trouble getting started.

[morganklassett]

I bought my first baby ball python on black friday. I had been researching like crazy and i felt prepared and excited for my new pet! We got him, brought him home, held him for a bit, and but him in his cage. I had seen some places say that I should wait a few days before I took him out, and other places said a week or so.
I took him out on sunday, and he was very still and seemed scared so i put him back. I took him out again on tuesday but then he started to snap at me so i put him back again. I decided that I should let him alone for a bit so he will be less stressed. I've been making sure that his temps and water are fine, but other than that I have left the cage pretty much alone.
Yesterday (Friday, a week after i first purchased him) I saw he had shed, excremented, and the water was gone. I washed his bowl and filled it up again, but I wasn't sure whether I should take him out to clean his whole tank. It is now Saturday, we have mice to feed him, I just do not know how to go by doing this. Should I feed him now? In his cage or in the box we set aside for feeding? I plan on cleaning his cage while he feeds. Is it okay to assume that after he has eaten and I have waited the proper amount of time after a feeding, that I can start handling again?
Thanks!

[shadow120]

most likely he snaped at you becuse he was in shed. i would feed him in his tank then let him be for a day or two. then clean his cage and and start handling him. he might be nippy untill he gets used to being handled.

[Quacking-Terror]

From everything I've read, feeding him in his own enclosure might be better than moving him to a separate container. The less you move him the less stressed he might be. Like others have said, feed him, leave him alone for a couple days, then proceed as normal. Try taking him out of his cage and holding him for a few minutes at a time, maybe that will mellow him out, get him used to you and stuff. I'm pretty new to this myself but I've had Gene a couple months and I've learned a lot from the great people here.

[electronfox]

Usually with mine, he wants to sleep for 24-36 hours after feeding and is very lazy/content to be held after that. I adopted him at 2 years of age and he was already pretty even-tempered with people, though. I don't see any problem with feeding in their cages -- I have a pair of tongs that I use to place/wiggle the dead rats to get his attention until he strikes them. As long as you're always careful to wash your hands so as not to smell funny (since smell really seems to be their primary sense) there shouldn't be an issue.

Good luck with your new pet! With time, patience, understanding (and lots of mice/rats) he should relax and open up to you.

[morganklassett]

Thank you very much! also.. At the store, they told me pinky mice but from what I have read, that seems to be too small. He is still very small. 6 weeks I think.

[MikeV]

Yeah dont feed outside of the enclosure.

Cage aggression, in most snakes, is a myth

I feed my boa in her tub every time, and she is the sweetest, kindest loving snake in the world. Until its feeding time. then she goes chainsaw mode

If you want, I KNOW it looks ugly, but use newspaper as a subsrate. It makes life a lot easier and makes giving your snake a proper hot spot much easier.

This is because the snake on lets say 1 or 2 layers of newspaper is much closer to the bottom of the tank/tub. therfore if you put a probe there and it reads 90, you KNOW your snake is getting a 90F hot spot

with aspen or something like that, you may have to set the bottom temp to 95 - 100 to get the surface temps to 90. That means if your snake burrows it will get burnt on the glass/plastic.

Newspaper = win win

(just thought id throw that info out there )

[electronfox]

Thank you very much! also.. At the store, they told me pinky mice but from what I have read, that seems to be too small. He is still very small. 6 weeks I think.

Full disclosure: I am a first-time owner and I adopted my snake as an adult, so I have no hands-on experience with handling/feeding baby BPs. That said, the general rule of thumb that I've heard is that you want to feed something roughly as big around as the widest part of the snake's body, or just a hair larger. I'm sure some of the more knowledgeable forum members can weigh in on this, but that should give you something to aim for at least. Hope that helps!

[jjmitchell]

Feeding ina seperatecontainer is just gonna stress the snake.... I know its hard but my general rule is not to handle a new snake untill it has fed for me atleast 2 times....

[Dundee]

Feed in the enclosure i have a baby bp that will not eat unless she is in her enclosure the only time she shows cage agression is when you stick your hand in there smelling like food. Just let your bp settle in get him to eat good for you and slowly increase handling. I got to where ive increased handling on her and she wants to explore. Just be paitent your bp will come out of the shyness as it gets older, and more used to you handling it.