Rescued a BP.. omg poor thing!! :(

[MissStress]

Hi folks,

Yesterday I rescued (bought) an adult male BP. He's appx 5', haven't seen him fully extended so not sure exactly how long he is.

The owner had not fed him for 4 months, he told us a story about how once he forgot about it entirely for 10 months.... *shaking head*. The BP is skinny.. has wrinkly, loose skin and he's in a horrible shed state. He was housed in a tank, with sand substrate and judging by the lack of feeding and the amount of dead skin within the enclosure, the tank had not been cleaned in years. He had no basking light, only one hide on the warm side of the tank and the hide has a heat rock on top of it..

He came with three tanks, the one he is in which is an ugly DIY wood thing with glass inserts, one smaller glass tank and the one we're converting in to his new home which is 30"x18"x12". Still a bit too small for my liking but much better than what he has been living in. Going to have to DIY a lid, suggestions are welcome!

Bought some cypress bedding and a new 75w bulb for his basking light.. also picked up some frozen hoppers and 1 live hopper. A few hours after he arrived, we offered him the live mouse in his current enclosure. He instantly attacked and devoured it.

Misted the enclosure a couple times yesterday to bring the humidity up, he will have to stay in there until his new one is done.

The former owner.. and the pet store owner we got the live feed from both said to not feed him in his enclosure but to move him to a feeding tank. Well even I know this is BS but at the same time I do not want to get bit.. lol. I know to establish a feeding schedule and to not handle the BP on feed day, but what about handling after a feed? Is regurgitation a concern?

We are going to get some heavy duty leather gloves today in anticipation for the habitat move.. how would you recommend we move him while stressing him out the least amount possible? Put the gloves on and herd him in to a pillowcase? I don't really want to handle him just yet.. he's had a rough time.

I will attach some pictures of his current living situation.

[kenncarleton]

iam no expert for sure but i do move all my snakes by hand to a feed box for feeding times. i have 5 right now 3 redtails and two balls.. there all fed in feed boxs and havent bite yet lol knock on wood

[AK907]

Feeding in separate enclosures is generally frowned upon, especially for balls as it causes unnecessary stress and is a major cause of feeding issues. There are a million threads on it here if you use the search button in the upper right hand corner of your screen. Cage aggression in relation to feeding is a myth, end of story. Look at it this way: If you feed your snake in a separate enclosure you have to put it back in, right? Well, now your snake is in "feeding mode" and you have to handle it. Perfect opportunity to get bitten if you ask me. If you feed in your enclosure and wait 24-48 hours to handle as is generally recommended, your snake is no longer in "feeding mode" and you run little risk of being bitten due to being confused for food. Snakes are very primitive animals. They aren't like a dog, cat, horse, rat, etc that can consciously distinguish between such things. They are driven by instinct only.

I highly recommend you check out http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...thon-CARESHEET and cruise the husbandry forum a bit. Lots of great advice on there.

[MissStress]

I have checked out the care sheet but it did not mention much about handling after feeding (or maybe I missed it?)
Although I would prefer to not handle him until he's in a better state and had a chance to get used to us/our house, I have to get him in to his new habitat somehow.
As mentioned, here are some pics of his current situation.
http://s952.photobucket.com/albums/ae9/YukonChick/Saul/

[Annarose15]

I have checked out the care sheet but it did not mention much about handling after feeding (or maybe I missed it?)
Although I would prefer to not handle him until he's in a better state and had a chance to get used to us/our house, I have to get him in to his new habitat somehow.
As mentioned, here are some pics of his current situation.
http://s952.photobucket.com/albums/ae9/YukonChick/Saul/

Just pick him up and move him. "Herding" him will only cause him to ball up or strike defensively. If you are really worried, get a snake hook, but just picking him up will be the least stressful way for him.

[MissStress]

Thanks annarose15. We definitely do not want to cause him any more stress.

[Annarose15]

Thanks annarose15. We definitely do not want to cause him any more stress.

Good luck and congrats on your new "baby"! He's obviously in a much better place already.

[DellaF]

Dont be afraid of him. Just pick him up he will be ok

[Sama]

I feed all mine in the enclosure with no problems. As for moving, if one of mine look like they might want to try for a bite, I just lightly tap them on the head, typically they duck their head and tada! no longer in bite mode. Just picking him up and moving him would probably be much less stressful then trying to herd him into a pillowcase?

[MissStress]

Thanks folks.. I'll pick him up and transfer him. Going to find the thickest gloves I can though! lol. I am generally not afraid of animals/reptiles but I do not like pain and again, don't want to stress him to the point of attacking. I will keep a look out for the strike position. Picking him up will also give me a good chance to give him the once over for mites, signs of illness and get some pics of him.

As for the pillow case herding.. I guess I watch too much tv!

The tank has been sanitized, cleaned and cypress substrate added. Will get a UTH and thermostat/humidity control and six live mice this afternoon, (we plan on raising his food). Still need to figure some kind of lid out for the tank. I was thinking plywood with two small doors on top (hatch style), one with mesh for the light to sit on, the other solid?

Also going to get some black poster board and cover three sides of the tank. I have painted salt water tanks in the past but that stuff is so smelly and takes a long time to cure I think we'll go with the paper method..

Thanks for all your help peeps!