Enclosure Questions!

[Twitchy]

So I finally convinced my boyfriend to let me get a ball python. I had been researching them for quite some time, I went to repticon last week in Tampa and found a beautiful little man who I named JaJang. He is a sub adult male I have not weighed him yet (I plan on buying a scale very soon). I have not measured him yet either but I would say he is at least 1.5 feet maybe 2. I was initially planning on getting a hatchling and was told I could use the 10 gallon tank I already had to keep him in for awhile. I kind of feel like it is to small for him, although I do know that they prefer smaller areas to feel secure, it has two hides and I put some vines in the tank to add some more cover for him. There are pictures of him and enclosure in my profile, I can't figure out how to make image small enough to put in this post. Should I put him in a larger enclosure or is this large enough for the time being?

He was in the shed process when I got him last week and the breeder told me it had been a week since he had eaten. Jajang's shed went well, took about 5 days. He was on live rat pups from breeder, I want to feed F/T and tried giving him an adult mouse, I put him in a second small enclosure (about 5 gallon that I had used previously for crickets) to use for feedings. I left him alone and covered for about a half an hour and he had not eaten it. So I figured he was stressed and I left it in his enclosure overnight, still not eaten the next morning. If I move him into a larger enclosure I feel that it will stress him out more and he will not eat for a longer time period. I know that they can go quite awhile without eating but I do not want to cause a large amount of stress on him.

I know its a long post lol. Thanks for reading and I will appreciate any help.

[jclaiborne]

IMO 10 gallon seems a bit small for a 2ft BP. I keep my baby childrens python in a 10 gallon, hes 1ft long but only as big around as my pinky finger. If he isnt taking F/T and he hasn't eaten for you yet, you may want to try feeding live just to get a meal in him, but when feeding live just realize that you CANT leave the rattie or mouse in the tank alone with the snake. The general concensus is that you can also reduce stress by feeding the BP inside the enclosure.

[Twitchy]

Thank you! I have a 20 gallon breeder I can put him in, I will move my little sulcata into the ten gallon until I finish his outdoor pen. How soon should I try feeding him again after the move, a few days or a week?

[RockNRollProcelain]

Since he was eating live before, just leaving a F/T mouse next to him probably won't get a feeding response from him. Wait a while - like 5 days - and then try feeding again. This time, feed in his enclosure (moving your BP from his home to a separate feeding container can be very stressful). Make sure that you heat up the mouse or rat to the proper temperature (rats are more nutritious, but it won't hurt to feed him a mouse). Then, using feeding tongs, dangle the mouse in front of your BP or you BP's hide. Don't hit your BP's nose with the mouse, btw. That can scare them into not eating. Make the mouse or rat do the "zombie dance" (just make it wiggle around and dance so it looks alive). If your snake doesn't immediately attack and you're worried about him eating it, you can leave the mouse right at the entrance to the hide. I find that any of my snakes who don't eat during the "zombie dance" will attack within a few minutes of the mouse sitting in front of their hide entrance.

Using these techniques, I've successfully switched all my snakes to F/T. And they've all made the switch to Rats instead of Mice. =] Just keep in mind that sometimes BPs don't necessarily want to eat - they can be finicky, picky, etc. As long as his weight is good, you have some time before you need to be really worried.

[jclaiborne]

When you move him to the 20 gallon I would also consider covering up the back and sides with either a cling on background, black paper anything to basically keep them from seeing all around them, it will make him feel more secure.

[Twitchy]

*Phew* All done. I moved Jajang into the 20 gallon breeder that my Sulcata Donnie was in and put Donnie into the 10 gallon tank Jajang was in (cleaned each thoroughly before the switch). I took some old reptile carpet and wrapped it all around the tank only leaving the front open. Hopefully he likes this tank better and will eat soon. I will leave him alone for a week and try feeding again.