Newbie here with some questions

[edf]

Hello all! I am so glad I stumbled upon this forum! I have a few questions that I can't find definate answers on, and some stuff I am not sure of.

I am a new snake owner, my python's name is Damion.

Ok, here is the start of the questions.

How often should the snake be fed? I asked several people at the convention I bought the dsnake from, they said anywhere from 5 days to 2 weeks depending on how fast you want him to grow. Upon talking to an online freind, she said every 2 days it should feed. I did some reasearch online and in the book I bought, and I am very inconclusive on when. Don't worry, I did feed the snake on tuesday, and he ate him. My snake is about 2 ft long ( it is very hard to measure him, he does not want to co-operate), and I do not want him to grow too fast!

also, how do you know if he is not still hungry after I fed him? We gave him one mouse that was the size of his widest part of his body, but I don't know if one mouse was enough or not, meaning he was still hungry.

Another question, the breeder I bought him from fed him live mice, and I do not want to feed him live mice for several reasons. The first mouse was a live one because I had not found a place to buy frozen ones ( I found some now? and I am concerned that since he was fed live mice, he won't eat the frozen ones once properly prepared for him. I havent fed him a frozen one yet, but do any of you experienced python owners think there will be difficulty getting my snake to eat the not-living mice?

My other question is pertaining to the home set up. We have an under tank heater on one side, and his water on the other. Now for the heat lamp, which is on for 12 hours, then off 12 hours, which side should I place it on? I am afraid if it is on the same side at the undertank heater, the snake will either be too hot and have to move to the other side, only to be too cold.

I know I am going to be needing a bigger home for him, but for right now, he is in a ten gallon tank. I asked sellers at the convention if a 10 gall is ok for now, and they said yes, but a bigger home will be needed in the future. I am just asking this to make sure his home is ok for him right now, and I do plan on buying a bigger tank for him, like either a 20 or 30 gall, which would be better? Also, from the info I am able to provide, how much bigger can the snake get and still be comfortable in the 10 gallon tank? I want to make sure the place is good for him, and I would like to prepare for the cost of buying a bigger home for him.

Another question about the water dish... I just have a decent size dish filled with water. I havent seen him drink ( I am sure he does), do I need any sort of... thing-a-ma-jig for in the water dish? I used to own hermit crabs and they needed sea sponges, I am just asking to make sure his water dish doesn't need something that I do not have.

My cage temp is 80-85 degrees, and my humidity is up ( the snake is actually at my b/f house, so I don't remember the exact humidity reading, but I know it is from 60-80 degrees the last time I was there) I am stating this just because I am paranoid and I am afraid my snake will be either baking or dehydrating.

Any input anyone gives to me will be much appreciated!! I thankyou all in advance!! I will have photo's to share later on, doing a photoshoot tomorow.

thanx a bunch!

edf

[Shelby]

First off, welcome! This is a great forum for finding answers to your questions.

A young ball python can be fed every 7-10 days. Once weekly is just fine. An adult can be fed every 2-3 weeks.

Overfeeding is more detrimental than underfeeding. Ball pythons will sometimes fast for several months with no ill effects. You are fortunate that your snake fed without a fuss. If you feed your snake too much (powerfeeding) it can lessen the lifespan of your snake drastically.

One appropriately sized food item per feeding is adaquate. However, rats are much more nutritious than mice, so do your best to get him rats!

You may have some difficulty switching your snake to f/t (frozen thawed) but it is well worth it. Just be persistant, there are many things you can try. I personally put my snake and the food item together in a paper grocery bag, roll it shut, and leave them overnight. It did the trick.

You shouldn't need a heat lamp. It can be very drying to the air. If you must have one, you have to put it on the same side as the UTH (under tank heater) That way, your snake has a cool side to retreat to. The warm side should be in the 90-95 degree range, and the cool side in the 80s

Do you also have a hide spot for your snake? Preferrably you should have two. One on the warm, and one on the cool side, with the water dish in the middle.

A ten gallon tank is a bit small for a 2' snake. The enclosure should be around 3/4 the length of the snake. An adult ball can be kept comfortable in a 30 gallon tank.

The water dish just needs to be big enough for the snake to get inside to soak, and not so deep as he can get stuck in it. Nothing special.

Ball pythons prefer pretty low humidity (they are from Africa afterall)

Hope this is useful.. and looking forward to the pics of your snake!

[BallPythonBabe448]

Good advice from shelby!

Some things you might want to remember to have a healthy happy snake:
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1.) Clean the poop out immediately when you see it, I have found if you wait a day or two they end up getting grumpy, or maybe mines just spoiled. And it is healthier, and cleaner.

2.) REMEMBER to make the humidity about 70-80% when shedding, i learned the hard way when I forgot to up the humidity during shed, and some still hasn't come off.

3.) Remeber to hold your snake at LEAST once a week, other wise you'll go to hold it and you'll be suprised abot what a month of no handling can do.

4.) Make sure yur snakes always have fresh water. If they doen't haave fresh water, they don't like to drink it, well, cupid doesn't. Just change it every 3 days.

5.) Remember, if they don't shed completely, soak them as much as you can, in lukewarm water. Try and get it all off.

6.) If your snake doesn't eat, try differnt feeding methods, braining, live, mousie dance, scenting, and eventually force feed. Sometimes force feeding does the trick, and they eat from then on out.

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Well, those were just some tipps from me. I hope they help you in someway. Congrats with the new BP, and welcome to the forum! Remember to post some pictures!

[Shelby]

Just remember that force feeding is an absolute last resort. 99% of snakes will never need that done to them. It is extremely stressful to the snake and the owner as well.

Another thing.. what substrate do you have in your enclosure? Pine and cedar are deadly to snakes. I personally use newspaper/butcher paper/etc. Some people advise to only use black and white print newspaper, but I'm not sure it matters. Also, some of the coconut fiber beddings like bed-a-beast are good, but you may want to feed your snake in a separate enclosure so he doesn't ingest any of the bedding.

[Schlyne]

Force feeding should only be used as an absolute last result, and after you've talked with a vet about your snake not eating andit has been recommended by your vet. Force feeding is extremely stressful to a snake.

Welcome to the site edf.
You might want to start out with a pre-killed mouse first and then try frozen thawed. Sometimes a snake that has been eating liev has a harder time transistion to frozen thawed right away.

[edf]

thankyou for your replies!!!

I have newspaper down for bedding right now. That is what the breeder siad he used when I asked. I may put down some bedding of some sort, I have a book that states which is a no-no and what ones are good, and I'll make sure to get the good stuff. I will still keep newspaper down at the bottom. Easy clean-up. I know that for a fact, as soon as I placed him in his new home, he went.

Using a pre-killed mouse sounds like a good idea... but... would I have to do the killing or can you buy them already dead? I can't kill a mouse, so if that is the case i may just try going right to a f/t mouse.

Now about rats, it was stated that they are more nutritous for the snake...but how do I know if a rat is too big for my snake at the moment?

I do have a hide box, and I will get him a bigger home in the near future.
thanx a bunch!!

edf

[Schlyne]

I think most places that sell will always sell it to you live or frozen, unforunately.

Two hides are better than one, one on the hot side and one on the cool side, gives your bp a chance to feel safe and secure in either temp.

Oh yeah, feed 1 to 1.5 times as wide as the thickest part of your snake.

You might want to skim through the ball python caresheets on the left side of the forums when you get a chance to read through it all

[Marla]

Welcome to the site! We really like to see new owners who are concerned with their animal's well-being as you obviously are. Others have given you some very good advice, so I'll just tack on a couple of footnotes.

First, I highly recommend measuring your temps and humidity accurately at ground level, where the snake is. The easiest way to do this is with a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer/hygrometer combo, and you can buy one made by AcuRite at WalMart for ~$15 that many of us here use.

Second, it may take some time and effort to get your temps and humidity sorted out well, but you can do it and the folks here are full of tips so don't be afraid to search the forum and if you can find your answer, to post a new thread.

Third, almost any ball python can be switched to frozen/thawed if it's not wild caught as an adult, but you may have to be persistent and experiment to find the trick that works with your snake. We'll help on that, too.

[edf]

thanx a bunch you all!!

Just to inform yous, I already bought a bigger home for Damien. Right now he only has the one hide box, that that is just until bigger hide boxes come in at the pet store, or until my tissue box runs out. Now, for the hides, I am guessing I should have one on each side, and it is ok for the one to be over the UTH?

I have a temp strip thingy on the bottom of the cage to read the temp near the bottom, and the others on top. I do have to get new ones, they didnt peel off the old cage nicely, but they still work for the time being. The ones I have are the zoomed ( some name like that) and I did talk with the petshop owner ( who is knowledgable about snakes) and the ones I have are ok. I do plan on getting better ones, the digital, when I have a bit more money in my budget. For now I think the ones I got seem to be working justy fine.

thanx a bunch for all the info!!

edf

[Marla]

Yes, you should have one hide on each side, and yes, it's fine for it to be over the UTH -- as long as you know the ACTUAL temperature there, which you don't if you are using temperature strips or analog thermometers. Otherwise, you could end up with a snake with a burned belly. If you read through old threads here, you'll see that people have discovered their analog or strip thermometers were wrong by as much as 20 degrees, which is a tremendous difference. The strips are no more accurate than trying to guess the temp yourself by feeling it with your hand, frankly. I'm not trying to be harsh, I just want to be clear that there is really no benefit to sticking a temp strip in the cage as it is no help in judging whether the temps are appropriate. Maybe a neighbor or friend has a thermometer that she or he would let you borrow so you can check your temps until you have room in your budget for one.