Newbie owner - some typical newbie questions

[rasta4ian]

Hey guys.
I love this forum, but there is so much info it is hard to find the one answering my question.

So I am a happy new owner of a BP. I got it last week, and the former owner says he is an adult male, over 2 years old. He is ~3 feet long so I guess his size is OK.
The former owner said he kept it at an average temperature of 75 degrees at the basking spot and no UTH. He also said he fed it 3-4 live or f/t adult mice per month.

Now, from all the info I got, I concluded that those were not the best conditions.

I keep the snake in a glass tank vivarium with styrofoam background, heated with a 15W heating cable fitted to the tank's underside.
I tryed to create 2 temperature zones with an adequate hide on each, but the temperatures I got were 73 degrees ambient, with a max surface temp. of 80-86 degrees on the warmer corner and 75-77 degrees on the cooler corner. The Humidity is in the 50-60 range, so that should be OK.
I tried a 50W IR bulb but that raised the ambient temperature to the 100-105 degrees range in only 20 minutes, so I gave up on it.

The snake seems happy to accept f/t mice so I will not risk feeding live. He shed the day I got him and 4 days later I offered it a f/t mouse whitch he happily ate.

My biggest questions are regarding the feeding and the temperature.

How many f/t mouse should he eat a week, considering that he is 2-3 times thicker than a mouse???
I have a feeling he was underfed. He shows a behaviour I call "hunting mode" every time I aproach and move around his enclosure, so I guess he is hungry.

Are the temperatures OK? Could it be that he adapted to lower temps?
I ask this apparently stupid question because the hide on the hottest point of the enclosure is only maxing at 86 degrees, yet he never used it. He only uses the colder hide, maxing at 77 degrees, even after he ate, which I presume should have made him search for higher temps to help with digestion.

[Galaxygirl]

How are you measuring surface temperatures? A laser heat gun is an accurate way to do so, some other tools might be inaccurate in measuring temperature. 86 is a bit low for a hot spot, and I would try to get it to at least 89. With low temps you risk poor digestion, RI, and other ailments.

Mice for an adult BP are small, and he probably needs 2-3 per meal. I'd start offering him small f/t rats instead. If you want to keep him on mice, I'd recommend feeding him 2-3 instead of one if he's that much thicker than a mouse. A good way to tell how much food your BP needs is to have a scale and feed him 10% of his body weight. If he's 1000g, feed him 100g worth of food.

[redshepherd]

Here's a good caresheet on the forum... http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet

Can you post pictures of him and how much he weighs right now? (Just to check to see if he's underweight or not)

Photos of the enclosure would also help! If the hides are different, he could be preferring the hide on the cool side for that reason...

If he's 2-3 times thicker than the mouse, ideally you can try switching him to F/T rats, so that he would only need to eat one appropriate sized rat every week.

How are you heating his hot spot? With a heat lamp or a UTH or something else?

His hot spot should be at around 90 degrees.

[AllThatInThemGenes]

hello,

I would:

1. switch to medium rats. 1 every 7 days.
2. I would also strongly recommend you switch to a UTH controlled through a thermostat.
better for the snake and will also help you get your temps up slightly

Questions that will help people give you the best advice;

1. what are you measuring the surface temps with?
2. can you post pictures of both the animal and set up?



The way you have things now I’m sure the snake will be 'ok' but you can take
steps towards getting things really spot on. Congrats on the snake!!!

[rasta4ian]

Thanks a lot for your answers.

I had a feeling that medium rats would be ideal so I made a research only to find that they are not readily available to me. The price difference would not be a problem, 3 mice could cost more than 1 medium rat, but I am afraid to get my BP hooked on rats without having a steady supply. So I think I will stick with mice, even if it means 2-3 of them per weekly feeding session.
is a weekly feeding session advisable?

I cannot invest in a temperature gun. This is my first terrarium, so for now I would like to keep such investments to the minimum.
I measure the temperatures with a double-zone digital thermometer (it has a probe). I tested this thermometer with various other digital and classical thermometers and found that the error rate is +- 2 degrees, so I am confident on it's readings. It also has the capability to show daily lowest and highest registered temeperatures.

The main heating source of the vivarium is a 15W heating cable fitted something like in the following link: http://i00.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/406/7...701406_267.jpg
The heating cable is fitted to the underside of the tank. I use coconut substrate and the registered temeprature is about the same below and above the substrate.
The ambient temperature in the room I keep the tank in is around 70 degrees. I cannot raise the temeprature in a single room, it would mean raising the temp. in the entire house and that's too expensive.

I am also thinking about fiting the heating cable in the inside of the tank, so it would give off more direct heat. I think it would be safe, since the direct contact temperature of the cable is the range of 95-100 degrees.

The most baffling thing is that the snake is not searching for warmer places, he seems happy only in the cooler side of the tank.

Maybe I will get a heat pad but for now, for fiancial reasons this setup should do.

Pics are coming as soon as I manage to upload them.

[200xth]

100F is too hot for direct contact. If you can't regulate that temp, I would remove it from inside the tank. This leads to...

Make sure you have a thermostat to regulate your heat. This really is critical.

You really should get a temp gun to measure the actual substrate temp where your snake touches the ground. They're not that expensive for a basic one and it will save you a lot of trouble dialing in temp issues. If your snake is steadfastly refusing to leave the cold side, then there is a decent chance the temps where your snake touches the ground are not what you think they are.

Almost no males require a medium rat (100g to 150g). For males, smalls (~60g to ~90g) are all that's required. Males don't need as much food as people think.

Weekly feedings are fine. If you don't have, or don't want to do rats, mice are fine and feeding multiple mice is definitely acceptable. As long as he's getting enough food in total, you're good.

Your hot spot needs to be a bit warmer than 80 to 86. A lot of people use 90F as the target. I go a little lower with a typical range being 86F to 89F. You can also go a little higher.

[Yodawagon]

I ordered my infrared temp gun on eBay and I think I paid about $10 and it works just fine. I think if I were you I would try some rats, and if it works, order some in bulk From Big Cheese rodent or rodent pro. I know you're not trying to spend a lot of money being this is your first, but in all honesty, you have to pay to play.

[Yodawagon]

Do not put the heat cable in the cage with the snake. You need to buy a thermostat.