new Ball Python, former stray

[Erikamc]

yup, you read that right. She was a stray picked up on Friday. I now have her. True, I have long wanted one, but have always talked myself out of it. So I'm kinda jumping in without looking here. I bought a 40 gallon breeder tank on the $1/gallon petco sale, a wire lid, lid clips (not enough though, so hooray Gorilla tape!). She seems to be in ok shape but needs a little TLC. she Has been on her own for at least two weeks. not sure if her skin issues are previous poor shedding, damage from the wild, or an infection. I am calling the vet Monday to get her in.

so, I admit I am more used to lizards and turtles, warm basking spot, cool end, moderate zone in the middle. Thats my method, Heat lamp on one end, nothing on the other. I have a corn snake (also a rescue, but I had a little prep time) An under tank heater was basically pounded into my head. "not climbers so ground temperature is the most important, the snake will choose it's areas" So my corn snake has an under tank heater on one end (ok, closer to 3/4 of an end) and nothing on the other. The warm end gets to the 90's or higher the cool end is high 70's, air temperature, measured today, even on the warm end is low 70's.

To me this seems like it is a bad idea for my new family member. I have the urge to do a high watt (100-150) ceramic heat emitter on one end and nothing on the other end much like for a lizard or turtle (although I am using red bulbs for them but my new friend is in my bed room for quarantine reasons). I am also confused by bedding and humidity needs. Some stuff I have read says that they shouldn't be too humid as it can cause skin issues, other say not to use aspen because the needed humidity will cause it to mold (currently on aspen because I had a bag here and didn't know if the eco earth I also have was ok to use). I'm hoping the vet can help me determine if higher than normal humidity and temperatures are needed right now or not, but would love to hear ideas on this (for informational purposes. the highest day time temps have gotten might be low 80's and we have gotten down to low 50's at night)

Keeping the cage sort of bare bones for now but I know they like to climb, unlike my corn snake. Climbing ideas are appreciated:-)

One more thing. Should I be able to see her respiration? I can clearly see her breathing, but it's not so easy with my corn snake. My brain says sheer mass is the reason but I want to make sure, especially given her (at least) last two weeks on the lamb.

BTW...I feel the need to call the snake a she, despite us trying to decide between two male names. I don't know if this is because my corn is a she or why, but trying to keep this gender neutral was trying so went with what my brain was telling me, always a risky path though.

[Eavlynn]

Good job finding this girl. The outdoors is no place for a ball python. One thing I will say, is that screen top enclosures are temporary, and suck hardcore for any species requiring humidity. I'd look into PVC as soon as possible. How big is this lovely lady?

Heating: I use CHE's on a thermostat for my screen top enclosures. The downside is that it kills any humidity you have. In my PVC enclosures, I run radiant heat panels.

Humidity: a crucial part to keeping a BP. I aim for 60%. Too low, and they will have bad sheds, and possible respiratory issues. Too high (we're talking 90+ for extended periods) and they can have respiratory issues, and if the substrate is too moist, you run into scale rot problems.

Substrate: I use ecoearth, they love it! Until you know this Snake has no issues: mites, parasites, etc I'd go with plain Jane paper towel.

You can see them breathe. More often when they are stressed. No worries there.

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[BPGator]

If you haven't already, take a look at the care sheet:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

I would honestly recommend a plastic tub, especially if you're on a budget. After he/she has had time to settle in, you can move them to a different enclosure. The tub will make him feel much more secure than a big tank. Maybe I missed it, but how big is this snake? You want two hides - one on each side of the enclosure. UTH works best in a tub or tank. Like Eavlynn, I have RHPs in my PVC enclosures. I also don't recall you mentioning a thermostat - make sure any heat source you have is on a thermostat. For starters, a Jumpstart off of amazon is cheap but decent. I use Reptile Basics for hides and heat tape.

Good luck and feel free to post some pics of her


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[Eavlynn]

Definitely post some pictures! BPGator is right about the thermostat. I've got thermostats on every heat source in my reptile sanctuary. And the Jumpstart is fantastic. It's also ETL certified.

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[Wolfchan]

Mine is a former stray as well. I work in an animal shelter and I snatched him up when he came in. I used the "how to" threads stickied in this forum to get him set up, and he's thriving.

[Erikamc]

Holy cow! I can't believe I forgot something as important as size! She is about 4 feet long. already went with the 40 gallon, picked it up on my way home with her. I cover one end with a board in my corn snakes cage so I'll do that for her too. I'll most likely do a combination of UTH and CHE. I'll check out the thermostats mentioned. I bought one for my leopard gecko that I have never used because it only lets me set it to high low and medium, like what does that even mean? Watched her explore her tank while I was falling asleep, she is definitely trying to test the lid. If I didn't already know better as far as snake escapes, she'd have gotten loose already lol! I'll get better pics and share them soon!

[Erikamc]

One more question. I'm going to hold off on trying to feed her for a little bit, but when I do, how many mice should I give her. I just bought some feeders in bulk for my corn so I have 250 jumbo mice in my freezer.

[Eavlynn]

Feeding depends on her weight. If she's underweight you'll want to take it slow and work her up to larger prey as she grows. Do you have any photos of her?

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[Erikamc]

LOL! ok, ok! here's a picture of her right after I put her in her new cage:-) http://i.imgur.com/PpOSokv.jpg

For size reference, thats a 40 gallon breeder tank and those are ?4"? pvc pipes... I think. it's the only thing I could think of to use at the time, but have already been told to choose something else. unfortunately, right now, I have no cardboard boxes so I thought those were a decent alternative.

[Eavlynn]

She looks so little! What a doll. It's hard to get a good idea of her girth, since she's all curled up acting like a ball python. I'd give her a mouse, wait a week, give her two and wait a week and go by size from there. It's best to take it slow since you don't know how long she was outside. That way her system can adjust to regular meals. Eventually she'll need to be switched to rats.

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