First Ball Python

[Mppeasle]

Hey all, just joined the site and got my first ball python.. and just want to share my good fortune so far.. Sunday I bought my first ball and was told it was his feeding day, figured I wouldn't have much luck considering I just got him.. but after a few hours having him home and in his new home I figured id attempt his first meal and see if he was at all interested, not expecting much having read stories of them often not eating for a few weeks after relocating and he instantly grabbed it and ate it!! And now he has pooped 3 days later! Random, but I was excited so thought id share haha. From what I was told he has eaten every week and that continued for me, sounds like I have a good eater on my hands.

[Mppeasle]

Heres a pic by the way, dont have any good one yet because I havent taken him/her out much yet.. also ive gotten the humidity steady at about 55-60 now incase you notice the 47% in the background.

[Bogertophis]

& congrats on your early feeding success. However, just to be clear, we generally recommend not offering food to newly-acquired snakes because while
they may eagerly eat for you, sometimes the fact that they're nervous & afraid (being in totally new surroundings!) means they may regurgitate any meal taken & then
you have set them back, since they will then need to rest a couple weeks while replenishing their digestive enzymes before it's safe to feed them again. (if snakes
regurgitate multiple times, like if fed again too soon after the first time it happens, they can actually die of dehydration or even internal damage)

Anyway, I'm glad this time it worked well for you...we just try to promote the best (safest) methods for any new pets here. I'm not trying to make you feel bad for not
knowing all that...I'm just assuming you're here to learn, & rest assured, we're glad to have you join us. We look forward to your updates as well as any questions you
might have. Is this your first snake also? or just your first BP? Incidentally, we also suggest not handling a new snake until they have fed easily (without refusals) for
at least 3 meals at normal intervals. Does everyone do it this way? Nope. It's up to you. But with snakes, eating is "job #1" & having a snake refuse meals is NOT fun.

Just to explain it from the snake's perspective: even though captive bred, they are wild animals...they rely on their instincts to survive, & in the wild, the only thing that
normally picks them up is a predator about to eat them. So you can see why that might be a distraction & result in a loss of appetite, right?
Sounds like you'll fit right in here...it's not everywhere that others "understand" our joy when our new pet defecates. Snake-keepers are just "different".

[Mppeasle]

Thank you for the welcome and info! I did read.. (unfortunately after the feeding that its not recommended to offer so soon, I did a lot of reading ahead of time and saw somewhere else they said its fine to offer it, but dont force it so I should have read into that more apparently) but either way I did at least wait until he had finished exploring and was curled up in one of his hides before I even attempted (that made me assume he had gotten fairly comfortable quickly) but luckily it all went well and he ate and diegested the mouse with no issues.. I have been doing the no handling so far, other than I took him out for a moment to clean his poop and put him right back... but no worries you are not making me feel bad any tips/info is appreciated it is my first snake period, other than when I was little and would catch a blue racer and keep it for an afternoon haha.

[Bogertophis]

We've all made some mistakes, especially as new keepers. Our goal here is to educate, to "grease the skids" so you don't make the same mistakes we did.
Oh, & also to have some fun & laughs while sharing stuff...

[Mppeasle]

its only 4 days in, but he/she seems to be doing what he is supposed to for a "happy" ball python hes using both his cold and hot hide fairly equally.. and I see it explore every night, but only late at night (ive noticed when waking up to pee at 3am.. lol and the fact that when I go to bed hes in one hide and sometimes in the other when I wake) during the day he never leaves his hides, so as far as ive read those sound like pretty normal/good signs.

[Bogertophis]

Yup, I'd agree, he sounds normal & happy. So far so good.

[Mppeasle]

Second feeding a success.. assuming he keeps it down, but no reason to think he wont.. was immediately interested, missed the first strike but got it eventually. fed a little larger mouse this time, the first I believe was a bit small.. he had to let go of the mouse to reposition and went for the butt, that didnt work so he repositioned again eventually finding the head, swallowed and moved into the hot hide. 6 weeks in a row pretty pumped.

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