Determining if this Baby has EVER shed

[whyteboi]

Ok I kinda need to know if there is anyway if my BP has EVER shed? Its about 14-15 inches long, got him 3 days ago, and the pet shop got him thursday, so 6 days ago and I guess I can take pics of his skin and belly and eyes for you guys, but I need to know when to try and feed him.

I have him set up at 68% Humidity with about 87 degrees in a 10 gallon aquarium, with newspaper. It has a hide, and tree bark thing that I can also take a picture of. Ive misted it 10 times before I put a wet towel over the screen top, so the news paper is kinda folding and he kinda goes under the corners, so I am thinking about changing it, but dont wanna disturb him till he eats. Opinions?

Kinda off topic but the live fuzzy died, and I am wondering if I can still feed it? It suffed Rigomortis a little, but would the thawing from the water get rid of that, or does this mean a trip to petsmart for a prekilled the RIGHT way lol?

[xdeus]

Pictures might help as new snakes right out of the egg are a little dull, but even so if he hasn't shed yet he probably will in the next couple of days.

Hold off on trying to feed him until this weekend, then you'll know for sure. Then offer him a live rat pinky or mouse fuzzy. Sometimes hatchlings are difficult to get started, so your best bet would be a live rodent to begin with.

Also, a 10 gallon might be a little large for the guy. You might want to add more hides and crumple up some newspaper so he will feel secure. Keep a nice temperature gradient from the low 80s to the low 90s and don't handle him until he eats a few times.

Good luck!

[Gooseman]

Ok I kinda need to know if there is anyway if my BP has EVER shed? Its about 14-15 inches long, got him 3 days ago, and the pet shop got him thursday, so 6 days ago and I guess I can take pics of his skin and belly and eyes for you guys, but I need to know when to try and feed him.

I have him set up at 68% Humidity with about 87 degrees in a 10 gallon aquarium, with newspaper. It has a hide, and tree bark thing that I can also take a picture of. Ive misted it 10 times before I put a wet towel over the screen top, so the news paper is kinda folding and he kinda goes under the corners, so I am thinking about changing it, but dont wanna disturb him till he eats. Opinions?

Kinda off topic but the live fuzzy died, and I am wondering if I can still feed it? It suffed Rigomortis a little, but would the thawing from the water get rid of that, or does this mean a trip to petsmart for a prekilled the RIGHT way lol?

I would just wait a full week since you got him before you attempt to feed him, whether he has shed or not. And yes, a trip back to the petstore is needed. I would not feed anything to my snake that wasn't healthy enough to survive in the first place, especially something that had been dead for some time.

[whyteboi]

Well it had been dead 7 hours MAX, prolly 3-4. I had kept it alive 1.5 days suprisingly in my snakes cage. My mom wanted to save it, and got the fuzzy mouse his own cage, and a UTH, blanket, and very soft animal for him to cuddle with. we fed him flour water for mice fuzzies with a micro pipette (lol stupid i know) and it ended up dying because it was cold. Thats a great example of irony. Her wanting to save the mouse ended up killing it

Xdeus- when you say crumble paper, where does the crumbled paper go? In his hide, or everywhere to make it feel smaller? I could just add 1 side of carboard to block 1/4 of it off. I feel if I start him in a 10 gallon, I wont have to go through the same steps of him feeling "secure"

BTW this is my 2nd BP, so I have some experience. My first one was awsome, I love when he ate. He was like so bad at hunting hed hit his head on everything but the mouse when it was standing still, but a great snake in the end.

[qiksilver]

please just throw the pinky away. and get used to it, especially with balls, many weeks I have to throw out large and small rats because they won't eat and I'm not interested in feeding my snake a possibly partially decomposed rat. food is not something you want to be stingy about.

[whyteboi]

Ive done about 6 hours of research about feeding. It says at night.

Well... when? Should I feed him when hes roaming in the cage, or feed him when hes in a ball basking, or when hes in the hide?

I mean in the last 3 days, hes gotten very comfortable. Hes constantly roaming around and basking and trying to escape (know I got a healthy one ), its almost like she wants to come out an play around, and slithering around the thermometer and humidometer (lol)

Im getting mixed signals on if now is a good time to feed him.

[qiksilver]

how many people have told you a week to let him settle. just let him settle, he will be better off in the long run, so just leave him alone for now.

[rabernet]

BTW this is my 2nd BP, so I have some experience. My first one was awsome, I love when he ate. He was like so bad at hunting hed hit his head on everything but the mouse when it was standing still, but a great snake in the end.

What happened to your first one - you say he WAS awesome?

[Spaniard]

Ive done about 6 hours of research about feeding. It says at night.

Well... when? Should I feed him when hes roaming in the cage, or feed him when hes in a ball basking, or when hes in the hide?

I mean in the last 3 days, hes gotten very comfortable. Hes constantly roaming around and basking and trying to escape (know I got a healthy one ), its almost like she wants to come out an play around, and slithering around the thermometer and humidometer (lol)

Im getting mixed signals on if now is a good time to feed him.

Constant roaming is not generally a good sign. How are you measuring your temps and humidity?

[rabernet]

Ive done about 6 hours of research about feeding. It says at night.

Well... when? Should I feed him when hes roaming in the cage, or feed him when hes in a ball basking, or when hes in the hide?

I mean in the last 3 days, hes gotten very comfortable. Hes constantly roaming around and basking and trying to escape (know I got a healthy one ), its almost like she wants to come out an play around, and slithering around the thermometer and humidometer (lol)

Im getting mixed signals on if now is a good time to feed him.

Mine won't eat when they're out roaming around. They eat when they are lurking ON or IN their hide. They also eat on the same day at the same time (for me, it's about 3 in the afternoon). They adjust very well to routine - pick a day and time and stick to it.

The fact that he's constantly roaming and trying to escape is the sign of a very stressed ball python. By now he should have settled and rarely come out of his hides except late at night. How often are you handling him?