Beginner Questions

[CanadianNinja]

Hey folks. Just a few questions from a newbie here. Ive had my BP for about 4 days. His hatch date is June 1st, 2007, and hes around a foot long, havent weighed him yet. He eats a rat pup every five days.

Firstly, I know I need to "handle" him daily, but noone ever says what that means. Do I set him in my lap? Sit him in my hand for a half hour? How do you "handle" them properly to get them used to you?

Secondly, today, I had him out and I was sitting on my bed, and he was going over my arm, but then he tried his best (not the lightning fast movement mind you), but he really tried to wrap around me, and I actually had a tough time prying him off without hurting him. Then his body kept shivering as though he was still trying to tighten, but he was lying flat. THEN, he just shot off away from me out of nowhere. Is he hungry? Scared? Gimme a hand here.

Lastly, I notice that when he's sleeping or nothing has happened recently, his breathing is very shallow, but right after I put him back after a handling, his whole body is inhaling/exhaling, and then he starts moving around in his tupperware dish smelling things and rubbing the walls. Is he scared or bored :S? Thanks for the help guys.

[dr del]

Hi,


Scared would be my guess.

We normally say to leave them completely alone for at least a week to settle in to their new home and keep handling short and stop at all of they do not eat.

You will have the lil fella for 20-30 odd years so there's plenty of time to get him used to handling so I would just concentrate on geting him happy and eating regularly first.


dr del

[CanadianNinja]

Well, I thought he was comfortable because the first night I had him, the breeder gave me a rat pup, and he ate it after about five seconds, no problem. I figured he was okay. I left him alone 48 hours so I didnt give him an upset stomach too. And what about the other things? Does scared answer everything?

[dr del]

Hi,

Well the shivering and rubbing the walls of the tank are something I'd want to keep an eye on but the rest is fairly natural for a scared snake.


dr del

[BPboy]

I'm new to this too but did you check the temperature aand humidity gagues?

[CanadianNinja]

Both digital and accurate. Its a little over 80 on one side, and about 90 on the other. I say about because it has a range of 3-4 degrees in a given day.

[GirDance]

trying to constrict your arm can be completely normal. Mine does it all the time, her breathing does not quicken though, so its not out of fear - and her neck rubs are awesome!.

As for handling, each snake is different and will acclimate to people at different rates. If your guy is shy, keep things monotonous with handling until he gets used to you. Use the same soap and hygeine products daily and he'll come to recognize your smell, when you have him out have all electronics (tv, music etc) off so there is nothing to frighten him further. Also, stay away from handling his head and upper neck areas at the moment until he gets less tense with handling.

Try holding him in your hands until you can feel him loosen up a bit, and then allow him to move around in a hand over hand motion, bringing each hand forward and below the neck area.

Most often my girl will explore her cage for about three mins after handling, and she moves her hide back to the exact spot it was before I took her out.

He's still acclimating, so give him time... Make sure his hides fit nice and tightly aaround all sides, and that his enclosure doesn't have too much height to it, I also try never to approach him from above as that's what a predator would do.

[frankykeno]

It's usually best to let the snake have a good week of no handling, no fussing about with him when you first bring him home. Snakes, especially shy, nocturnal snakes like ball pythons, take time to get used to any major changes. Baby ball pythons even more so. Handling will come in time. After all, he's got a good long life ahead with you so no need to rush it really.

Visible breathing happens with snakes. They are constructed differently than us so they use their ribcage more to move air through their lung than we do. There's a differnence though between normal breathing and hard, gasping for air (something that is definitely a major issue).

When you do handle keep it short, quiet and safe so the snake cannot get lost in furniture or fall from heights. Just set the snake on your lap and let it decide when it wants to move about, all you need do really is make sure it stays safe. Try not to spook it by reaching down over it's head (predator position). These are fairly head shy snakes. If it constricts on you, which is very normal and it's just holding on, gently unwrap it starting at the tail or just wait for it to move along.

[CanadianNinja]

Okay.. So if he constricts, I can leave him be until he gets bored? I dont want to let him develope aggressive tendancies or anything..

[frankykeno]

Well at least to me there's a huge difference between a snake simply holding on so it doesn't fall off your wrist to a snake that's constricting during a feeding. Neither of which are "aggressive tendencies". It's a snake and one from the family of constrictors...it's going to constrict on things.