Help

[Jenn]

I have a beautiful new BP. It's my first snake and i have a million questions. Firs I read a book and then I visited the web sites, and there is so much conflicting information out there. The book says to lower the temprature at night but most web sites say not to? Is there any problem with chlorine in local drinking water? If so how do I deal with that. I took the advice of the pet store owner and did not handle her for a day or so and didn't try to feed her for a few days. I tried to give her a frozen thawed fuzzie yesterday and she showed no interest. She is very very active!!! Should I try a live mouse or just wait a few days and try again? Help!!!

[Freakie_frog]

First of all welcome to the site glad you found us!!!!

Second what kind of set up do you have. Heat, hides, size of enclosure and so on. Problems with housing can be the cause of the majority of problems with Balls.

Check this out real good caresheet.
http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=59

Tap water is fine all mine get tap water.
As for feeding give it a week to settle in before you try to feed, and feed what it was eating before.

[Sunny1]

I totally understand how you feel. When I first got my BP, I read through all the websites I could find and just felt almost totally confused about what to do since different sites will tell you different things...... and then I found this website!!! I am glad that you found it too!!

First of all, I would try to have steady temps day in and out. If you house yours in a glass tank, you may see a slight drop in temps overnight, but temps should still not get any lower than 80* cool 90* warm. If temps get too low then you run into problems especially with subjecting your BP to possibly get a RI.

I believe that some on here use bottled water for their snakes, but personally I just use the tap for all of my animals. I have never had any problems with anyone getting sick from the tap and my family uses it for drinking, cooking, etc. also.

And when you first get your BP you should leave them alone for 1 week so that they can get comfortable in their new enclosure, then try to feed them. If they eat, then wait 48 hours before handling your BP. If they don't eat then wait another week of no handling and try again. You want to try to keep the stress level down by not bothering them for awhile so that they will eat and be comfortable. Once you get your snake to eat, then you can start handling for short sessions at a time, allowing your snake to get used to being handled and again to keep the stress level in your snake down. Also, try to continue feeding your BP the way that it was originally feeding (f/t or live) once you have it eating good for you, then you can try to change up how it eats if you want to.

Hope this helps you. If you have any more questions feel free to ask!!! Welcome to BP.net and if you have any pics, feel free to post and share them!! We LOVE pics around here!!

[JLC]

Welcome aboard!


It is true that you will find lots of conflicting information out there. There are two primary reasons for this. One...a lot of the info is simply old. The more these snakes are kept, the more we learn about them and the better we can improve our methods of keeping them. So some of the info (especially in most of the books you find at pet stores) is simply out of date. Two....there are different methods that can be used for accomplishing the same thing, and each of them equally valid. But as someone learning all this from scratch, it can be very difficult to tell what is "wrong" information and what is simply "different" information.

I recommend you find a source you feel you can trust...try to follow what they suggest to the best of your abilities and see if it works for you. Once you know your snake is settled in and eating well, you can explore and begin to learn about different options and begin to learn how to discern the good ideas from the bad.

Please don't hesitate to ask whatever questions you need to! We're here to help!

[jdmls88]

Welcome to the site, try prescenting the room prior to feeding, it really helps! Theres a good write up in the do it yourself section

[Jenn]

Thank you all so much for the good advice. I have been handling poor Lucy (get it, Lucy Ball!!) too much, and too soon. I'll leave her alone for a week and then try to feed her again. I understand that Ball's are suppose to be shy and hide a lot, but Lucy is extremely active. Is this ok? Thanks again for making me feel so welcome. I feel so much better now that I found you guys. I'll try to get some pictures of Lucy posted soon. Thanks again.

[Freakie_frog]

Thank you all so much for the good advice. I have been handling poor Lucy (get it, Lucy Ball!!) too much, and too soon. I'll leave her alone for a week and then try to feed her again. I understand that Ball's are suppose to be shy and hide a lot, but Lucy is extremely active. Is this ok? Thanks again for making me feel so welcome. I feel so much better now that I found you guys. I'll try to get some pictures of Lucy posted soon. Thanks again.

Balls tend to be more active at night. An active ball during the day is an indicator that something may be stressing you girl/guy out.

Do you have two hides for your new friend?

[JLC]

Awwww....Lucy! I like that!! (Beats the heck out of Monty! )


Being extremely active can be a sign that they are feeling stressed. She may be looking for a place to hide, but not feeling secure enough anywhere to actually hunker down and...hide. I know it's hard to just let them be when they are so new and so treasured....but try to remember you've got years and years ahead of you to get to know her and enjoy her. So a couple weeks of letting her settle in...making sure her enclosure is as optimal an environment as possible...and making sure she is comfortable and eating steadily....it will be well worth the wait.

[Jenn]

First of all welcome to the site glad you found us!!!!

Second what kind of set up do you have. Heat, hides, size of enclosure and so on. Problems with housing can be the cause of the majority of problems with Balls.

Check this out real good caresheet.
http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=59

Tap water is fine all mine get tap water.
As for feeding give it a week to settle in before you try to feed, and feed what it was eating before.

Thanks so much for all the help. I feel so much better today now that I found you. "Lucy" is in a thirty gallon aquarium with shredded coconut shell substrate. There is a heating pad under about a third of the tank, and I have a lamp I turn on during the daytime. I have been keeping the temprature at about 85 degrees. She has a store bought hide and water dish and seems to like them both. I'm thinking about getting her a stick to climb, although I know that she will use it to try to escape. She is about twenty inches long and can just about reach the screen top if she climbs the corner of the tank. I think I have just been handling her too soon and too much. I got some great advice today. Thanks again.

[SatanicIntention]

If she's that small, I would go find a 10-gallon tank or a 15qt plastic tub and house her in that until she is big enough for the 30. That amount of space is likely stressing her out and you'll have a much harder time maintaining the proper temps and humidity in such a big tank.