Noobie needs help

[IguanaMama]

OK, I feel like a real moron. I usually do my research BEFORE coming home with an animal, but this time I didn't. I went to the White Plains show with the intention of getting a king snake (which I know how to care for) but came home with a BP as well. I fell in love with them after looking at them for a bit and was told they were easy, a beginner's snake so no problem I thought.

Here's the problem.... I didn't know there was an issue around feeding. I'm used to corns and kings that eat anything anytime. I think the guy said to feed it a fuzzy. I assumed fuzzy mouse, I bought some frozen ones, but they look AWFULLY tiny. I also forgot to ask how old the snake is, but it looks pretty new to me. It's about 18 inches and now that I have it home, it also looks kind of skinny. I am worried that it looks skinny so I would like to feed it live prey, as I feel I'd have more success with that.

So what exactly DO you feed a fairly new 18" bp. And, does anyone know where to buy different sizes of live mice or rats in NYC? Petco only sells adult mice and medium to large rats.

Also, I have it in a 20L Visionarium. If you don't know what those are, they are similar to aquariums, it is glass with a screen top and front sliding doors. It also has vented corners. My question is: Is a 20L too big for it now? Should I keep it in something smaller until it grows a bit? I have a few half coconut shell hides in there (which it is using).

[python.princess]

Pictures would definitely help. This is a great place to come for help!

[butters!]

hopper mice or rat pinkies are usually perfect for hatchlings.fuzzies are much too small.also if its fairly young i would feed live for a bit just to get it goin.once it becomes comfortable in its home and eats several times live,then i would try f/t.

[dr del]

to the site.


Have you had a look at our caresheet? It and the Glass tank setup sticky should have some good info to get you started.

They are also quite handy for suggesting questions to ask as well.

And welcome to the world of BP's.


dr del

[frankykeno]

Ah feel for the sweet face of a ball python - it happens to a lot of us LOL

First thing, big breath, no panic and don't buy too heavily into the "ball pythons are crappy eaters" hype too much. Sure some of them are, most of them because they aren't being kept quite right but generally most get going just fine. If they didn't eat, they'd die off and heck where would all these ball pythons be in our collections.

You can make that glass tank workable with a few modifications or you can run out and get a plastic tub, your choice. Just set your new BP up in whatever way can be done quickly and efficiently and hits the goals of...

- warm side temp 90 (no night drops needed)
- cool side temp 80
- humidity 50-60%
- at least one, preferably two dark hides that are barely bigger than your snake is coiled up
- snake safe substrate
- non-tipable easy to clean water dish
- quiet area of the house so the snake can settle in (he should like any new snake be in QT anyways)
- you may want to cover the outside of the glass enclosure on the sides and back to offer a bit more privacy to these shy snakes
- don't handle or try to feed for a week to allow your new bp to check out his home and get comfy

That's really about it. Set the snake up, leave it be and in about a week offer it an appropriately sized prey item. Try to stick with the type of prey and the manner of feeding this snake knows for at least the first couple of feedings, then assess where the snake is at, how things are going and start to make any changes slowly.

All of this assumes of course, that you purchased a healthy snake from a reputable breeder. If you didn't, well that's another whole ball of wax.

[FatBoy]

As far as prey size, you want to feed something, mouse or rat, that is the same size or slightly bigger than the biggest part of the snakes body.

[IguanaMama]

Thanks to all of you that responded. Here is an update. I made sure his enclosure was up to specs. All fine there. Every 3 or 4 days, I tried a f/t crawler mouse. No luck. I was leaving him alone for longer periods, but this past week I noticed he was a bit more active, my instincts told me he was really hungry. I tried f/t again. No luck. I just had the feeling he wasn't recognizing it as food, but was hungry.

I caved in and bought a live mouse. It was the smallest in the tank. It looked big, but not too big. After begging dh and ds to do the deed for me, with no luck, I offered him the mouse. Strike, curl. Yum Yum.

That was three days ago. Belly is full, all is well. Mama and snake are happy. Thanks again everyone.

[IguanaMama]

Hmmm. This thread got moved from bp husbandry to king/milksnakes. But, the snake that I refer to is the BP. My other snake, the king (high white), is a garbage pail and eats anything anytime.

[dr del]

Hi,


Moved it back for you.


dr del

[IguanaMama]

Thanks for moving it back.

So he looked chubby for a couple of days and now he looks skinny again, but he hasn't pooped yet. I can't wait to try feeding him again. If I am successful in feeding him for a few weeks, and get my confidence up, I'm going to get him a girlfriend.