New to ball pythons

Hello everyone! I'm new here and I got my first ball python today. He's a real cutie. I got him from a breeder who got him from a reptile show. He had wanted to breed ball pythons but changed his mind so he sold the male and female...the male to me.

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I named him Chilongola. I had a dream once that I had a baby ball named Chili so I decided that would be his name. I wanted to give him a proper African name. Chilongola is a Kaguru name from Tanzania. It means first born son.

The unfortunate part about this event is that I prepared the enclosure for a
larger snake.

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._3206845_n.jpg

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._6751510_n.jpg

Chili turned out to be smaller than I expected so I made huge hides (that I worked pretty hard on!) And he isn't very smitten with them. So I put a plastic cup on its side in each hide and he's still disinterested. Instead he's on the warm side, tightly snug between the wall of the hide and the wall of the tank. Is this a bad thing? I don't want him too be stressed while acclimating to his new home. He's supposed to eat soon so I would actually like him to eat.

If he doesn't is it okay to refreeze the mouse or is it best to just throw it out?

Thanks for looking!

Interesting setup =). I would be careful with those hides if you are using any kind of heat on top of the cage. (fire hazzard and the snake can get too close to that top). As far as your snake I think it will adjust after a couple of days and pick a spot to chill at. I have never had a problem with re- freezing mice/rats and feeding them another time.

Thank you :) No fire hazard problem. I use under the tank heater under the glass and nothing else.

Should be okay...even with the larger hides...if he has trouble eating, I would replace them with smaller ones...keep those for the future when he's bigger...at this time, I would maybe put a few more fake plants or flowers in there, and put a black aquarium background on the sides and back to make him feel more secure.

Smaller hides might be better. My little one I got from the pet store spent his first day pressed up against the glass before he realized he had his choice of hides he could go into. They figure it out eventually.

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Originally Posted by SpiderBP

Should be okay...even with the larger hides...if he has trouble eating, I would replace them with smaller ones...keep those for the future when he's bigger...at this time, I would maybe put a few more fake plants or flowers in there, and put a black aquarium background on the sides and back to make him feel more secure.

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might be a bit better putting him in a small tub until he settles & is feeding welll before putting him in a large tank..from my experience small tubs are far better..little ones need to feel secure.
Looking at your set up, mine are raised in tubs with one hide on the warm end (some dont have hides as in tubs) & a water bowl..dont know why some advocate numerous hides, its unlikely that they get used imo..but def agree that they need to feel secure..small is better ;)

Nice setup. Welcome to the forums! :welcome:

I just spoke to the breeder and he said that my snake was going to be 3 this coming August! Isn't he really small for his age?

You can get some jungle themed aquarium background from a pet shop to fill in the back and sides. As for the hides, you can try adding some balls of crumpled newspaper in the hides to help fill in some space...

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Originally Posted by Green Tea Boa

I just spoke to the breeder and he said that my snake was going to be 3 this coming August! Isn't he really small for his age?

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Your snake looks more like he may have been born this past August, which would put him just over 3 months old. I wouldn't estimate that snake as a 2 yr old, based on his size in relation to those fake flowers, which I am guesstimating to be about 4" in diameter...