Everyone can chime in!

Hello Python Owners!

A small introduction: My husband and I recently got a 6-month old python from a certified breeder. Her name is Banana. When I was 10 (oh... 21 years ago) I got to hold a MASSIVE yellow (forgive me, do not know the correct breed) snake. He had a stupid name, but I thought that if I ever got my OWN snake, I'd name her Banana - regardless of colour. And that is her name.

I have owned reptiles before, but never a snake - always wanted one.

Banana's house is 20 gallons. She is about... ~18 inches (she won't be straight for me). She can get around 90° on one side, and roughly 82° on the other side during the day - nighttime is around 75-77°.

She has two lovely hides where she can curl up into an IMPOSSIBLE ball (cute).

I've heard 8700 different suggestions for a substrate. I went with a fresh towel every few days. She seems to adore it - she moves it to her will, then balls into it in a hide. This is where you tell me if I'm screwing up.

Her humidity was a tad low, 50%, so I stuck a humidifier (tell me if I'm screwing up) there and it is helping raise it.

She's in blue now, poor thing. Offered a fuzzy - complete refusal. Oh well, trying again once she clears up. I have heard that even while shedding, some snakes will eat if offered food reiteration of, "am I screwing up?"

She pooped for the first time - nothing but urate. This is where I would like some input on things. Her urate was about 1.5 inches. No fecal matter. Might this change once she eats?

It is lovely to be a part of the python forum. I look forward to meeting you all!

Emily, Jerry & Banana :P

Paper towels are a perfectly acceptable substrate. :)
I've never had to put a humidifier in a tank before - but it's probably doing more good than harm (Someone correct me if I'm wrong!)
Some snakes will eat when they are blue, some won't. Not anything to be worried about. I'd try again in a few days and see if she goes for it. Are you feeding f/t or live? and are you feeding mice or rats?
Poo may be stuck - you can always give her a lukewarm bath to see if she will pass in the water. It'll also help with the shedding, seeing as the humidity is slightly lower than is considered adequate.

The humidifier isn't IN the tank, but near it - it works well. We're in Asheville, NC - and currently there is no moisture here, it's either 100% humidity, or -50% humidity. Silly little area.

I may go with paper towels (I have for previous reptiles)... but she does LOVE her cozy towel to ball into under a hide.

She is on arctic fuzzies at the moment. This is the first time we've attempted to feed her. So, with relocation, stress, etc... it may be a while. She's far from skinny.

Thanks for the bath idea, I'll give it a shot if nothing else passes for a couple of days.

:welcome:

It sounds like you did your research! Congrats on Banana and :welcome: to bp.net!

I also used a tank and the humidity was hard to keep up. Some substrates can help with that such as coco husk or cypress mulch (i love the smell!, but not everyone does).

Ah okies - Yeah, its probably more help than anything. You can also try putting a towel over the top of her tank and soaking it with water (not enough to drip, but to enclose the damper air, and cover part of it with saran wrap - BUT make sure you leave enough open space for air flow!!

Ah - I thought you meant paper towels, not regular terrycloth towels..I've never used those inside of tanks before, but I guess if you don't mind the laundry..I would be concerned about bacteria though.

The Arctic Fuzzies you buy in a blue box at PetSmart? I'd suggest getting the similar sized rats from the same company. They have a higher protein content, great feed for a growing baby. When did you get her?

I would actually suggest giving her a bath today, even if the tank humidity is back up.. It'll definitely help no matter what. But make sure the water isn't hot. If its hot to you, its scalding to her. You should be able to stick your hand in the water and barely notice the temperature change.

And it will definitely help with the poo! She may not poo in the bath, but don't be surprised if she does.

Hello and welcome!!!

I'm going to be brutally honest, so don't take it the wrong way, ok ?

The tank is a less than ideal habitat, simply because if humidity and heat issues. You don't say how you are heating her tank, but her temps really need to be stable, not such wild swings. That can cause stress and feeding refusals. If you have a heat lamp, which is the standard pet store recommendation, that is 3/4ths of your troubles. It is very worthwhile to invest in a heat pad/heat mat. You do need something to control your heat source, whether lamp or mat, so if you don't have a thermostat, invest in one.

Once you get the temps stabilized, you can focus on the humidity. Since your tank almost certainly came with a screen top, that is where your humidity is going. Some people use simple tin foil over most of the screen to help hold in humidity, I prefer plexiglas because it's more aesthetically pleasing. You can pick up a scrap of it from most hardware stores for next to nothing.

Now, substrate. There are as many types of substrate as there are numbers of ball owners. Many use aspen shreds, myself included. Many use paper towels, some use cypress, others choose coconut husk. Mainly it is personal preference.

You don't say what type of humidifier you are using, but be aware that ANYTHING inside your snakes enclosure becomes a potential hide to your snake, and there have been a number of really bad accidents involving snakes stuck in fountains and such placed in their tanks. So, please be cautious.

Some snakes will eat in blue, most will not. Wait for her to shed and try again. From cloudy eyes to complete shed can take 7 days or longer, so be patient.

As to the poop thing, that is normal. Most of mine wee every few days, and only poo two or three times a month. That isn't so bad with the little ones, but when a 3800 gram female does that, it can look like a horse snuck into the tub! :O

She doesn't need to soak yet, if you do it mid-shed it can cause a really difficult shed.

So, all in all I'd say you are off to a good start! Congratulations on joining the wonderfully addicting world of ball pythons!

Gale

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Originally Posted by Emily&Jerry

Hello Python Owners!

A small introduction: My husband and I recently got a 6-month old python from a certified breeder. Her name is Banana. When I was 10 (oh... 21 years ago) I got to hold a MASSIVE yellow (forgive me, do not know the correct breed) snake. He had a stupid name, but I thought that if I ever got my OWN snake, I'd name her Banana - regardless of colour. And that is her name.

I have owned reptiles before, but never a snake - always wanted one.

Banana's house is 20 gallons. She is about... ~18 inches (she won't be straight for me). She can get around 90° on one side, and roughly 82° on the other side during the day - nighttime is around 75-77°.

She has two lovely hides where she can curl up into an IMPOSSIBLE ball (cute).

I've heard 8700 different suggestions for a substrate. I went with a fresh towel every few days. She seems to adore it - she moves it to her will, then balls into it in a hide. This is where you tell me if I'm screwing up.

Aspen, cypress mulch and newspaper are the top three most frequently used beddings Ive seen; however, for a tank setup (the humidity in tanks is often quite lower than in tub setups) I would highly suggest something like cypress mulch (its what I use). You can get it at any pet store and it holds humidity much better than aspen or newspaper.

Her humidity was a tad low, 50%, so I stuck a humidifier (tell me if I'm screwing up) there and it is helping raise it.

You stuck a humidifier in the room, right? Yep that is a perfectly fine way to raise humidity; however if the room is big, then that humidifier might not do the best job. Typically you want around 50-60% humidity normally and 70% when hes in shed. I use a tank as well and here are some ways Ive found that help raise temps and humidity:

1) Insulate the outside of your glass tank. Get some corrugated cardboard (or buy some cheap insulator from canadian tire) and tape a layer to 3 sides of your glass tank, leaving just the front exposed. This will help keep the temps a bit better because glass tanks lose heat very quickly.

2) Get some aluminum foil. Put 2-3 layers on top of your screen top and tape it in place. Make sure theres at least 1/3-1/4 of the top still open to allow for proper ventilation, or what I do is I cut off a strip about 1" wide at the back from the foil, and that should be enough. This foil on top will also help keep temps up as well as keeping humidity up. Another way I have heard that works is covering the top with two towels. The bottom towel should be fairly moist, but not dripping, and the top one can be dry or damp. I have not yet needed to try this but Ive heard it works.

3) When you are misting your enclosure, make sure you have an accurate hygrometer. The digital ones are often better than the analog ones. Also, make sure you arent misting the substrate (wet substrate = scale rot, a little moisture is ok of course), but instead, mist the sides of the enclosure, and the hides and whatever other objects you have in there.

She's in blue now, poor thing. Offered a fuzzy - complete refusal. Oh well, trying again once she clears up. I have heard that even while shedding, some snakes will eat if offered food reiteration of, "am I screwing up?"

You do not necessarily need to feed while in shed, in fact many of us do not attempt to feed during shed time. If you feed live, definitely do not feed during shed. If you feed f/t and dont mind wasting a rat, it certainly doesnt hurt to try.

She pooped for the first time - nothing but urate. This is where I would like some input on things. Her urate was about 1.5 inches. No fecal matter. Might this change once she eats?

Yep that is completely normal. I know when I first got my BP, everything she did got me paranoid, but as long as youre providing proper husbandry (temps and humididty etc), they will adapt to their environment and will thrive! She will poop when she wants to. Unless she is holding it in for like 3 or 4 meals straight, I wouldnt be too worried.

It is lovely to be a part of the python forum. I look forward to meeting you all!

Emily, Jerry & Banana :P

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Awesome to meet you, its nice having new members who are so open to suggestions. I suggest you take a look at the Care Sheet if you havent already and keep asking us questions if you have any!

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...thon-CARESHEET

Thanks!

I have so many towels, it's insane. For some reason, family members think that "towels" mean "gifts for every occasion, including rotating your tires."

However, I understand bacteria, and may do paper towels, but I'd change them just as often too!

A bath for the Banana. She's nocturnal and it's around 10:00, I doubt she'd mind.

We got Banana on Monday.

She's still small, and the arctic fuzzies are also small, about her width exactly!

Gale - BE BRUTAL. I mean, seriously, I work with three other lawyers, it's not like I have a soul ;) Besides, it can only help Banana, not hurt her <3

While doing research, just about every site I found recommended a temperature gradient - a hot side and a cool side. This is maintained by overhead clamp lights and two reliable thermometers. Alas, I do not yet have an under the tank heating element. I believe that will be my next purchase. I just don't know a whole lot about them. I will research - I do that a lot anyway.

I think I mentioned earlier that the humidifier is SO NOT in her house, LoL... it's a floor standing humidifier - one you'd use if you were sick. Simply in close proximity :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Emily&Jerry

Thanks!

I have so many towels, it's insane. For some reason, family members think that "towels" mean "gifts for every occasion, including rotating your tires."

However, I understand bacteria, and may do paper towels, but I'd change them just as often too!

A bath for the Banana. She's nocturnal and it's around 10:00, I doubt she'd mind.

We got Banana on Monday.

She's still small, and the arctic fuzzies are also small, about her width exactly!

Gale - BE BRUTAL. I mean, seriously, I work with three other lawyers, it's not like I have a soul ;) Besides, it can only help Banana, not hurt her <3

While doing research, just about every site I found recommended a temperature gradient - a hot side and a cool side. This is maintained by overhead clamp lights and two reliable thermometers. Alas, I do not yet have an under the tank heating element. I believe that will be my next purchase. I just don't know a whole lot about them. I will research - I do that a lot anyway.

I think I mentioned earlier that the humidifier is SO NOT in her house, LoL... it's a floor standing humidifier - one you'd use if you were sick. Simply in close proximity :)

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I just realized I forgot to tell you just how awesome a name Banana is. Its pretty adorable.

I've even learned a few things myself - my kids all love water, so I give them a bath whenever they come out, regardless of if they are shedding or not. I haven't had a problem, but I can see where it wouldn't be best.

And I don't have a soul either, don't worry about it. :D

I would invest in a reptile under-tank-heater (UTH). The heat lights aren't as reliable as the pet stores want you to think.

As for food - you can feed stuff that is a little bit bigger around than she is - she'll be fine. Omnomnom.