Introduction and Questions

Hi, my name is Mitch and I just got a ball python for a early Christmas present from my girlfriend. I have wanted a snake for many many years just haven't had the opportunity to do so. any way below is some pictures of him/her not sure what it is yet. The lady we bought it from go it for her husband last year for Christmas but he passed away and needed some money; I am a little afraid to attempt gender finding.

I set up it's cage with fresh bedding and am trying to fine tune the temps. He has been feed live mice all its life but I don't have a way to store live mice where i live so i have to do F/T. I tried to feed it last night but I don't think he knew what to do with it. (tiered of calling it "it" lets just say he) he kept moving slowly toward it smelling it then quickly moving back in to what looked like a striking possession but never took interest. I think I am going o wait a week for him to get use to his new environment and try again. any help with switching to F/T would be great.

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/x...212_174035.jpg
http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/x...212_174019.jpg

P.S. He is just over a year old, not sure on weight or length.

Congratulations on your new addition, and welcome!
Do you have proper heat and humidity in the cage? Make sure to not mess with/handle him until he's eaten at least once.

If I were you I'd give him one live at first, just so he's eaten something, and you know he's properly settled.
When you heat up the mouse, make sure it's really warm, like if you held it against your cheek it's warmer. Get some tongs and hold the mouse by the scruff, wiggling it gently in front of the snake to imitate it being alive. If he doesn't take it after a few minutes, leave it in the enclosure overnight, and remove in the morning if uneaten.

Ah, well.. if he doesn't eat a live mouse you get you can kill it by whacking by a wall..or CO2 if you want feel more humane. Freeze it and feed it next week.

I still need to get a acurite thermometer to make sure it is 100% the right temp/humid but I have a UTH, ceramic lamp on the hot side and red heat lamp on the colder side. I also have thermostat that is hooked to the UTH that is set about 85 F but the other two lamps stay on all the time. oh sorry he is also in a 55 gal tank with hide and water bowl, also there is one of those crappy stick on tank thermometers that stays on 86. just trying to get him situated as easily as possible.

and I will try a live mouse on Friday and see if he will eat it. how long should I keep him with the live mouse?

I am looking for a better thermostat as I am using a crappy analog zilla one; I am looking at 2 and cant decide....
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/...00-thermostat/
http://beanfarm.com/product_info.php...1816a01ad7a38e

I wont necessarily buy it from those dealers especially if I can get a better deal, I would even consider used if its in good working order.

This is the thermometer I am going to get
http://www.acurite.com/weather/therm...r-00891a2.html

You can let the mouse sit in there for as long as you want as long as you supervise and make sure your snake doesn't get hurt by the mouse. If it takes longer than like 20 minutes, he probably doesn't want it.

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You can let the mouse sit in there for as long as you want as long as you supervise and make sure your snake doesn't get hurt by the mouse. If it takes longer than like 20 minutes, he probably doesn't want it.

So I got him to strike and atempt to eat a F/T mouse tonight but for some reason he pulled it back in to his hide and looks like he left it there. before he went in to his hide it looked like he was having trouble geting his mouth around the med fuzzy mouse should I leave it in there tell morning?

Well I moved the Hide this morning to see if he had ate the mouse and I Couldn't find it so it looks like he ate it.... but I never saw a lump in his body like i was expecting. was the mouse to small? I don't want to under feed him.

If you're feeding the right size you won't see a lump... it'll just look a little thicker than it did before.