New Rehomed Ball Python! Some help with acclimating!

I got this 2 year old ball python yesterday from this guy who loved his snake a lot, but had (at best) questionable husbandry. Had the little guy for 9 months and, from the sound of it, he never changed out the bedding (he wasn't sure what it was. It came with the snake which he got from a friend) but did scoop out the poop and all. He also smoked pot I'm pretty sure (in addition to the smell of snake(?) the odor of marijuana was definitely present. Granted I live in a state where it's legal, I'm fairly certain that the smoke is no good for snakes.)

The tank was in fairly nasty condition when I got it, but I was reluctant to change out the cage bedding and everything since I was worried I'd stress the guy out even more than he probably already was from the move. Upon the recommendation of a vet tech at a local clinic, she suggested to just clean it out and get it over with it now rather than later. So I bleached out his cage with a 1:10 solution, disinfected his water dish, and washed out his hides (wasn't sure what to do with the log hides.... which I hear aren't great but snake seems to like it and I've got them backed up to the side of the cage so he's closed off on three sides. Should I change it to something else or wait till later?) Trying to figure out what to do with the lighting. I have a basking lamp (incandescent 75W; heats the warm side to 90--I have it set to turn on and off at 12 hour intervals) and a red heat lamp which gets the other side to about a temp of 70-80. This lamp stays on all the time. For the bedding, I used black and white newspaper. Plan on changing it on a weekly or whenever soiled. Maybe when he gets settled in, I'm going to get more fake plants for him and places for him to hide and not feel out in the open as much. I want to get him a bigger water dish that he can bathe in as well. Current one seems small.

Worried about a couple things. First one, the obvious--is my tank set up right? And when should I start changing/adding things to his cage? I'm planning on taking him to the vet in about two weeks time when he's not as stressed out about everything to make sure he's in good and proper health. He seems to be doing fine, but I just want to double check. Probably won't be touching him or handling him any time soon. Not for a week at least.

Anything else more I should be doing?

I'm no expert but If you want to add hid and stuff I would just do it now I would treat it as if I got the snake alone without his tank. How big is they tank? We would love to see pic of him. Also are u make sure he has good humidity?


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Humidity is probably deficient. Didn't have time today to get a hydrometer or a bigger water dish. Normally, humidity in my area hovers around 55 percent or more. Looking to get a more accurate way of checking....and a better way of maintaining.

At this point, he's got two log hides and one little one in his fake tree that he sometimes likes to go in and out of. When I first moved him, I was worried because the guy who gave him to me had fed him like an hour before and I thought he was going to regurgitate everywhere (he has yet to do that....so that is good)

He's also got a bit of a retained shed over half the part of his face. Should I let him be or should I try to remove it?

This is the little guy when I put him back after cleaning out his tank.

http://imgur.com/98P9XPy

Personally I don't like the wood hid because of the two opening but if the snake not stress you can use what ever you.

If it just a little stuck shed I would just bump the humidity up about 70. U should try to leave him alone as much as you can for right now.(by a little shed I mean if it just one layer) if your find it hard to raise humidity you can up something on the top open of the tank or move the water bowl to the hot part of the cage


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Hey! I appreciate the reply.

One more question for you (or for any member of this community) but I've heard conflicting opinions on this. Is a "daylight" lamp necessary? Like I said, I got my little guy a night time lamp (infrared) that stays on all the time. Is the incandescent bulb okay?

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Originally Posted by jylesa

Hey! I appreciate the reply.

One more question for you (or for any member of this community) but I've heard conflicting opinions on this. Is a "daylight" lamp necessary? Like I said, I got my little guy a night time lamp (infrared) that stays on all the time. Is the incandescent bulb okay?

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I used to use a daytime bulb/lamp but now I just used my moonlight nightime lamp because in the day time my room gets so bright you can't see the blue light at all. So I just needed a lamp to warm the cage and not light up the cage. So yes your night time lamp is perfectly fine to use 24/7. Also for a thermometer/hygrometer combo I'd go to walmart and pic up an Acurite Thermometer. It has a probe so you can measure hot side/cold side temps and also has a build in hygrometer. They are really great! Hope this is helpful 😊


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I used a light during the day when it was cooler outside since the ambient temps would drop.....but with it getting warmer I have been turning them off and just using natural light from windows.

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Hey guys! Thanks for all the replies. Much appreciated while I get the little guy rehabilitated. Today I got him a new water bowl (prior one seemed too small) and working on getting up the humidity. Thanks again to you all. : )

One last question: the guy who gave him to me used to feed him live mice. I figure he probably won't eat the first time for me because he's still acclimating, but would it be hard to convert him from live mice to dead ones? I've heard of people doing all sorts of things (putting snake + dead mouse in bag, cutting open mice, etc., etc.) I got myself some albino mice of a pretty good size for my snake directly from the lab... made sure they were clean, know the person who bred them, and I know what "bugs" [all of them murine] are present in the facility--I work there too.) I've heard of snakes rejecting food of a color they are not familiar with, so I'm considering going out to get me some natural colored mice from the pet store (worried about bugs from other mouse breeding facilities that I might accidentally bring--that's my own hesitation. Granted I'm planning on feeding in a room where my clothes aren't stored and wearing a coat to cover my clothing on myself, I'm apprehensive about accidentally dragging in new pathogens) Do you guys have any more suggestions in the event my python rejects his food?

When change live to dead it really matter on the ball python some just take it right away some don't . U can try heat it up with a lamp a lil to give it a heat signature. I have never heard of the coloring matter but could be wrong about that.



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