The Pied Swiper Progression thread....week 1

Say hello to our most gorgeous new family member Swiper! I'm not sure where my six-year-old daughter got the name… Probably one of her cartoon shows but there was no budging her off of it :)


So after lots of research, great insight from this forum and many weeks of searching our beautiful Pied Ball Python arrived from Bob's Balls (Bob Vu) in Warner Robins, GA. Bob was great with his communication sent me lots of pictures, offered a small discount and has been terrific and I highly recommend.


We were going to search for our snake at repticon but we were very comfortable with Bob and loved the pictures of what we saw.


So the snake arrived last Wednesday right on time and although I was nervous as heck he came out of the bag with no issues… Stayed a little curled up but no hissing or acting crazy so I was pleasantly surprised. I have not had a chance to weigh him but Bob said he was 200g and well started on F/T. I only kept him out for a few minutes as I'm sure he was stressed from the travel so I put him right into his new enclosure with his two hides and his temperature set just right. He explored all over the tank for probably a good 10 minutes maybe 15… Then eventually went in the pyramid hide on the cool side.


My frozen rat pups arrived from Perfect Prey the following day and I knew he had not eaten in a full week so I decided to go ahead and try to feed him… This would be my first attempt at this method. I got it thawed out and hit it a little with the hairdryer so it was just north of 100°. I was not sure if he was sleeping or what so I decided to take his hide out which is a little pyramid looking hide and he was just sitting there curled up so I danced the rat pup near him with my long tongs and he immediately started tracking it and hammered it right away.


I was very excited! After he finished he went over on the warm side and I noticed he had left a giant poop in the area and his hide so I mediately cleaned it up. I left him alone but noticed later on that day he had moved back over to the cool side I guess he just likes Egyptian artifacts. He kind of laid low for a couple of days and would sometimes explore at night sometimes sitting right at the front glass just peering outward. On Sunday three days later my daughter and I gave in to the extreme temptation and decided to hold him for the first time. I know most say wait longer it was just really hard looking at this beautiful snake while my daughter was asking me 100 times a day can I hold it!


He came out pretty easily although I was fairly nervous he seemed somewhat relaxed and we took it easy with him. He didn't feel super tense his tongue was flickering, and he was exploring a little bit so I thought it went OK and I even let my daughter hold him with no problems. I know it probably wouldn't hurt very much to have a little guy tag me so I'm not sure why I was nervous holding him but I just was. After about 15 min , we put him back and he explored a little at night but his stayed in his hide on the cool side most of the time.


Today is six days after we fed him and he has been in his hide on the cool side with his head poking well out of his hide just watching out the front glass so I was not sure what to make of this behavior. I wasn't sure if that meant he was comfortable or hungry!


My daughter came home from school today and we took him out again although this time he seemed much more tense and again no hissing or striking but he did stay kind of curled up most of the time that I held him. This is really only our second time ever holding a ball python so I didn't know if this was normal or if he was getting ready to bite the bajezzus out of me LOL. Again I feel pretty nervous and tried not to move a lot but he did not explore as much as he did the first time we held him just kind of stayed wrapped around my hand so I only kept him out a couple minutes then put him back.


A few hours later I saw him poking his head back out of the hide again and I told my wife maybe he's hungry. So I prepared another rat pup the same way put it in the tank and he immediately crushed it within about five seconds of it getting anywhere near him.


So we love him to death already and really hope that he becomes comfortable with us because my daughter walked up to his tank and told me he is the sweetest little boy she's ever seen and she loves him with all her heart. Almost made me cry.


Other than our knucklehead decision to hold him way too soon is there any other feedback on how things are going… Am I better off picking him up with my hands or using my little Snake Hook I have instead? We wash our hands thoroughly and even sometimes with a really strong eucalyptus smelling soap that I don't really like but I want to make sure my hand doesn't smell like food lol


Any feedback is welcome… I know it's good that he's eating by but I was not sure what to make of the other behavior sometimes he stays talked way into his hide and other times he sticks his head a good 2 inches out and it's hard not to go right up to the tank and watch him but I don't want to spook him either.












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Hands is better imho.

Hatchies eat once every 5 days, try not to feed him too much.

Watching is very common and mine's favorite activity. He can't hear but he can sense vibrations so he knows you're out there between the vibrations and heat signatures, even without having line of sight on you. As mentioned in another thread, mine will begin peeking out around twilight and continue doing so until we go to bed.

Preferring cool side is fine, males seem to often use the hot only for digestion/shedding, mine included.

Think of this like a period to get acquainted. You're big and scary but the more he sees you out there and even watching him without hurting or hassling him, the more he'll trust you.

I don't think BPs need to be hook handled, hands work just fine for my adult.

Nerves on the babies can be iffy, thus probably why he's a little antsy. Attempt to limit handling to more frequent short bursts until he's juvie+, and thus more large and confident as an animal.

Know its hard not to handle a lot immediately but BPs can grow to be 10+ years old, way more with solid care and husbandry. He'll be around with y'all for as long as you want him, so try to go easy on his nerves. Balled and head hidden when being handled does indicate a bit of stress, so try to approach the animal during times its already awake and handle it firmly, smoothly, slowly, and with confidence. How confident your handling is will reflect in how confident the animal is, because it takes jerky and shaky movements as a threat.

Think that covers your questions.

I'd just be careful about touching his head and sudden movements, which will cause him to whip his head back and ball up. Can freak you out alot of you've never seen it.

Also..took me a while but the only cartoon character I can remember named Swiper is that fox from Dora.

Ball Pythons don't need a hook, they aren't aggressive or super defensive or anything so hands do just fine.

Also he just sounded a little shy, not defensible. They'll make a little S with they're neck when they get defensive and lift their heads off the ground if they're gonna strike. He just needs some time to get used to the big warm monsters lol.

Sent from my LG-D690 using Tapatalk

Swiper, no,swiping! Your daughter watches Dora lol

cute beep you have there!

Amazing pickup and congrats on going with the pieds! As he matures and grows he will get more at ease with handling and you guys will learn how to read him. Out of curiosity, how are you heating the enclosure and what temps are you set at? :)

So he has eaten awesome 3X since we got him. He hammers the F/T pup! We only handle 48 hrs minimum after he eats but he STAYS in his cool side hide. Temps are 90-91 warm side with UTH and thrermostat and 80-81 on cool side. Humidity goes from 40-51'ish.

I did get get a chance to weigh him this week - 245g!


He loves his pyramid but I have to remove it to be able to get him out and as soon as I remove it it startles him a bit. The tank is the Exo Terra from front doors so I'm always coming at him from the front and he just seems startled. I wonder if it's better to take my screen top off, then remove the hide then approach him from above because going towards him from the front he seems very nervous and I'm nervous as well when doing it!

The breeder I got him from said his last shed was about three weeks before I got him so he's really out about six weeks now since his last shed so shouldn't he be shedding soon ?


Thoughts?






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Hm, from the pictures I see I think YOU are more tense then the noodle is, LOL !!!

Looks like a wonderful and well adjusted Ball Python, congrats !! I don't see a tense and defensive body language at all !!

They will "scare" a bit when a hide is lifted off of them. They get used to it in time, but its always a rather "OMG" moment for them. They quickly realize they aren't going to be eaten, and all is well.

Just move with purpose ! If you move nervously and hesitating, it seems to make them more nervous too. I do prefer to pick them up from above, rather then from the front, but either way should be fine. If it makes YOU more comfy to come from the top, just do it. Whatever makes you feel better. In a couple of month you will laugh about your apprehensions. You will see.

You got a really nice snake. A good eater (which is always a relief) well adjusted and not overly defensive or shy. Just a nice and normal acting Ball Python.

Sounds to me like you are doing pretty well already, just keep on doing ;)

Remember that in the evening / night the BP's are more in "hunt" mode, so don't come right at him when you notice him "tracking" and hunting at night. He might get hungry about 5 days after a feeding, esp. once he outgrows his current food size. He will probably soon go into shedding. You won't be able to miss it..his eyes will get very dull , almost blueish looking. If its been 6 weeks, it probably won't be to much longer.

Just relax and enjoy this gorgeous creature you got :)

Woke up yesterday with snake skin laying in the tank - this after not seeing him for 4-5 days at all- he stayed in his cool hide almost all the time.

Decided to take his hide off tonight and take him out and he still has some shed spots lingering. His humidity wasn't super high and I tried to mist a little each day but this was my first time having him while he shed.


Do I need to do anything at this point for him? I cleaned his tank a bit while we had him out. He had a giant poopie in his hide. I didn't want to pull at his skin so I kept him out about 10 min and then put him back. He seemed a little tense while out but I'm still trying to learn to read his body language. Not a lot of tongue flicking or moving when we had him out.





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Just boost humidity, extra-high while getting the shed off, and 60% + at all times. Should be fine, try spraying the substrate, using the wet-towel-on-screen method, moss, etc.