Q's from a new BP owner...

A few questions from a first time snake owner.. :oops:

1. Someone told me that I should try to handle my BP in the daytime as she is not in hunting mode during that time and that I should feed my BP at night because that is when she is active and hunting. But if I handle her in the daytime, isn't that when she sleeps? Will she be crabby if I wake her? Do snakes even get crabby?!

2. How often should I be handling by BP? Everyday? Every other day? Obviously not after feeding and while she is in shed? She is about 2 months right now, so still very young and a little defensive when I touch her. So far she has tried to strike at my dog (from afar and by accident their encounter!), and also at a camera phone. She hasn't tried to bite me yet persay. But she jumps a bit when I touch her sometimes. Any suggestions on making her feel more... safe?

3. I feed her every 5 days since she is young right now (she's eating very well by the way!) At what age can I start feeding her once a week? I'm feeding her frozen hoppers right now (i warm the hopper up first of course). As she gets bigger, will she eat larger mice? or younger rats? what are those called if you want to by them frozen from the petstore? how will i know when to change the food item?

4. What is all this controversy about feeding snakes in their enclosure vs. feeding them in a "feeding" area? Or feeding frozen vs. live? The girl I got my snake from said that the prey item can hurt the BP.. so she prefers frozen prey. Is one really better than the other? Or just a difference of opinion amongst snake lovers....? :confused:

5. When I feed her the prey item. I usually take a pair of chopsticks and just wiggle it around in front of her and she goes for it. Do I always have to wiggle it in front of her face to induce her to get it? Or will she eat it if I leave it in the enclosure? I haven't even tried the second option. Thus far I always have just wiggled it and waited for her to get it. She usually goes for it within a few minutes, but sometimes the arm gets tired!

Okay, that's it for right now! Thanks!! :)

handle and feed her whatever time of the day you like. it really doesnt matter. when i handle my snakes i do it for 15-20 minutes 1-2 times a day. just dont handle on feeding day and for atleast 2 day after she's eaten.

you can start feeding every week if you like. feed her prey items that are a little smaller then her at the thickest part of her body.

i prefer feeding my snakes in their tubs because they can hunt for their prey from their hides and the stress of moving them before feeding could cause them to not eat. ball pythons are pretty shy snakes.

if you feed live responsibly you will have no problems. just make sure the rat doesnt bite the snake and you'll be fine. you can feed live or dead, its your personal preference.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by adOggy07

A few questions from a first time snake owner.. :oops:

1. Someone told me that I should try to handle my BP in the daytime as she is not in hunting mode during that time and that I should feed my BP at night because that is when she is active and hunting. But if I handle her in the daytime, isn't that when she sleeps? Will she be crabby if I wake her? Do snakes even get crabby?!

i handle mind at anytime just not after feeding for 24 hours after and when there in shed but other then that just when ever for five or ten min a day




2. How often should I be handling by BP? Everyday? Every other day? Obviously not after feeding and while she is in shed? She is about 2 months right now, so still very young and a little defensive when I touch her. So far she has tried to strike at my dog (from afar and by accident their encounter!), and also at a camera phone. She hasn't tried to bite me yet persay. But she jumps a bit when I touch her sometimes. Any suggestions on making her feel more... safe?

to make her fell safe give her hides plenty of hides



3. I feed her every 5 days since she is young right now (she's eating very well by the way!) At what age can I start feeding her once a week? I'm feeding her frozen hoppers right now (i warm the hopper up first of course). As she gets bigger, will she eat larger mice? or younger rats? what are those called if you want to by them frozen from the petstore? how will i know when to change the food item?


she could eat once a wekk now and moer then likely she could eat adult mice if your adult mice are like the olds we get here and i feed all mine smale rats



4. What is all this controversy about feeding snakes in their enclosure vs. feeding them in a "feeding" area? Or feeding frozen vs. live? The girl I got my snake from said that the prey item can hurt the BP.. so she prefers frozen prey. Is one really better than the other? Or just a difference of opinion amongst snake lovers....? :confused:

i feed in the encloser but i handle me snake too. if you never handle your snake and the only time you open it's encloser is for feeding then you might have a proplem. and live can hurt the snake but thats only if you don't watch what your doing i feed live and have yet to have a snake bitten buy a rat



Okay, that's it for right now! Thanks!! :)

---

1. Nah, not true. They know what food is, and when its feeding time. There's no right answer on "when" to feed. More importantly, its about consistency. If you feed at 2pm on sunday or 9pm on thursday or 2am on friday, just make sure its the same every week.

2. I think a few short session each week is ok. The idea is not to stress them out by bringing them into unfamiliar places too often. Also, if your house is very cool, remember your snake is being exposed to lower than normal temps and frequent exposure to that may cause stress, which results in feeding issues most of the time.

3. A 5 day interval is fine. Just feed her hoppers for the shortest amount of time possible and then bump her up to adult mice as soon as you can. No need to stay on hoppers for more than the first 6-8 weeks of the snake's life.

4. A snake that is fed in its enclosure WILL NOT become conditioned to expect to be fed and bite you each time you go into its enclosure. If that logic were true, you could argue with equal strength that a snake fed outside of its enclosure would then expect food each and every time it was removed from its cage for handling sessions. The frozen vs. live debate ultimately comes down to what works best for you and for the snake. Some snakes have trouble accepting f/t food, other do not. You'll just have to figure that out. Live feeding, appropriately supervised, is not dangerous and should not be ruled out for that reason. It is, in fact, a difference of opinion among keepers to which there is no right or wrong answer.


***This has been your "instant expert" reply for the day. Thanks for reading!***