New guy drops by and... Iggy!

Well, a couple of updates on Iggy:

I got him two hides now, same type as the other one but a bit smaller. I'll have to upgrade them in a while but they where like half a buck.

Today was feeding day so I went out to one of my city's pet shops and got a good size live mouse. It was kinda expensive, 2.5 euros so around 3.5 dollars. I might have to look for a better place. Anyways, I was unsure of what was gonna happen, he could have been stressed out from all the changes it's been through.

It's one of those moments where you don't know what to expect. I didn't want to handle him much before he ate his first meal so I didn't take it out of the tank to a different location but I will do so in the future once he seems more relaxed with his surroundings.

Dropped the mouse in and it inmediately caught the attention of Iggy. The mouse roamed around the tank exploring not even noticing the snake. When it finally became aware of Iggy it kinda stood still and the aproached it to sniff it and BAM! Iggy had it's meal.

I also noticed her eyes might be getting a bit greyish so she could shed soon. After noticing this, I gave the tank a good spray so it would stay pretty humid. I've also looked into humid hides and will probably make one once I get the chance.

I know that some people look down upon feeding live animals to our pets but really, the biggest reason why I wanted a snake was to experience a diferent experience, something that you don't get to see often and this experience was one of those moments. It's not like I get enjoyment from watching the mouse die but it's the law of nature, that's what snakes eat. I hope you guys understand my point of view.

Finally, about the UTH. I was unsure of getting it yet because I didn't have a thermostat to regulate it. I've found a tutorial to make a rheostat for 7$ in about 20 minutes so I will be getting the suplys tomorrow. After I build it, I'll feel secure about getting an UTH. I'll also probably get a temp gun so I can regulate all the temps.

That's all for now guys, sorry for the long post. If you got any other tips about caring for my snake, please post about it. I think I'm taking pretty good care of him, he seemed happy after his meal.

Here's the tutorial for the rheostat if anyone's interested:
How to make your own Rheostat for less than $7! Detailed instructions.

We feed live too. No big deal in the US. In UK, though, it seems to be frowned upon.

I feel better about it with my rats. The breeder rats are my pets. Their kids gets fed to the snakes. But, if the snakes don't eat, they get to live another week. My bp's have gone off-feed for several weeks - the longest was almost 3 months.

Have you tried looking at the garden stores for cheap thermostats? Like this one: http://compare.ebay.com/spid/4400865...mTypes&var=srf

They're only about $30 in the US.

Hello, and :welcome: to BP.net...

Bienvenido, Congratulations on your new Ball Python. Once you get an Under Tank Heater and dimmer you will also need to get a thermometer with a probe on it or a temperature gun to measure the temperature of the glass where the heater is. If you cannot find them at your pet store, there are a few members here from Europe who can probably suggest some websites where you can order them online. One of the Admins here, Dr. Del, is from the UK and can probably help. Also, if you remove the lamp, make sure you fix the hole so Iggy doesn't escape...

Hey guys, another update:

Here's how the terrarium looks now, I hope I'm on the right track:
[IMG]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3.../terrario2.jpg[/IMG]

Added two identical hides but smaller than the old one. Smaller water dish aswell and added a cool mopani brach I bought at the local petshop after boiling it. Now as for the thermostat, I've been searching for one today but the only one I found came only with an inner sensor and I really preffer an outside sensor so I can just place it over the UTH. I decided to browse around ebay and here's what I found:
ATC-300A Thermo Control II - 50 euros about 70 bucks
http://www.my-messgeraet.com/images/...der/T03_01.JPGebay Link

ATC-210 Thermo Control II Pro - 65 euros about 90 bucks
http://www.my-messgeraet.com/images/...der/T04_01.JPG
ebay link
Chinese Mini Digital Temperature Controller Thermostat - 23 euros about 32 bucks
http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/2/6...5922166_tp.jpgebay link

Could you guys help me choose which one is worth it? The chinese made one is cheaper but needs wiring and I really don't know how to do that. It seems that the other two are just plug and play and they are specifically for reptiles.

Also, last question. My snake stays all day (and night) inside her hide (the right one). At this moment the whole tank is at the same temperature pretty much so I'd like to know why it never comes out of his hide. When I have pulled him out for feeding for example. He crawled around the tank for a bit and then went back to his hide. Is this normal? Is he just getting used to his new habitat? Please answer my questions guys, you've been really helpfull to me so far and I'd like to think that I'm doing some things right. Thanks for everything, and again, sorry for the long post! :D

Bruno

I'll let other people comment on the thermostat. Hope I can just send you a therm, a UTH, and the accurite! Not sure how much that will cost to ship to you. :confused:

A bp that is sitting in his hide all day long is a happy snake. :D I know, I know, it's so boring, but that's what they do. If they're cruising around a lot, that usually means something is wrong.

I'm not sure how big your snake is compared to the hide and such, but from my experience with tank set-ups, the more cluttered it is, the more secure the snake is. So, you can definitely use bigger hides and water dishes if your snake outgrows those.

Check out my tank set-up. This is a 20L tank. The far right side that you don't see is another hide that is exactly like the one on the left side. As you can see, it doesn't look like there's any room for the snake to cruise around at all. But, they go into those nooks and crannies. That's how they like it - at least that's how my bps like it. I took this photo because my snake decided he feels better about hiding under the hide than in it. :)

http://i314.photobucket.com/albums/l...s07/curly4.jpg

That's an awesome tank!

I'm still not sure about which one to get, does any one have any experience with any of these thermostats? Which one would you suggest?

Check this out! This is a good thermostat:
Thermostat ebay item

Is this too expensive for you?

The reason I posted this is because this is a pulse-proportional thermostat which is a better one than just an on/off thermostat.

Hi,

I've used the thermo-control 2 - the light controler section works on a wierd system where you set the number of hours you want the light on and how many hours you want it off.

But overall I was happy enough with the thermostat and liked the alarm function if the temp varies by more than the margin you set.

It does make an audible click when turning the heater on and off though so if you will be using the tank in your bedroom you might be better off buying a habistat if you can find one that will work with your countries electricity.


dr del

Just so you know, most young ball pythons never ever come out of their houses. Mine stays in there basically 24/7. I throw a small live mouse in with him every 5 days( he didn't eat for a couple months as a young hatchling so he's got to gain weight) He eats it, gets a drink, and goes directly back into his house. He only comes out for a drink of water and doesn't really explore his tank anymore since it isn't new to him anymore.


Make yourself a humid hide. I give one to all my reptiles.

Get a small plastic tupper ware container and keep the lid on. Cut a hole in the side and fill it with some moist moss(you can re-soak it and ring it out every couple of days.) If you notice he is about to shed, make sure you keep the humid hide moist, and if you get a better lamp set up, you can move the lamp over the water dish. But humid hides work great by themselves.