Re: I NEED SERIOUS HELP! with my new ball python
Quote:
Originally Posted by
skyelovesyou
i use aspen shavings for substrate and his temps are 86 now cause the light is off i have an undertank heat. and his humidity is 55 also he is feeding on frozen fuzzies he hasnt ate for me yet since i just got him since i am waiting for friday.
Definitely need a thermostat for your UTH and what kind of light are you using? How are you measuring your temps and where exactly are you measuring them?
What kind of fuzzies? Mice? Rats? Most hatchling balls can easily eat rat fuzzies as soon as they come out of the egg, so if he is 6 months old he should be on much larger. Chain pet stores are notorious for "maintenance feeding" their balls, which is basically underfeeding them so they don't grow. Your ball should be eating 10-15% of its body weight every 5-7 days. A small food processing scale is invaluable for new keepers. It will help you learn appropriate feeding and where you can track its growth/weight which can be very valuable if your snake ever becomes sick. If you don't have one you can pick up a cheap digital food scale at Wal-Mart for about $15 and they work great.
As Slim said, the shirt trick might work for puppies, but it will NOT work for your ball. Chances are your snake is just extremely stressed and not used to being handled. Listen to the folks here and read up on the care sheets the folks here provided and you should be just find.
Don't let your ball frighten ya. Most of the time defensive strikes are just a bluff or at most a nip. The worst part about a bite from a young ball like yours is waiting to get bit. It's the unknown that is the scariest part. At worst you can expect a bite to draw a drop or three of blood, but never enough to require a band-aid. After your first actual bite you will laugh because you were scared of nothing. :D
My biggest piece of advice I can give you though is NEVER listen to the employees at Petsmart. Very, very few of them have any knowledge outside of the care sheet they provide (which everyone here will tell you inaccurate) and they are trained only to up sell products that you don't need to make the company more money. You did the right thing by coming here for advice.
Re: I NEED SERIOUS HELP! with my new ball python
Quote:
Originally Posted by
skyelovesyou
my heating pad does not have a thermometer and i have the ones from petsmart the reptile heat cage thermometer and humdity gauge and i just bought a black light for night
I'm guessing it is one of those little analog dial thermometers, right? Those are junk. You can pick up an Accu-rite digital thermometer at Wal-Mart that will be far more accurate.
And a thermostat is a device which controls the temps of your heat mat. An unregulated heat mat can exceed 130 degrees, which is more than enough to burn and even kill your snake. Unlike higher animals, they will not always move away from heat and will literally cook themselves. I've seen the damage that unregulated heat mats can do first hand and it is very sad. If you're on a budget, Hydrofarm makes a cheap thermostat that works ok. Amazon.com sells them for about $30. Either way your heat mat must be regulated.
