beginner, need help

Any tips you can give me with feeding him? I already decided im not feeding him live mice, I don't want him to get hurt, and I'm going to feed him in a separate container so he knows where his food is and won't mistake me for it. I read ur suppose to feed them at night also so I was planning on feeding him at night.

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Originally Posted by nicolerawr33

Okay thank you. Yeah the hot side around the afternoon time can get as hot as 96 degrees in there, it worries me. I'm gonna go out a buy a controller for him as soon as possible. I thought about it yesterday and checked all the stores around and nobody seems 2 have one. Only online, I'm afraid by the time I get him one, he might die of heat or something

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You may be better off building a thermostat yourself instead of ordering one. It'd be faster and likely cheaper. Mine is built from a standard wall outlet dimmer switch and I have a temperature probe wired into it which I have sitting right on the glass of the tank, directly over the UTH hot spot in the hide. Took about 10 minutes to assemble. That being said, my UTH is scratch made from heat tape; I'm not sure how much more difficult it would be to wire a probe and dimmer into a COTS UTH. You'd have to take the wiring partially apart.

Warm the frozen thawed either with a hair dryer (some do) I put in a ziploc and place in the sink in warm water. You can feed him in the same enclosure (but if you have aspen or coco fiber I would do it in a sep container so they dont ingest the bark) and there really is no time that will affect their eating. They are active at night so thats probably the suggestion.

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Originally Posted by nicolerawr33

I haven't actually picked him up yet, I'm letting him get adjusted to his environment first, and then i'll go from there. Is there any tips u can give me so that he won't strike me? I looked up pictures of their teeth, and talked to ppl they said it's like ripping off velcro and that it doesn't hurt too bad, I'm not afraid I'm just kinda like if it happens it happens, but I would rather it not.

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The best advice for not getting bit? Don't put yourself in a position to get bit. :) I know it sounds like stupid advice, but honestly, it's the best I can give.

Think about the many situations that would make your snake stressed. Would getting moved from one home to another make you stressed? Would too high/too low of a temperature make you stressed? Would a giant hand reaching in over the top of you "to attack you" make you stressed? Long story short, life is pretty stressful for them when they first come home with you. It's your job to help them get over this by removing yourself from the equation (which isn't easy - I know).

Personally, I leave mine alone for a few weeks other than to feed them or clean up after them. During this time, the only thing I'm doing is making sure their husbandry is up to par - temps are right, humidity is dialed in, etc. Once they've settled in, then just be mindful - no sudden movements, observe them (to see if they're in shed, etc), try to not smell like food. As long as you're mindful of yourself and them, they tend to be pretty predictably lazy. There's a reason why they're known as the pet rocks of the snake world. :P

Yeah he has aspen in his cage right now.

Okay thanks yeah I've been trying to leave him a lone as much as possible, the only time Im putting my hand in his cage is to give him fresh water, pick up his droppings, and if he knocks over his thermometers to pick them up. His breathing is a little faster at some moments, I read that they can do that when their stressed though

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Originally Posted by nicolerawr33

Any tips you can give me with feeding him? I already decided im not feeding him live mice, I don't want him to get hurt, and I'm going to feed him in a separate container so he knows where his food is and won't mistake me for it. I read ur suppose to feed them at night also so I was planning on feeding him at night.

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I've gotten good at using the search function - enjoy! http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...tside-the-cage

TL;DR: The idea that feeding your BP inside the enclosure will lead to aggression is a myth.

Here's another thread that I have bookmarked that talks about defrosting and feeding frozen/thawed. The method I use is in post 11: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...=1#post1765983

Not bothering it while it is digesting makes sense. I can easily switch to something other then aspen so he can eat in there.

I second to just feed in cage....easier, better for them, and they don't mistake you for food. Just wash your hands before handling them and you'll be fine.