My first BP!

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Originally Posted by gwentennyson

Thanks, Orion! I just posted on the Husbandry thread... maybe you can help!

"Hi all!

New BP owner. The breeder we got Leonidas from gave us a heat lamp, a UVB lamp, 20gal glass tank w/plastic bottom, and 2 hides. I love my new snake baby! But I've been reading around and I saw that undertank heaters are better than heat lamps for BP's so I went and ordered one online at Amazon. Then I found out that those undertank heaters don't do well with plastic bottoms. Should I be able to place a piece of glass or ceramic under the tank and attach the pad to that instead?

Also, do BPs really need UVB lamps? The breeder told us that Leonidas will need it to grow!

Thank you in advance!"

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Sorry for the late response. Seems like they covered everything on that thread. Eventually when you get more snakes, I suggest you move to tubs....as in rack systems. Saves money in the long run and more suitable.

Age is hard to judge based on size, as their growth can be pretty dependent on how much/how often you feed them. If you were to feed a proper sized food item every 2 days (which is too close to power feeding for me, I did every 4 days til she hit 300 then every 5, then over 800 will be 6, then 1000 will be 7) that snake would grow faster than one being fed a proper food item every 7 days. Neither would be underfed, but one would still be much larger.

That said, he's probably a 2014 baby, as he doesn't look underweight, which a 2 year old would IMO at that size.

Here's another pic of my baby :)

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...4/2/7/leo3.jpg

If you don't mind me asking what breeder did you get it snake from. They definitely. Don't need uvb to grow. I have no clue why they would tell u that

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Yeah, he's a new breeder in my area (so cal) and I found him through a friend. My friend got his gecko from him and when I found out he had snakes, I wanted one for my classroom! Definitely not going back to this dude though. We've had Leo for 5 days now and we just found out he had mites. Spent the whole morning making sure our baby was back to being happy and comfortable!

Def do not and I would tell him about ur mite problem

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It's been 4 weeks with Leo and I couldn't be more in love! Already thinking about getting a second one, but that won't be for AT LEAST a few months. Have to make sure Leo settles in well as my class pet :)

He's eating one live rat fuzzy a week (My bf stuns the rat before giving it to Leonidas) and I have yet to weigh him. I should get on that!

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...age_651196.jpg

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...age_408918.jpg

It's really hard to get a good picture! He won't stay still!

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Originally Posted by gwentennyson

Thank you to everyone! Is there any way to tell his age?

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The only way to know for sure is to cut him open and count the rings. Just kidding. Kids, don't try that. He looks around a year or so. No way to know for sure unless the breeder kept records.

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Originally Posted by gwentennyson

He's eating one live rat fuzzy a week (My bf stuns the rat before giving it to Leonidas) and I have yet to weigh him. I should get on that!

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Please don't stun them.... It's inhumane..... And can make it actually more dangerous for the snake as the rat will be freaking out and angry.... Frozen/thawed is the way to go... But if you must do live, just stay watching until it has been dispatched, to intervene should something go wrong.