My first Ball-Python.....akkk!

ok shes settled down and now dont want to go in her tank......she spends more time out of it then in it . and now there is a new problem. when i got her she had that small spot that wouldnt shead. i have got her to shead and she looks good now,but she has got a eye that is still clowdy and got , i think its called a "cap" over it.....the whole eye is black and sticking out except for the center and it looks clowdy. i asked a local pet store what i needed to do about it and he told me to put baby oil on her eye.......omg i dont think that sounds to good anyone got any thing else i can try....i know i dont want ppl putting baby oil in my eye and im sure not goin to do it to her (unless someone does that and it works) i am afraid that it will hurt her or make her go blind permentaly.....HELP I DONT WANT HER TO BE BLIND

No baby oil...

If you have a plastic rubbermaid(or whatever) shoebox size container with a secure lid, you can use that to help get the eyecaps off and the remaining shed. Put about an inch or less of warm water(mildly warmish), then put a wet wash cloth in there also which will help give the snake something to hold onto and rub against. Put the snake in, put the lid on, and put the whole container inside the snake's enclosure on the warm side. Let her sit for an hour, and see what happens. If there is skin left, it should just come right off.

If you just got this snake, it really needs to be left completely alone to settle in for about a week and a half, with you only changing the water and cleaning up feces/urates. This will allow the snake to become adjusted to its new surroundings without any stress(being held). After it successfully eats 1 or 2 times in your care, you can then start short handling sessions of about 5-10 minutes, 2-4 times a week, depending on how the snake's stress level is(hissing, striking, balling up).

And yes, as others have mentioned, definately get the temperature gradients correct. If they are not, the snake cannot thermoregulate properly, therefore it cannot digest its food, and therefore it will not eat since it knows that the heat isn't high enough to be able to successfully digest a meal.

As Adam has said before, A warm snake is a happy snake is a feeding snake.

ok we went to a breeder that lives near here......YAYYYY!!! Her name is pandora... he said that a male has spikes near its flap and this one dont so its a girl!!! she seemed to like the ride.... she has already ate for me and does not ball up or anything. she slides all over me ......I will try the rubbermaid and hope that it works. She seems content now and loves to go all over the living room!!! Thanks for all the help yall are giving me . I went and got a camera today so i should have some pics up by tomorrow night.

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Originally Posted by lil_southern

ok we went to a breeder that lives near here......YAYYYY!!! Her name is pandora... he said that a male has spikes near its flap and this one dont so its a girl!!!

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"Spur size" is not in any way a reliable method of determining the sex of a ball python .... probing is the only way to determine your animals sex with any certainty ... "popping" is also a fairly reliable method when done by someone with experience ... your "breeder" is clueless ;)

-adam

Ok Shes in the rubbermade and aint liking it AT ALL!!!! I am hoping that it works. But man shes not happy at all. Shes back and forth and fast to ........i have never seen her move that fast

It is a new environment - give her time and leave her be to settle in - she'll do just fine.

My boyfriend and myself just acquired two adult ball python's.. they both seem to be very mild mannered.. neither one has bit or struck at either of us.. the smaller of the two seems content to climb all over my boyfriend. Any suggestions about shedding is it alright for them to be in a 75 gallon tank together ????? HELP!!!!

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...0&page=1&pp=10

There's a good thread on housing multiple BP's - overwhelmingly "no"

There should be a ton of threads on shedding as well - in short maintaining humidity well leads to easy shedding. Have you had problem sheds?

we just got them yesterday.. I have no idea whether or not they have had any problem shedding.. by the looks of the skins that were in the tank I'd say no though..

If the sheds were in mostly one piece then they did fine - if there were lots of smaller pieces it was likely too dry for them.