Help needed - Newbie trying to figure out environment, thawing food

It sounds to me like you are doing everything right EXCEPT:
1)need a slightly bigger enclosure to create a heat gradient.
2)you need to use eco-earth coco substrate or similar, misted occasionally to keep humidity up.
3)and last, but perhaps most important, you NEED to heat the thawed rodent up to 100 degrees with a hairdryer right before feeding! I found feeding thawed rats, and them being refused to be a huge pain and til I started using the hairdryer method.


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Thanks for all the feedback! Can't get that T8 here fast enough. Just let the guy soak for a bit while I got rid of the aspen and put in the Eco Earth stuff, though his eyes look darker now than they did, so who knows. Snagged a 100W IR bulb to try, as well. WIll see how that goes.

Funny thing is, I never would have considered feeding in a separate enclosure, but I read about doing so here. Vet is their in house "snake" expert, rather than just reptile, and she seemed very knowledgeable about BP's, but I can try in the main enclosure. I imagine the finer substrate is probably less risky if ingested (and it isn't like they are eating on glass in the wild!). The striking thing is more of a concern because of the age of my son (8) than it would be if I were going to be the only caretaker.

Hair dryer! That sounds like a great idea, surprised I haven't stumbled across it here before. Will definitely try that at the end of the week when I try again.

I have tried both and feeding in their regular house seems way easier and more natural.
The vet is concerned about substrate swallowing is all. Other than that there is zero advantage to taking them out to feed. Even more negative actually.
I know it isn’t an ideal situation to have your snake eat substrate, but I risk it.
Tonight... cypress mulch down the hatch... o well.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...32893c8bf4.jpg


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Godzilla78

I have tried both and feeding in their regular house seems way easier and more natural.
The vet is concerned about substrate swallowing is all. Other than that there is zero advantage to taking them out to feed. Even more negative actually.
I know it isn’t an ideal situation to have your snake eat substrate, but I risk it.
Tonight... cypress mulch down the hatch... o well.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...32893c8bf4.jpg


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Hi


Have you considered putting a piece of card down over the chippings just to minimise the chance of ingesting some ?




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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Hi


Have you considered putting a piece of card down over the chippings just to minimise the chance of ingesting some ?




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I haven’t really thought about it much, but I might try it next time. It’s really not pleasant to watch them get wood in their mouth.


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I've decided to pop in because I too start my new hatchlings in a 10 gallon aquarium. It took some refining and it requires some diligence to maintain heat and humidity but it is doable.

I did most of my heat/humidity calibration before brining my snake home to avoid him having to live with my trial and error shenanigans.

I have 3 sides covered with foam board like you do. I'm using an UTH with the thermostat, and currently a 60 watt IR heat bulb also on a t-stat. My top is entirely covered with an acrylic sheet with a quarter inch clearance around the lamp dome. I live in a rather arid region so humidity was probably my biggest issue. Switching to a coco substrate helped a lot. When it is not winter and the heat is not blasting I can get away with misting every 3-5 days. Now that the heat is on I mist every other day and everyday when in shed.

As for your temps, where are you taking them. If you are using wall gadges you'll get ambient air temps and if you are trying to push those up your surface temps could get too hot especially under the lamp. I use my thermometers to give me an idea of where I'm at and use my my handheld IR thermometer to verify. You will lose heat when you open the cage for feeding and handling and misting. At long as the snake has his hot hide with UTH he has some place to retreat to.

I'm also going to recommend feeding him in his cage. If you are getting nipped it is likely defensive and not a feeding response. Baby ball pythons can be very nippy. This should improve with time and proper handling, but get him eating before you do more handling.

To thaw I place my rodents in a bag and float in warm water. It usually takes 30-40 min for something of rat pup size and I'll flip it over half way. Once thawed I'll hold the rats up to the heat lamp to warm the heads then feed. If my snake is being a bit slow to peek his head out I can hold the rat under the lamp again to maintain an attractive heat signature. If that doesn't work I leave the feeder in the cage, turn down the room lights and walk away. If he isn't working at it after 30-45 min I count it as a refusal.

As for your feeder size, I got my pied female at 114 grams and the breeder had been feeding her rat pups, and that is what I fed her, she is a voracious feeder though. They are capable of taking them down fine at that size, but sometimes a nervous feeder may do better on something smaller until they get used to the goings on of their new life.

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Thanks for all insight. The coconut substrate has made a HUGE improvement on the humidity - of course, ironically, I'm now seeing that the form of substrate I bought has the highest concern for substrate ingestion during feeding. So I'll probably order Reptichips when I start running low on the Eco Earth stuff. I actually ordered all of my "stuff" a few weeks ahead of time to try to give me as much ttime to let things equalize as I could. But there were a few hiccups. Ordered everything on December 1st. It didn't get here until the 15th. Got things set up that weekend, and Jasper arrived 2 days later on the 19th. I had to keep him hidden in my closet to keep my son from finding him, so his terrarium got moved after I thought things were settled - my son's room is colder than my closet. Now, things are a whole lot colder than they were a few weeks ago, meaning more heat use is pushing down humidity.

At any rate, I have my thermostat taped directly to my heat tape on the bottom of the terrarium (I have a piece of foam insulation foil side up on the bottom, with an indention for it). The hot side probe is just underneath the substrate on top of the UTH and below the heat lamp. Cold side is attached to the wall, as I bought the wrong thermostat for that. I have inferred that that temp is lower than a surface temp.

Alright, so I haven't been sure of whether Jasper was about to shed or what. Thought the eyes clouded over, then they cleared. And seemed nothing happened for a while. He's just been hanging out in one of his hides and not moving much at all. Picked up a hide yesterday to check and see if there were any signs of snedding or whatever. Couldn't see any.

So I get back from the morning's activities and go to check on him, see if he is still in the cold side hide as usual lately. And lo and behold, there is a skin just blocking my view. Picked up the hide, and he managed to completely shed, a single skin with no signs of breaks or pieces, while balled up in the hide. And this isn't a big hide, he balls up and fills probably 2/3rds of it.

So I remove him so I can clear the shed and look over him for signs of loose skin still attached or anything.....not much. But he is a lot more active. Definitely checking out the surroundings, smelling a lot, etc. Seemed much easier to handle. He did go back in his hide after moving around for a bit. But his demeanor is much less shy. Will plan to try to feed him again, tomorrow. I have a good feeling about it.

Anyone else ever have their BP manage to shed completely while in its hide?

Yes, it’s completely normal.


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Well, I *think* we are making progress. Sorted through my rat pups until I found a 20g one. Heated, got good and warm, hit wiht hair dryer. Had around his cage, didn't come out of his hide. When I removed the hide, he slowly was interested, adn then just struck at it before I could move it over where I wanted to. At any rate, he took it, and was wrapped around it for a good 2 minutes. Then just kind of guarded it for a few minutes. I eventually walked away (lights were all out, was seeing by red light). Came back a few minutes later, and he was trying to eat it from the middle. A few minutes later and he had moved to one end of it. He keeps moving it around, which just seems to make the substrate problem worse. I've seen him try to get his jaws around it three times, but he keeps backing off. It is not bigger than he is, but it is on the bigger end of the range to feed (he's 140g, so about 15%).

Should I move it and try to clean it, and put it on a card so it'll be clean?

Do they ever strike, try to eat, then give up? If so, should I try a new one tomorrow, or wait another week?