Wow, we really messed up.

Thank you so much, Pyrate81. I think your ideas are excellent and we'll be using them if we move him. To be honest, I'm not sure who was the most agitated there for a while, me or Skull! (We named the little guy Skull because of his markings.) He is completely calm now. He's still draped around his hide rather than inside it but he's no longer stretching up, bumping the top of cage or cruising rapidly around. He's just kind of half curled, half draped.

You know, this forum is really wonderful. Everyone who has posted here in this thread has been so kind and informative. Thank you all.

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Originally Posted by Garnet

Geez! I forgot to mention that he struck at the top of his hide when I got home from work.

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Struck the top? How big is this hide? Does he just have the one? Ideally you should have 2 identical snug-fitting hides on either side. If it's too big your BP won't feel secure.

I have a 31x19 foot print tank for my girl and use a UTH and lamp at all times (I'm in Canada and it's getting cool). My bulb for that tank is a 60W. I also have a 24x12 footprint tank that I use a 40W bulb in. I have a thermostat for one (cheap hydrofarm) and a dimmer on the other.

His hide is definitely too big. That's one of the things I've learned reading here. :oops: That's one of the things we want to remedy is to get a smaller hide X2.

I am so glad that he's feeling better!! Good job :gj:

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Originally Posted by Pyrate81

Take a deep breath and let it out. Everything is ok. Wooo sahhh. You've explained the situation and have been given advice to move forward.

You didn't kill the little guy nor did you injure him. He did get a nice dose of stress, but he will calm down. Plus you are making things proper.

The main reason he was probably agitated was the heat, IMO.

With all the activity and moving from one area of the house to another, it did cause stress. I've seen caged animals which were moved from one location to another in a house or room become more active for around a week. They are exploring the new scenery. Some animals do it, others don't. I moved a snake into a bigger enclosure last weekend and got another snake to put into that snake's old home. The one moved around the tank for a couple days then settled in one spot, the other has been picking a different spot every day to hang out in. I'd equate it to a human moving into a new neighborhood and finding the local gas station/convenience store/bar etc.

Aside from the newspaper idea, I would give the little guy a week before you handle him again so he settles down completely(this is how I would do it, I did see crazymonkee mention a few days which will probably fine as well). It looks like you will get a bigger enclosure for him so when you move him this is how I would do it(if anyone thinks this this isn't a viable idea, please chime in):

1. Set up the new enclosure, making sure the temps are right and everything is how you want it/he should have it.
2. Pull him out for a light handling session. Perhaps 10-15 minutes.
3. Put him in his new enclosure.
4. Give him another week before handling again so he settles in. You may see him cruise around his new place for a few days, he is getting accustomed to his new home.


Good luck with the new little guy. Welcome to the forum and welcome to the addiction. :welcome:

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Yes agreed a week would be better... that's why I put "at least" a couple days. :) I'm not sure on how much of a temp gradient you'd get with a 5 gallon tank, and I know she mentioned getting a bigger one so I figured he may be a lil happier in the bigger one. (With 2 exact hides)

Sounds like he's calming, that's great!! Now it's the op's turn!!! :)

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Update. Skull appears to be back to normal. :) He's loosely curled on top of his hide on the warm side of the tank and appears to be sound asleep. He's been calm and still all day, only occasionally shifting around a bit. Today, we found a used 20 gallon tank that was last used at a local pet store for a corn snake. It's got a place for a UTH. We've ordered a good thermostat. In the meantime, we went to another pet store here and got another hide, some aspen bedding to pad his hides (plus some newspaper) and a driftwood branch to place in the new tank. We also got a cheaper thermostat to use until the good one gets here. Hubby is already working on cleaning and sterilizing the new tank. Then he'll set it up with all the stuff in it and make sure then temps are right, then we'll move Skull.

I'm not sure precisely when we'll do that as Skull's next feeding is on Monday and we know we need to leave him be to digest. We're also going on a brief vacation at the end of next week so we may not move him until we get back.

Again, my thanks to every single person who has contributed to this thread. Y'all probably saved my little guy's life as hubby and I were so distraught we didn't think to do the obvious which was to check the temps. Now we know.

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Originally Posted by Garnet

Last Sunday, we bought a baby ball python at a reptile show. He was born on June 12, 2013. He's 18 inches long and weighs 92 grams...
His feeding schedule before we got him was a pinky every Monday. We waited until Tuesday and he took the pinky just fine.

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Just an FYI now that your little guy's environment is stable - a pinky, either mouse or rat, is way too small a meal for a 92 gram ball python. Try a mouse hopper or rat fuzzy instead, don't worry it won't be to big. Also many people feed every 5 days instead of every week until the snake is at around 600 grams.

Awesome to hear!!! Now enjoy your new snake!! And don't forget pics every now and then :)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Just an FYI now that your little guy's environment is stable - a pinky, either mouse or rat, is way too small a meal for a 92 gram ball python. Try a mouse hopper or rat fuzzy instead, don't worry it won't be to big. Also many people feed every 5 days instead of every week until the snake is at around 600 grams.

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We've been wondering about that. I've read that the food should be the same circumference as the largest part of his body. The pinky we fed him just didn't seem like enough. I read that I can actually feed him two if I wait a half hour between first and second feeding. We were going to try that on Monday since we know he'll take pinkies but not if he'll take other food. Maybe if he stays calm, we should try feeding on Sunday?