My first bp!!!

I'm officially a BP daddy! :snake:
i'm not sure if the pic is going to post or not cause it's huge! and it looks kinda crappy...took it with my blackberry...
he's a mellow fellow.

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&i...disp=inline&zw

try uploading it somewhere

linking from gmail seems not to work

DANG. oh well. i'm at work so i can't do it from here...i'll post some pictures later.:cool:

congrats!

Congratulations...:banana::banana::D:D:gj::gj::snake::snake::cool::cool:

GRATS! hurry up on those pictures! :D.

Where did you get her from?

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Originally Posted by Sariel

GRATS! hurry up on those pictures! :D.

Where did you get her from?

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THANKS!:banana:
a gentleman who lives about 40 minutes away from where i live.. he said he had it for a while but his wife was terrified of it so he had to get rid of it.

i graciously bought ReX from him. he looks pretty healthy, nice and shiny.
i'm getting ready for his first feeding with me.:D

i have a separate enclosure in which to put him in for feeding.

any ideas on how long i need to wait before i can pick him up and put him back in his enclosure?:confused:

some pics here:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...3&userid=16047

again, the pics are low quality because i took them with my blackberry

They say u dont need to feed outside the enclosure. More likely to stress the snake out doing that.

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Originally Posted by f4n70m

They say u dont need to feed outside the enclosure. More likely to stress the snake out doing that.

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THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!

Actually, i'm going to try both ways.
i'm going to feed him in his enclosure tonight. what i don't want is for him to give me a feeding response when i try to pick him up. (i hereby pledge to wash my hands before handling to avoid getting tagged)

if i get feeding responses, then i'll try feeding him outside.

from what i can tell, and from the other threads on this site, in the end it all comes down to the snake. sometimes you can't just keep forcing the snake to do what you want it to do, you have to adapt to how it reacts. if it strikes when fed often in it's enclosure, i guess you have to feed it outside. i'm interested in finding out how ReX'll react.

how long should you normally wait after he feeds until it's safe to pick up?

Nice looking BP you got there. Congratulations.

I would advise, wait a week to let him get acclimated to his new environment.
As long as you feed with tongs, there is very little chance of him mistaking your hand for food, unless you don't wash your hands after handling rodents. Any time I have been bitten, it wasn't due to a feeding response, it was from me trying to sneek his waterbowl in or out of the cage while he was sleeping and having him wake up to my big hand right there in front of his face. Which you will understand completely if you have ever been scared awake...

Oh, if your local pet shops don't have tongs in stock, you can order them online or if need be get some of those cheap BBQ tongs can also work. I also don't advise grabbing the prey by the tail, if you are feeding live. Once they go into panic mode, if they pull themselves up, you will possibly get a bite from them, and they have wayyyy bigger teeth than a BP does...

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Originally Posted by snakeyes

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!

how long should you normally wait after he feeds until it's safe to pick up?

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If you do feed in a separate enclosure, at least wait until he gets it all the way down and resets his jaw. Once they start moving around, you should be ok. Don't just pick him up. try to scoop him up as gently as possible with both hands to support as much of his body as possible, so you don't put too much pressure on his stomach, then immediately place him back in his enclosure, and try to leave him alone for about 24-48 hours, unless you absolutely need to move him for cleaning up pee or something...

I second waiting a week before feeding him. You are more likely to have a successful feeding if you wait the week and then attempt.

Also, the whole "feeding in the cage will make your snake think its feeding time all the time" is nonsense. As long as you open the cage more often then to feed the snake (which you should be doing anyway) the snake should make no "association" between opening the enclosure and feeding time. You should be doing daily maintenance, filling or cleaning the water bowl, spot cleaning, regularly handling the snake. These should all be separate occurrences from feeding time.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I second waiting a week before feeding him. You are more likely to have a successful feeding if you wait the week and then attempt.

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Very very true.

That 1 week of not feeding/handling your snake is so hard lol. It is very tempting wanting to hold your new snake, just don't give in. Let your snake settle :)