Rookie walking

Yo, I just picked up, what looks to be a full sized bp. I have a couple of questions. Please Help!!
1. I am told he hasn't eaten in quite some time. Is this normal?
2. He is dual in color.
3. His eyes are/have sliver lids. Kind of a blueish tail tip - belly isnt pink.
4. Should I wait a couple of days to pick him up?

:confused:

Thanks,

Drew

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Originally Posted by dmcminn

Yo, I just picked up, what looks to be a full sized bp. I have a couple of questions. Please Help!!
1. I am told he hasn't eaten in quite some time. Is this normal?
2. He is dual in color.
3. His eyes are/have sliver lids. Kind of a blueish tail tip - belly isnt pink.
4. Should I wait a couple of days to pick him up?

:confused:

Thanks,

Drew

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Should always wait a week before picking him up. And its best to not pick him up until he is eating for u

my advice is to look at this care sheet first. Yes they will need time to adjust to their new enclosure. Also if you could send a pic for reference to the coloring could be some left over shed. What is the history on this snake?

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules/...warticle&id=59

Welcome to BP.net :gj: Fasting is normal for a ball python. If they are not eating due to being sick that is an issue. Pics of your set up, snake, temps etc will all help. I also would not bother him for at the very least a week. And I am not sure how to answer # 2 and 3 without pics.

Yea i agree the best thing u can do is post temps, cage setup, how u measure your temps and pics.

Pretty much EVERY detail about your setup :)

This will help get ur snake on the right track and ensure that ur husbandry is on point :)

Thanks for all the info. I am shopping around for a BP set up, so far I have gathered that Aspen for the floor and a H2O dish large enough for Austin to crawl into. along with a hide. I was planning on getting him moved in this weekend. I will take pics. of him and post.

I also notice he yawns alot - normal for a BP ?
1 other thing.... he has all ready made quite a mess in the tank... Should i clean this up, or let him get use to the new family.?

Thanks again...... Rookie when it comes to BP

Is it best for him to eat out side of his enviroment - Like a clear organzier wih a lid, big enough for him to "get Busy"

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Originally Posted by dmcminn

Is it best for him to eat out side of his enviroment - Like a clear organzier wih a lid, big enough for him to "get Busy"

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Moving a snake just to feed it is more stressful on them. I would suggest just feeding in it's home enclosure.

if he yawns alot sound like a respetory infection. best get him to a vet, for a full check-up, its best

So here are the before / After...... Austin the :snake:

[IMG]<a href="http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o309/dmcminn1/Austins%20diggs/?action=view&current=CIMG5761.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o309/dmcminn1/Austins%20diggs/CIMG5761.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/CIMG5761.jpg[/IMG] So I figured it out. (posting pics. that is)... This was taken a couple of days after I picked up Austin... I had to place him in a temp. digg.

[IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/CIMG5740.jpg[/IMG] Like I said TEMP. I did NOT no how big he was when I picked him up!

So, I spent many hours/days reading(BP.net) watching(you tube)on what to put Austin in. I went out and bought a 50qt. tube to place him in. I also picked up an UTH some Aspen bedding... and some gauges. [IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/CIMG5765.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/CIMG5775.jpg[/IMG]I haven't had him quite a week.. He will let me hold him for quite some time.. Last night was probably the longest i have held him. He did hiss, but as soon as i was able to get ahold of him, he turned into a big Baby. He sat with my little ones and myself as we watched a little boob tude. This last Sat. I wanted to see about feeding Austin, I went to to local market(pet store) to see about getting Austin a meal. I chated with to cat who seemed to know alot about BPs. I picked his mind and shared with him the Austin story. He had told me to wait untill he finishes his sheading cycle before he eats. Fair enough. I went out and bought a smaller tub to soak Austin in. Well, Yesterday I soaked him for 20min and today for 30min.... check this out!:D

[IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/CIMG5791.jpg[/IMG]My 7yr. old wanted me to get Austin out so that she could hold him....Dinner...Shower.... etc. etc. I went to chek on Austin and saw that he had began his sheding cycle this evening.[IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/CIMG5792.jpg[/IMG] ? Should I feed him soon?

Is that an old school thermometer I saw in the background?? You really should ditch that and pick up and accurite at Walmart -- it will measure your warm and cool side temps and your humidity.

Also, am I imagining things, or in the last pic is that a thermostat probe just hanging on the side of the tub??

As far as feeding... make sure all the husbandry is spot on, and stop handling the snake!! It's hard, but leave him alone for a few days, let him settle, and stop the intense handling until he gets a few meals in him under your care.

[QUOTE=chapskis1;1339709]

Also, am I imagining things, or in the last pic is that a thermostat probe just hanging on the side of the tub??
QUOTE]

Yeah...I looked again...it's a probe hanging on the side of the tub.

I think you said you are using a uth. You need to mount the themostat probe outside of the tub -- tape it directly on the uth (between the uth and the tub).

You want the thermostat controlling the temp of the uth -- not trying to raise the ambient air -- which it would do the way it is set up now.

Also, get an accurite and place the themometer probe inside the tub directly on the plastic above the uth -- you want that spot to be 92 at most.

I have gage that messures humidity, The old school was to messure the hot side and the probe is on the cool side. I drilled a hole big enough to run the probe threw, so that the lid will not kink the wire. :gj: I will do as you say, Thanks for the info. I need all the info. I can get.

Check this out http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ight=tub+setup

It gives some pretty good pics and info about tub setup. It's not perfect, but should help.

As far as thermometers and humidity gages go -- most people on here agree that if it's not an accurite it is garbage. You can pick one up at WalMart for about 12 bucks.

Good luck!!

I have 2 accurites and i swear one of them is wrong. Is there a better one out there? It always measures my hot side above what it is. I can tell by touching it. My UTH only has a dimmer on it at the moment but I swear the thermometer is off. I don't know. Also a 50watt red lamp with a dimmer that stays on all the time. I've had him for a month and so far he has eaten, basked, and pooped regularly. I am definitely more stressed than he is (which is fine with me, I want him to be happy) He has 4 hides and uses all of them and hides a lot! :) He hasn't gone through a shed cycle and honestly I'm a bit terrified because I'm constantly battling with the humidity. Money is not an issue, any suggestions?
hot side thermometer says 95-98 (like I said, I don't think it's that hot)
cool side- 82
humidity usually around 40% 30 gallon tank with screen top
I feed him live in a separate enclosure.
This is my first reptile so I will take any and all advice that you've got! Thanks in advance!

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Originally Posted by chapskis1

Check this out http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ight=tub+setup

It gives some pretty good pics and info about tub setup. It's not perfect, but should help.

As far as thermometers and humidity gages go -- most people on here agree that if it's not an accurite it is garbage. You can pick one up at WalMart for about 12 bucks.

Good luck!!

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i dont know if i'm taking this a bit personal but what would you consider to be a "perfect" tub setup? thermo-hygro, uth, water dish, ventilation, thermostat, hide(s) and bedding are all you need for any setup.

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Originally Posted by JSass

I have 2 accurites and i swear one of them is wrong. Is there a better one out there? It always measures my hot side above what it is. I can tell by touching it. My UTH only has a dimmer on it at the moment but I swear the thermometer is off. I don't know. Also a 50watt red lamp with a dimmer that stays on all the time. I've had him for a month and so far he has eaten, basked, and pooped regularly. I am definitely more stressed than he is (which is fine with me, I want him to be happy) He has 4 hides and uses all of them and hides a lot! :) He hasn't gone through a shed cycle and honestly I'm a bit terrified because I'm constantly battling with the humidity. Money is not an issue, any suggestions?
hot side thermometer says 95-98 (like I said, I don't think it's that hot)
cool side- 82
humidity usually around 40% 30 gallon tank with screen top
I feed him live in a separate enclosure.
This is my first reptile so I will take any and all advice that you've got! Thanks in advance!

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KK, I don't know about whether or not accurites fail a lot, but EVERYBODY uses them here lol, so I'm guessing there generally pretty accurate, if it says its 98 I'd believe it.

That leads me into my next thing, your hot temps should be 92-94, so you’re a little hot there, cool side is good, you might try getting rid of the heat lamp as it seems like you don’t need it.

There are a couple of things you can do for your humidity, you can cover 3/4 of your screen top with foil or tape, this helps hold in the humidity while still getting enough air in there to circulate. Another thing you can try for the humidity is to get rid of the heat lamp, if your warm side is to hot and the lamp is on the warm side that may be able to kill two birds with 1 stone. You can also make sure that the water dish is placed over the UTH as that will warm the water up a bit and help raise the humidity.

Lastly don’t bother moving to a separate enclosure to feed, the whole thing about snakes getting aggressive when you stick your hand in the cage if you feed them in the cage thing is a myth...

It is my opinion how ever that its good to know that a snake will eat in a separate enclosure, I've fed in a separate enclosure twice now because I hadn't had time to clean there cage the day before and I like to handle my snake as little as possible on feeding days, putting her in a box with a mouse and waiting for her to kill it, then cleaning the cage while she chows down is great in my opinion, some snakes wont do it because its to stressfull being moved but if your snake will eat in a separate enclosure it is nice to have that option on feeding day if you’ve been really busy before hand.

Humans nor any other animal can accurately sense temperatures.

1. The sensations of hot and cold are relative. Stick one hand in ice water, one hand in hot water, then after a few minutes, stick both in room temperature water. It'll feel hot to the hand in the ice water and cold to the hand in the hot water.

2. All room temperature objects conduct heat differently. Metal feels cooler than wood, though both may be 70 degrees. Metal conducts/absorbs the heat from your hand quicker, which is exactly what we feel is cold.

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Originally Posted by SGB_74

i dont know if i'm taking this a bit personal but what would you consider to be a "perfect" tub setup? thermo-hygro, uth, water dish, ventilation, thermostat, hide(s) and bedding are all you need for any setup.

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I just said that because some people on the thread disagreed with probe placement, hides, etc.

Everyone is gonna have slightly different opinions, and can nitpick on any setup. I'm sure my setups aren't "perfect". I just like to cover myself and have an out -- nothing is perfect. But I did say your tutorial is a very good place to start and get the set up going in the right direction.

Why would I put the probe between the UTH and the bottom of the tub? I don't see getting an accurate reading of the inside of the tub.:confused:

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Originally Posted by dmcminn

Why would I put the probe between the UTH and the bottom of the tub? I don't see getting an accurate reading of the inside of the tub.:confused:

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That is where you would place the THERMOSTAT probe. That way it can't get peed on or moved by the snake and therefore getting inaccurate readings and/or spiking the temps.

You then place the THERMOMETER probe inside the tub directly on the floor above the uth. You then tweak the thermostat so it gives you the desired hotspot inside the tub.

Hope this makes sense...

The thermostat probe has to monitor the UTH directly, with as little influence from ambient air as possible. That makes that the best position possible.

You DO get an accurate reading from the digital thermometer probe you place inside the tub directly over the center of the UTH, probably with something like a glue gun or super glue. This is what you depend upon, and ignore whatever the thermostat says the temperature is. You want to know the hottest possible temperature inside the tub, and set the thermostat/UTH to whatever gives you the desired temps inside the tub, with a 95 degree max.

I actually put the probe on the outside of the UTH, because I have two on one thermostat, and the probe kept the one UTH from making direct contact, while the other DID make direct contact.

Steve... no this is great. That puts things into perspective for me.

The red lamp is on the cool side keeping it around 81. The water is on half of the UTH.Humidity has improved to a constant 50 so we're getting better. I'm going to foil portions of the screen top to help with that. I have a humid hide as well. Ahh I could pull my hair out. I suppose it doesn't help that I have OCD.

So, Would it be safe to feed after his shead...... he looks like he shead allright? i havent messed with him in 2 days. ??

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Originally Posted by dmcminn

So, Would it be safe to feed after his shead...... he looks like he shead allright? i havent messed with him in 2 days. ??

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you can feed right after shed with no problem at all, you can even offer during a shed it wont hurt most of mine will still eat during shed.

I just feed him about an hour or so ago. He did great, Know he wants to crawl around outside the tub. ?