Rescued 2 abandoned BPs, what now?

Yesterday I unexpectedly became the new owner of 2 full grown (or close to it) ball pythons. Animal control dropped them off at my work (a pet store) after finding them abandoned in an empty house. No one there really wanted them, so I brought them home.

They seem to be in good health. Neither one seems skinny and they're both pretty strong. Right now I have them in a big rubbermaid tub with their hide box and water dish. They came in a 55 gallon tank, but I can't get it out of my car on my own, so I'm waiting for someone to give me a hand with it. I'll have them in it by tonight hopefully. I can't put their heat lamp on the tub they're in right now, but I have them in a warm room.

They seem friendly enough, although one did bite me. I'm assuming it's just because she's hungry (who knows when they ate last). My pet rat was in the room as well, so I know they can probably smell her. Aside from that bite, they're both let me handle them a little. I'm pretty skittish with them though. I've never handled snakes this big.

How long should I wait to feed them? I'm was going to feed them in separate containers, to avoid any accidents or fights. Am I right to assume that the bite was just because she was hungry? They're stressed right now as well, being moved around so much. I know that BPs are supposed to be a rather friendly snake, and don't usually bite. Can I expect friendly snakes once they've had a couple weeks to adjust and a few meals?

I uploaded a picture of them to my profile, not sure how to post it here. They look okay to me...

You can offer the food pretty much immediately if you'd like. I would suggest a Live Small or Mediam Rat. Have you sexed them or had them sexed yet?

I would suggest keeping them in 32qt or 41qt sterilite containers (about $6-8 respectively at Target) with Newspaper as a substrate and a dog food bowl for water. Wouldn't hurt to put a little extra newspaper in there as well to give them something to hide under if they want.

You can either build/purchase a rheostat or purchase a thermostat and use a heat pad per container to keep them warm, a 55 Gallon tank won't hold heat for nothing and may also stress them out more.

I would suggest getting another tub they'll settle down quicker on their own. Balls are not known for liking company unless its of the opposite gender.
Pick up another hide and water bowl for the other tub while at it too. I'd leave them separate in the tubs for 3 weeks maybe a month to adjust to the new surroundings and decent meal in their belly.
Feeding wise, give them about a week to settle in then offer food, can try frozen/thawed first and you can leave it in the tubs with them over night. Make sure you have a snap on lid too, they will try to climb out through the top, my own 3 ft does this easily.
A small drill bit will punch a few holes through tubs easily just make sure you're doing them from the inside out, so the rough spots are on the outside of the tub. If you're worried about the room getting a bit too cool for the night you can used a human heating pad on low to give them a bit warmer spot and its less likely to burn the plastic tub or your floors. Do note that most of these shut off after about 6-8 hours.

I think I hit everything you asked. lol

Yes, please seperate them as soon as you can. This will make it a heck of a lot easier for them to calm down. They are probably stressing EACH OTHER out right now. Do you plan to keep them for a long time or were you going to plan on maybe giving them away? (just curious)

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Originally Posted by AaronP

Have you sexed them or had them sexed yet?

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I haven't had them sexed yet. I've haven't even had them 24 hours. Where could I get them sexed? Can they stay together if they are male & female?

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Originally Posted by Joggers

I haven't had them sexed yet. I've haven't even had them 24 hours. Where could I get them sexed? Can they stay together if they are male & female?

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They COULD, but you might not want them breeding if they aren't big enough to do so. That's another issue all together right now. I say you still want to seperate them because it is stressful for either animal! If you want them to calm down and settle in...it's what would be best at this point.

As for food (since you got two answers) I recommend waiting a while also. They need to just rest a while alone and then maybe in a FEW days try offering a prey item to each. I recommend f/t myself. See if they readily take the food that way. Live can hurt the snakes otherwise...especially if they decide not to eat for you.

As for sexing a vet could do it for you if you plan to keep them or you could do it youself with a snake sexing probe purchased off the internet. It can be a risky thing to do on your own though. I'd say if you're very new to all this....don't attempt it.

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Originally Posted by Coils

Do you plan to keep them for a long time or were you going to plan on maybe giving them away? (just curious)

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Well, good question. I would like to keep them, or at least one of them. If I have to separate them, I'll probably just keep one. I don't want biters, however, so as long as that stops once they calm down and eat, I don't have a problem keeping one or maybe both.

And I think I'd rather go with onna_shinigami's suggestion on feeding frozen... I have pet rats, and it'd be difficult for me to feed them anything live. Every pet rat I've had has been a feeder. Any feeder rats I bring home would probably turn into pets, lol. Where is the best place to get frozen rats?

I know they can smell my rat, since they're both in the same room. Will that stress them out, since they're so hungry? I can move either the snakes or the rat to a different room if I need to.

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Originally Posted by Coils

They COULD, but you might not want them breeding if they aren't big enough to do so.

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What is big enough? They both seem pretty big to me. I took a rough measurement of the smaller one last night, he/she is just about 3 feet, perhaps a couple inches longer. I posted a pic of them in my profile. There's just over 2 in. between each stripe on the bed (to give you something to judge their size by). Just curious, I'm not trying to breed them.

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Originally Posted by Joggers

Well, good question. I would like to keep them, or at least one of them. If I have to separate them, I'll probably just keep one. I don't want biters, however, so as long as that stops once they calm down and eat, I don't have a problem keeping one or maybe both.

And I think I'd rather go with onna_shinigami's suggestion on feeding frozen... I have pet rats, and it'd be difficult for me to feed them anything live. Every pet rat I've had has been a feeder. Any feeder rats I bring home would probably turn into pets, lol. Where is the best place to get frozen rats?

I know they can smell my rat, since they're both in the same room. Will that stress them out, since they're so hungry? I can move either the snakes or the rat to a different room if I need to.

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Yes, feed frozen if you have to. At least give it a try first. If they are acting as hungry as you say then I am sure they would accept frozen/thawed. (f/t) I'm not sure if keep them in the same room as your rats is exactly stressful for them, but I -do- know that my boa tends to be very aggressive when she can smell her food dethawing in the same room. Maybe just move them to another room and see how it goes?

I myself get my frozen rodents over the internet, but I'm sure you can find them at a local petstore. Petco in my area has frozen rodents for sale. Call around and find out.

Most older ball pythons usually don't bite, but you don't know if these two were handled a lot either. There is no guarantee they will not be bitey if that's the case. You usually tame an anima, such as ball pythons, down over time with some decent handling. It'll all just take patients.

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Originally Posted by Joggers

What is big enough? They both seem pretty big to me. I took a rough measurement of the smaller one last night, he/she is just about 3 feet, perhaps a couple inches longer. I posted a pic of them in my profile. There's just over 2 in. between each stripe on the bed (to give you something to judge their size by). Just curious, I'm not trying to breed them.

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It's a matter of weight with the females. Generally I wait until the female is three years old or up to a good 1300-1400 grams. If you had a gram scale you could probably weigh them. Even when it comes to breeding though...you only pair them up for breeding season with breaks inbetween a certain number of days. They don't -live- together. It's just a rule that you shouldn't let ball pythons be housed together.

If you plan on keeping them take a look at this caresheet

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet.

It will help you decide what you need to get and will give you the basics of proper BP husbandry.

Good luck and thanks for taking them in.

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Originally Posted by Coils

They COULD, but you might not want them breeding if they aren't big enough to do so. That's another issue all together right now. I say you still want to seperate them because it is stressful for either animal! If you want them to calm down and settle in...it's what would be best at this point.

As for food (since you got two answers) I recommend waiting a while also. They need to just rest a while alone and then maybe in a FEW days try offering a prey item to each. I recommend f/t myself. See if they readily take the food that way. Live can hurt the snakes otherwise...especially if they decide not to eat for you.

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Live "might" hurt them, but is highly unlikely if you remove them after 30 minutes if they don't eat. I feed live exclusively (over 15K live feedings) and have never had an injury.

However, I encourage each keeper to feed what they are most comfortable with feeding.

I'm with the separate them group. There's no benefit in keeping them together.

I will separate them then. I don't really want two containers, however, so once I decide on which one to keep, I think I'll try to rehome the second. I've got a friend who seemed interested.

as far as breeding them, if one is female, they aren't all that big, they look around the 1000 gram mark or less, from what i can tell. can you upload another picture with something next to them for reference?
Definitely sewperate them out regardless. there optimum condition is alone except for a day or two at a time a few times during breeding season when they mate. as far as feeders, unless you can get someone to do it for you, or you order like 100 rats at a time, your probably gonna have to get your hands dirty, either by feeding them live or by somehow putting the rats down b4 you feed em to the snakes. wow that was a long sentence lol.
I've haven't been bitten by my snakes yet, but i keep them very well fed, and i watch for signs before handling them. if they are looking at me reared back...tensed up, the only thing i stick in the cage is food. but balls are really docile as far as snakes go. good luck with your new found companions!!

Where are you located? I'm sure someone on here would take whichever one you dont want off your hands..or both.. especially if they're females! haha

I think once you get them separated and give them several days to de-stress, you'll be surprised at how calm they become.

Right now you have no idea how long they were left to fend for themselves or anything else about them, it seems to me if the previous owners were cruel enough to just leave them behind, they weren't interested in proper care for them. Especially with snakes that large, keeping them together is very stressful and is not helping their moods one bit.

If it is easy to move your rat to another room, you can give that a try to help with the transition for them both. I recommend separating them first, waiting a few days and then offering food.

Gale

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Live "might" hurt them, but is highly unlikely if you remove them after 30 minutes if they don't eat. I feed live exclusively (over 15K live feedings) and have never had an injury.

However, I encourage each keeper to feed what they are most comfortable with feeding.

I'm with the separate them group. There's no benefit in keeping them together.

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Yes, I said it CAN hurt them. Not all have had a problem with live, but I, from personal experience, have. Even when I didn't LEAVE the rat in the cage without being watched ( i would never walk away).

Sometime a wrong strike thought can still leave the rat plenty of biting room until they are squeezed to death. Either way I don't think you'd want any wounds whether they be big or small. I just think giving that this person has little to no experience....try f/t first if they want to see if they'd even eat.

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Originally Posted by Coils

Yes, I said it CAN hurt them. Not all have had a problem with live, but I, from personal experience, have. Even when I didn't LEAVE the rat in the cage without being watched ( i would never walk away).

Sometime a wrong strike thought can still leave the rat plenty of biting room until they are squeezed to death. Either way I don't think you'd want any wounds whether they be big or small. I just think giving that this person has little to no experience....try f/t first if they want to see if they'd even eat.

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I'm sorry to hear that you had a personal bad experience. :(

We just don't ever want to become a forum that advocates that live is better than f/t or that f/t is better than live. We advocate that each keeper educates themselves on the different methods and then decides for themselves what works best for them.

I had zero experience when I got my first ball python and fed live. But I also did a lot of forum lurking before I got my first snake and read how to introduce live prey safely.

The OP decided that he was more comfortable with feeding f/t and that's awesome!

My only point in speaking up was so that others who may read this would have the counter information that live feeding isn't inherently dangerous when done correctly. Even IF I'd had 10 injuries in those 15K live feedings - that makes my personal risk of injury in my sample, .00066% - which is pretty darn low. :)

the bitting was a most likey cause they stress figuer they been exposed to a wild ride or 3 before you got them, they were not given proper temps , proper place to hide, during that time
then you toss in all the new smells ontop of the moving around I be stressed too.
then suddenly your hand ( huge heat source comes at them I freak too thinknig I just became something's dinner. )

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I'm sorry to hear that you had a personal bad experience. :(

We just don't ever want to become a forum that advocates that live is better than f/t or that f/t is better than live. We advocate that each keeper educates themselves on the different methods and then decides for themselves what works best for them.

I had zero experience when I got my first ball python and fed live. But I also did a lot of forum lurking before I got my first snake and read how to introduce live prey safely.

The OP decided that he was more comfortable with feeding f/t and that's awesome!

My only point in speaking up was so that others who may read this would have the counter information that live feeding isn't inherently dangerous when done correctly. Even IF I'd had 10 injuries in those 15K live feedings - that makes my personal risk of injury in my sample, .00066% - which is pretty darn low. :)

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Alright, I'm sorry if it came off that I was saying one was way better than the other. It was just my opinion really and yeah since I'd had some problems with it I was just recommending it here.