New Ball Python Owner.

Hello everyone. I am new the forums as you can tell lol, but I have just bought a Het for piebald male Ball Python two days ago and I am currently housing him in a 20 gallon long. I have a heat lamp and a heat pad on one side. Over the pad is a hide for him to stay under and on the cool side is his water dish and a 3 in 1 Rock cave that he has been in since I have brought him home. A friend had gotten him from a reptile show about two hours away for me. He knows his snakes he has several right now, but he didnt get the info I had learned to get when purchasing a new snake. I have no idea how old he is or when he last ate. His cage is pretty bare right now because I have ordered several new hides and accessories from the internet due to the fact that where I live all we have near is a Earl May :(. When I first got him i wasnt the first to hold him. First my girlfriend held him, then her little sister held him, and then they gave him to me. I wanted to leave him in his container until I got him into his cage, but no one would listen to me. After a minute of me handling him he started moving a little strange and struck my right thumb. It didn't hurt, but it scared me because I didn't want to jerk and hurt him. But I am on here asking for any advice that can benefit me in the long run and how long I should wait to feed him and hold him again. Thanks :D

You should give him a week to settle in before handling him and feeding him. After about 48 hours after feeding him you will be able to handle him.

Well, what I'm wondering from all that is how are you monitoring that heat pad? What is a humidity in the tank. Just so you know you are definitely going to have humidity problems with the heat lamp above.

Oh, and welcome :D

Lol thanks. And the heat pad a is a little baby exo terra pad and it barely gets hot enough to hurt my finger. I separated the ball from the direct glass the heat pad is on with a sheet of part towel just to be sure he don't burn himself. And I've learned that if he is too dry he will dip into his water dish

Even though that heat pad is little and doesn't feel hot to you it could still get hot enough to burn your snake. It is sooooooo important to have a thermostat to control the temperature of the heat pad, even it if it is only a small one. If you can't afford a thermostat you could always get a dimmer switch to control it. Congrats on getting a new snake and welcome to the forums.

I use a small zoo med heat mat for my one and only tank, and to the touch doesn't feel hot and without my dimmer or thermostat it was reading over 130* full blast ABOVE the glass......you HAVE to get something to monitor the heat in the tank or you're going to end up with an injured snake. Also, I have NEVER seen my bp "dip" in his water on his own. My suggestion is to mist at least 2-3 times a day, and invest in a dimmer that costs $10.00 at Home Depot and a temp gun to check temps. Tempguns.com having a sale on the PE-2 for $35.00.

Here's a pic of what your heat mat can do to your bp...just be prepared for graphic :)
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-me...(graphic)

Welcome.

Correct temps are very important if you want a healthy feeding ball python.

A temperature controller of some king is necessary such as a thermostat or rheostat or even a dimmer switch. you will need an accurate thermometer to monitor the temps. set your heat tape,heat pad or mat at 90-92*F. don't keep your set up(tank) in a cold room. don't handle the baby until it settles into its new cage and is feeding well.

Good luck.:)

Okay a dimmer switch would be fine bc I cant get a thermpatat for a little while bc I have to order one off amazon? And i've seen him dip in his water already

A dimmer is useless without a way to read the temps though, I suggest a temp gun or at the very lest a digital thermometer. If he's dipped in his water he's probably soaking because of lack of humidity....misting should keep him from having to soak.

I've noticed no one has given any advice on how big or how often you should feed your BP. That is important information to have. The pet store I got my first BP from told me to feed her one live mouse once a week. Given her size that was too small for her. You want to feed him something that is about the same width as the thickest part of your snake. I'm sure other people feed differently, but that's the rule of thumb I use. Feeding once a week should be fine if you are feeding the right amount.

I have 2 sticky thermometers. One on each side and the hot sides only 84 and the cool side is only about 80

.....Yes, I'm sorry but those are useless for monitoring the actual heat pad. The heat mat can get VERY hot and the useless sticky thermometer will only read 80* because it's reading ambient temps, not the temp of the glass above the heat mat..

Alright so ill invest in a digital thermometer and a dimmer switch. But yea iso how old my ball is. He is about an inch thick so 1 adult mouse a week. The adult mice I get are a little smaller than normal.

That sounds like a good temporary plan for the dimmer and digital thermometer with a probe. You don't know how old he is? You can't tell my size really because they vary so much, I have 3 the same age and all different sizes. I think even a small one can easily eat a rat pup without difficulty. Maybe be more filling than an adult mouse.

Okay so can anyone tell me why he bit me and how to avoid that in the future

Were you handling him when he bit you or were you doing something in his enclosure?

I was just handling him. But like I said in my opinion he was just stressd out. He had been on display at the reptile show for a few hours in a like a plastic pie container looking thing

Yes, it does sound like he is just stressed. Give him a week of no handling and that should help greatly.

Should I at least like stroke his sides and let him know im not gonna hurt him or just not touch him at all

Nope, I'd leave him completely alone for about a week and let him adjust.

Alright so I moved his three in one hide over towards the warm side a little bit because thats the only place he is staying in the cage now and I didn't want him being too cold.

They will choose whichever hide they feel more comfortable no matter how hot/cold it is, which is why you should have 2 identical hides. One on the hot side and one on the cold side, so he can feel secure in both and move as needed.

Well I woke up last night at like midnight and I've been checking him throughout the night bc I worry about him but last night he was out of his cave and moving around on his hot side. And after I woke up and turned his heat llamp on he poked his head out of his cave and was looking around. I take this as a good sign? Maybe he is warming up and becoming less stressed? Also is it normal for snakes to be kinda shaky when they hold their heads up?

Are they spiders? If they are spiders or have the spider gene in them it's just their wobble. If not, make sure you check your temps very well because too hot temps can cause a wobble that is not genetic, which is a bad thing. (Please someone correct me if I'm wrong, I did read that in a few places).

No he looks exactly like a normal but he has like a chromish under belly which is why the friend picked him out bc he was different from all the rest but he said he is heterozygous for piebald but looks like a normal so I think I might have overpaid 80 dollars for a normal?

[IMG]C:\Users\Alex Taylor\Downloads\Dink.htm[/IMG]

Heres a pic of my little guy. Anyone tell me he's not a normal?

Another thing I wanted to add is now that he is moving around more I get to actually look at him and he has like white scales coming up from his belly and outlining his markings. He is het for piebald but im pretty sure this isnt what those are so if anyone can tell me if they have any ideas I'd appreciate it.

Het for piebald means that he carries one copy of a recessive gene which causes piebald.

Many snakes have white scales on the outside of their "alien head" patterns. The het piebald "markers" aren't 100%. I pay more attention to what the breeder says the genetics of the snake is than the het piebald markers.

This link will show you what folks call the het piebald markers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uqE4...4C773641282DB8

I think you hit it right on the money bc he has those alien head markings which I really like on him. And the white gives them a glowing effect