just got a baby ball python, did i do something wrong......

ok when i was 13 i had a ball python for about a year, loved it, but i moved and my mother made me give it away, well now im a adult, found out about a reptile expo that was coming up and decided to get another ball python.

i went to the expo this sunday, and bought the basics, a 15 tall gallon tank, bad of aspen bedding, water dish, small hiding cave, UTH under that, temperature strip, and a 75 watt blue bulb. And of course the ball python. The way i picked him out is i basically went to every stand that were selling ball pythons and looked for the nicest one, finally after visiting three different breeders i see one with like 30 CB Ball Pythons in there and ONE shined the most out of the rest, it was the brightest and cleanest looking one, i observed it close and noticed it moves around alot, flickered his tongue etc etc, the things u are supposed to look for in a healthy snake. So i grabbed him up, judging from the size i would say he must have just hatched last month the earliest. Hes maybe 15-16 inches and the widest part of his body is maybe 1, or maybe 1.2 inches.

Ok, so i take him home, set everything up and since then (last sunday) he would not come out of the hiding cave whats so ever unless i bring him out, i have barely handled him much since i got him. Anyways today i finally decided to try and feed him, so i buy a small white mice from my local pet store, got a box, placed the snake in the box and dropped the mice in, after a minute or 2 the snake took interest and would strike at the mouse, but it was as if he could not get a grib on the mouse or coil, the snake striked the mouse atleast 5 times, in one of which when he striked the mouse kind of bit him i think because after which he burried his head in a coil, after that he would just look at the mouse and not even strike, finally i figuered i would help him out and i hit the mouse a few time with the end of a curtain hanger, well, i did know how easy it was to kill a mouse but i ended up like taking half his neck of, blood everywhere and the few second before the mouse died he was having like a stroke and the snake striked one last time but still no coil.

After that i dangled the dead mouse around and the snake would only look at it but wasent even striking at all, after a while he just lost interest and slidered away from the dead mouse. So fustrated i place him back in his cage and he quickly went into his cave. Then 10 minutes later he, for the first time came out of his hiding cave and was roaming around for a bit, at one point he opened his mouth like he kind of yawned. Then minutes later he went back to his cave and has not come out since.


Ive read up on how alot of ball pythons can be troublesum eaters, and this was my biggest fear when i bought it. I did not want to deal with force feeding or none of that stuff. The ball python i had when i was younger would eat a mouse once a week no problem. Did i do something wrong here?

By the way i dont have a humidity gauge (gonna pick one up friday) but the temp gauge reads 84 degrees all the time, sometimes maybe 82.

Your snake was striking defensively. You really need to let him settle in and he should be fed in his own enclosure. It sounds like you just stressed the hell out of your ball python. You should wait at least a week before trying again and don't be so hands on. Leave the mouse in the snake tank and just sit back and watch for 15 or 20 minutes. People try to "help" far too much and stress the snake out. Just my $.02...

Regards,

B

Ohhh where to start.... You may start by reading the ball python care sheet on this sitehttp://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet Secondly Ditch the heat bulb they suck the humidity out of the enclosure and will be more problems than they will ever do good. Third a happy ball python is a hidden ball python, one that is out "exploring" is stressed. Fourth feeding any snake in a separate location is stressful, and just not a good idea... The whole BS story of them being aggressive if they are fed in their habitat or recognizing you as a food source is exactly that bull crap. Hope this helps and READ THE CARE SHEET

i did quiet a bit of reading before i bought the snake and most of what you guys said is true, except i've read alot on how its better to feed the snake in a different enclosure, not because it will make him less aggressive but its just easier that way, i went along with it because i figuered what the hell, better that way incase it gets messy, where he eats since its a regular box im throwing it away anyways, but will do, i will feed him in his cage. Also i have read up on how when i first get the snake i should wait 2-3 weeks and let him be, and get settled, only i did not read that until after todays events.

First time i ever heard anybody tell me not to use the heat bulb. So its actually better to have no heat lamp or light at all and just a under tank heater????!

But yeh, he was stressed out as hell after that, it did not help that when i was putting him back in the cage the screen top fell and so did the heat lamp and made all this noise, the snake damn near ran into his cave.

Well, I have to give you some credit for coming here for help! You're going to do a great job if you keep reading. I would definately wait awhile for the snake to settle down. I wouldn't handle him for awhile either. As long as your hotside (UTH) is at 90 degrees and your coldside is around 80 degrees you don't need a lamp. A lamp can be good if your temps are cold but keep in mind it will reduce your humidity quite a bit. Keep reading and good luck!

Regards,

B

You have 1000x better of a chance of getting him to eat if you don't stick him in a small scary place with what to him could be a predator. Leave him in his cage. Feeding in the cage is not a problem and doesn't make
Them aggressive. Don't do that again. He was already stressed but that was way more stressful. That will actually make things worse. Anyways. Read the care sheet get familiarized and make sure he stays completely unstressed. The give him five days and try and feed him in the cage. To make it easier to watch the snake and the mouse take out the hides. So that the mouse can't get trapped in the snakes home. That will stress the little guy out if that happens.
Ps sorry if I sound like an ahole. Definitely not trying to be. Your doing good Take a deep breath now. Keep reading. 

The yawn-looking motion was exactly that. Snake yawns are freaking adorable. :D

You'll get used to the hiding quickly. I actually worry more when mine's out too long.

thanks everybody for all the replies. I just finished reading the care sheet. I will take you guys advice since of course you all know more than me. The one thing i cant do is the lighting, i live in NYC, and in the winter it can get cold as hell, and even with the heaters in my apt, there is no way i can keep 85-90 degrees in that tank with just a UTH. I have read in the care sheet, that bright lights are bad, i will change that, i currently have a "white" sun glo neodymium daylight bulb on 24hrs, and even though here in NYC is spring, in the morning time it can get pretty cold in this apt, so i have to keep it on, anybody have any suggestions on a blue, less bright light that will still keep my tank at the temperature it needs to be?

Also i just ordered a zoo med dual temp/humidity gauge, are those accurate enough? i know digital is better, is this good enough? i would have bought the digital but i already ordered the zoo med dual online.

That won't be accurate at all. Walmart sells an Acurite digital temp/hygrometer for like $12 in their "weather station outdoors" type area. You could look into a ceramic heat emitter. They screw into normal lamp sockets but only emit infrared heat instead of light.

Regards,

B

looked up that acu-rite digital thermo/hygro, do i just velcro that inside the tank like i would the zoo med dual?

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Originally Posted by FrankieCarbone

looked up that acu-rite digital thermo/hygro, do i just velcro that inside the tank like i would the zoo med dual?

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That should work great if you want to secure it in there! I just set mine in my tubs. That probably wouldn't look as good in a tank so you can velcro it in and then run your probe where you want so you can hide it better.

Regards,

B

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Originally Posted by FrankieCarbone

But yeh, he was stressed out as hell after that, it did not help that when i was putting him back in the cage the screen top fell and so did the heat lamp and made all this noise, the snake damn near ran into his cave.

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Aarhhh! You're SO funny! I was laughing just picturing the snake jumping and taking off! You sure have got talent for writing!:D

BTW, if you have trouble keeping your enclosure warm enough, you could find something to close up the top of your aquarium. A scren top will let all the heat AND humidity escape as quick as you generate it.
When shedding time comes,you'll appreciate to be able to keep a higher level of humidity without too much trouble. ;)

Personally, I have a piece of Coroplast onto my screen top, with 2 shutter like flaps at one end, so I can regulate the humidity level, but anything sightier would do even better, like a piece of plastic film cut to size.


If that blue light is set on top of your screen, you might have to cut a hole in the plastic sheet and keep a 1in gap between the edge of the plastic film and the hot lamp. Or, if you close almost all your top screen, just leaving maybe 5% open for ventilation, you might find out that your UTH provides enough heat to maintain a proper T° level. And you wouldn't need to worry about the light stressing out your snake either. That's the option I'd try, personally. :)

Get a nice point and click IR thermometer. Mine is really the best $10 I spent on my collection, after the lamp dimmers for the UTH. Stuff it under his hide where he hangs out and get a temperature reading where his belly is. His tummy temps should be around 90, no higher than 95.

Breeders keep their cool temps around 80F, but he's really okay as long as he has a nice warm spot your indoor temps aren't dipping way below 70F. You really don't need the blue light--he doesn't need UV. I use red lights for a little extra heat in winter.

(What I really think he needs, though, is more hiding spots. At least a cool hide and warm hide. And clutter up his tank--crinkle up paper and fill the bottom with that for week or two. But some poster packing tubes and FedEx or OfficeMax, cut them into 10" lengths, and give him some tunnels. Ball pythons LOVE tubes. Sometimes babies take a while to settle in, and lots of clutter to explore and hide in helps.)

As for the light get an infrared bulb, easy on the eyes and the snake can't even see it, no stressing, also aluminum foil folded over a few times on the screen works too. As far as feeding goes, not sure how feeding outside the enclosure is easier, at best,

>open lid
>insert mice
>close lid

Is easier than

>open lid
>pick up snake (risk getting bit if u smell like food)
>move snake to unfamiliar place
>insert mice
>wait
>wait some more
>pick up snake after feeding( risk getting bit or regurgitation)
>put snake back in cage
>close lid

What do you have to control the UTH? The UTHs get far too hot and need a dimmer or a thermostat (thermostat being better and safer, dimmer being cheaper) to control the temps. Mine read over 130* before I set up my thermostat....

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What do you have to control the UTH? The UTHs get far too hot and need a dimmer or a thermostat (thermostat being better and safer, dimmer being cheaper) to control the temps. Mine read over 130* before I set up my thermostat....

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none, i picked up the smallest version of the zoo met Repti Therm under tank heaters, it did not come with any type of control (i found that weird too) the instructions just mentions the different ways to prevent any sort of burn for example, if you room temp can exceed 80 degrees (obviously not gonna happen now in NYC) do not us, always have a thick coat of bedding where the UTH is to prevent the snake from being directly on the UTH and the glass (which i do), and monitor the temp of the cage to make sure its not heating it too much, also no water on it as it can cause cracks, etc etc I do put my finger on it once in a while and it dosent seem like its that hot, its pretty much just warm at the most...

should i be using a different type of UTH? And now im not sure on wether to get a infrared heater bulb, or a ceramic, which works best? and how many watts for a tall 15 gallon tank?

Well of course they don't come with a thermostat, you have to buy those separately. I touched the 130* UTH and it doesn't feel hot to our hands....

I have a dimmer ($10.00 from Home Depot) and a temp gun ($35.00 from tempguns.com) to read my temps. Far too often I've seen burns on snakes that could have been prevented. You have to know the temps in your tank, not guess. The kind of UTH doesn't matter as long as you have something to control it. I use those digital thermometers to monitor the ambient temps, but I live by my temp gun for the UTH, under the substrate, and above the substrate. It's MUCH more accurate, you KNOW you temps, and it PREVENTS burns. If you don't want to have to test your temps all the time then you can find a decent thermostat for around $60.00, but the dimmer does just as well as long as it is checked about 3 times a day.

I have a 10 gal tank with half the cage covered (cool side), half the bottom covered with the UTH (warm side), a 60 watt ceramic heat emitter, and a thermostat that regualates everything really well.

My thermostat is not a digital but a dial so it took a little bit to nail down the temps.

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Originally Posted by MissDizzyBee

I actually worry more when mine's out too long.

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Agreed. One of the bp's I bought at the beginning of the month only goes into her hide when she sleeps. The rest of the time she's out and about exploring. For this simple reason I pretty much leave her well alone and only go into her enclosure to spot clean and feed her. I never take her out of the enclosure and place her someplace else to feed her. The first few days she would wrap around her water bowl and hiss at me whenever I just passed by. But it was only a few times.

Let your snake get used to the change. Ditch the light as suggested above. But keep an eye on her. Log it's eating pattern. If mine aren't eating on their schedule I keep a better watch on them to make sure nothing is wrong.

Well if it feels warm to your touch it's already too warm. Our temps are 97.f and the temp the uth needs to be at is 90-92 tops. So it wouldn't feel warm to the touch. A snake likes to keep their body temp at 88 that's why they feel cold to us. I would go get a dimmer. Home depot sells the plug in lamp dimmers that will work for the time being. Like I said earlier put the thermom probe on the glass and secure it there with hotglue. Then you will have to fiddle with the dimmer starting in on all The way low and adjust up until you reach 92.f and make sure it stays there.

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Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

A snake likes to keep their body temp at 88 that's why they feel cold to us.

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I have looked ALMOST everywhere for this info and never had any luck. Is this a textbook fact or your opinion? And is this temp just for balls or a rule of thumb for all snakes?

That temp should work for ball pythons as well as boa constrictors.

It's just what my vet told me a long time ago when I was learning all this info. As well as whenever I've needed to do soaks that's the recommend temp for the water bc it's most comfortable to them. Ive read it In other stuff I just can't remember what.

just to be sure this is what you are talking about correct?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Digital-Thermome...97689082563077

no wal marts here in NYC so i would have to order on ebay......

That looks nice a good in-tank thermometer/humidity gauge. Certainly looks better than my humidity gauges...

This is the sort of thing I'm recommending for measuring hot spot temps:

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/...mperature-gun/

(By $10, I guess really meant $30. Sorry, realized after I'd posted that I'd spent more like $30 on my IR thermometer.)

And here's the tabletop lamp dimmer we recommend for the UTH:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053

They sell them in the lighting section at home depot, not electrical. Here's a recent thread on hot spot temps:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...at-Pad-too-HOT!

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Originally Posted by loonunit

That looks nice a good in-tank thermometer/humidity gauge. Certainly looks better than my humidity gauges...

This is the sort of thing I'm recommending for measuring hot spot temps:

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/...mperature-gun/

(By $10, I guess really meant $30. Sorry, realized after I'd posted that I'd spent more like $30 on my IR thermometer.)

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Yeah I have seen that one and have heard good things. Here's another though just in case:
http://tempgun.com/

I'd be completely useless if I didn't have it, I live by my PE-2 seriously.

how about this one

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053

wonder if works just as good, reason be, i can pick this up right away at a home depot here, instead of ordering online and having to wait a week to get it........

Yes I knew Home Depot carried them, that looks alright. Just keep in mind the +/-4* accuracy, that means it could be up to 4 degrees higher or lower than what it's reading. That's not bad, but just make sure you keep it in mind for any temp gun you purchase. Some are more accurate than others, but that should definitely work.

as far as the placement of the accu-rite..here's how i have mine...

it is velcro'd to the back glass in the middle...

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...sy247/nyx1.jpg

this pic above also shows my whole set up...identical hides on both ends (warm side is the left half, cool side is the right half. left side hide box and water dish are both directly over the heat pad which is underneath the whole terrarium.)
the cord hanging off the left side of the dresser is actually the cord for the thermostat's probe. the thermostat unit itself is actually up resting on the top of the terrarium.
oh and if you notice 1 side of the terrarium is elevated, that's so there's some ventilation for the heat pad and it keeps the heat pad off the surface of my dresser.

a close up showing where the accu-rite is...

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...sy247/nyx2.jpg

there's also 2 water dishes cuz i found i can maintain humidity better with 2 water sources, whereas 1 water source doesnt provide enough moisture. plus, i know there's plenty of water for my girl & i spend less time refilling water dishes with 2 in there.

oh and um i didnt read enough of the thread to know if this got addressed or not so sorry if it already did but i noticed you said something like you can prevent a burn by placing more substrate over the side with the heat pad under it...and my take on that is no you cant cuz all the snake has to do at that point is move the substrate aside, which they do, mine does, and voila! you've got a burned snake.

ok so yeah, i think i've got a really good set up so that should give you an idea of what you could do but everyone sorta does their own thing.
whatever works for each of us right?

Haha, wearing his hide like a hat.

Yeah, throw some more clutter in there if he's acting defensive/shy--that's a lot of open space. You can take it out again after he's gotten over it and adjusted, because extra cage furniture does mean more stuff to clean in the long run.

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Originally Posted by mommanessy247

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...sy247/nyx2.jpg

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LOL I love how he's wearing his hide! How cute..nice setup :)

my bp is a female...but yeah she likes doin' that.
eventually i'll have to tell her she's not a snurtle...
but for now i'll just :rofl: every time i see her like that.
one time i found her curled up inside an upside down hide box that was flipped over inside the water dish on the right side. i wanted to correct it so bad but decided to let her realize on her own that she wasnt hidden. took a couple hours before she finally moved to the warm side.
she's such a hoot, never a dull moment with her.

That's typical, just give him another seven days to settle in a little better. Make sure you have your husbandry as close to perfect as possible. You want his hot-spot belly heat in between 89-94F, and his ambient temps around 80F. You also want to make sure your humidity stays as close to or above 50%. If you meet all of these requirements, he should be slugging down mice like a champ in a couple weeks.
Chances are, he was a little shaken on your last feeding attempt, and wasn't exactly in the mood to eat. It isn't uncommon for your BP to strike at something and not mean to do any real damage, just using their strikes as a scare tactic. His yawn afterwords was just him resetting his little jaws after having them jumbled around flying through the air a few times at the mouse. Nothing to worry about though!
You can feed around every five days until he gets a little bigger, but try not to feed him at closer intervals than that! Good luck!

Just to add to everyone's comments about the UTH - I definitely recommend a thermostat, even a cheap one, over a dimmer. As ambient temps change, you have to repeatedly adjust a rheostat (dimmer) for the proper temp output. Dial thermostats take a little while to get right, but then you should be able to leave it year-round. If you do use a dimmer, set it closer to 89deg so you don't risk the hot spot getting too hot as the weather warms up.

I got a piece of plexiglass sheeting cut to size (with my dremel) to cover the screen top before I moved my Balls to tubs. That helped enormously with humidity. I just cut a corner out for where I had the ceramic heater. My house only stays ~68deg in the winter, so I needed that to keep it warm enough during the cold months.

Oh yeah, and the ambient (air) temps need to be between 76-80 degrees. Any lower, and you take the risk of respiratory disease.

Good luck, and keep reading! This site has been invaluable in my learning curve! :)

i revamped my setup today, changed the day sun glo 75w bulb, bought a new dome lamp that houses 100w bulbs, and bought a 100w infrared bulb, definetley can tell its alot hotter in there, and the cheap temp strip read between 90-95 as supposed to before that only read 80-82, also bought a dimmer for the UTH. After a few hours i decided to take a look (the tank is in my closet) and FINALLY caught my python come out of his cave! Half his body was out and it looked like he was going towards the water thats on the other side of the tank, but once he saw me i tried to stay still but i guess he realized i was there and he crawled right back into the cave. But atleast im making progress, guess he is getting more confortable, will wait until next friday before i feed him...

Also ordered the Pro Exotic Infrared themometer PE2, and also a acu-rite digital thermo/humidity, but i they wont arrive until next week...

It has a probe so all you have to do is set that in the Tank. I do like the ceramic heat emitters in the winter time. I live in Colorado and have pikes peak mountain as my back yard and winter time as well as springs this high up, over 10,000 feet,it gets cold. I still have snow on the ground and it snowed here 2 days ago. make sure when using the ceramic heat emitters that you get the right canister for it, It needs to have a ceramic socket. I have a heat emitter hat I have used for a few years. I will say they are expensive, but they last along time (as long as you don't drop it)

Ches are great if your house gets super cold. Keep in mind that they will zap the humidity right out of the tank though.

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Originally Posted by LGray23

Yeah I have seen that one and have heard good things. Here's another though just in case:
http://tempgun.com/

I'd be completely useless if I didn't have it, I live by my PE-2 seriously.

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Yes...I believe you...I think I read that on here about 10 times a day!

glad i chose the PE2 over the one on home depot, the home depot was -4 accurate while the PE2 is i believe 1.8 accurate, the only reason i considered the home depot one was because i can pick it up right away and not wait, but i decided to get the PE2 it on ebay, and wait

Ok I read through this fairly fast and Its late so Im sorry if I am repeating or I missed something.:sleepy: I read that you said the mouse bit the snake?! Why dont you offer frozen thawed and see if he is less scared and more willing to eat when Its time to feed him again. I dont think I could leave a live mouse in with mine. I have seen far to many pictures of a mouse eating the scales off a non hungry/non defensive snake.

i know alot of you are opposed to feeding him in another enclosure besides where he is in now, but this is one of those things i really would like to do. It just feels alot easy to feed him in a cheap box that i can throw away later, rather than have a mouse running around the tank i so nicely set up, and hiding in his hide cave, and running around pissing all over place, and not to mention the poop that comes out when the mouse is squeezed to death. Can those of you who take your python out and place him in another enclosure comment on this? I mean, i know from what i have read that the BEST thing to do is to feed him in his own enclosure, but this is one rule i want to break, how can i accomplish this without stressing the snake out and get him to feed? hes already feeling very confortable in his cage ever since i got the infrared bulb, and 2 different caves, one with the UTH and one without (cold side) so hes getting comfortable. I just really would like to be able to bring him to a another container, have him strike and eat, finish digesting and bring him back home. comments anybody? (those who feed outside the cage, and those who feed in there home cage) Like i said, i'm noticing my python is getting comfortable in his cage, and i plan on another attempt on feeding on tuesday.....

i havent thought of that, because after the mouse was dead (when i stuck him with a pole on his neck and he bled out) that the snake paid no attention at all to the snake, or try to eat him after he was dead and full of blood, so i doubt hed pay attention to a thawed out mouse... He striked at the mouse only when the mouse was alive.... once it was limp and dead he paid no attention to it...

okay, so last time i tried to feed him was on tuesday, since then i have left him alone. Last night he was out and about, and the humidity for some reason has dropped in the cage, its usually at 51 and maybe drops to 47 at the least but for some reason was at 40, well i got my spray bottle and started misting, he of course did not like that very much, but most of the times when i spray in there he just gets a little suprised but thats it, this time he really did not like it, after i sprayed the cage down, i decided to crouch down and just take a look at him since i havent in a long time looked at him up close. So as iam looking at him, he strikes! i mean he hit the glass, but that came out of nowhere, i was shocked, i then put my fingers up against the glass and he struck again. and like 3 more times before i got up and walked away, then he went into his hiding cave. I went to sleep, i wake up today hoping it was just a nightmare or sometime, but when i went to his tank, he was out and about again, noticed the humidity was low once again (38 percent, the lowest ever) and i crouched down to take a look at him again before i got the spray bottle, and as soon as my face got close to the tank he struck again!

i dont get it, the first week i got him i was handling him for 10-15 minutes at a time and he was not agressive at all, i went from that, to a snake thats not eating, to a snake thats not eating and striked at me when i just look at him! man, what am i doing wrong now.....

He sounds hungry or stressed or he's just being a defensive baby. I would avoid crouching down like that so he doesn't keep whacking himself. Baby's are usually defensive, I have a male pin that tries to chew on me everytime I open the tub. Aluminum foil tape on the screen helps keep humidity it. Try feeding again. I believe he's accepted a meal from you already if it's been a few days he might be hungry again. But if he strikes at it even once defensively take it out. Striking but not actually biting and coiling. Don't stick the mouse in it's face or even be tempted to do so. That will only stress him out more. Make sure you try live.

i dont know what happened, there were like 8 pages on this subject but i dont know what happened with the web site now its down to 5, so i will recap

no he has not taken a meal from me yet, its been a month now since i got him, and the first feeding attempt he would only strike and not eat, the second attempt was on tuesday, and same thing he would only strike and not eat or coil, should i try again today? its only been 3 days since the last attempt.

what i dont understand, is how i was handling him fine the first week i got him ( you can even see in the pictures i have up) and it went from that to now he strikes at me when he sees my face? it just feels like im making things worse in this situacion, all i have done is exactly what you guys and everybody else has told me to do.

Oh and both the times i tried to feed him, they were live mice.

I place my boa in a separate container because his current cage does not accommodate him eating in there. I’m not worried about the cleaning. Either way you do it there are pros and cons. When he has finishs eating I really never know when he is ready to go back in for sure. I usually wait until he moves, don’t want him to still be in feeding mode then reach in, I will usually hook him first to lift then reach in.

Have you tried knocking out the mouse, leaving it in there and giving your snake privacy? If its glass, block off the bottom so he can't see out if he's on the bottom.

There will always be the live vs f/t debate. But I would never leave live in there unattended.

When I fed live, I moved my snake to a cardboard box for feeding. It was never a problem, never regurgitated and never went for my hand. Keep in mind, though, that mine has a very mellow personality.

I now feed him f/t in his tank. He will sometimes strike at the prey on tongs, but for the most part won't eat it unless I set it next to his cave and drop a towel over his tank. Some of them just have quirks like that. Once you find them, things are easy. :)

Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by MissDizzyBee

When I fed live, I moved my snake to a cardboard box for feeding. It was never a problem, never regurgitated and never went for my hand. Keep in mind, though, that mine has a very mellow personality.

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I feed mine F/T in a cardboard box. Never had a prob. He knows when he's in his box that foods coming and gets really excited. The main thing is patience.

on the first feeding attempt, it was outside his tank, i placed him him a brown box, and i dropped the mouse in, he stricked at it a couple of times but did not coil, i then hit the mouse with the end of a curtain rod and by mistake actually pierced the skin of the mouse on his neck and actually killing it, blood was everywhere and the mouse was like having a stroke and twitching for about a minute, and after that my BP just did one last defensive strike, but with blood and all smeared everywhere he still did not eat. The second feeding attempt (tuesday) was inside his tank this time, and same thing, snake did not pay much attention to the mouse until the mouse got close, then he just did a defensive strike, after that i made the mistake (?) of grabbing the mouse by the tail and dangling infront of him, he just did defensive strikes and thats it. The mouse was in the tank with the snake for about 20 minutes, and my BP paid no attention to it, the mouse even took a nap on the hot side! after that i just took the mouse out, this was on tuesday.

Since last night, and this mornings "strikes" at me, i noticed off behavior, first he is out of his cold side hide and it just hanging out in the middle of the tank (he rarely does that he usually explores then goes back into hiding) and also for the FIRST time he has gone into his hot side hide (which is alot bigger than the cold side hide), this is the one with the UTH underneath. My digital thermometer says 88 degrees so thats good, but the humidity has drastically gone down, its at a all time low 37% since i bought my acu-rite. I think that maybe its malfunctioning because since i set it up a week ago it has never gone lower than 47% at the least, but since yesterday its being going down alot, even after i spray the cage. When i spray the cage it will go up to maybe 40-44, but before when i spray the tank down it will go up 53-55. Or maybe its just really not humid in there, i know the temp is working fine because i use my PE2 tempgun and the temperatures more or less match what the acu-rite says...