Adopting a BP, advice needed

Hey guys, this is my first post. The situation is this, my deal. My wife works at a vet who is an exotic animal specialist. A guy brings in a ~2yr old albino ball python that is just stunning in color. He says he can afford to feed it anymore and it has to go. Be has everything in his truck, proceeds to unload it in the parking lot, places the snake in the aquarium and drives off.... Crazy, I know. Anyway the wife says we have a member of the family, maybe permeant maybe find it a home....
Ok so it's like 4.5ft or so. It NEEDS to eat for sure, the vet said it hasn't eating in probably a month and wasn't eating regularly anyway, it's needs to be fattened up and to get healthy. The cage is a ~40 long acrylic aquarium that to me is too narrow. There is a heat lamp and a hearing pad with a timer. A human heating pad not an under tank pad. So, I am going to build it a better bigger cage and I have been reading up on proper housing and heat requirements and such. My question really is about feeding him. I was told he probably won't eat until his stress level goes down. Can some one tell me how often to feed him, the best cheapest place for bulk frozen food ect. Thanks for the advice in advance.

Hi,

Do you know what he was eating in the past?

Just in case he was on live and resists F/T. No point in buying a freezer load of things he won't eat. :)

If he hasn't eaten in a while you will want to feed him smaller prey items than normal to gently restart the system.

Then, once he has had those you can move up to the normal feeding size - I'm going to say he should be on small rats at his size normally.

You might also want to read more about tub and tank sizes before deciding what to build him - too much space can actually be a bad thing for Ball pythons. :gj:

Have a read through the caresheet as well.


dr del

Looks like Dr. Del hit the most important topics. Great job on giving the poor snake a new home! :gj: It's a shame that people can live with themselves after dumping an animal off somewhere instead of properly finding it a new home. :hmm: There's plenty of people who would take in an Albino BP no questions asked.

Yea the guy said it has only eaten frozen and apparently that's why he can't afford it. Otherwise he would catch it wild living pray... Yes this guy was a genius I know. The Dr said to just go to Petsmart and get a few frozen rats for now.... After that do you recommend a vendor?
I'll read through the caresheet, thanks. This isn't how we like to do things. It would have been optimal to be able to get all this worked out BEFORE we brought something like this into our home, but it's a lot better than the alternative. I'll read through the care sheet and search the forum for relevant threads. I guess I'm kinda just panicking because I know this snake needs really good care.

I'd say dont worry about building a cage right now.

Go get these few things.
Sterilite tub
Heat pad
Lamp dimmer(lowes $10)
Accurite thermometer/hydrometer combo with probe(walmart $10)


You put some holes in the side of the tub with usually a soldering iron.

Tubs hold heat and humidity very well and help snakes feel safe.

You put the heat pad on one side on the bottom of the tub on the outside. Put the accurite probe inside the tub under the substrate, Paper towels, aspen, etc..then the part of the accurite that tells the temps, Put that on the cool side.

The heat pad gets plugged into the dimmer switch to control the heat output.

You want belly heat to be 90-92 and cool 78-80. This can take some fiddling with the dimmer to get it right.

Stick a water dish and two hides in it and you are good to go.

I also suggest getting a nice thermostat to replace the dimmer when you can.

Then leave him alone for a week and try feeding a mouse/rat witj feeding tongs. If he doesn't take it. Leave it in with him for a couple hours/overnight. To make f\t more appealing, heat up the head with a blow dryer.

Can't believe no one has asked yet. We love pictures around here. Post a picture when you get a chance.

Thanks for all the replies! The care sheet is a wealth of info! Thanks Dr. For pointing me to that. Doesn't seem like I need to panic too much. My passion is cigars so I have the digital Hygro/temp gauge and I am very well versed in maintaing temp and RH. easy enough. I think I will go with a tub to get him some security if nothing else for the time being. Again, thanks fir the help and for calming my nerves. I am definitely going to be sticking around here learning and sharing as much as I can....
Oh and I'll try to get some pics up this weekend! Thanks guys...
One last question, just to try to gauge the situation of the previous 'owner'. What IS an average cost of feeding an adult male BP?

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Originally Posted by Lferg

Thanks for all the replies! The care sheet is a wealth of info! Thanks Dr. For pointing me to that. Doesn't seem like I need to panic too much. My passion is cigars so I have the digital Hygro/temp gauge and I am very well versed in maintaing temp and RH. easy enough. I think I will go with a tub to get him some security if nothing else for the time being. Again, thanks fir the help and for calming my nerves. I am definitely going to be sticking around here learning and sharing as much as I can....
Oh and I'll try to get some pics up this weekend! Thanks guys...
One last question, just to try to gauge the situation of the previous 'owner'. What IS an average cost of feeding an adult male BP?

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Depends on where you purchase the frozen rodents from. I purchase mine from a local Ball Python and Rodent breeder who also owns a reptile store. The size of the prey depends on the size of the snake. My male and female normals are the same size right now, I feed them both small rats which are about $2.20 each. They eat about once a week, so for one of them I pay $8-10 a month.. really not very expensive, in my honest opinion.

Btw, I strongly recommend sticking with the tub setup to house him in. Display tanks are wonderful, but from experience they are a pain in the butt to maintain proper temperatures and humidity. Also a serious pain in the butt to clean! I switched to Sterilite tubs and never looked back!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lferg

Thanks for all the replies! The care sheet is a wealth of info! Thanks Dr. For pointing me to that. Doesn't seem like I need to panic too much. My passion is cigars so I have the digital Hygro/temp gauge and I am very well versed in maintaing temp and RH. easy enough. I think I will go with a tub to get him some security if nothing else for the time being. Again, thanks fir the help and for calming my nerves. I am definitely going to be sticking around here learning and sharing as much as I can....
Oh and I'll try to get some pics up this weekend! Thanks guys...
One last question, just to try to gauge the situation of the previous 'owner'. What IS an average cost of feeding an adult male BP?

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Very cheap. REALLY.

I mean - even if you don't go the frozen route (cheaper)... you can get an appropriate rat at the reptile shop for about $3.99. Multiply that by 4 weeks in a month and you're out about $16 per month to feed a bp the expensive way.

My dog costs a lot more than that.

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Originally Posted by anatess

about $16 per month to feed a bp the expensive way.

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This makes me very sad for the person who gave this animal up.

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Originally Posted by Lferg

This makes me very sad for the person who gave this animal up.

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You sure it wasn't a kid without a job? Lol, happens all too often.
Financial woes are no excuse for a person to abandon an animal like that, though. :( Saddens me.

Ok guys sorry for this whole post..... My wife just informed me that I don't listen (duh, I'm a man) and that it's a Burmese python....

Yikes!

Have you got the room for a 12 foot snake?


dr del

I guess well have to make room, dr. Heck we already built a separate temp controlled building out back to house the guinea pigs rescued from the tornado last month.... What's another 12ft snake gonna hurt... Ulgh

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What's another 12ft snake gonna hurt

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The guinea pigs :P

Oh wow.. haha well that's an entirely different scenario. They don't need food quite as often as Ball Pythons but their prey items obviously get more expensive as they get larger.

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Originally Posted by Kymberli

You sure it wasn't a kid without a job? Lol, happens all too often.
Financial woes are no excuse for a person to abandon an animal like that, though. :( Saddens me.

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we cant judge the person who droped it off we dont know there situation...at least they droped it off at a vet insted of releasing the snake...so in his mind he tried to get the snake to someone responsible

This makes more sense. People ball morphs normally don't just drop it off somewhere.

I'd still like to see a photo.

Nothing against you or your wife, but I've seen people swear up and down a ball was a burm before. Of course I know better, but it does happen.

Of course, a Burmese is going to be a LOT more work, but there is even a great forum here for Burms and other large snakes.

Best wishes!

Gale

That will be a very serious undertaking. If you are up for it then wonderful. If not than I'm sure a local herp society can help him out. They are beautiful but a whole 'nother ball o' wax compared to a ball python! Good luck with whatever you decide:)

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Originally Posted by Lferg

I guess well have to make room, dr. Heck we already built a separate temp controlled building out back to house the guinea pigs rescued from the tornado last month.... What's another 12ft snake gonna hurt... Ulgh

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I think we found the solution to the problem of being able to afford to feed it...:D

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Originally Posted by Kymberli

Oh wow.. haha well that's an entirely different scenario. They don't need food quite as often as Ball Pythons but their prey items obviously get more expensive as they get larger.

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They eat much larger food a little less often (every 2 weeks or so?) but I'm thinking FT pigs and whole chickens will be expensive. Also, more people required during snake handling time as they can eventually get big enough to overpower you. Man, you are really awesome to take care of him/her, I hope they do well for you and the world needs more folks like you and your wife!

Best wishes!

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Originally Posted by darkbloodwyvern

They eat much larger food a little less often (every 2 weeks or so?) but I'm thinking FT pigs and whole chickens will be expensive.

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When it gets up to size, frozen small rabbits are about $10 each;);)

Thanks guy, a guy from Birmingham hear about the snake somehow and wants to come have a look. Apparently he is a breeder. I know that in the mammal world, breeder usually means they don't give all their animals proper care. Does the same hold true for snakes? I wouldnt mind letting this snake go to a more experienced home but not if that means less care.... Plus we have really started to think about the implications of a HUGE 15+ foot reptile.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lferg

Thanks guy, a guy from Birmingham hear about the snake somehow and wants to come have a look. Apparently he is a breeder. I know that in the mammal world, breeder usually means they don't give all their animals proper care. Does the same hold true for snakes? I wouldnt mind letting this snake go to a more experienced home but not if that means less care.... Plus we have really started to think about the implications of a HUGE 15+ foot reptile.

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Careful there... most of the people here are breeders. :)

Well then this would be a good crowd to give some solid answers to that question. I know nothing about reptile keepers in general much less breeders. I know a lot about mammal breeders of many species. We have rescued pretty much anything there is to be breed from dogs and cats to birds, goats, every kind of rodent under sun it seems. Point is when we have to go rescue these animals it is because they are living in very poor conditions that no animal should ever have to live in. That being said, if this breeder is very interested in the snake, and we go check out his place, what would be signs of poor conditions. All of the enclosures I have seen for huge Burmese look very small, but that seems to be the norm, so what am I looking for?

doesn't work out, and we foster this snake until we plain can't anymore.... Would a zoo be interested in an albino?

Look for dirty conditions, skinny animals with saggy skin, retained sheds or just overall poor conditions. Ask him how often he feeds and what he feeds, how he plans to house them and what temperatures he keeps his animals at. What kinds does he have, etc..

Those are a couple questions I'd ask if you want him to go to a good home.

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Originally Posted by Lferg

Thanks guy, a guy from Birmingham hear about the snake somehow and wants to come have a look. Apparently he is a breeder. I know that in the mammal world, breeder usually means they don't give all their animals proper care. Does the same hold true for snakes? I wouldnt mind letting this snake go to a more experienced home but not if that means less care.... Plus we have really started to think about the implications of a HUGE 15+ foot reptile.

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Negative. We're not puppy mills.
Yes, there are SOME breeders who treat their animals like crap, but most reptile breeders take good care of their stuff.