I want to know ABOUT ALICE. :)

Hi! I am Tia,
here is my intro
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...tral-Texas-!!!

This is Alice. She is my 1st snake experience. This is the enclosure that she came in. We will be switching to something better ASAP. :P She has a vet visit very soon to be probed, and just a general check up.

What kind of BP is she? Any tips/advice/knowledge is appreciated :) Thanks in Advance!
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/DSCN1416.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/DSCN1413.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/DSCN1411.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/DSCN1409.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/DSCN1400.jpg
And Alice...doing her nightly routine of escape planning
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/DSCN1382.jpg

Is a what People call "normal" and I prefer to call "wild type"... Yours have nice reduced/banned pattern but.... This type of pattern can be genetic or natural random occurrence...

Only Breeding can tell if he/she will pass this on next generation.

Overall You have very nice ball python there :gj::gj::gj:

I doubt we will breed her. I am not even sure Alice is female. We will know in the near future though! She is big. I know that much :D I'm glad she is "normal". That is definitely good to hear. I was afraid someone would reply with "that is not a BP. You need to get out of here and take that illegal snake to the police." :)

Welcome to BP.net

Gorgeous reduced pattern "normal" you have.
Ive been looking to add a normal like that to my breeding program, so I am jelous because thats a wonderful patterned normal. :gj:

What do you mean by "reduced band pattern" ? Can you elaborate on that with a description? :) Is there a way to tell if she is M or F by her size/tail/anything?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tia Badger

Is there a way to tell if she is M or F by her size/tail/anything?

---

No :( The only accurate way to sex an adult Ball Python is by probing.

Or popping if you know what you're doing .... But I don't recommend you try with your first snake ^_^

Pretty pattern!

I heard that females are generally larger than males. Is that a myth? I can't wait to hear what the vet says about her/him.

What about her current enclosure? Is it horrible?
I want to put her in a plastic one, and have less stuff in it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tia Badger

What do you mean by "reduced band pattern" ? Can you elaborate on that with a description? :) Is there a way to tell if she is M or F by her size/tail/anything?

---

This is one of my normals...
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...-15_182749.jpg

See how she has black spots in her pattern, and has alot of black on her? Your snake shows a lack of "alien eyes" and has less black. The pattern connects in "bands" around the snake as well, thats why we call that normal a "reduced pattern" Do you see the difference?

And no a snake must be probed at that size by an experienced herper. Sometimes though dont even let a vet do it unless they specialize in herps/snakes, if probed wrong damage can be done to the snake.
Hope this helps.

reduced pateern is lack of alien head patterns on the animal, banded is a band of color connecting one side of color to the other. Does that make any sense?

That helps a LOT! Thank you. The vet we have here specializes in reptiles. They are his favorite. We have a very nice clinic here luckily. They have all the new fancy equipment, and ask for your first born child when you get to the register. I really like the vet though. He is very informative, and gets down on the ground with my pit bull. He allows Dozer to make out with him pretty much...

I look forward to getting Alice probed by a professional and knowing if she is a she once and for all.

Your snake is very nice! The black looks just as neat IMO. I am too afraid to put her in the yard. She is fast, and I am sure my neighbors wouldn't like to see me chasing her around :)

That's an awesome pattern on her!

As for your setup, is there any heating to it?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tia Badger

I heard that females are generally larger than males. Is that a myth? I can't wait to hear what the vet says about her/him.

What about her current enclosure? Is it horrible?
I want to put her in a plastic one, and have less stuff in it.

---

That is a myth, people can always come up with a very large male they have to prove that wrong. Of course it does depend on the snake itself.

I see nothing wrong with your enclosure. I usually use aspen as bedding but cypress mulch holds humidity better. Looks like your snake came with a wierd substrate though, almost looks like landscaping chips. I would change that to make sure its meant for a reptile. It could be something im unfamilar with though.
As long as you know what he needs for temps and humidity i see no problem with his cage.
How are you providing his heat? Thats one of the most important factors in a healthy snake.

Right now, No. We live in Tx. We are going on 61+ days of over 100 deg temps.
Our house is not insulated very well and we have a window unit blowing in the opposite end of the house. Her temp stays above 80 and below 90 always. She's in the kitchen so that she is part of the family always :) It is in the center of the house, and everyone has to walk by her enclosure to get anywhere so we can see the thermometer often enough too! :)

In the winter she will have a heating pad under her plastic enclosure. I have one, it is just so incredibly hot I would not wish a heating pad on satan himself!:)

Check out these threads.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ll-Python-FAQs

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet

This is a great, well written care sheet. Read through it and it will answer many of your questions about your setup

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tia Badger

Right now, No. We live in Tx. We are going on 61+ days of over 100 deg temps.
Our house is not insulated very well and we have a window unit blowing in the opposite end of the house. Her temp stays above 80 and below 90 always. She's in the kitchen so that she is part of the family always :) It is in the center of the house, and everyone has to walk by her enclosure to get anywhere so we can see the thermometer often enough too! :)

In the winter she will have a heating pad under her plastic enclosure. I have one, it is just so incredibly hot I would not wish a heating pad on satan himself!:)

---

A healthy BP still requires a hot spot for basking to digest food properly.

Temps should be as follows...
90-92 Hot spot
80-84 Cool side
Anything below 75 is harmful.

Of course a slight couple degree allowance is fine in these temps. I would suggest reading a caresheet about BPs.

Gotcha. I need to make a warm side/cool side then. She needs a smaller water dish as well. What I am thinking of doing is getting her a nice large plastic rubbermaid bin of some sort.
I want to have a hide and a water dish only. I'm going to get a nice hot spot going for her now. She is supposed to eat tomorrow. :) She is a really good eater. We have been lucky! :)

And make sure the heat pad is on a thermostat, to prevent burns

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tia Badger

Gotcha. I need to make a warm side/cool side then. She needs a smaller water dish as well. What I am thinking of doing is getting her a nice large plastic rubbermaid bin of some sort.
I want to have a hide and a water dish only. I'm going to get a nice hot spot going for her now. She is supposed to eat tomorrow. :) She is a really good eater. We have been lucky! :)

---

Keep her water dish, it should be large enough for her to fit into for soaking.
I like to provide these for my snakes, some people dont. Most of my snakes LOVE to soak and it sure helps during shed. Your snake knows more than you do is she needs extra humidty and a good soak in her dish can help her out.

I would also reccomend you use a reptile under tank heater ("UTH") do you have one on hand since you said your going to get her hot spot going right away? She wont die overnight without a hot spot, just get a UTH before you feed her and make sure the temps are right.
Never use a human heat pad. And please read up on thermostats.
A thermostat controlls the temp of the heater, if your heating method malfunctions it can burn or kill the snake. A thermostat is a saftey net for temps and is completely necessary.

Yes I have the UTH pad with a sticky bottom that she came with.I just figured it was ridiculously hot for that! I do see what you mean after reading the care sheet though. Basking hot spot is a must! We have a thermostat around her somewhere. I have the bf hunting through his electronics right now :cool:

I have never seen her soak in her dish, however she does enjoy drinking.I have seen her drink for a LONNNG time on several occasions . I'm glad I came here. I feel like an idiot about this stuff. I would have done the research prior, but it was not that type of situation. :(
She will teach me plenty I am sure. In the meantime all I can do is make her comfortable and admire her .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tia Badger

Yes I have the UTH pad with a sticky bottom that she came with.I just figured it was ridiculously hot for that! I do see what you mean after reading the care sheet though. Basking hot spot is a must! We have a thermostat around her somewhere. I have the bf hunting through his electronics right now :cool:

I have never seen her soak in her dish, however she does enjoy drinking.I have seen her drink for a LONNNG time on several occasions . I'm glad I came here. I feel like an idiot about this stuff. I would have done the research prior, but it was not that type of situation. :(
She will teach me plenty I am sure. In the meantime all I can do is make her comfortable and admire her .

---

Ok good to hear about the thermostat and the UTH.

If your Alice is anything like my snakes you will see her soak lol. Of course i have 12 BPs so someone is always soaking at some point. Usually its around shedding time like i said.

Dont feel like an idot we all had to start like you are and we all had to ask these questions too. Thats how we learn! :D Im glad you feel informed, feel free to ask anything you are concerned about. We are more than happy to help.

When I first moved to the area I lived in Austin with 3 roommates. One of them had 2 BPs in a nice/lg enclosure. However he fed his snakes once a month :O . I am just now learning that Alice can eat every 2 weeks if not weekly! I now feel bad for the snakes I used to live with. :(
I thought it was weird when he told me they eat once a month...who does that anyway? Im cranky when I am hungry.

Alice is very active tonight. I was holding her earlier, and letting her explore on the bed. I think she is sad that I put her away after all of that fun time. She will just have to wait til tomorrow! Not everyone is a party animal like herself and stays up late.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tia Badger

When I first moved to the area I lived in Austin with 3 roommates. One of them had 2 BPs in a nice/lg enclosure. However he fed his snakes once a month :O . I am just now learning that Alice can eat every 2 weeks if not weekly! I now feel bad for the snakes I used to live with. :(
I thought it was weird when he told me they eat once a month...who does that anyway? Im cranky when I am hungry.

Alice is very active tonight. I was holding her earlier, and letting her explore on the bed. I think she is sad that I put her away after all of that fun time. She will just have to wait til tomorrow! Not everyone is a party animal like herself and stays up late.

---

Once a month feeding isnt devastating to a BP, as long as it was an appropriate sized meal.
Most people on here are breeders and do feed once a week. Our snakes need to be at optimal health and weight for breeding.
Usually people swear by feeding more often and feeding smaller meals vs. less often and larger meals.

Well Alice seems to have fallen into nice hands. Im just glad your using what you've learned. Most people wouldnt even try and find a forum and ask the questions you did. So good for you! your already on your way to be a great snake owner! :gj:

The fact that you're trying to find out how to give your girl the best care she can have speaks volumes. Trust me, everyone starts from somewhere, no one was born with this knowledge (well, I do wonder sometimes on some of the admins... :P).

She looks to be in good hands. As big as she is, and since you don't plan to breed her, probably a meal every 7-10 days would suit her just fine. Give it time, you'll learn what she likes and doesn't like.

Just remember, if you're feeding live, do NOT leave her alone with the prey until it's dead and she's started swallowing. You'd be surprised how much damage a mouse or a rat can do to a snake in a short amount of time. You don't have to be breathing down her neck, just keep an eye on her and have some tongs or something nearby incase you need to intervene for her sake.

The guy I got her from said she eats thawed rats. I LOVED that idea . I'm one of those people that can't witness something die. I mean of course I have SEEN it, I just prefer not to. I was thrilled to hear that my snake will happily scarf down a thawed rat. She has no issues at all eating. I was reading about feeding her in her enclosure vs. in a sep one.
I have a special tub that I feed her in, and she DOES get overly excited after eating 1 rat. I cannot get her out of the "feeding bin" for a good while. She will spend a few hours in there until she chills out! I think it's cute though.

She grabs the rat, i close the lid to give her privacy and go about my business.
When I see no more rat I try to put her back in her enclosure. Well Alice is not happy about that . She will strike at me when I open her "feeding bin" lid. That is why we are going to feed her 2 rats this time and see if there is a diff. in her behavior. Hell maybe she is just THAT hungry and wants more. Usually though if we give her a few hours she will let us put her back in her enclosure.

The bf wants to feed her a live mouse "just ONCE".:rolleyes: Will that make her a crazy snake and make her want to eat our moving hands now?

Theres really no reason to feed in a separate enclosure, especially if shes striking afterwards. Try feeding in her cage next time. And I feed all mine live since they go back and forth on their acceptance of f/t and none of them are interested in eating my moving hands!

sent from my EVO

i usually feed mine in a seperate smaller container just because mice are stupid and like to run away so i figured it made it a bit easier for the little guy and he's never struck at me when i go to remove him. i have started just putting the mouse in his normal enclosure and even though the mice run away and it takes awhile, he seems to enjoy the hunt. but either way i go he's never tried to bite me.

Alice is great looking normal.

hey Tia congrats on your love for your new pet and friend. I can't really tell the size of your Ball, but Alice is very pretty, and does look like you have her in a 10 Gal and which it will grow out of pretty quickly. I would like to recommend Sterilite tubes they to me are the best and cheaper and easier to clean. I use news paper for my bedding so normally when I see a poo or pee, I can left the snake out, remove news paper, and wipe down, and once a month so much easier to drag out side and do a through was with the garden hose and a mild soup. I would recommend just getting 106 quart tube with a locking lid and putting a heavy brick or something on top of it. I am going to show you a picture of my tubes the 106 is the one with the blue lid the other will be just as good but is a 64 quart, depends on what you have as money wise 64 was $8 at Dollar General and the 106 was $12. I do recommend the seperate enclosure feeding, just because everytime you lift that lid the snake may start to think your hand is food and a strike, bit, latch, and coil is just really uncomfortable and annoying as heck. and they will associet the feeding "Din" with time to eat, in which I use a small show box size sterilite tube for mine.

the pros with these tubes is they hold heat and humidity really well. They are easier to clean, I can remove the heat pad and everything inside and move it because they are light. also if I need to transport my snakes somewhere, I can remove the heating pad and dump the water I can just take the whole tube with me, then there enclosures never really change so it seems less stressful on the snake.

the con is this, and about the only problem I have is getting the UTH to stick to the tube so I just electrical tape. It don't leave a miss and stays put to the tube

as far as what they meant by your BP being a normal, that its a normal, average, everyday Ball Python. its your most readily available petco petsmart BP. and at more mom and pop local owned stores are normely in the $25-$40 range, and ranging from $50 to $100 on your adult size. There are at least 500 differnt morphs (meaning genetic traits, and color paterns of these snakes) ranging from $100 to I've seen one going for almost $50,000. Your will be on the higher end of normal BP price range depending on its size and age, the older and larger the more the price and worth.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...debyside-1.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tia Badger

The guy I got her from said she eats thawed rats. I LOVED that idea . I'm one of those people that can't witness something die. I mean of course I have SEEN it, I just prefer not to. I was thrilled to hear that my snake will happily scarf down a thawed rat. She has no issues at all eating. I was reading about feeding her in her enclosure vs. in a sep one.
I have a special tub that I feed her in, and she DOES get overly excited after eating 1 rat. I cannot get her out of the "feeding bin" for a good while. She will spend a few hours in there until she chills out! I think it's cute though.

She grabs the rat, i close the lid to give her privacy and go about my business.
When I see no more rat I try to put her back in her enclosure. Well Alice is not happy about that . She will strike at me when I open her "feeding bin" lid. That is why we are going to feed her 2 rats this time and see if there is a diff. in her behavior. Hell maybe she is just THAT hungry and wants more. Usually though if we give her a few hours she will let us put her back in her enclosure.

The bf wants to feed her a live mouse "just ONCE".:rolleyes: Will that make her a crazy snake and make her want to eat our moving hands now?

---

if the rat is of the correct size (1.5 to 2 times the thickest part of your snakes body) I wouldn't feed your snake more then one but it looks almost like a your snake can take a small rat (again trying to judge size compared to what looks like 10 gal tank).

my baby Ball I normally have to let her settle for at least thirty minutes after she takes down her food, the rescue I have and my big girl I can pic up right as way as long as my hands don't have the smell of rats or mice on them.

my Big girl will only eat live med or large rats, however my baby will eat live and F/T the rescue I wont even aknowledge a live rodent. my Big girl eats only live like I said, and she is the calmest most docile sweetest snake I own. so you may just want to let Alice sit for about 30 min. you gotta remember they are more volnerable when eating and pushing down there food and can cause them to regurge and that ain't pretty at all so yeah you should do fine

Her enclosure is 29 gal. currently. I love the tubs that you have .I plan on getting a large one just like yours!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tia Badger

Her enclosure is 29 gal. currently. I love the tubs that you have .I plan on getting a large one just like yours!

---

29 that would be why it looks like a 10 in the photo but Alice looked really thick to be a baby and still be the size for a 10gal. so yeah that helps me out I am guessing she is about 3.5 to 4 feet in length and probly has a 6 inch girth. she should be eating fine on med or large rats about every 10 days or so

By the way I am in Houston Texas

I came home today with 2 frozen rats. 1 is lg and 1 is medium.
I also came home with a new 105 gal. plastic tub with a lid.

When I came in I put the pre-packaged rats on the counter. I bought them from Petco so they came in a fancy pkg that is green/purple and you can NOT see the rats.

Alice is almost 20 ft away in her tank.
I turn around, and she is out of her hide and in a position to strike.
She NEVER comes out during the day. Somehow she knows that I have food for herrrrr. Smart girl.
Im going to have to be careful ! Someone is excited about dinner tonight! I'll get a video of it :)

Can't see them but she can smell 'em!

It's incredible that she can smell them through the bag and across the room. She is sitting in there like "wtf? why do you keep walking past me lady? cant you see I am ready to eat?!?!"
haha..patience! dinner is still frozen!

She can definitely smell them! pics of her in her new home when you have it set up.

yeah I would try feeding the medium rat. I hate the ones from petco, I would recommend taking it out of the package and placing it in a clear ziploc to thaw, and I wouldn't do it with hot water neither. everyone accept for one I gotten from petco was decent they all kinda turned mush when I thawed them in hot watter. I would of prefered to of spent the $12 on a box of two rats at petsmart. because there you can open them up and luck at them to make sure they are decent.

I would look for a local privately owned exotic pet store in your area. sometimes they are cheaper then petco on feeders. often times they may only have live feeders. but your going to get a better quality rodent

Of course!!! I'm going to feed her in the 29 gal that she is in, let her rest, and put her in the new enclosure tonight or tomorrow. It depends on her attitude. She tends to strike after eating so I may just let her chill. I only have 1 hide for right now. Is it OK to put her in the new enclosure without 2? Im most likely going to improvise with a shoe box or somethin...

my big girl does ok with one hide, never once had a problem with her. some people (jeff evens on youtube I know for sure) will let them go with out a hide until he finds one not eating then he will give them a hide then they will start. I know its recommended to have to like hides on either side of the cage one on the warm and one on the cool

I am going to feed her the large rat today bc that is what she is used to.
I've been advised to offer the 2nd rat based on her behavior after eating. She searches for more, strikes at everything, and seems plain out hONGRY. She is larger than the pictures portray. We measured her at 4 ft 6 in. last night on the bed. :O . Silly ol Alice. Today is a good day for her! :)

BTW.. WE FINALLY GOT RAIN!!! HOORAY!!!:taz:

That's ALOT of food for her. That's a boa sized meal. She should be fine with just the large. Unless they are small mediums and larges?

You are RIGHT. I looked at the rats. The med. sized one looks perfect. I think I will save the large for next week, or even the following. When I put both rats side by side it just looks like Thanksgiving. I dont want to over do it. I think she will be happy with a med. thawed rat and a new enclosure! :)

This is what Alice is currently living in:(ignore the cola and screw driver :) wal -mart was hellacious) :
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/DSCN1432.jpg
Here is her new enclosure without anything in it. It is not set up yet.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/DSCN1430.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/DSCN1429.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/DSCN1431.jpg

What do ya think?

This is the heater I have.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/DSCN1433.jpg
How do I set that up without melting the plastic? :(