new to this... please help

i just bought a BP today, and just had a few questions for you more experienced people.
1. how can i tell how old my BP is?
2. right now i have him in a 10g tank, at what length should i move him to a 20g?
3. is it better to feed live or frozen mice?
thx again people for the help, cant wait to get good at this...

1. There is t any reliable way to tell 100% how old your snake is by size. There are too many variables, like how often it was fed, how well it ate, whether it is male or female and so on. 2. A tank is not really ideal at any size but to answer that question you kind of need a picture for size reference.

3. If you can get it to eat f/t that's always better than live as live can hurt the snake.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gambit_BP

1. how can i tell how old my BP is?

---

No, they all grow at different rates.;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gambit_BP

2. right now i have him in a 10g tank, at what length should i move him to a 20g?

---

Most people will tell you to take it out of glass and move it to a tub.
I am not big on keeping snakes in a 10g just because there is not much of a thermograde area.
Make sure your temps and humidity are right and you should be good to go.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gambit_BP

3. is it better to feed live or frozen mice?

---

This is another "to each his own" question. Frozen is safer as the mouse cannot fight back but live is almost always a guaranteed feed:gj:

man I am typing slow again:rofl::rofl:

If ur snake is very small look at its belly. You may be able to so see a mark where it was healing from umbilical. When I got my normal she was tiny and I saw that so I knew she was only a few months at the oldest. If you can keep the entire tank at 80-85 while maintaining good humidity it should be ok. If ur snake has room to stretch out almost entirely then it should be ok. But you don't want the tank multiple times bigger than ur snake. F/t is preferred by most, including me cuz they can be kept in the freezer. It easier than breeding ur own or going to the store and hoping they have the right amount and right size. With f/t u don't have to supervise feedings. Just drop it in and move on to the next. And u can leave them in overnight when some will only eat it.

Age varies on too much to tell unless you know a hatch date. If its under 115 grams its probablly only a few months old at best beyond that its a guessing game. As far as enclosure you can do as big of a setup you want as long as you can keep an ambient temp of 89 in the enclosure. Now feeding live vs ft. Live feeding will always keep the kill response good which equates to good feeding response. Also you dont have to worry bout things like salmonella or other things that can come from feeding frozen. Also they process and digest live better. If your worried bout the prey item biting then simply grab it by the tail and give it a good whack on the head against something hard to stun or knock it out first. Ive fed live for 20 years and as long as your paying attention you wont have issues. If anyone remembers recentlly mice direct had a huge salmonella outbreak with their frozen rodents and it sparked a 50 state recall. No wY id ever take that chance

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by snake lab

If anyone remembers recentlly mice direct had a huge salmonella outbreak with their frozen rodents and it sparked a 50 state recall. No wY id ever take that chance

---

I was looking for a decent place to order rats from when I came across the news article on this. I was on the fence with micedirect, but now I'm looking for some one else :( ideally hoping to stumble on a local person...

WWW.rodentpro.com they've always been good to me

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Salodin

I was looking for a decent place to order rats from when I came across the news article on this. I was on the fence with micedirect, but now I'm looking for some one else :( ideally hoping to stumble on a local person...

---

I've read about many mouse/rat sites that are great. To each their own I guess...

However, I just purchased from http://www.themousefactory.com and was pleased with the service on the phone, the speed of delivery which was 2 days from time of call, and the rats were immaculately clean. I would recommend them.

just my 2 cents.... :)

We moved our guy to a 20 long when he was about as long as then 10 gal. The 20 long is much easier to keep the temp gradient and we just added a few more items for him to hide in and around he love the room as much as a snake could:) He is a little more active in the 20 long at night moving around and basking under the CHE when the lights are off. I prefer to feed F/T and use a seperate tub to feed him in as this allows us time to clean his tank while he is eating. But I have heard this wont work for some snakes as moving them can stress them and they wont eat so youll need to use a feed method that works for your snake. I would use a rat fuzzy or pup depending on size your snake our BP prefers rats and we have never had a problem feeding since we swithced to rats:)
Hope this helps
Robie

thx guys... now

1. how long should i allow the snake to get used to its environment before trying to feed him?

2. Ive also bought a temp and humid reader, shows temp at 90-95 under lamp and 59% humid. this good?

3. should i also get another temp reader to know what the other side of the tank feels like?

4. and last ques., for now lol, the water bowl. should i put it under the lamp or on the cooler side of the tank?


thx again for the help guys really want to make this good for "Gambit" my BP

1. I usually give mine around 3 days before I try feeding them.

2. Great work on getting proper tools! What are you using to read the temperatures? Is it a temperature gun, or one of those stick-ons? That said, your humidity is good - when your snake is in shed, bump it up to 70%. For temperatures, how are you measuring it - temp gun reading right to the substrate? You don't need a heat lamp, just an under tank heater. Shoot for 80 on the cool side, and 88-90 on the hot side. 95 is too hot.

3. Okay, by this question it looks like you have one of those stick-ons or one you set on the substrate. Get a temp gun, they are much easier for reading temperatures =3 And much more accurate. You definitely need to know the temp on the other side too.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mountain-T...rared/15631273
This is only $30 at Walmart!

4. Water bowl can be placed on the cool side if you're maintaining humidity at 60%. If you want to bump up humidity, move the water bowl to the hot side and the humidity will go up.

yeah im using a sticky for the temp and a hydrometer for the humidity.
1. im using a 75w bulb and it brings the heat to about 90-95. if i get a 60w will it bring it to 85-90?
2. i tried to feed it yesterday with a frozen fuzzy. i left it in a separate area to eat, cause i heard its better to not feed them were they live. but he didn't eat it. also how long should i leave him with the food until i know he not hungry?
3. i was thinking of trying a live fuzzy this weekend to see if he eats it. good idea or not?

thx for all the help guys...:gj: