Phil

https://ball-pythons.net/albums/album27/MVC_010F.jpg

Here's a shot of Phil I just took a couple of minutes ago, lounging atop his flowerpot. In my gallery I have a more "pulled back" shot of his terrarium.

The cloth you can see hanging in the background is kind of a cheap humidifier system. I have a sheet of plexiglass tie-strapped to the underside of the screen top on that side (at the advice of a friend to prevent nose scrapes), and the cloth partially lays atop that plexiglass. One of the "little dripper" bottles can be opened to allow a slow drip on to the fabric (which is an unbleached muslin), and the water will wick down the fabric where it can evaporate in the terrarium to help raise the humidity.

Phil turns 4 months old today. I might just see if he'll show any more interest in the rat I got him Tuesday evening. It's the first time I've tried to feed him a rat, and he showed some curiosity, but not much inclination to feed on it Tuesday evening. Since it was a freshly killed rat, I went ahead and wrapped it back up and stuck it in the freezer.

Is that a custom built cage? Got any pics of it?

I like your humidifier idea!
I'd love to see some more shots of Phil's pattern...looks pretty cool!
I'm a sucker for a sweet pattern!

Nope, the terrarium is a commercially available 20G long, with screen over one half and the hinged glass lid over the other. The pegboard in the background covers (along with some styrofoam insulation) an old window over my desk, and I have most of my ocarina collection hanging from the pegboard, as well as the Little Dripper bottle.

I have a UTH positioned nearly under the shallow dish hiding spot, with several layers of newspaper to keep it from getting potentially hot enough to cause damage.

I'll watch for him to get nicely stretched out so I can get a better picture of his pattern.

https://ball-pythons.net/albums/album27/MVC_011F.jpg

Little easier to see what I was describing this way. :D

I saw the peg board and thought it was the ventilation for a custom cage. I notice that babies often love climbing. When I bought Monty I also bought a big bendable fake stick. I made it so it covers a good 75% of the cage and he'd climb it and sleep in the branches. I guess when they get 3 pounds and stop being so hyper, they don't see the need.

https://ball-pythons.net/albums/album27/MVC_002F.jpg

OK, here's most of Phil stretched out. The photo is a bit dark, as I didn't want to brighten things up too much on him tonight. He's in the process of the first shedding since I've had him, and I get the idea he prefers to be out of the light for that.

He really seems to like the edges of the hole in the flower pot for rubbing the loose skin against to help remove it. Fortunately, too, with a rain storm having just gone through the area yesterday, our humidity is up much higher than normal.

Lets wish Phil luck. How long has he been in shed?

Near as I can tell, just a day now. How long does it usually take?

A week or less. Mine sometimes take 4 days. It varies.

He's looking rather dull and "disreputable" with the loose skin hanging on him, poor guy. He's prowling quite a bit today. Do they feed when in shed? Or should I wait to offer him his rat until after he's done wriggling out of the old skin?

Most people say to wait, I've fed during shed with no problem.

I offered him a rat pup, and he didn't even hesitate to scarf it down. Now he's hiding under his shallow dish, where it's nice and warm to aid digestion.

I bet he'll shed tonight for ya.

https://ball-pythons.net/albums/album27/Mvc_015f.jpg

Out enjoying a little body heat a couple of days after his shed.

Great lookin' BP for sure Hoomi! Does he have a blushing black back? From what I can see he does, VERY cool!

Jennifer

Not sure what the blushing black back is, but I'll see if I can get a well-lit picture and post it, so those with a lot more experience on such things can look.