My first snake

So its been done. The snake is a county over, literally waiting for me to be prepared. I have a sterilite 28qt, will this be big enough for a baby ball for a month or so? He would be able to stretch from end to end, so i figure it is.
Ive got a repti therm 10 to 20 gal sized UTH. Can this go under a sterilite (like rubber maid) or will it melt?
Have thermometer and hygrometer on the way.
Mice provided by the guy :)
The 30th is feeding day, and im going to watch a demo (his idea, i liked that) and see for myself hes healthy, eating well, and all that.
Colors looked beautiful, and incredibly bright for a ball.
He was captive laid and captive his whole 1 1/2 year life, and apparently he redily eats both frozen and live, but the demo is frozen, at my request. (Im not doubting a snakes ability to eat live food lol)
So worst case, my thermostate and hygrometer stuff isnt in on time, the guy will keep the snake housed till im ready.
Should i watch the feeding, and then come back a few days later, or eat n dip? We could feed him in the new cage, and transport in new cage, would that be too stressful.
Im stoked you guys hope i remembered everything...
Hide boxes! Oh yeah, got em!

I wouldn`t feed then transport..

My Lesser had a 1 hour drive in a Coleman Cooler :D Warmed of course.

He was to eat the day before but we held him off..

I had initially thought to hold him off for a few days, but the little bugger went into hunt mode 4 hours after getting here..

As for the UTH I am not an expert so someone will likely chime in

Oh and Congrats

The UTH could melt the tub so I would wait until the thermostat comes in before hooking that up.

Ok, sounds reasonable. Im so excited i wana like plug it all in and see it do nothing! Lol
Maybe ill just tell him no feeding and take my chances??
Im mostly worried about a stress induced regurge, because it could really hurt the bugger.
He said for a baby hes crazy tame, only bit once, but he was "finger feeding" instead of tongs, thats silly...
Ok so with this rubermaid mess, how many holes should i do, is there a good rule of thumb.

sounds like you covered your bases lol!
how long is the drive??
i'd take him home in whatever i mean a shoebox will work balls are relativly hardy.
wait and attemt to feed the next day after you bring him home, use frozen.
and make sure you have a large box or something to use for "feeding time" never
feed in his reg tank, just remember any q's you have are online, DO YOUR RESEARCH sounds like youre going to do great tho :)

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Originally Posted by serpent fan

...Ok so with this rubermaid mess, how many holes should i do, is there a good rule of thumb.

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Not really. You really have to hook everything up and just start adding holes as needed. I started with like a row along the top of the back of the tub (since mine are in a rack) and just went from there. Every time I needed to add holes I would do about four or five at a time. I use a soldering iron to make the holes since a drill can crack the tub.

I was told buy my local fish store employee that i wasted my money with the heat pad, and that for balls i really should just use a heat lamp only, wont that dry my tank out, and arent balls better with belly heat? Just got confused

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Originally Posted by serpent fan

I was told buy my local fish store employee that i wasted my money with the heat pad, and that for balls i really should just use a heat lamp only, wont that dry my tank out, and arent balls better with belly heat? Just got confused

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Yes, heat lamps can suck the humidity big time and belly heat does better for BPs.

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Originally Posted by loganhub

sounds like you covered your bases lol!
how long is the drive??
i'd take him home in whatever i mean a shoebox will work balls are relativly hardy.
wait and attemt to feed the next day after you bring him home, use frozen.
and make sure you have a large box or something to use for "feeding time" never
feed in his reg tank, just remember any q's you have are online, DO YOUR RESEARCH sounds like youre going to do great tho :)

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There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding in the snakes cage, cage aggression is an Internet myth. Most people on this site including myself feed in the snakes cage with 0 issues.

Once you get your thermostat you can get things rolling but until then you have no way to heat the snake safely so everything should be on hold until then.

As far as number of holes in the tub this varies greatly. The holes allow you to adjust the humidity in the tub. Someone who lives in Florida like me where the average humidity is just past unbearable will have to put more holes in their tub than someone who lives in Nevada will.

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Originally Posted by serpent fan

I was told buy my local fish store employee that i wasted my money with the heat pad, and that for balls i really should just use a heat lamp only, wont that dry my tank out, and arent balls better with belly heat? Just got confused

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Heat pads are the best way to heat BP's

Ok well my heat pad is fine then, really as a rule of thumb, anything a pet store employee tells me i just ignore, but im new to snakes so it was a curveball.
Well im in kentucky,i guess we shall see what people round here are doing.
And yea its all on hold until payday.
Im paying a 40 rehome fee, but thats cheap compared to 150 local pet store, or 100 other local breeder i found.
Im pretty pumped, leme see if i can get a pic of the bugger for you guys

http://img.tapatalk.com/aeff66a2-d38e-92a4.jpg
Thats mr future buddy, i like his colors

So heres my setup as of today.
Still waiting for my thermstat., my thermometer/hygrometer, and my rheostat.(running a dimmer to help with temp. Fljc. And a safeguard against faulty thermostat.
The way he is currently housed, hes only got 1 hide box and a big bowl, so i feel replicating that would be best, and i have an extra hide on hand just incase.
Heres some pics of whats goin onhttp://img.tapatalk.com/aefd11e1-1719-5bcd.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/aefd11e1-1759-0b00.jpg


The bic on top of the is for size ref. On the hide box. Is it too big...this is how tthe guys bp is currently housed, almost exactly

looks good, just be sure you secure the lid of your tub. they are extremely good at escaping. luggage straps or binder clips work really well. You can even use bricks.

I have the EXACT same setup you do. Exactly. And the UTH works great, and the tub holds heat and humidity extremely well. You will enjoy the tub very much.

Hey track, what state are you in, relative humidity. How many holes you got in your cage. Ive got 5 in the front (heat side) on the bottom, and 5 in the back (cool side) on the top.
I read putting 1 or 2 holes on top (in the actual lid itself) can help provide airflow by allowing some hot air up,pulling room air in. My house keeps about 75
Hes feeding the bp hopper sized rats, and im putting an order in today. He fed the snake today, so i could pick it up in 4 days. I dont wana wait im so excited!

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Originally Posted by serpent fan

Hey track, what state are you in, relative humidity. How many holes you got in your cage. Ive got 5 in the front (heat side) on the bottom, and 5 in the back (cool side) on the top.
I read putting 1 or 2 holes on top (in the actual lid itself) can help provide airflow by allowing some hot air up,pulling room air in. My house keeps about 75
Hes feeding the bp hopper sized rats, and im putting an order in today. He fed the snake today, so i could pick it up in 4 days. I dont wana wait im so excited!

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Wow you sound so prepared :). Prepare yourself for wanting more of 'em :P! Have you seen a bumblebee ball python? LOL!! Really though, it does seem like you're off to the best start! Thermostat + heat pad, tub, proper hide and substrate, and registering to this forum :D. Congrats! Can't wait to see more pictures of your new BP! After he's all setttled in of course :P

Well, i run a few aquariums,and did the forum thing to figure it all out. Compared to fish, snakes are a breeze so far! I was calculating light PAR and figureing out fert. Doses, not to mention cydling a tank takes months..ugh!
Im sure ill get more, my girl already wants her own, and since we live together, its basically guna be mine also lol.
Just so you know, i held my first ball python last week (also my first snake contact ever!)
And instantly fell in love. My friends are terrified of it (its theirs lol) and i felt bad cause he looked lonely, so i picked him up. Within seconds he was inside my hoodie, coiled around with his head poped out my mine, watching dr who with me. I swear he stayed like that from 2pm to 2 am, we even walked to kroger to get beer tother haha. So now im getting my own, hes about 22 inch. Atm, my friends is about 4 ft. So a deffinate size difference, but i wanted a youngster.
So now im hooked. The very next day i got on the forum. The next day i joined. Then i "accidently" bought a heating pad, and decided it be a waste of money not to go ahead and use it haha
Im not sure what a bumble bee ball python is, and i dont want to know, they are freaking cool enough as it is, and i dont need any more encouragement.....

Speaking of settling in. Whats a good handling schedual for a 1 1/2 yr. Old BP thats new to me? He will have fed either 4 days prior, or feinding for some rat when i get him. I guess him first meeting me, and then seeing food that day could help show im a friend, and not foe.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by serpent fan

So its been done. The snake is a county over, literally waiting for me to be prepared. I have a sterilite 28qt, will this be big enough for a baby ball for a month or so? He would be able to stretch from end to end, so i figure it is.
Ive got a repti therm 10 to 20 gal sized UTH. Can this go under a sterilite (like rubber maid) or will it melt?
Have thermometer and hygrometer on the way.
Mice provided by the guy :)
The 30th is feeding day, and im going to watch a demo (his idea, i liked that) and see for myself hes healthy, eating well, and all that.
Colors looked beautiful, and incredibly bright for a ball.
He was captive laid and captive his whole 1 1/2 year life, and apparently he redily eats both frozen and live, but the demo is frozen, at my request. (Im not doubting a snakes ability to eat live food lol)
So worst case, my thermostate and hygrometer stuff isnt in on time, the guy will keep the snake housed till im ready.
Should i watch the feeding, and then come back a few days later, or eat n dip? We could feed him in the new cage, and transport in new cage, would that be too stressful.
Im stoked you guys hope i remembered everything...
Hide boxes! Oh yeah, got em!

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How is he 1 1/2 yrs old, and a baby? Seems pretty small for that old... that would be my first question to the seller.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by serpent fan

I was told buy my local fish store employee that i wasted my money with the heat pad, and that for balls i really should just use a heat lamp only, wont that dry my tank out, and arent balls better with belly heat? Just got confused

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The employees at local pet stores rarely know anything. I went into a petco last week and saw a baby BP in basically an arboreal snake setup in a high glass tank w a heat lamp and no hides at all just a branch. I asked if it had belly heat and he said no, we put the lamp and after a while he only likes to stay on the branch under the lamp. I then suggested to the worker that they should add a hide so he's not so stressed out and maybe a UTH. He just said "oh, nah, he's good he likes it setup like that".. It pissed me off so much, I was going to just rescue it and buy it, but they wanted $100 for a normal BP

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Originally Posted by Trogdorpheus

How is he 1 1/2 yrs old, and a baby? Seems pretty small for that old... that would be my first question to the seller.

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Maybei misunderstood him. How long should he be at 1 1/2years old? Also he is for sure a male

My hygrometer is in, and humidity is reading 66 and rising.
I still have a my therm. Humidity guage coming, but figured doubling up on humidity readings as well as temp. Would be a good safe guard against the nicer ones messn up.
Now im literally just waiting...the worst part of it all lol

So weve leveled off at about 85 ish
Im currently running the zoomed uth with no therm/rheostat.
The reason is simple
Making sure it works, getting a feel of its ability, wanted to see what the humidity would//be like
And its leveld off at 98f after 45 min. (Ill deff be using ther/ and rheostat for temp control, so dont worry guys, just wanted to see somthing happen, as im giddy like a school girl right now...

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Originally Posted by serpent fan

Maybei misunderstood him. How long should he be at 1 1/2years old? Also he is for sure a male

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Well most are about 15" when that hatch. by 6-8 months they are around 3 feet (but they all grow at their own rate. I am just going by what I have seen with mine)

It is possible for a BP to be 22" at 1 1/2 years age but there usually are feeding issues (past or present) that have slowed growth down. I would ask for clarification on his age.

The age is just under a year actually, and he was "eyeing it out" lol
Hes guna get home and measure for me

Well he just did the measure, 22in., just under a year old. Should i be concerned? He said the snake eats well and sheds well...
Now im nervous

Hmm apparently he "will" eat frozen, but hes currently on live :/
Oh well, the store down the street has feeders for 2bucks, so i guess ill have to do a supervised feeding. Maybe ill try to switch him over after a couple feedings and him becoming used to new home.

Nothing to be concerned about. some will readily switch to Frozen so at least give it a shot first.

You might have a slow grower on you hands no big deal. As long as he looks healthy (which from the picture he doesn't look blatantly unhealthy but hard to tell from that shot) You will be fine. Your still much better off than getting one from the pet store that has been neglected.

if hes gonna do a feeding demo 4 you and your thermostat isnt in on time just go ahead and have him show you the snake eating...if u get the thermostat in time i would go there acting like you still want the guy to feed him and when you get there you can just tell him to skip it and take him home than if u want

if hes willing to do it thinking you still want him to hes probably not lying to yah

Yeah, the guy breeds them, and this one didnt sell, probobly because he was the runt/slowgrow.
Hes been checked at vet, no parasites, poped and probed deff. A male. He seems healthy, and apparently hes a 2 second thump on the live rats, so hes deff. Got a healthy appitite.
I will keep updating as i get my info.
Thanks for the links serpent merchant lots of help as im still learning the navigation on the app version of the forum, so thanks

The guy is under the assumption i want to see the feeding, but i was actually guna do just that warlord,lol great minds.
He sent a vid of last weeks feeding, was intense. Im sure the guy is being legit, he asked me more questions about the snakes future than i asked him, i appreciated that, cause i knew he was taken care of

Well so were at 88% humidity. Im going to drill more holes in both front and back (around the top of the container)
Are there any tips for humidity control holes.
The water bowl is pretty big, maybe lowering the water level will help..

a smaller water bowel will lower humidity.

Pretty much:

more holes = less humidity

less holes = more humidity

not much more to it.

I use an old soldering iron to make holes.

Well ill fiddle with holes tonight till i get it perfect

Ok, so 10 holes equals 100% humidity with no heat, so i made more holes...way more.ive gotn it to just at 80, but ive been doing tiny adjustments, waiting an hour, and doing some more. I guess thats the plus side to getting prepared BEFORE the ball python gets here.
Luckily. I am getting prepared.
Unfortunatly, the humidity, temp, device doesnt work that came today, and the selling graciously sending another, and somthing for my troubles, so i guess thats ok
But, the guy wants me to get the bp tomorow, and i just sent off a busted temp control setup...
So my question, what can i rig in a pinch? Because this guy may be leaving town for while, and wouldnt be able to get the snake to me :( ugh stress!

Bam, humidity stable, temps stable. Ambient is 75 (my house stays around 70 to 75)
So guess what, snake is being delivered to my doorstep @8 and ill have a picfest forsure.
Until then ive got these to check out until my buddy gets here tonight
Hazaaahhttp://img.tapatalk.com/aefd0514-074b-9fc4.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/aefd0514-078e-7d14.jpg

There's the problem. He's feeding it pinkys. I hope that's not the size prey he's been on for a year...

Wow i didnt notice that..
Well he ate a furry one today...

Yeah that is way too small of prey for him. Get a scale, weigh him and he should be eating a rodent that is 10-15% of his weight.

sent from my EVO

Well that he ate today was huge..

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Originally Posted by Trogdorpheus

There's the problem. He's feeding it pinkys. I hope that's not the size prey he's been on for a year...

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He said he fed it pinkies twice a week. But the few weeks before i got him he was on hopper rats, now whether or not thats true, iduno, because a few people said 22inch was small for a 1year old, but iduno..getn a scale today
All i know is hes snug as a bug in a rug, snoozin at 93degrees, with a 83 84 cool spot.

Lol i feel like the more im learning, the more im seeing wrong with this kids setups.
Example, he had heat lamps on all rep. Tanks, but they were in an open air barn

Sorry kinda spaced out mid post..
But its an open air barn, and in kentucky, its been getting cooold at night here, so his ambients have to be all over the place, cause his tanks are all wire cages...

Idk, hes kinda changing his story now, so im going to get the scale as soon as possible, and we will see what hes weighing

Quote:

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Originally Posted by serpent fan

Sorry kinda spaced out mid post..
But its an open air barn, and in kentucky, its been getting cooold at night here, so his ambients have to be all over the place, cause his tanks are all wire cages...

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Wire cages? For snakes? :confused:

sent from my EVO

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Originally Posted by jbean7916

Wire cages? For snakes? :confused:

sent from my EVO

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x2 ???

Yeah, how awful is that exactly, i imagine humidity is a no go with that, but yes wire, as in chicken wire.
He said he got the snake from ricks reptiles in louiville i believe, ill have to check.
He had a huge red tail in a wire box with one hide, and a huge rat with no feed or water, it had been in there 2days, even i knew that was a nono.
Hopefully my snake isnt underweight, but i dont want to weigh her cause she ate a big fat rat last night (if she was on pinkies, it would explain her confusion, she was rubbing her face on the rat for awhile before striking, so says my lady, and the thing was a smidge thicker than my bp)
Hmm well i did look up snake desieses and complications, and from what i read (searched any and everything from 12am to 6am) i didnt see anything that would show hes unhealthy..
But yeah from the reactions, wire cages a no go?

Yeah wire would be impossible to keep temps and humidity in check. I'd also be worried about injuries from rubbing against it. Even with feeding him pinkies twice a week hes underfed. Make sure you increase his prey size gradually so as not to give him more than he can handle. It would be like you being on a diet of 1 cup of food a day then someone taking you to a buffet, you'd eat yourself sick.

We got a couple of 4yr old het albinos that were both under 600g. We gradually increased their food size and they are almost caught up with others in that age group now.

sent from my EVO

That may explain why some people on here asked about his length and age 22inch and less than 1 year (so ive tbeen told storys been changing....)