husband brought home a BP. Now what?!

My husband has friends that have BPs and our son thought they were just "so awesome" so of course my husband goes and gets one for him. Yay! So off to Petco he went and came home with what he was told is a 3 year old female. So I know nothing about snakes and have been reading reading trying to figure this thing out since I am the one caring for it, yay again, and I am learning that they seem to be very detailed and maintenance needy. I have 4 children 3 of which under 3 as well as we already have 2 dogs and run our own business so please please simplify this for me. We named her Lucy and I want her to be able to thrive and be happy because as much as I have going on no animal should suffer because of my lack of time so what is the best way to care and maintain her and her surroundings. Petco didnt even tell him to get a water bowl!! As of now she is in a 40 gal glass tank with a uth that is sized for a 20 so I think its to small. Substrate they gave him is zoomed coconut sheds. The hides are one plastic make shift from the breeder and a store bought half log. Water bowl currently is my pyrex casserole dish. The heat bulb exploded so using an outdoor light. I am going this afternoon to get the things ive read she needs, ie: red lamp, real water bowl, a smaller hide than the plastic tub cause its way to big! But what do you all recommend to make this girl a happy one? Also they dont know the last time she ate so when should I feed her?

I would like to point out that you don't need to get a store bought water dish. They can be kinda expensive and a Tupperware bowl works just as well.

she won't need a lamp of any type if she already has an UTH
Also, like mentioned, a small container is good enough for a water dish.
I would reccomend waiting 1 week so she can get used to her surroundings, then offer her a small to medium rat.:)

I just dont have any kind of small dish that she wont tip over. Was going to see about a small cat size bowl. What im using is an 8x8 casserole dish haha! Should they feel cold to the touch? Ive got to get the thermometer and all that but she says over the uth and in the hide over it but feels cold to me.

The only reason you would need the lamp with the uth is if you cant keep your ambient temps reasonable, also you didnt mention using a thermostat with the uth, if you arent using one unplug it immediatly till you get one, they are dangerous when unregulated... also you may want to didtch the half log hide as they dont really offer much in the form of security

First off, welcome. Now for the set up. Do you have a thermostat on the UTH? It's the most important thing you will need to regulate the UTH. Does the UTH cover about 1/3 of the bottom of the tank? Covering 1/4 would likely be fine as well. As the others said any dish or tupperware will make a suitable water bowl, it's doesn't have to be very big. The best hides in my opinion are the black plastic ones from Reptile Basics but they don't look very good in a tank setup. Just stay away from the half logs they really don't like them. Try to find one small and confined with only one opening in it.

Will she be ok with unplugging thr uth? There isnt a thermostat with it. The people at petco basically gave her to him and said have fun. I am not happy about that at all. I would have liked to know all the needs before getting one but hes an impulse guy and I wasnt there!! If I unplug it there will be no heat source til I get to the store later today.

I have noticed that she will not even go into the log thing so getting that gone.

If you haven't done so already, there is a TON of useful information readily available on this forum that will help give you some direction. Check out a few of the links in my signature as places to start (care guide, setting up a glass aquarium, etc). Those guides will arm you with the information that you'll need when you go out to get the supplies to take care of your new addition. There's no worse feeling than blindly spending money on all sorts of stuff, only to learn after the fact that you still don't have what you need.

Another point of clarification, I'd be pretty surprised if an animal you got from a retail store like Petco is actually 3 years old. They're usually closer to 3 months when they arrive. I have a hard time believing any animal stays in their store display for that long. Do you have a picture of your new addition with something in the picture we can use as a size reference? It'll help guide our feeding recommendations. For now, I wouldn't worry about getting any food until you get the setup dialed in. Don't worry about it being hungry - they can go quite some time without a meal without any issues at all.

Last, but certainly not least, :welcome:!

Best regards,

Or what if I put her outside on my porch for now? Nothing could get to her and its in the shade but its about 82 degrees outside. My house doesnt get above 73.

I agree with Eric Allen. I have never seen petco or petsmart selling a 3 year old BP so a pic would be helpful.

That would likely be fine till you can get a thermostat on the UTH, just bring her in at night and make sure it's not in the direct sunlight.

I agree with Eric too that I would be shocked if Petco had a 3 year old BP in their tanks. Do you have a feel for the weight on it? Perhaps a kitchen scale that does grams could help?

From what I can tell I cant post a pic yet in a thread. I added a pic of her and the current set up to my profile. She was brought in on a truck or something to that effect in a new shipment. She is about 2 1/2 feet long and about the size of a 7 1/2" bracelet.

Hmm she does look pretty good sized, I don't think I've ever seen Petco with such a large BP. I would ditch the antler it's really not going to do anything for your snake.

Yeah she looks about 3 in that pic. Pretty surprised actually. As far as leaving her outside she should be fine until tonight then just bring her in and one night without uth shouldn't be to harmful for her.

well the antler is there so she could climb closer to the lamp for heat but like I said shes not coming out of that blk box. Ok so log and antler gone. She is outside now. So immediate nees are just thermostat, thermometer and hygrometer? And another hide for cool side right?

And shes a normal right?

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery//showimage.php?i=51

Here is Miss Lucy

Yup looks like a normal, and yes a cool side hide would be good. You can pick up one of their small water dishes for a cat and that will be fine.

Especially if you are putting the enclosure outside I'd put something heavy like an encyclopedia on top. Especially once they're older they can be very strong and push a lid off a tank even with those little security clips they sell at petstores.

Locks and weights are on my list as well! Another question. She apparently has a sister still at the store that was raised with her. They tried to get him to buy her as well. He didnt but wants to. Ive read not to house 2 together. Its pulling at my heart strings a little that they are separated but not sure I can handle 2! Thoughts?

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Originally Posted by iobyrhiannon@outlook

Locks and weights are on my list as well! Another question. She apparently has a sister still at the store that was raised with her. They tried to get him to buy her as well. He didnt but wants to. Ive read not to house 2 together. Its pulling at my heart strings a little that they are separated but not sure I can handle 2! Thoughts?

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Don't, unless you plan on setting up two separate enclosures for them. More experienced keepers can make it work, but while you're learning the ropes it'll be significantly more trouble than you want to take on.

You can get a ceramic water dish from the dollar tree, if you have one, for a buck. Also I don't know about other peoples pythons but my guy seems to love his half log hide...

Eric alan my thoughts exactly!

Welcome to the forum Rhiannon.

One invaluable tool that I believe no one has mentioned is a temperature gun. You can get one at Lowes or Amazon. Don't trust YOUR sense of touch. The temp guns are accurate and I use mine daily to check the main areas of my tanks. They cost about $30 +/- .

You don't necessarily need a heat lamp unless the ambient temp in the room isn't about 80 degrees. If it's less than that I strongly suggest a ceramic heat emitter, it gives off no light which can be stressful to snakes. It will raise the ambient temp in the tank about 7 degrees depending on the wattage. Also don't measure tanks by how many gallons it is, what's important is the dimensions. For an adult BP, 36×18×18 will be large enough. You may want to start smaller until she grows, but if not you can just fill the tank with a lot of clutter.

You definitely want a thermostat regulating your UTH, I set mine at 90 degrees.

Two hides on each side of the tank, a water dish, decent bedding, and fake plants/decorations will make your tank complete.

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Originally Posted by iobyrhiannon@outlook

I just dont have any kind of small dish that she wont tip over. Was going to see about a small cat size bowl. What im using is an 8x8 casserole dish haha! Should they feel cold to the touch? Ive got to get the thermometer and all that but she says over the uth and in the hide over it but feels cold to me.

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If you use a Tupperware, the type that have the lid that can snap to the bottom of it, just snap a lid to the bottom and put it in there like that. The lid will give it stability so it doesn't tip!

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...f0150a4da8.jpg

That's what I'm using right now while my baby is sick.

I am going to go simple. Read Eric's links. They are all the info you will need, and in a more straightforward way than all of us offering opinions.

That said, :welcome: and I hope you enjoy your stay. This place is full of awesome, knowledgeable people.

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Originally Posted by anicatgirl

I am going to go simple. Read Eric's links. They are all the info you will need, and in a more straightforward way than all of us offering opinions.

That said, :welcome: and I hope you enjoy your stay. This place is full of awesome, knowledgeable people.

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It's certainly not ALL of the info a person will need, but they're definitely a good starting point. ;)

Alright. I'm going to echo some of what's already been said. A thermostat (or a dimmer switch) for the UTH is top priority. Don't worry about feeding until everything else is in order. As for temperatures, 90 on the warm side and 75-80ish on the cool side is going to be your best bet. Measure this with a temperature gun and digital thermometers. She shouldn't need a lamp unless you end up struggling with temps. Do not use the cheap plastic dials to measure temperature and humidity. Home Depot will probably have everything you need to read temperatures. As for hide boxes, try the Reptile Basics website. They don't look natural, but they should work for her.

Also, I don't think this has been mentioned yet, but you should probably watch her for snake mites. Sometimes the big chain stores have mite issues. Humans, dogs and all other animals are not at risk if the snake has mites, no worries. Look for pepper flake things in the water and keep an eye on her to see if she soaks excessively in her water dish. If you notice her soaking, check under her chin for little black specks. If she has mites, I have heard good things about the product Provent-a-Mite. Hopefully this won't be a problem, but it's something to be aware of.

Once you have everything set up correctly, ball pythons are some of the easiest pets out there. This girl should fit right in with your lifestyle. I'd highly recommend looking over the links in Eric Alan's signature. Those are some useful links. Welcome to the forum! :)

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Originally Posted by iobyrhiannon@outlook

Locks and weights are on my list as well! Another question. She apparently has a sister still at the store that was raised with her. They tried to get him to buy her as well. He didnt but wants to. Ive read not to house 2 together. Its pulling at my heart strings a little that they are separated but not sure I can handle 2! Thoughts?

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Unfortunately/fortunately they are solitary creatures and while it maybe her sister and while that snake will have to put up with the petstores husbandry/feeding practices they'll both be much happier not competing with each other for the same resources. Gotta be tough and not fall for every little one that you see.

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Originally Posted by iobyrhiannon@outlook

Or what if I put her outside on my porch for now? Nothing could get to her and its in the shade but its about 82 degrees outside. My house doesnt get above 73.

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remember that BPs are escape artists. make sure your snake cannot get away, or you'll wake up and be like :taz: