New owner with concerns! Looking for straightforward answers

Hello, I am so glad I have found this forum! I am a new BP owner, we have had her for almost 3 weeks now. She has eaten twice without issues (amazingly enough), however I worry she is dehydrated and may be losing weight. We bought her from a breeder, but with little information. She was a Christmas gift from my husband, and he (I know, I know...) didnt ask any questions and any he did ask were vaguely answered. We were told she is about 2 months old, judging by her size I would say thats fairly accurate. I have NOT been able to get her to drink. She is in a 20 gallon tank, hides on the warm and cool side. Temps are 80 to 84 on the cool side, around 90 in the warmest spot. She has fresh water every 2 days and her humidity stays at 50 to 60. She has had what Im guessing is leftover shed since weve had her, on her neck face and over her eyes. Ive bumped up the humidity and it seems to help a little. She literally NEVER comes out of her rock hide on the warm side. Never drinks. She will eat ONLY if we feed in her rock, as she is very shy. She is very sweet and hs not once been aggressive when handled. When she is out of her tank she explores, she loves watching our fish in the fish tank and loves blankets. But she is getting a little thin and is quite wrinkly. I have pinched her skin, it seems to go back to place fairly quickly, but today I noticed what i think was a small dent in her eye which I have read is a sign of dehydration. I didnt get close enough to be positive it was a dent and not old skin, but it is enouvgh to worry me a bit. We have fed her 2 pinkies twice now, we will probably try to up the size next feeding. But the saggy wrinkly skin still worries me. Especially since she is not drinking and never leaves her hide. Any advice/criticism/suggestions/comments are welcome. Im a new and learning BP momma and would love to learn more!

I would also like to add that she is still fairly small, and wondering if her tank and hide may be too big for her and could be causing some of her shy tendencies and never leaving the hide? I am unable to post pictures right now but will try later as I know it would help tremendously.

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Post a couple of photos of her setup so we can give you better advice. You can download the Tapatalk app on your phone and post pictures straight from your phone.

How are you currently measuring temperature and humidity? What are you using for heat?

In regads to the drinking, BPs get most of their moisture from their meals. However, they do still drink but usually it's a rare sight to catch. Most important part is making sure that the humidity stays in the tank.

I assume that you're feeding her two pinky mice. That's very small for a two month BP. She can probably take a fuzzy or even a hopper. First, get a scale and weigh her so you can keep track of her weight (weigh her after she deficates so you can record her empty weight). Secondly, you can either use the this graph to figure out what to feed her or feed her prey that is as big as the widest part of your BP.

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Here is our setup. Maintaining humidity with a towel over the screen until we can figure something else out. We are using a thermometer recommended by the pet store, it sticks to the side of the glass. Same with the humidity.

Here she is and about.
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Heat is also a heat lamp recommended by pet store. We have a white bulb and red bulb for night time.

edit: I believe we actually fed the baby rats, those look more like what we have fed versus the mice.

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Drinking- No issue as you are probably just missing it. Like stated above though much of their water is had with their meal.

Prey- Pinks are much to small. Feed prey that is near the same size as the snakes thickest part of its body.

Humidity- It appears to be staying low. The best tip and trick for those with a glass tank is to add damp moss to the hides. While you are having stuck shed or poor sheds keep the moss moist. After you get a nice full shed you can start to allow the moss to dry out before making it moist again. Then at the first signs of a coming shed keep it moist again until the shed is complete at which time you can go back to allowing it to dry out.

What this does is creates a higher humidity zone within the hides. The tank is still going to show low humidity but the snake will be getting what it needs from the hides since that is where they stay most of the time.

I'd suggest getting a digital thermometer/hygrometer that's on the ground where your BP is. The problem with the circle analog gauges is that they're not accurate and it's not doing you any good all the way up there. You can pick up something like this at any hardware store.

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Also, here's a good sticky regarding 20 gallon tanks:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=201740

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Thanks for the responses! Weve been meaning to get a more accurate thermometer and hygrometer, and an under heater tank. We fed today this week and she happily ate almost immediately, which is relieving. Tried a larger prey, hopefully she will start to fatten up! We also picked up some moss to put in her hide in a day or so once shes digested a bit! :)

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Don't forget you will need either a thermostat or rheostat to regulate the heat mat.

You also may want to swap that towl for aluminum foil or something else that doesn't absorb moisture

Make sure to measure the temperature on the FLOOR of the cage where the snake is and not the temperature half way up the side of the glass on the cage. A lot of people end up cooking their snake because they're not measuring the temperatures where the snake is spending it's time. I personally dislike heat lamps, I think it dries out the air too much. I prefer a heat pad with a thermostat (or a rheostat if you prefer, but you MUST have something to regulate the temperature). Many people are overly concerned about the ambient temperature inside the cage and aren't as concerned as they should be about the temperature of the surface that the snakes belly is resting on which should be no hotter then in the low 90's degree F.

And yes, a humid hide is a good thing to have. Get a shoe box/sweater box (whatever size is appropriate for the size of the snake) cut a hole in the side and fill it full of damp sphagnum moss. Keep the moss moist but not soaking wet.

I've never fed even the smallest newborn hatchling a pinky mouse, they're too small. A large fuzzy or hopper mouse is the smallest food item I've ever fed a ball python. The food should leave a visible lump inside the snake after it's been swallowed.

This may be a dumb question, but a thermostat for the UTH, does it specifically need to be for a UTH or made by a pet care brand? Or will any outlet thermostat work?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by alexshae

This may be a dumb question, but a thermostat for the UTH, does it specifically need to be for a UTH or made by a pet care brand? Or will any outlet thermostat work?

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Any decent one will suffice just avoid those cheap ones from China and similar , off eBay ...

Thanks! We may be making a trip to petsmart today, that seems to be the only place I can find them that arent cheapies. I really appreciate all the input you guys! Hopefully soon the temps and humidity will be better regulated and I will post pictures of the new set up!

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PetSmart doesn't carry a quality thermostat.
Your best bet would be ordering on line.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alexshae

This may be a dumb question, but a thermostat for the UTH, does it specifically need to be for a UTH or made by a pet care brand? Or will any outlet thermostat work?

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A lot of people like these, -> Digital thermostats on Amazon because they're fairly inexpensive. I have several myself and they work fine for most applications. I personally like these -> reptilebasics ve-200 better because they're proportional and I think a little more accurate (but more expensive).

I attach the probe to the heat mat and use a separate thermometer to measure what the surface temperature actually is. (I like these -> reptilebasics TG-1 for spot checking temps.)

http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

Like Pit said Petsmart does not carry a good tstat. Neither does Petco or most pet stores for that matter.

Many people use the Hydrofarm from Amazon and I bought one once. It failed in the on position in a short time of using it and I have never suggested them since.

Buy the best tstat you can afford. It is the most important thing you will buy for your snake and if you buy a good one it will last you a very long time.

i had the same problem and found if you cut a piece of plexuglass 2/3 the size of screen top it will help with the humidity. In winter my house is extra dry so i use a zoomed reptifogger and it does a great job.

I will probably end up ordering one of the nicer thermostats just to be safe then. We have a zoomed UTH but Ive seen some negative reviews on them. Should I look into another brand? Or will it be okay with any thermostat? I would rather pay more and get quality the first time versus ordering cheap and having to continue to make changes.

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A good tstat is your best bet.

The Zoomed uth will work with it fine.

Thanks for all the advice and recommendations, I really appreciate it! I have ordered a thermostat and digital thermometer, should be here next week :)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Any decent one will suffice just avoid those cheap ones from China and similar , off eBay ...

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I actually use the stc-1000 off of ebay. It cost me $13 shipped and i have had no issues at all with it. My temps are excellent and it never has more than 1 degree variation. The only thing is that you have to wire it yourself. Mine came from a US seller and is the Fahrenheit model but could have been manufactured in China lol.

I actually ended up going with a Vivarium Thermostat, a digital thermometer, and temp gun, and ordered a couple extra goodies to go with it. Hopefully it will help evening out temps and humidity so that she can be a bit more comfortable. She still never comes out of her hide, ever. She does change positions in it, nothing unusual though. Just the normal flat coils. Sometimes I will catch her a bit closer to the hole, so I think she is getting more brave. I'm assuming as long as I see no strange signs, and she continues eating, the whole "I'm not coming out EVER" attitude isn't a problem and there is nothing to worry about?

I think it will come around... These critters are nocturnal, and I've been pleasantly surprised to catch my albino out and about after 10 PM. All day she stays in her hide though, you would never know about her nightly escapades looking at her during the day ;)

Also based on the pictures, you were right--she has retained shed around her head and neck. There is a great thread on here about soaking to assist stuck sheds. Essentially you put the snake in a container with lukewarm-warm water and a towel sitting at the bottom. You want to only fill the container so that your snake can easily keep its head above the water. While it's soaking, keep an eye on it to ensure it doesn't get exhausted or have difficulty keeping its head above water, then after about 45 minutes, gently rub the skin with the wet towel. I did this the other day for a small chunk that was stuck to a newly-adopted BCI and it came off no problem. Other folks have tried soaks for 20 minutes with less success, so I'm posting the 45 minute timeline because that's what worked for me. :)

First of all, congratulations on your new little buddy! I bet that in your charge, and with some advice from the experienced people here at the forum, she will be curious and exploring the world outside her hide soon enough.

One thing I am thinking is that her enclosure is too open for a shy little one like her to feel comfortable exploring. She can see the room all around her, which may be intimidating. I've found that rooting down some fake flowers is an effective and not too unpleasant-looking way to clutter up a hatchling's tub. My BP likes to climb on them, weave herself through them, and sleep under them occasionally. I would recommend getting about 6 or so. You can do a mix of flowers and leaf bunches for a more natural look. I got mine at a dollar store because I had found that the flowers from craft stores were either way too big or had stuff like glitter on them.

Anyway that's just my advice, if you don't want to do fake plants though then I suggest putting in some other kind of canopy-like decor in there for her to feel safe, and spaced plentifully enough through her enclosure that she doesn't have to leave parts of her body exposed to get to it. That may be part of the reason she favors one hide over the other. Also, you could go much smaller than the cocoa mix box. My BP is very fond of the Saltine 4 oz. boxes.

Good luck and keep us updated!

We got her all set up now, heating pad is keepimg her temp in her rock up and her humidity is higher in there thanks to moss! Fed again today and other than a half sideways swallow, she did eat successfully and is now curled up and sleeping. As long as she is eating Im not super concerned, she is lookimg a little more plump too! Thanks for all the advice! She has been peeking out of her rock a bit more. She has been super shy the entire time we have had her, so she could just have a timid personality! I think she is looking a bit fatter, so thats a plus! Thanks again for being so friendly and helpful guys! [emoji1]

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I had to add this picture because she is just too cute!

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