My first Ball-Python.....akkk!

Hiya all........My name is Trudy and im a first time Python owner. I am lost as to what all she(Not sure about that one) needs and all.i would love to hear some tips and tricks if anyone has any for me .....She has a really sweet temperment(untill it comes time to get her out of her tank)She is a WC. I got her from the pet store in the town next to where i live and was told that the owner of the store dont take care of the sankes to good beacuse he is scared of them!(what a dumb man).She is still tryin to shed a small place(about 1 1/2 inches) starting from right below the flat of her head down. but the rest of her is so pretty and with a blue tint. I have been putting Vita spray on her and this seems to be helping with it. Not real sure about the temp and humidity the tank is supposed to be on. Right now its 98 on one side and humidty is tropical. Is this right for her? I have the under tank heat and also a heat lamp(pad and lamp in day and only pad at night) the temp has been close to 75-80 at night(is this close to right?)She has never tryed to bite me! I can rub her head and she just lays there she acts like she likes it .....she will press her head against my hand when i rub her head. She is really sweet tempered(with the exception of comming out of her tank) She will tighten up her body and when i go to pick her up she slaps my hand with her body(but still dont try to bite) i would love to hear advice about her and what all i need to do with and for her............PLEASE HELP ME !!!! I want to do every thing right for her and i never knew owning a snake was like this ....i am already so attached to her and i just got her last wensday(6-1-05) i will put some pics up soon as i get them

Welcome to the site - there is a TON of info and helful member-resources here for you.

A good first step is checking the caresheet http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52 - specific questions left after that just post em in here and you're sure to get a ton of advice!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Smulkin

Welcome to the site - there is a TON of info and helful member-resources here for you.

A good first step is checking the caresheet http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52 - specific questions left after that just post em in here and you're sure to get a ton of advice!

---

Thank you Smulkin! I was tempted, but I'm glad you stepped in. I don't know if I could have been as "eloquent" as you! :D :twisted: ;) :stupidme:

-adam

The best advise I can give you is to do some research on ball pythons, starting with the caresheet. There is a book called The Ball Python Manual that would be highly beneficial too. It's $9 at amazon.com. The environment you keep your snake in, is one of the most important things to maintain it's health.

98 deg. seems really hot!

Aww Kase that your baby is really pretty! ok i just came home from work and left the heat lamp off and just the under tank pad on ..........shes goin crazy in there shes all on the top of the screen lol shes so cute...today is a good day for her shes lettin me hold her and makein me have typos because she wont stay off the keyboard.....the temp in the tank is down to 80 im goin to try to hold it there since shes in a good mood tonight

You really need to have a heat gradient in your tank, and a decent thermometer to measure it (not those dial things). The hot side needs to be constantly maintained at 92 degrees and the coolside of the tank needs to be 82. You need to have places to hide on both end of the tank. If you have trouble maintain these temps you should really think about getting a thermostat which will control the temps just like the one in the average house.

Could she be used to being kept in a cool place?? She will not get on the warm side unless it is right at 80 she is always on the cold side. She is not really active in the tank...but she rumages thru everything when i get her out. Last night I had her on my bed and she was goin under the covers while i was folding clothes and every few min she would poke her head out and look for me and then go back under. It was so funny. I have a few pics made but have to get them developed(I really hate not having a digital cam) I hope to have a few of them up by next week

Snakes need that temperature gradient. They need to be able to move back and forth. Remember you aren't watching them 24/7 and you won't see every move they make. She could easily be moving and you just aren't aware of it. I can't stress enough the need for the proper temperatures and humidity. Without the proper temps your snake will be prone to upper respiratory infections and may have trouble digesting food, which could lead to fasting.

I agree - get the gradient. We may not realize it but we need/use it too - every time you see someone with their leg poking out from under the covers while they sleep they are doing something very similar. It's been so hot and muggly lately that parallel occured to me recently. In addition a lot of your BP's activity occurs nocturnally - when most of us aren't around to see everything that goes on.

ok shes settled down and now dont want to go in her tank......she spends more time out of it then in it . and now there is a new problem. when i got her she had that small spot that wouldnt shead. i have got her to shead and she looks good now,but she has got a eye that is still clowdy and got , i think its called a "cap" over it.....the whole eye is black and sticking out except for the center and it looks clowdy. i asked a local pet store what i needed to do about it and he told me to put baby oil on her eye.......omg i dont think that sounds to good anyone got any thing else i can try....i know i dont want ppl putting baby oil in my eye and im sure not goin to do it to her (unless someone does that and it works) i am afraid that it will hurt her or make her go blind permentaly.....HELP I DONT WANT HER TO BE BLIND

No baby oil...

If you have a plastic rubbermaid(or whatever) shoebox size container with a secure lid, you can use that to help get the eyecaps off and the remaining shed. Put about an inch or less of warm water(mildly warmish), then put a wet wash cloth in there also which will help give the snake something to hold onto and rub against. Put the snake in, put the lid on, and put the whole container inside the snake's enclosure on the warm side. Let her sit for an hour, and see what happens. If there is skin left, it should just come right off.

If you just got this snake, it really needs to be left completely alone to settle in for about a week and a half, with you only changing the water and cleaning up feces/urates. This will allow the snake to become adjusted to its new surroundings without any stress(being held). After it successfully eats 1 or 2 times in your care, you can then start short handling sessions of about 5-10 minutes, 2-4 times a week, depending on how the snake's stress level is(hissing, striking, balling up).

And yes, as others have mentioned, definately get the temperature gradients correct. If they are not, the snake cannot thermoregulate properly, therefore it cannot digest its food, and therefore it will not eat since it knows that the heat isn't high enough to be able to successfully digest a meal.

As Adam has said before, A warm snake is a happy snake is a feeding snake.

ok we went to a breeder that lives near here......YAYYYY!!! Her name is pandora... he said that a male has spikes near its flap and this one dont so its a girl!!! she seemed to like the ride.... she has already ate for me and does not ball up or anything. she slides all over me ......I will try the rubbermaid and hope that it works. She seems content now and loves to go all over the living room!!! Thanks for all the help yall are giving me . I went and got a camera today so i should have some pics up by tomorrow night.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lil_southern

ok we went to a breeder that lives near here......YAYYYY!!! Her name is pandora... he said that a male has spikes near its flap and this one dont so its a girl!!!

---

"Spur size" is not in any way a reliable method of determining the sex of a ball python .... probing is the only way to determine your animals sex with any certainty ... "popping" is also a fairly reliable method when done by someone with experience ... your "breeder" is clueless ;)

-adam

Ok Shes in the rubbermade and aint liking it AT ALL!!!! I am hoping that it works. But man shes not happy at all. Shes back and forth and fast to ........i have never seen her move that fast

It is a new environment - give her time and leave her be to settle in - she'll do just fine.

My boyfriend and myself just acquired two adult ball python's.. they both seem to be very mild mannered.. neither one has bit or struck at either of us.. the smaller of the two seems content to climb all over my boyfriend. Any suggestions about shedding is it alright for them to be in a 75 gallon tank together ????? HELP!!!!

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...0&page=1&pp=10

There's a good thread on housing multiple BP's - overwhelmingly "no"

There should be a ton of threads on shedding as well - in short maintaining humidity well leads to easy shedding. Have you had problem sheds?

we just got them yesterday.. I have no idea whether or not they have had any problem shedding.. by the looks of the skins that were in the tank I'd say no though..

If the sheds were in mostly one piece then they did fine - if there were lots of smaller pieces it was likely too dry for them.

thanks for the info.. the snakes have always had live mice would it be terribly difficult to wean them off them and give them the frozen dead ones? I just have a horrible soft spot for furry four legged creatures..

WOW that worked!!! i let her soak for an hour and then got her out and with the warm cloth that was in the rubermaid with her i rubbed her and she loved it when i stoped she started rubbing the top of her head on the bottem of my hand trying to get me to keep rubbing . It didnt help with her eye tho. Is it ok to soak her again tomorrow when i get off work and see if it will help her eye? ok i got a few pics of her but there from a distance im fixing to put them on my profile. maybe yall can see her a little

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lil_southern

Is it ok to soak her again tomorrow when i get off work and see if it will help her eye?

---

Yes, 60 - 90 minutes soaking each night until everything is off is just fine. ;)

-adam

ok what is poppen or wut ever it is.....i am really hoping that is a girl.....its to pretty to be a boy...she has really dark colors on her and very define pattern. She is really calm now. my kids are holding her and she is letting me rub her head. its funny when i stop she will move to where the top of her head is on the bottom of my hand and just look at me. I never knew having a snake would be this cool , or i would get attached to one so fast i have had her 8 days today and she has already ate for me 1 time and if she eats weekly will be eating again saturday........but she ate during the day the first time which i think is due to starvation from a mean pet store owner. i guess i will find out saturday.

I need some help FAST!! I live in a small community and i am paying like $350.00 a month for a 2 br Tralier! Everyone that lives here except for one person had indoor pets(dogs,cats,fish and things like that) My landlord came over yesterday and seen my Python for the first time and stood at her tank and looked at her, told me she was cute but she was not into snakes she didnt really like them. Now today the hussy called me and told me she talked it over with her husband and they feel that i dont need to have a snake!!! her husband dont want to have to come over and do mantince on the home and her get loose and bite him! what a hypocript she told me it was fine and i didnt have to pay a pet deposite because there was no way my pet would mess up the carpet or chew anything up just to make sure that when she comes to do the inspections that i am home and have the snake put up. Now there pulling this. Is there anything i can do about it because she has already told me it was fine to have her and everyone else here has pets... its not my fault no one else here has a reptile for a pet. I WILL NOT GET RID OF MY BABY.....I WILL MOVE FIRST! but i really like it here if they act up because of her with the outher ppl here having pets can she leagly make me get rid of her(or try because she aint going anywhere with out me) I cant belive there acting like this over a pet snake!