New Ball Python

I have been reading this form for a while to get info and it has been very helpful in helping me get set up. I just got my first ball python today and the people at the pet store said that he hasnt been feed in over a week infact the last time he was feed was last wensday. So while I was there I got a frozen mouse. The mouse is thawing out right now and i will feed him later. It (dont know if its a boy or a girl) is currently cursin around the cage looking for a way out but there is none unless i let him out so thats that. The only thing im concerned about is that earlier i was moving something in his cage and he like hit me with his head as if he where to bite me. I believe its a mixture of lack of food and stress so im letting him calm down now. Hes about 18in long dont know exactly and i dont know his weight. Ill get some pics up later on tonight.

congracts on the new bp! but you might want to wait alittle bit to feed and handle him/her. I know that you are concerned about it being hungry and stuff but if you listen to the people on this forum who have had snakes for a long time it is best to leave them alone for a week or two and let them get used to their new home. it's very stressful on them at first so try and put them in a quiet place and let them settle in for abit. dont try and handle it or feed it. they can go months without food so its ok just let it settle in for a while and then handle it for a few minutes a day till it gets used to you. then you can handle it all the time and they seem to tolerate it pretty well. I'm new to this also only had my bp 5 months but I've learned alot from the people on this site so good luck!

I new not to handle it for a while but i didnt know not to wait and feed it the mouse is pretty much all thawed out now should i re freeze it or throw it away.

it's ok to refreeze it. I've only been able to get my bp to take f/t 2 x and one of them I unfroze 2x before she would take it. she mostly likes fresh kills and the last 3 have been live. so yes it's ok to refreeze the mouse and try again later. good luck!

Ok I put the mouse back in the freezer i will try it again on like Sunday night and in the mean time im not going to do anything with him im goin to put a blocker up over most of the cage and add some balls of news paper. He looks like he might shed aswell.

Congrats on the new b.p. We are also new owners having had ours only since May 2nd. We followed the advice here about leaving the snake totally alone for the first week or two. Just a quick change of water and check for urates/feces and of course monitoring humidity and temps but other than that we tucked the young snake in a quiet, fairly dimly lit room and let things be. Very hard though but so worth it in the end.

Just make sure when you defrost the mouse it's fully thawed before offering. I've seen suggestions here about warming it up (after it's fully thawed) with a hair dryer, and even some here that have put the mouse on the top of the snake's enclosure and actually gently blown warm air over the mouse to sort of get the snake interested in the nice yummy warm mouse smell.

We always feed around 10 pm as b.p.'s are nocturnal so they are up and about around then. We just use tongs and put the mouse head first to the snake and do what some here call the "mouse zombie dance", little wiggling and bingo we get a nice strike and coil. Then just leave the snake be to digest for a couple of days. Handling after feeding might cause a snake to regurg a meal and you don't want that.

Here's hoping you have a great feeding response!

~~Joanna~~

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Just make sure when you defrost the mouse it's fully thawed before offering.

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I always give the mouse a squeeze at the base of the head and the fattest part of the belly to check for any coldness. This seems to work very well at checking ''defrostedness'' (ha...I think i just made a word up) and those are the two spots that I have found to be hardest to defrost.

Excellent, thanks Daniel! I didn't know how best to describe how to check a defrosting mouse (nice new word...defrostedness LOL) as we have always used pre-killed with Baby.

~~Jo~~

When I defrost a rat, I put it in two ziplock bags, so the rat doesn't get wet. I usually fill the sink up with hot water, and then I have a big mason jar that I also fill with hot water, and then I put the baggies containing the rats in that, along with a cup holding hot water that helps hold the baggies under the water. It takes about an hour to thaw. At that time, I feel the head(braincase) and if it still feels cool, back into hot water it goes. I feel the head, the hips and the belly. If the belly bursts or the rat smells more funky than usual, it gets tossed.

If you are unsure of if the mouse/rat is completely thawed, put a finger on top of its head and press down slightly. Leave your finger there for a few seconds, and if it stays warm then you are good to go, but if it is warm when you first touch it, but cools down quickly, it is not done.

I wish I could get live feeders here cheaper, but buying from RodentPro is the cheapest route for me right now. Thawing these things gets to be a pain in the butt... The things I do for this snake... :)

When should I try the first feeding still wait a week or tonight he hasnt been fedd in over a week and for today hes been back and forth between the hides. He no longer tries to escape and he hasnt tried to bite me. yesterday he tried to bit me though the glass as i was watching him room aroundi have most oh his cage covered and hes in my bedroom where the only person in there is me and im either at my computer or in bed. I havent gone into his cage today except to change the water.

you dont really need to change his water everyday. just make sure he has soom. he needs to be left alone for a week or two! like I said before they can go along time without food. and if he is going into shed he probably wont eat any way. my wont. to let you know when I got my bp she was about 1 yr old. the guy I got her from told me she only ate 3x in a year for him so you see they can go along time without food. she eats well for me 1 mouse 2x a week. and she has grown almost 7 inches and more than doubled her weight in 5 months. so the best thing to do right now is just leave him alone for a while and then start to handle a little at a time. if his eyes are blue and cloudy lookin or he looks real dull he is prpbably going into shed and you just really need to leave him alone . also there is some good info on this web site in the care sheets check them out it will really help and good luck!

Well he was in his hide just now and i figured i would put the mouse in fron of it and see if he would eat. It was less than 15 seconds that he bit it and started choking it. He got it down just fine and nows hes cruisin his cage like hes been there forever.

caesar congrats on the feed but why ask for advice from people who have alot of experience in this field and then not take it ? if you are just going to do what you want to ( and thats ok also) then why ask and waste the time of the people here who write you a reply. you got lucky on this one but maybe the next problem you wont! if you dont know what you are doing ( I know I didnt) then ask people who have the experience ( thats what I did) and learn from them. you can have all the knowledge in the world at your finger tips and if you dont use it then it's just your loss. sorry I dont mean to be kinda gruff but if you ask for help listen to the advice from people who know thats all. not to say that I know alot but I got alot of good info from this site , from adam at 8ball and matt at mgreptiles.com. I took there advice and it has always worked out just like they said. good luck and listen and learn your snake will tell you what it needs by how it acts. good luck

I have an uncle who has snakes aswell and while talking to him he said the only time they tried to bite him was when they where hungry. After talking to him more he said to try and feed him and that just putting the mouse in would not stress him out. Now im not trying to discredit adam or anybody here, I did research and chose what i thought was best. I do thank everybody who has put in there 2 cents though. Also who is going to seem more trusting someone you seen and know or someone thats online and you have no personal relationship with. I have seen my uncles snakes and all and know he takes good care of them.

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Originally Posted by Caesar-A-Squeeze

I have an uncle who has snakes aswell and while talking to him he said the only time they tried to bite him was when they where hungry. After talking to him more he said to try and feed him and that just putting the mouse in would not stress him out. Now im not trying to discredit adam or anybody here, I did research and chose what i thought was best. I do thank everybody who has put in there 2 cents though. Also who is going to seem more trusting someone you seen and know or someone thats online and you have no personal relationship with. I have seen my uncles snakes and all and know he takes good care of them.

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How about trusting David and Tracy Barker, Philippe de Vosjoli, and Roger Klingenberg, D.V.M ... they wrote a little book called "The Ball Python Manual" which is the single best selling publication covering the care of these animals in existence. They also work with multitudes of reptiles every day of their lives and have done so for probably a lot more years than you've been alive. The Barkers make their living by keeping and breeding ball pythons. Any guesses as to what they recommend?

But hey, I'm sure your Uncle knows what he's talking about. Good luck with all that! ;)

-adam

Im just going to leave it at this. There is no one way to take care of your animal, what might work for one person wont work for another. Now that doesnt mean that one person is right and the other is wrong in that case but i believe that one of the purposes of this forum is to discuss those differences. Now I asked a question I read everybody answers and even got some answer else where. In the earlier post I put to much on trust. I respect everybodys opinion and dont question it because of what i stated earlier. As for the book I have not read that but will look into it.