Rescue BP, Need some advice please.

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Hey guys, this is a female Ball Python that we rescued from someone. So all we know is female and may not have eaten in a few months. We've had her for a few days now.
General info: Aspen shavings, Big water dish, Clay hide (not pictured), and two log things she can slither under. A heat pad that isn't fully working so the heat is not up. I need to get a probe and temp/humid checkers.

1. her tank is a 30 Gal. 36" x 12" x 18" is this big enough for her to stay in forever or do I need her in a bigger one. .She is VERY active at night trying in vain to escape her habitat so not sure about sizing.

2. I've seen her Drink, but not poop. I've read that they sometimes don't poop till after shed, which she looks like she is still in. Is this normal?

3. Her skin looks a little saggy, as shown in the picture (could be normal?) Is this normal?

4. What morph is she ? just a normal? More for curiosity.

5. Her heat pad isn't working as well as it should, can I/ should I place a red heat lamp on her. (it's the only one I have and can't go shopping till tomorrow.) Should the heat pad cover half or a 1/4 or the tank?

6. How soon should I offer her food, we bought a frozen rat and mouse. Is the mouse or Rat better for trying to get her to eat after a "dry"? spell.

Any other advice you have would be great :) haven't owned a BP in a very long time, so I am quite a bit rusty. But have been looking here, youtube and anywhere else I can get info to be the best caretaker I can be. Thank you so much for your help :D

Heat lamp or uth is a must but the uth needs to be regulated. She is a normal morph. Put her hide in there. How much does she weigh?
1. 30 gal is fine for now. When she gets bigger you can decide what type of enclosure you want. There are different kinds. Tubs, racks, glass tanks and stackable type with sliding glass front doors. Can't think of the name right now.
2.depending on when she last ate. My girl and boy usually go three feeding before pooping. Yes they usually shed after a poop, but if they don't , don't fret.
3. Once you get some food in her she will fill out. Also looks like either I. Or going into a shed.
4. I think she is a normal BP.
5. Get a heat lamp on her if your uth is not working. However, your uth needs to be regulated by a thermostat. The uth should cover your hot side or 1/3.
6. Wait a week to let her settle in. Then try to feed.

Good luck!

also cover the back and sides of her tank so she feels more secure. Might want to switch out the aspin for something that will hold humidity better. Glass tanks take a lot of work but once you get them correct it's easy to maintain. I have glass tanks so ask away.

Check out the "BP Husbandry" forum stickies and other threads. So much is covered there, pretty much, well, everything. It Needs a better place to hide, needs to eat more, needs more humidity by the looks of it.

I'm almost certain she's a pastel, browned out but nice blushing and markings.

Do do you have any way to measure the temperatures or humidity in the cage? I'd say plug that heat lamp in so she has a heat source until you can get a working thermostat and heat pad, but get a lamp dimmer first so you have more of a gradient than "off" or "full blast". An IR temperature gun is good for measuring surface temps, and a dual hygrometer/thermometer with a probe will help tell you hot side and ambient temps as well as humidity. She also needs two hides on each side of the cage so she can have the security to thermoregulate, preferably identical.

If she is "very active" and "trying to escape her enclosure" nightly, the restlessness is more than likely being caused by some underlying husbandry issues that need to be corrected, not the size of the tank. It could just be the hunger, especially if she hasn't been fed in a couple months, but with the lack of working heat or proper humidity I'm willing to bet husbandry is playing a part.

Thank you guys so much!! I did put the lamp over the tank but up a little higher and in the middle. I am about to go out and grab some supplies, better Substrate, A UTH that is as close to 1/3 I can, another Hide (or two if I can't find a similar one), Hygrometer and thermometer x2 for both sides, then either the heat gun thing you are talking about if I can find it or a probe one. And clips for the tank lid, as she can push it off if we don't keep the slate the corners.

I didn't like the look of the aspen so I am pretty happy about getting to buy a nicer one.

Is her water dish okay? When I go out I will look, it just looks silly, but if that's a good fit well her needs over my wants.

Lastly, I wrapped a blanket around the back and sides so that it's darker, and I'll look for something better long term.

Thank you again for your help :) I will update with pictures when I can.

You don't need a hygrometer for both sides, just one in the middle :) And also in case no-one said, DO NOT use tape to stick anything inside the tank, like probes. It can and will get stuck to your baby and cause injury. Good luck!

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looks like you are off to a fine start, I would not leave that thermometer probe hanging out like that though, snakey will eventually get tangled in it or pull on it.

Just for down the road, you may just end up simplifying the enclosure a bit. Makes it easier to tear down and clean. Barring going whole hog and building a bio active enclosure (that I am not even sure is a good thing... yet), keeping it simple and uniform helps you to clean when they will decide to poop everywhere and avoids your snake having to choose a hide based on security and instead feels comfortable on either side of the thermal gradient.

For now the best thing is to just let you new arrival settle into her surroundings. Might think of blocking off the sides and back of the cage to add in giving her privacy.

Keep asking questions. The people here are the best I have ever seen for caring and having good tips on what to do.

Oh and computers are not always the best thing near a ball. They are sensitive little beings and the vibrations, light, and noise can make them skittish. Don't bother moving but if she doesn't calm herself to a routine in a few weeks, you might think of a new location for her besides near a computer.

Okay, I wrote a huge thing and it didn't send... So I am going to try and write as much detail as I did in the beginning.

I picked up a kit from pets smart that included a heating pad, feeding tongs, Light, Bulb, digital probe thermometer. Then a hygrometer, two as I didn't see the message in time lol. and a suction cup round thermometer.

We used guides on boiling/baking/sanitizing to get the hide and other stuff in there.

I used Eco earth, repti bark, and leaf litter.

Note:

I put her into her cage and she was freaking out. Slithering really fast all over the tank. reaching up and falling down. she kept knocking over the hygrometer and the thermometer so I took them out to start. She did this for a while, then calmed down a little, still slithering but slowly, tongue going and exploring her hides. She seemed afraid of the substrate at first.

Day two she was chill and pretty much stayed in her hide, I saw her come out at night to drink a bit before going back into the hide.

Day three same as before really chill laying in her hide, and I am defrosting a rat on top of her cage and she is very interested in it. Hoping she will eat.

She eagerly took a large thawed Rat. Then about an hour later we offered her a mouse, which she took with as much vigor as the first one. This morning is has her head sticking out of her hide, and is generally a bit curious if we come to the tank. Maybe looking for more food?

I was going to wait 1 week to feed again, as I do not want to overdo it. And try 2 large Rats instead of a Rat and a mouse. Any input on that would be appreciated.



- Also, how is the probe suppose to sit?

One large rat per week is plenty, although do you know the actual weight of the rat? Sitting in the hide with the head out is a pretty comfy relaxed position - might want to know if there's food, might want to know what's up. Mine almost always sits with his head out whenever I'm home. I tried feeding my garter snakes when they wanted food - they got fat :/ It takes way too long to make a snake not chubby. Don't overfeed.

A large rat a week is a lot of food for a ball python, more than enough! They don't need to eat much, even if they look curious or aggressive or whatever, that doesn't mean they are hungry at all. If he a large rat and a mouse, he will have enough food to digest and utilize for the next couple of weeks. DON/T WORRY! THEY REALY DON;T NEED THAT MUCH FOOD! It freaked me out at first too, how infrequent they eat compared to us large-brained warm-bloods.

As others have said, one large rat is more than enough for your bp. If she is an adult, she probably only needs one small rat once a week.
Here is a great bp feeding chart that I follow,https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ding_chart.png

Okay thank you again for your replies. It wasn't a large rat it was a Medium according to the chart. (thank you Joci for posting that) 110 grams is what the thing said.

The weight of the snake was told to us when we got her, though we haven't weighed her so we don't know for sure. Cleo weighs 964 grams.

We will follow the chart and go with one small rat every 7 days.

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Originally Posted by Goats

Okay thank you again for your replies. It wasn't a large rat it was a Medium according to the chart. (thank you Joci for posting that) 110 grams is what the thing said.

The weight of the snake was told to us when we got her, though we haven't weighed her so we don't know for sure. Cleo weighs 964 grams.

We will follow the chart and go with one small rat every 7 days.

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Best of luck with your new legless friend! :)