Salazar Progression Thread (my first BP!)

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../sal111417.jpg

Had been researching bps for a couple years in preparation of getting one. Finally got to that point and this guy happened to need a home! Perfect timing, right? We adopted Sal from a friend who was moving across country and didn't want to put him through the move. He's about 4 years old (her best guess) - she got him from a breeder 2 years ago who didn't want him because he "wasn't growing fast enough and didn't eat." Sounds like a winner, right? He hasn't had any eating problems that I can tell, and ate fine for my friend... Anyways! He's just a spider but it's one of my favorite genes and his pattern is so clean and beautiful. His wobble is only apparent when he's being handled, no problems striking/eating/moving around the enclosure. We will be moving him to a DIY melamine enclosure this weekend from a glass 36x18x16 (hate the lack of heat/humidity retention, I'm having to work really hard to keep temps stable). The new enclosure will be 36x16x16 heated with a CHE on a thermostat and if needed an UTH under the warm side (also on a thermostat obviously). Right now he has lights on a 12/12 timer. He's been doing great, can't wait to get him used to being handled again. Very inquisitive boy I'm sure he will be a joy once he's more comfortable. Waiting until he poops to get a weight on him. :P But I'm over the moon in love! Sorry for the crappy iPhone pic, I'll post better quality with my real camera after a few handling sessions when we're more comfortable with one another.

Edit: I'll be posting pics of the build/finished cage here for anyone who's curious!

Great looking spider you have there and great you were able to help a friend out. Welcome!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks so much! I'm so excited to have him. The temptation to handle him during his first couple weeks here is overwhelming, I feel like a kid who knows what they're getting for Christmas but can't actually open the gift until Christmas day. This pic is from having him out for just a minute while we rearranged something in his enclosure. Can't wait for a long and happy friendship. :)

Good lookin spider, I have one as well [emoji16] I'm in NC also, planning to go to repticon in Raleigh this weekend?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Yes! We live in Raleigh as well! :cool: I was going to pick up a bag of feeders and check out the equipment. Not sure which day we're going yet, though... Where do you get your feeders btw? I have enough to last nearly a year if he eats every week but just in case something happened and I needed to buy some before the next repticon. I know our exotics vet sells them but they're nearly a 30min drive from us.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...9/img_1431.jpg

Down the hatch! :gj:

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...9/img_1426.jpg

DIY viv. So far a dream to work with compared to the glass. Holds temp and humidity perfectly. High vent on cool side and low vent on warm side draws air across the enclosure keeping it from getting stagnant. Substrate is reptichip. Cool side ambient 80, warm side ambient 87 with a warm spot on the hide (90) and under the hide (88). UTH on the warm side along with a CHE to supplement ambient temp. Humidity holding steady around 62% (per accurite). I also have an infrared temp gun.

Got a pre-meal weight on him (617g), and got to see him stretched out fully in the enclosure, he's right around 38". I can already tell such a difference in how comfortable he is being fully enclosed. He's out and about way more often at night, and uses the branches and every inch of the viv. So good to see. Cheers to a happy BP with a full belly.

Very nice setup! [emoji1303]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! All the materials cost about $70. We used melamine pre-cut boards that were 36x16, acrylic panels, cabinet hinges and latches, silicone, and two vents. We already had all the power tools necessary (drill, circular saw, and jigsaw), but we did buy a forsner bit to drill the hole for the CHE fixture. Not including letting the silicone cure overnight it took about 2 hours to build. :P I may eventually splurge on an AP cage but this works just fine for the foreseeable future.

Love the snake and the setup! I love cute snake adoption stories :) I cannot wait to see some more pics of Salazar once he is comfortable in his new digs. He is going to be a spoiled boy.

He definitely is! We've started doing regular handling and he's so much more comfortable with me already even after just a few. Our first session it took him a couple minutes to come out of his ball and explore. Now as soon as he flicks a few times and smells me, he begins exploring straightaway. I'm always careful to let him know I'm going to pick him up by gently removing the hide if he's under it and lightly touching underneath him before I actually lift him. So far his favorite passtimes include using my arms as jungle gyms and exploring all of the coats and bags on the coat rack. :P We've gotten up to 20 min of out time, I give him the option to go back into his enclosure every 5 min or so to make sure he never feels trapped or stressed while being out. I want it to be his choice to explore and interact if he wants to.

Sal is going into shed! Finally! He has a retained eyecap from before his time with me, so I'm hoping he loses it this shed. I've bumped his humidity up, he's in full blue so it should be the next day or two. Still no poo and we're 3 meals in, maybe when he sheds this week he will let everything go all at once, so to speak. :gj:

Just wanted to post a quick update. Sal's still doing great, hasn't missed a meal and is just starting his second shed cycle (his retained eyecap did come off last shed). I just added a reptile humidifier to his setup to keep his humidity levels up during these super dry winter months -- our ambient humidity in our house can drop as low as 25% due to our heat. It's plugged into a timer and set to run for an hour every six hours on a low setting. This way I can maintain him at 55% or so, then bump him up a bit during his shed cycle. It's been so cool to learn his personality. He is a super laid back boy but a bit of a diva, he only hisses when I spray water in his enclosure and he HATES to get water on him, another reason I got the fog setup for him. If he hears us near him he always pops his head out to see what's going on. :P

Oh, forgot to add that as of yesterday he is 799g (as opposed to 617g when we got him 3 months ago). :D

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../3/9/9/sal.jpg