New blood python progression thread

I went to the pet store to get my normal phase Blood Python sexed. They just happened to have a T- Albino Blood Python, and I couldn't resist the temptation. I ended up trading my normal phase with some cash for this T- Albino.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...pszr2wzrpi.jpg

Im in love. :)

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...psbnnurad3.jpg

I wanted to say that this snake is an absolute sweetheart. He doesn't even puff up when I go to remove him from his enclosure. I also wanted to mention that this snake watches TV. Im trying to get a video of it, but he sits there staring at the tv, and every so often when the color on the tv changes dramatically he flinches. I have never seen a snak actively watch television. When I get a video I will post it.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...psag8qwhz1.jpg



https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...psyyyr32gz.jpg


https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...psv9nbew1d.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...pszpixsywg.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ps6f9nqooc.jpg

I haven't received any responses, is it an ugly snake or something?

Oh yeah really ugly, lol. I kid. Some great color, really bright and looks great.

Cool looking albino, I like the high white contrast

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I do have good news about this Blood Python. He ate his first meal yesterday. Exactly a week from the day I got it. He didnt want to take it from the tongs, so I put him a lunch bag with the snake, and then 2 hours later I checked and the fuzzy rat was done. Another note is that this snake is by far the sweetest attitude out of any juvenile Blood I have met. He doesn't puff up, nor hiss when I go to pick him up. He also doesn't mind being held. I have held him quite a bit, and he has shown absolutely no signs of stress. I guess I will use this post sorta like a grow log. Normally I don't do grow logs, but since this is my first T- Albino python ever I want to keep a log of the color changes as he gets older. I will try to post a photo at least once a month. I have to say that overall I am happy with my purchase. I have no buyers remorse which is good.

I name him Sangre, for those who dont know spanish, it means blood in spanish.

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Originally Posted by sur3fir3

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...psag8qwhz1.jpg



https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...psyyyr32gz.jpg


https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...psv9nbew1d.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...pszpixsywg.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ps6f9nqooc.jpg

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He’s really handsome!!! I love his coloration! Congratulations!!!


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Originally Posted by Jessibelle

He’s really handsome!!! I love his coloration! Congratulations!!!


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Thanks a lot. I am really happy with him. I cant wait to see him full grown. Normally I'm not into grow logs, but with this snake I feel like I gotta do it to see his changes.

Congrats! T-'s are gorgeous!

I wish I had a fast forward button to see what his colors are going to be like.

196 grams about 2 weeks ago. 232 grams today.

223 Grams yesterday

Failed to eat past Sunday after shed. Also found that this snake does not eat during shed. I am unsure of whether or not changing the bedding from cypress mulch to fir bark helped with the not eating. This past Saturday I changed the bedding back to cypress mulch, and I am keeping him in the enclosure with minimal handling. I figure I will try to feed again this weekend. I am feeding Rat pups about 20 grams at a time.

He ate yesterday

236 grams

He ate today rat Pup ~ 22 grams

Weighed in at 253g

He refused a rat pup

Isn't it frustrating as hell when they refuse to eat!

I have a BP that's been off feed for two months now. Wish he'd chill and go back to being a good little snake....

Good luck with yours eating. How long you think Sangre is?

Id say he is around 2.5 Feet

and yes, it is frustrating. I've nvr had a snake that has such a poor feeding response. Sangre does eat, but he never actively seeks out food when I have it out. he just sits there and smells it. I've never seen him strike at a prey item. I'm thinking of trying a live item soon, the last time I tried to feed live he was starting to go into shed. So I think I need to give him another chance. I know its going to take a while for me to figure him out. He really is a great snake. His temperment is great. The only time I've seen him strike was when the pet store owner was trying to sex him. Other than that I havent seen any agreesion from him what so ever. He is almost too chill. He doesnt even hiss when I goto to take him out of his cage. He does puff up though


Only having had corns and king snakes previously I am not used to the temperment, and feeding response I get from Sangre. He has to be one of the most calm Blood Pythons there is. When I dealt with Corns and kings I never had an issue when it came to feeding. So this feeding reponse I am getting from him is not something I am used to. I know I dont have anything to worry about until he refuses for a few months, but it is worrysome when your snake won't eat. Everytime he doesn't eat I go thorugh a string of things in my head that could have caused this failure. Then I analyze and change my habits if needed.


The more i read on snakes, and update my knowledge I just realize how much I forgot in those 20 years. That aside this forum has been a lifesaver when it comes to learning about snakes. I have learned more here, than just about any other site. Not to mention that most of the sites are dead now.

First one is today 2nd one is about a month agohttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d3f8fdcb8f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...781e4abe00.jpg

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239 grams.

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He’s a stunner! Looking real good!


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Originally Posted by sur3fir3

and yes, it is frustrating. I've nvr had a snake that has such a poor feeding response. Sangre does eat, but he never actively seeks out food when I have it out. he just sits there and smells it. I've never seen him strike at a prey item. I'm thinking of trying a live item soon, the last time I tried to feed live he was starting to go into shed. So I think I need to give him another chance. I know its going to take a while for me to figure him out. He really is a great snake. His temperment is great. The only time I've seen him strike was when the pet store owner was trying to sex him. Other than that I havent seen any agreesion from him what so ever. He is almost too chill. He doesnt even hiss when I goto to take him out of his cage. He does puff up though


Only having had corns and king snakes previously I am not used to the temperment, and feeding response I get from Sangre. He has to be one of the most calm Blood Pythons there is. When I dealt with Corns and kings I never had an issue when it came to feeding. So this feeding reponse I am getting from him is not something I am used to. I know I dont have anything to worry about until he refuses for a few months, but it is worrysome when your snake won't eat. Everytime he doesn't eat I go thorugh a string of things in my head that could have caused this failure. Then I analyze and change my habits if needed.


The more i read on snakes, and update my knowledge I just realize how much I forgot in those 20 years. That aside this forum has been a lifesaver when it comes to learning about snakes. I have learned more here, than just about any other site. Not to mention that most of the sites are dead now.

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My advice is general, as I've never kept a blood, but have you considered having his stool checked? Sometimes snakes that are unusually passive are that way because
they aren't feeling well for some reason...stool is an easy place to start. And sometimes giving an oral de-worming med. will also stimulate their appetite...just saying.

(Sad to see so many other sites disappear, isn't it?)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

My advice is general, as I've never kept a blood, but have you considered having his stool checked? Sometimes snakes that are unusually passive are that way because
they aren't feeling well for some reason...stool is an easy place to start. And sometimes giving an oral de-worming med. will also stimulate their appetite...just saying.

(Sad to see so many other sites disappear, isn't it?)

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From my research on bloods through some other groups & breeders of them, it is actually very common for bloods to only take drop feeding and refuse to strike or tong feed. Despite the reputation for being aggressive or mean, they're even shyer than ball pythons and just you being within smelling range is enough to put some off of eating or striking, especially juveniles (and a juvenile that gets used to drop feeding tends fo continue preferring that as an adult)

The mellow bloods that don't bite at people seem to be the least likely to strike feed and prefer to just approach a dead rat or mouse and start eating.

If I had to guess, their large size relative to not especially frequent meals as an adult in the wild hard coded them more genetically to expend as little effort as possible to eat; it seems like once they realize prey is dead and will eventually show up, they'd rather just wait and eat when it arrives already dead.

I'm not an expert, having only 1 juvenile blood, but if there is no weight loss and the snake is eating, even if not by striking at prey, it seems pretty unlikely that there would be a problem. My guy is 50/50 on striking prey and won't do it at all if the prey isn't warm (warmer than the BPs want it even), but will eat it fairly quickly on days he won't strike if I leave it near the hide and walk away.

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

From my research on bloods through some other groups & breeders of them, it is actually very common for bloods to only take drop feeding and refuse to strike or tong feed. Despite the reputation for being aggressive or mean, they're even shyer than ball pythons and just you being within smelling range is enough to put some off of eating or striking, especially juveniles (and a juvenile that gets used to drop feeding tends fo continue preferring that as an adult)

The mellow bloods that don't bite at people seem to be the least likely to strike feed and prefer to just approach a dead rat or mouse and start eating.

If I had to guess, their large size relative to not especially frequent meals as an adult in the wild hard coded them more genetically to expend as little effort as possible to eat; it seems like once they realize prey is dead and will eventually show up, they'd rather just wait and eat when it arrives already dead.

I'm not an expert, having only 1 juvenile blood, but if there is no weight loss and the snake is eating, even if not by striking at prey, it seems pretty unlikely that there would be a problem. My guy is 50/50 on striking prey and won't do it at all if the prey isn't warm (warmer than the BPs want it even), but will eat it fairly quickly on days he won't strike if I leave it near the hide and walk away.

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^^ My experience exactly. Good to know that I'm not the only one.

Ok so a few days ago i said that he was 2 and a half feet. It just so happens I measured him today and I was WAY off.... he is 18 inches. I apologize for the error.

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Originally Posted by sur3fir3

^^ My experience exactly. Good to know that I'm not the only one.

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I figured out mine also liked to drop feed, her first meal with me she struck but now she just prefers drop feeding. I have 1 bp that likes drop feeding too xD

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Refused food yesterday.

So I FINALLY got the right temps in my Blood Python enclosure. I am at 85 DegF on the hot end and 80 on the cool end. With temps dropping to 77-78 during the night. I was running temps too hot before I figured out how to do this. I was running in the 88 degF on the hot side with 80 on the cool side. It took me such a long time because I am using a CHE and I had to return and then order the new one until I found the right wattage. The first 6 were way too hot. Then I found the 25 Watt CHE. this worked perfectly. It is keeping my hot side at about 83-84 F and my cool side at 80F. To get the right temps I tried everything from 150 watt heat lamps down to 25 watt CHE. The 25 watt CHE was perfect. I have to admit I feel a bit wierd keeping a snake with no hot spot. Due to my old husbandry techniques I keep worrying that he won't be able to digest his food, but I put trust into The Blood Cell (where I got my caresheet from).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sur3fir3

So I FINALLY got the right temps in my Blood Python enclosure. I am at 85 DegF on the hot end and 80 on the cool end. With temps dropping to 77-78 during the night. I was running temps too hot before I figured out how to do this. I was running in the 88 degF on the hot side with 80 on the cool side. It took me such a long time because I am using a CHE and I had to return and then order the new one until I found the right wattage. The first 6 were way too hot. Then I found the 25 Watt CHE. this worked perfectly. It is keeping my hot side at about 83-84 F and my cool side at 80F. To get the right temps I tried everything from 150 watt heat lamps down to 25 watt CHE. The 25 watt CHE was perfect. I have to admit I feel a bit wierd keeping a snake with no hot spot. Due to my old husbandry techniques I keep worrying that he won't be able to digest his food, but I put trust into The Blood Cell (where I got my caresheet from).

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Why didn't you just control the higher wattage CHE with a thermostat or rheostat? That way if for some reason your place gets colder, you can adjust his heat upwards.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Why didn't you just control the higher wattage CHE with a thermostat or rheostat? That way if for some reason your place gets colder, you can adjust his heat upwards.

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I didn't use a rheostat or a thermostat because I was told that hooking up a rheostat or thermostat to a CHE will cause it to die out much sooner. What I did at that time was have the CHE on of an hour, and then off for an hour. This gave me a decent temp, but still was not perfect. Now I have a perfect temp and everything is looking perfect.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Why didn't you just control the higher wattage CHE with a thermostat or rheostat? That way if for some reason your place gets colder, you can adjust his heat upwards.

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Another note. My temps in my house stay the same year round 76-79 F. In that range I haven't found any need to adjust the heat in the enclosure.

Refused food yesterday

It sounds like you're offering food too frequently to me. Iffering a bit less often might have better results with him eating vs refusing.

I mention this since you say he refused yesterday and said the same thing 2 days ago. You probably shouldn't be offering food to a blood every 2 days even if a meal is refused. Weekly is plenty since he seems to be a good weight and not skinny.

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

It sounds like you're offering food too frequently to me. Iffering a bit less often might have better results with him eating vs refusing.

I mention this since you say he refused yesterday and said the same thing 2 days ago. You probably shouldn't be offering food to a blood every 2 days even if a meal is refused. Weekly is plenty since he seems to be a good weight and not skinny.

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Thanks I lose track of days I honestly thought I had waited 5 days. I need to review my thread before I try to feed more.

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Originally Posted by sur3fir3

Thanks I lose track of days I honestly thought I had waited 5 days. I need to review my thread before I try to feed more.

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Maybe keeps sticky notes and a pen by the enclosure and just put up a note with the date for the last time you attempted to feed? (Or write down the next soonest date to attempt to feed) that way you know on sight by whichever method if it is time to feed again or not.

I use Google sheets to track all my snake info, but it is a bit more effort than the sticky note to set up.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

Maybe keeps sticky notes and a pen by the enclosure and just put up a note with the date for the last time you attempted to feed? (Or write down the next soonest date to attempt to feed) that way you know on sight by whichever method if it is time to feed again or not.


I use Google sheets to track all my snake info, but it is a bit more effort than the sticky note to set up.


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I am in the process of moving. Usually I have a calendar that I keep next to my setup. Its been taken down. I just need to keep watch on my thred until everything is set back up.

A few things. I accidentally packed my scale, so no weights for a bit. I am in the process of moving so updates will be sparse for a bit. I think I'm gonna try and feed today or tomorrow.

Refused food again. yesterday. I am going to refrain from holding him until next week when I attempt to feed again.

Important note to myself. This past Saturday I moved the snake to my new house. Starting a minimum 2 weeks without handling.

236 grams yesterday

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He ate yesterday rat pup. He could have had a weanling but I had to try live and I didnt want a chance of him getting bit. I will go back to trying frozen for the next few weeks.

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Ate a live weanling rat today

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250 grams

He pooped. Weighs 235 grams. 15 gram poop. That's about 5% of his body weight.

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