New to BP - please help

Hi everyone.
I work a pet store and yesterday a guy came in an literally dumped his BP on us. As I am the only one with snakes, I have 3 corn snakes, the store was more then willing to let me have it. I jumped at the chance and brought him home. He is a little under weight and seems to have a scar of some sort on his head. His eyes are clear and he is active. He ate a f/t hopper last night so I am happy about that.
I guess the question I have is when should I start handling him? I know I should wait two days after they eat, but how often should I handle him after that? 20 min a day? He seems a little jumpy, but hasn't stuck at me or anything. I want him to be puppy dog tame, just want to go about it in the right way. Any advice on anything related to ball pythons would be appreciated! Thanks
Bri

welcome!

Our caresheet should answer a lot of questions: http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

Don't handle him for a week after you have him. I know it's hard. ;)

thanks!
Waiting that week is best then? It won't make him be scared of me if I wait that long?

If you DON'T wait, he'll be scared. BPs are extremely shy pythons. The more you let him settle in, the less stressed out he'll be. Make sure he's got nice dark tight hiding spots.. at least one on the cool side and one on the warm side.

After that week, let him tell you how much he can handle, and I'd keep initial handling sessions around 15 minutes or less. You want him to keep eating for you!

thanks for the info and the link! I appreciate it a ton! I will wait, and he has 2 hides that are nice and cozy, and he is in a low trafic room, his temps and humidity are good, so he should be set for a nice quiet week!

Sounds perfect. I'm sure everyone would like to see a pic when Mouse is all settled in. ;)

how do you add pics? I am confused with the image button thing? any advice?

Sounds like he has a good home. =) Congratulations and welcome!

Well, first you have to upload your pic. You can go to your gallery by clicking the 'gallery' link at the upper left of the screen and then clicking 'upload' on the link panel across the top of that screen.

Just upload your pic, then paste the image address (you can get this by right clicking the image and 'copy image address') in the img tags [ img ] image address goes here [ /img ] -just without the spaces between the [ ]'s

I kinda got the picture thing figured out...
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...use2-06003.jpg

Here is one of Mouse his first day home.
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...6009_thumb.jpg
And one of him in his new viv.
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...6007_thumb.jpg
One more, a nice profile! LOL

he looks cute :D i wonder how he feels to be called after his victims :D

He's a pretty little thing! A bit on the thin side, but nothing some regular meals won't fix. You might also, however, want to collect his next poop and take it to the vet and let them do a fecal on it for you. Just to rule out his "thinness" on internal parasites vs. proper feeding.

I bet he can take a size up from a hopper too!

Welcome to the site!

Welcome to the site, glad you've joined us!


Great advice Robin and Shelby! I'd also suggest getting a fecal done. Just gather up a sample, bag it in a ziploc, refrigerate it then drop it to your herp vet. Most can do the fecal while you wait and it's normally not very expensive. May as well know what is going on with this little abandoned snake so that if there are parasites they can be dealt with quickly and you can get little Mouse on the road to good health.

The hands-off first week is tough on all of us but it's truly proven to be a good thing and lets the snake settle in and start to feel secure in it's new home. A snake that feels secure will be more likely to eat for you and adjust to gentle regular handling.

Congratulations on your first bp!

~~Jo~~

Lovely little snake. Definitely get a fecal done.. if you need help finding a good herp vet in your area, check out this website:

http://www.arav.org/Directory.htm

thanks for the comments guys! and the poop suggestion! I will take a sample in sometime today. I talked to a vet and they said no problem. I will keep you updated! Thanks again! :)

Welcome to the forums here! He's a pretty little snake and I think Mouse is a cool name! :)