New Member. Holla back ya'll?

Hey everyone! I'm new to the site. Been loving the information (forums and caresheets) and it seems like a lot of people really know their stuff. This is a great resource for people, like myself, starting out in the world of herps. I bought my ball (Aza Ayo- 4 feet ) about 2 1/2 months ago. She's set up in a 55 gallon with two hides, kitty litter container turned water dish, half log, and aspen bedding. UTH and on the screen heat lamp with red bulb. She's been eating great (medium live rats with no problems), haven't been able to relate with the ball eating fickleness yet. Excited for feedback once I start getting pictures up and better information for everyone. Only have a cheap pet-store set of temp. gauge and humidity gauge in there right now (need to hit up Wal-mart for one of those Accu-temp(however you spell) soon). Girlfriend just bought a red-tailed boa (about 2 1/2 ft. pretty lean and gorgeous) at a reptile show nearby. Had the mite problem with her boa, Eden. Cleaned her place and did the whole Mite-Off thing. Expecting to do another treatment due to all I've learned from her about the mite life-cycle and proper treatment. They seem like such a :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: to get done with. A little worried about Aza due to recent all-night soaking, hoping it's just a pre-shed indication and not the mites. Well anyways, I've rambled my ass off, thanks for the time. I'll definitely be posting more and throwing up some pictures.

Welcome, and congrats on the snake! :welcome: :colbert2: A couple of suggestions right of the bat: Try to keep your Ball away from your GFs Boa. The boa doesn't sound like it came from the best environment given the mites, and Boas are known to carry the IBD virus which can mean a quick death to pythons. Also, you may want to reduce the rat size for feeding. They don't eat that much in the wild and many of the feeding problems you hear about are due to people over-feeding their Balls and then get surpised when they stop eating. Keep them a little hungry, and they'll keep eating. :) A small rat is plenty for a large Ball.

:fest: :banana: :welcome:

Hello and welcome glad to have a :lurk: come in to the light

:welcome: to the site!

I would definitely heed Lawrence's advice. Not only for the chance of IBD, but also for accidental transfer of those nasty mites. ;) You could move eggs over and end up with mites in a couple weeks. :bleh:

Have you seen your bp use it's hides? It may be using the water dish as a security thing more than soaking for humidity. What type of hides are you using? Kitty litter pans turned upside down make awesome hides. You don't need a water dish that large, but if you need it for humidity then cool.

Hope you enjoy the site and I will look forward to seeing those pics. :D

totally agree and good suggestion. i've been staggering Aza's feeding. I read a lot of people feeding every week but I have been feeding her sometimes with a week interval up to a little over a 2 week interval. I like to keep her guessing and not the monotonous captive scheduled. It's obvious when she's hungry just because of her increased activity at night (sometimes pretty nuts) and then I throw in a rat a couple days later and there it goes, gone. I don't ever wait too long because she's my baby obviously lol. And about the boa, Eden isn't coming near Aza. Different households and we've been really trying to wash our hands and hoping, knock on wood, that we haven't transported any mites. Thanks for the warm welcome by the way. Just put up some pics of Aza and her old set-up. Pretty crap quality pics if you ask me so I'll be sure to work on that. Anyways, how's everyone doing?

ahh sorry but here's a back to back post by me as a reply. Yeah, she's been using her hides a lot during the day and near morning. She's been loving the aspen bedding. I have two cardboard hides on either side that I've been using. She seems to be switching off between them everyday, no apparent favorite which I think is good. She's been burrowing the coolest tunnels under and around them in the Aspen. I don't think the water soaking is a security issue but definitely something I should think about. I need to make a new replacement one for one of the hides that happens to be a little bit larger. I'm sure she'd love a tighter fit but for now the Aspens been getting that snugness she's been getting a kick out of.

Welcome to the site. I'm still new at this too, but if I could make a suggestion. I've read plenty of posts saying that cardboard can be bad for mold growth after awhile. I've had luck finding containers to make hides from the dollar store. Currently I am using two tortilla warmers turned upside down with a hole cut out on the bottom of the container. My guy seems to like them a lot.
Good luck and once again, welcome.

Welcome aboard! Pull up a seat and enjoy your stay.

Terra cotta stuff is nice and weighty, definitely - we've seen a good number of folks sporting the flower-pot-bottoms - and I beleive thhere was a thread around here somewhere in which folks were posting their hide ideas.

I use a lot of plastic hides just because it's nice and non-porous and cleans up easily - but there are so many options out there that there is no one single "right" answer.

Thanks for all the feedback. The more the better. I think I'm going to switch out the cardboard today, probably going to a plastic bowls with one door cut in it. The cardboard hasn't been in there long so I hope no mold growth but yeah, definitely the best way to go would be plastic or fterra cotta so no worries for either of us. Random update: I just got back home and she's in one of her hides so I think the water soaking is just a nightly thing rather than Eden's (my gf's boa) 2 1/2-3 day solid soak which was definitely due to those mites. Anyone a fan of newspaper bedding? I've been interested in it and would try it if there are any big fans here. Other random ideas? All encompassing. Plus I'd be down for some funny stories. I know this stuff is scattered all across these forums but I figure if anyone has the time just ramble on this thread. Off topic perhaps?

alot of people here use newspaper its alot easier to clean and more cost effective than other substrates. Also if you get to where your using a rack system then its Loads better.

Yup, I'm a newspaper girl myself.

I just remembered soaking can also be a sign of mites too, so keep a close eye on that. Maybe even go to a paper towel substrate for awhile, since mites can be difficult to see on bps. I'd keep a close eye on it just in case. :rolleyes:

I am also a fan of newspaper and it makes for easy clean up.

Hey welcome to the site, I'm a newb as well here and have been enjoying my stay thus far. Quality people so far. Good luck with the mite situation.

hell yeah, definitely was going to try the paper towel as a substrate for a day or i've heard you can hold her and have you slide through your hand with a paper towel around her to see if any mites come off. freaky- love the quote/sig/whatever "Some men see things as they are and wounder, why?
I dream thing that never were and ask, Why not" . who knows, might try the newspaper soon. anyone have their herps living in an apartment? i'm moving into the city in about a month (chicago) and i'm taking aza and eden. i think the landlord is cool due to the fact it's a major real estate firm and a fairly isolated spot. of course i'll be on the look out for escapees, that would suck but so far i see no problems. thinking once i'm settled in on getting two beardies in possibly a 75g. roommates cool with it so i guess i would absolutely love living in chitown with a ball, rtb, and two beardies. any chicago snake or reptile fans or just city dwellers i'd love to hear back. that doesn't exclude those country bumpkins and suburbanites, yes i'd love to hear back from you too. i'm a f'ing dork.

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Originally Posted by Aza

hell yeah, definitely was going to try the paper towel as a substrate for a day or i've heard you can hold her and have you slide through your hand with a paper towel around her to see if any mites come off. freaky- love the quote/sig/whatever "Some men see things as they are and wounder, why?
I dream thing that never were and ask, Why not" . who knows, might try the newspaper soon. anyone have their herps living in an apartment? i'm moving into the city in about a month (chicago) and i'm taking aza and eden. i think the landlord is cool due to the fact it's a major real estate firm and a fairly isolated spot. of course i'll be on the look out for escapees, that would suck but so far i see no problems. thinking once i'm settled in on getting two beardies in possibly a 75g. roommates cool with it so i guess i would absolutely love living in chitown with a ball, rtb, and two beardies. any chicago snake or reptile fans or just city dwellers i'd love to hear back. that doesn't exclude those country bumpkins and suburbanites, yes i'd love to hear back from you too. i'm a f'ing dork.

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Hey, fellow midwesterner! I live in Michigan (5 hours from Chicago). I'm getting a BP in two weeks (can't wait). All I can tell you about the mites is from my experience with some on my corn snake. I soaked him in a warm water bath for 30-45 minutes (drowns the buggers) and ran him through a wet wash cloth to get rid of the rest. Then I cleaned everything in his cage with a dilluted bleach solution (including the cage) Make sure to dry it very well before putting the snake back in. The mites like to hide near eyes and under the "neck area" scales. Good luck, and I think there is a sticky on the mites here somewhere. It may be different with Ball Pythons so check that first IMO.

thanks. hell yeah man, nice nice, 2 weeks. yeah, i really am still hoping she doesn't have mites. i just came in this morning and she's soaking. i think it's just a humidity/temp issue. it's about 37% humidity in there and around 87 degrees F. we'll see. how are corn snakes? personal opinions?

Welcome to BPNet. Chicago has an amazing show coming up in October you might want to plan on attending.

http://www.reptileconference.com/htm_chi/index_chi.htm

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Originally Posted by Aza

Thanks for all the feedback. The more the better. I think I'm going to switch out the cardboard today, probably going to a plastic bowls with one door cut in it. The cardboard hasn't been in there long so I hope no mold growth but yeah, definitely the best way to go would be plastic or fterra cotta so no worries for either of us. Random update: I just got back home and she's in one of her hides so I think the water soaking is just a nightly thing rather than Eden's (my gf's boa) 2 1/2-3 day solid soak which was definitely due to those mites. Anyone a fan of newspaper bedding? I've been interested in it and would try it if there are any big fans here. Other random ideas? All encompassing. Plus I'd be down for some funny stories. I know this stuff is scattered all across these forums but I figure if anyone has the time just ramble on this thread. Off topic perhaps?

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One way you can tell if she is soaking due to mites is if you look closely in the water dish for dead mites. They are very small, but still visible.

I used to live in an apartment with a bird, a bearded dragon, two tarantulas, mice, and I was planning on getting a red tail as well. Luckily, my landlord had a parrot of her own, so she was very understanding about animals that live in enclosures, and she didn't charge me a pet deposit for any of them. I'm sure some people will be more ignorant about it, though, especially with snakes.