This is why parents shouldnt go out of town...

So my mom and dad are on a two week cruise on a much needed vacation, so I went to the pet store to get a mouse for my male BP and the guy at the shop said they got a shipment 2 nights ago of 500 baby ball pythons. They soaked em in water and all but a few shed last night, which they arent selling till they do, and they will begin feeding them tomorrow. So I asked if they had any females, dumb question I know, but the first 3 we checked were all males. So when we found a female I was like, meh, why not, for $20.00 cant go wrong right? I did buy some of those tub things that have the drawers on em, but now i think those will be two easy for them to get out of, I am having to rethink my game plan, but gotta do something so she can get some heat. I grabbed some aspen bedding, a new UTH for her, just need something to put her in, any suggestions are welcomed. Now, onto the pics:

Should have got the stuff before you bought the snake.
With 500, they werent going to run out.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00151.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00121.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...1/100_0010.jpg

not worried about them running out, not worried about anything in general, but i liked it at that price and they said after feeding em all tomorrow they were gonna go up. Shes fine now though, got her in a tub with the aspen beding and the UTH going with a thermomater. Tomorrow ill try and feed her and ill pic up a thermostat and a hydrometer as well. once again, sorry for the crappy pics from my crappy camera.

Well, you've got yourself a CH ball python. If you want it to eat, give it plenty of privacy, the right temperatures/humidity, NO HANDLING, and she should settle in fine.

CH?.....whats CH mean? or do I not wanna know?

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Originally Posted by SnakeEyes

CH?.....whats CH mean? or do I not wanna know?

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Captive hatched. Nothing to really worry about IMO. :) That just means that mommy and daddy were wild-caught(WC for short.)

isnt CH a good thing then? and how can you tell?

You can tell because they had 500 of them.
Its not good or bad, just whatever...

oh, ok, as long as its not bad then I'm fine. Shes one heck of a cutie though, my male is gonna have a cutie to be with in about 5 years lol.

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Originally Posted by SnakeEyes

isnt CH a good thing then? and how can you tell?

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It really depends. Sometimes it can be negative, other times positive. Some CH along with WC are known to be nippy. The ball pythons that somebody like Adam raises are called Captive bred(CB) which means that the mommy and daddy snakes are from CBs or of a later generation.

So really, CB is just a fact, not really a good or bad thing.

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Originally Posted by SnakeEyes

my male is gonna have a cutie to be with in about 5 years lol.

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Why so long?

females have to be pretty old before they can mate 3-4 years old, dont they?

Wow; she needs a warm, correct tub right away.

Most about 3 years.

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Originally Posted by SnakeEyes

females have to be pretty old before they can mate 3-4 years old, dont they?

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

Wow; she needs a warm, correct tub right away.

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It's ok, be calm, shes in her new HEATED tub and chillin at about 94 degress, i misted the tank a little but I dont have a hydrometer so dont know the exact % of humidity in the tub, will be getting that tomorrow along with a thermostat to control the UTH. here is some more pics of her in her new home. Note there is no water bowl in the tub, I added it after she went into one her hides, its just a little plastic dish in the middle.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00331.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00341.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00351.jpg

And here is a size comparison, this is her next to a bottle cap for a 20oz bottle:

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00321.jpg

Heres more of her tub:

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00361.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00381.jpg
((Note the little tail sticking out, she was crawling around her tub and I caught the end of her going back into her hide, lol))

Can't get over how small and cute she is. What you all think?

Just make sure you quarantine her from your other snakes.

Alright...how many ball pythons are gotten rid of a year? there seems to be tons, but not a ton of buyers...what is with that?

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Originally Posted by jamesw

Just make sure you quarantine her from your other snakes.

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Oh she is, def. Her tub is actually on the other side of my room on a lower shelf, where as my male's tank is on the other side of the room ontop of a book shelf. You talking about just so she is safe or incase she has an illness?

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Originally Posted by mricyfire

Alright...how many ball pythons are gotten rid of a year? there seems to be tons, but not a ton of buyers...what is with that?

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Don't follow ya on this one?

They seem to be selling really quick here, they said that morning alone they already sold 12-15 of em....not alot out of 500, but still alot for one mornings worth of sales.

you really should consider quarantining your new ball python in a different room. be sure to feed, clean etc your exisiting snake(s) before going over to her enclosure and be sure to wash up really well in between each snake.

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Originally Posted by mricyfire

Alright...how many ball pythons are gotten rid of a year? there seems to be tons, but not a ton of buyers...what is with that?

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sorry i'm not following you... ???

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

you really should consider quarantining your new ball python in a different room. be sure to feed, clean etc your exisiting snake(s) before going over to her enclosure and be sure to wash up really well in between each snake.

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oh, just in case of IBD?

IBD, RI, mites, parasites...

we looked her over at the store for mites, good there, and i been keeping a close eye on her head and mouth to see if there is anything showing up, still good. Trying to keep and eye on her while not disturbing her/letting her get used to her new home is tough....but heres the real problem. They were gonna start feeding all he ones that shed yesterday, tomorrow, I just got her today and got her new home going....should I even try feeding her a fuzzy tomorrow?

i wouldn't. normally, i'd leave her alone for a week and then feed but since she's so young... i'd give her 3 days and then offer her food.

and honestly... you can 'think' you didn't see any mites but they can still be there. and it may be awhile before you see signs of RI - although i know little about diseases since i've only ever dealt with mites but no disease in my snakes.

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Originally Posted by SnakeEyes

It's ok, be calm, shes in her new HEATED tub and chillin at about 94 degress, i misted the tank a little but I dont have a hydrometer so dont know the exact % of humidity in the tub, will be getting that tomorrow along with a thermostat to control the UTH. here is some more pics of her in her new home. Note there is no water bowl in the tub, I added it after she went into one her hides, its just a little plastic dish in the middle.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00331.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00341.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00351.jpg

And here is a size comparison, this is her next to a bottle cap for a 20oz bottle:

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00321.jpg

Heres more of her tub:

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00361.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u.../100_00381.jpg
((Note the little tail sticking out, she was crawling around her tub and I caught the end of her going back into her hide, lol))

Can't get over how small and cute she is. What you all think?

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Looks like a fine setup. I was just going off of your orig. post with my reply..
Quarantine is a must. I find it impossible to believe that with 500 CH snakes, there would be no mites at all.. but that's just me.

she's got a nice pattern. Nice find for $20.

she is currently on the other end of the house in a private room and will be there for about 2 weeks. Should be enough time for issues to pop up correct?

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Originally Posted by SnakeEyes

she is currently on the other end of the house in a private room and will be there for about 2 weeks. Should be enough time for issues to pop up correct?

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Nope. I recommend QT for at least 2 mos....3 mos would be ideal.

No way. For a CH girl that was in a pet store with 500 other BPs, I would say 60 days minimum. You only have one other snake correct? She's a lil beauty, but if it were me that got her,I would insist on the 90 days.

Personally, I think that it was wrong for the store to sell such a small snake that had not eaten yet.
For $20, you very well could have gone wrong; I would rather pay $90 for a captive born and bred, acclimated, and feeding-regularly snake.

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Originally Posted by SnakeEyes

she is currently on the other end of the house in a private room and will be there for about 2 weeks. Should be enough time for issues to pop up correct?

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No - 60 days at the very minimum - 90 days would be ideal. Be sure to also have seperate feeding tongs for them, and always handle your established animal BEFORE handling your new one, not the other way around.

90 days is doable, so not a big deal there, id rather be safe then sorry. As far as handling goes I rarely handle my snakes, so that isnt a problem and as for feeding with seperate tongs, I just plop the mouse in, no tongs are used, so no problems there. Im only worried about anything she may have, as for her needing special attention cause she is a WC CH then thats not a problem, I have more then enough patients to work with her, plus she is just so darn cute! :sunny:

But if you all suggest 90 day QT, then thats what I'll give her. :)

Poor girl, :(

My question is did you get permission from your parents before purchasing another snake?

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Originally Posted by joyful girl

My question is did you get permission from your parents before purchasing another snake?

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nah, they on a cruise and in the middle of some big body of water and are un reachable, plus my mom is freaked out enough about my male, dont want to stres her about the female while she is on vacation, I'll do that when she gets home :8: but she may be ok cause of how small and cute she is.

Also on a side note, im moving to FL in 3 months for school, and they are coming with me, so I'll be out in my own place here pretty soon.

on a side note:
so far, me and my g/f are leaning towards the name Jade. :sunny:

i loooove the name jade!

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Originally Posted by SnakeEyes

so far, me and my g/f are leaning towards the name Jade. :sunny:

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I too like that name!

Jade would be too cute!! She is a pretty little thing ^_^

well after an intense discussion the final decision was to stick with the name Jade.

Will attempt to feed her in about 2 days, will give her 4 days in her new home, we'll see how she does.. :D :D :D

Hey, I can't fault you for snakeing around; I was the girl who hid snakes, frogs, and the like in my bedroom all the way up through high school :) (isn't that funny; I used "snaking" instead of "sneaking..? I will leave it like that, lol.)
With a wc/ch: I would be most concerned with making sure that there are no parasites. I would get a fecal done by a vet.. I would actually use newspaper substrate and a pretty plain cage in case there are mites, you would see them easier, and they could take some time to surface if she had just the eggs on her. Then, after a good period of acclimation, getting her to feed is the next hurdle I would want to jump.
Personally, once a snake is feeding reliably and deemed parasite and disease free, that is just as good as cbb; just seems like a rockier road to take than buying from a breeder, but that doesn't mean you can't get to the same place :)

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

Hey, I can't fault you for snakeing around; I was the girl who hid snakes, frogs, and the like in my bedroom all the way up through high school :)

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Girl I did the same thing! I got tired if hearing "NO!", so I'd get a new pet and sneak it in when my father wasn't home. Most of them were rats. He'd later on either hear them or find them... I'd get yelled at, but later on he'd say they were cute and that they were okay.

Now he doesn't care what I bring home. He knows I'll care and clean it and he doesn't have to do anything with my animals since I pay for all of them, etc. He just ask that my room not stink nor does anyone escape.

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

Girl I did the same thing! I got tired if hearing "NO!", so I'd get a new pet and sneak it in when my father wasn't home. Most of them were rats. He'd later on either hear them or find them... I'd get yelled at, but later on he'd say they were cute and that they were okay.

Now he doesn't care what I bring home. He knows I'll care and clean it and he doesn't have to do anything with my animals since I pay for all of them, etc. He just ask that my room not stink nor does anyone escape.

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yep i was like that too last summer when i got my BP.my parents kept saying NO to me getting a BP and i got tired of it, i got my BP,hed him for a weeks, and then i presented him to my parents.now they dont mind any of my snakes as long as they dont get out and i take care of them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

I would get a fecal done by a vet.. I would actually use newspaper substrate and a pretty plain cage in case there are mites, you would see them easier, and they could take some time to surface if she had just the eggs on her. Then, after a good period of acclimation, getting her to feed is the next hurdle I would want to jump.
Personally, once a snake is feeding reliably and deemed parasite and disease free, that is just as good as cbb; just seems like a rockier road to take than buying from a breeder, but that doesn't mean you can't get to the same place :)

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May be a while till i can even get a fecal out of her, will if possible. right now she has aspen bedding and just have been watching her very closely, paper towels just seems harsh to me but if it will help spot mites then I may end up swapping it out. The only reason I am gonna try to feed so soon is cause she just shed a couple days ago, her very first shed, and she hasnt eaten anything yet, otherwise I wouldnt push it.