Hi! i just bought a cb baby ball, i would like to pick your brains

i got a cb baby ball from the local pet store 2 days ago, the girl at the shop said he had eaten twice,first off ill list my setup then ask some questions.

i got
30 gal long aquarium
metal lid
100 watt exoterra lamp and bulb
large exoterra hide and water bowl
1 piece of cork bark
a plastic plant that suctions to the back of the tank
coconut substrate
strip thermometer (i know i need to go get a digital probe)

ok for the questions!

i soaked the coconut substrate in water till it sucked it all up, it really holds alot of water! will this amount of dampness in it hurt my snake? i;e scale rot etc? the substrate is about 3 inches deep, is that too much?

they last fed him on tues 29th of may, should i feed him every tuesday or more frequently?

is the 30 gal long aquarium big enough for him even when he's full grown?

and lastly should i get a heat pad? im kinda worried about the heating etc, the heat lamp has got the hot spot around 80.

Any and all advice and help would be really appreciated, im a novice and i really wanna learn about reptiles

Hi,


Here's a few links that might answer some of your questions;:)

Glass tank setup sticky

ball python caresheet


There will obviously be questions they don't cover so keep on asking and we'll do our best to help.

I've never used the coconut substrate but I do know it will dry out fairly quickly unless the tank top is covered and that , if you decide to use a UTH, the depth will have to come down a fair bit.

The hides should be identicle if at all possible but need not cost the earth as a lot of people use upside down plant pot drip trays with openings chipped in them and smoothed over.

I should also warn you we are addicted to pictures so feel free to post em if you got em.:D


dr del

Ok, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong everyone, but here's my take.

Yes, that's too much water. You would just want moisture in the air, not a swimming pool for the snake. -lol- I usually mist my girls if the humidity is low. Too much water sitting in the bedding is likely to cause all kinds of mold and fungus, etc. You may also want to consider taking some bedding out. 3" is really a lot. My cocobark substrate is only an inch thick. They dont dig in it, and if you decide to put an under-tank heater (UTH) on it, that much substrate would block some heat.

Wait for someone else's response on the UTH matter, but I would say that if the hot spot is only 80 with the heat lamp, it's something to look into. They like it at about 91 on the hot side.

If the snake is really young, which, I'm assuming it is, you should feed it a hopper every week. I believe when they get older most people only feed once every two weeks, but when they're young they need a little more food. I usually give mine live but tonight I'm going to try frozen. (FT=frozen/thawed). Frozen is better because it minimizes the risk of the snake getting injured.

A 30 long is a little big for the size that I'm assuming the snake is so you ought to consider some more fake plants to make her feel more secure and "scrunched in". It's also more difficult to heat the larger tanks. I know it'd be an issue since you just got the tank, but you should consider switching her over to a sterillite tub from walmart. Most people on this site have them as set-ups, and I just recently got my little girl into one. I have to admit, I prefer it. It's much easier to deal with and keeps the heat/humidity in better. You should also have 2 hides for her, not just one. One on the hot side, one on the cold side. That way, regardless of the temperature they prefer, they can still be hidden, which is a big deal for BPs.

Well, I think I covered everything. But, like I said, I'm rather a newbie myself so anyone can feel free to correct me.

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Originally Posted by Mindibun

Ok, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong everyone, but here's my take.

Yes, that's too much water. You would just want moisture in the air, not a swimming pool for the snake. -lol- I usually mist my girls if the humidity is low. Too much water sitting in the bedding is likely to cause all kinds of mold and fungus, etc. You may also want to consider taking some bedding out. 3" is really a lot. My cocobark substrate is only an inch thick. They dont dig in it, and if you decide to put an under-tank heater (UTH) on it, that much substrate would block some heat.

Wait for someone else's response on the UTH matter, but I would say that if the hot spot is only 80 with the heat lamp, it's something to look into. They like it at about 91 on the hot side.

If the snake is really young, which, I'm assuming it is, you should feed it a hopper every week. I believe when they get older most people only feed once every two weeks, but when they're young they need a little more food. I usually give mine live but tonight I'm going to try frozen. (FT=frozen/thawed). Frozen is better because it minimizes the risk of the snake getting injured.

A 30 long is a little big for the size that I'm assuming the snake is so you ought to consider some more fake plants to make her feel more secure and "scrunched in". It's also more difficult to heat the larger tanks. I know it'd be an issue since you just got the tank, but you should consider switching her over to a sterillite tub from walmart. Most people on this site have them as set-ups, and I just recently got my little girl into one. I have to admit, I prefer it. It's much easier to deal with and keeps the heat/humidity in better. You should also have 2 hides for her, not just one. One on the hot side, one on the cold side. That way, regardless of the temperature they prefer, they can still be hidden, which is a big deal for BPs.

Well, I think I covered everything. But, like I said, I'm rather a newbie myself so anyone can feel free to correct me.

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That about sums it all up, you should also look into a outdoor/indoor thermometer instead of the strip. For a UTH I would get a thermostat or a rheostat and use that for the hot side *92-94F* and use that heat lamp for the cool side 81-84. Also a 30 long is HUGE TANK, you should either get a smaller tank for now or like metioned above put tons of plants etc. Only downfall to tons of plants is... you have to clean them every month and im sure that will get old. I'm sure others will chime in to tell you more but thats my opinion on it all. :)

i got the 30 thinking it would be the only tank id need for him and i have the setup in my livingroom, i have to have it looking good or the wife will relegate it to the basement rec room lol

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Originally Posted by jeffjr464

i got the 30 thinking it would be the only tank id need for him and i have the setup in my livingroom, i have to have it looking good or the wife will relegate it to the basement rec room lol

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It might be fine, but you might run into problems with them eating ( as you prolly know Bp's can be tricky eaters, and more open space might cause them to stress.) I think the tank idea is fine for making it look good, but i'd deff consider maybe a 20 long instead for now, or maybe even a 10 depending on how big he/she is.

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Originally Posted by chris B

It might be fine, but you might run into problems with them eating ( as you prolly know Bp's can be tricky eaters, and more open space might cause them to stress.) I think the tank idea is fine for making it look good, but i'd deff consider maybe a 20 long instead for now, or maybe even a 10 depending on how big he/she is.

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You mention 'depending on how big he/she is' ... can you elaborate on that? Like, how big of a tank one should own related to the size of the tank? My BP was gifted to me with a 30 gal tank (I guess the guy at the pet store made the point that she'd never out grow it.) I'm not sure how old she is, but she's probably around 2 feet long.

For the most part, everyone has given you the correct information.

However, i will say, and this is just with my Experiance.

I bought a baby BP, and bought a 40 gallon tank on the day of my purchase.

Now, i had no problems with my guy, and i was terrible with my humidity, terrible with my temps, and everything else.

Maybe it was just my little guy, but he was great, never had any problems, even with how bad i was doing at first.

I want to say, if you have a small BP, get smaller hides, you don't want them to be big. I bought some small salad bowls from Walmart, and made openings in them. He loves them.

I use the cocount bedding, and like it much better than the Aspen bedding, i couldn't control the humidity with it. What i do is i obviously soak the brick in water, and it's pretty wet after i'm done. So i then before putting my snake in, put 2 lamps over my tank and let it kind of dry down. May take an hour or 2, but that's just what i do. Like someone said, you don't want a swimming pool.

With it being so small, i get alot of drift wood from the store, the fake trees they have, etc. Make him feel secure. The more the better.

Also, when i got mine, he didn't eat for about 2 weeks, until he felt comfortable, then after that i have never had a problem with his eating. Maybe i got a lucky one, because i screwed up alot at first.

That's just my 5 cents, and opinion

another question, i know your not supposed to handle them for the first week or so, so they can get comfortable and such, but i picked up my ball earlier today, it seemed like it was really happy to be in my hands and was really inquisitive lol ,now that i think of it maybe he was loving my body heat. so my question is, the more you handle them the better? i have a little boy and i want the snake to be as accustomed to people and friendly as i can get him to be.

actually when a ball python moves around alot and looks like it's "exploring" is usually a sign that it is stressed out. a happy ball python is a chilled out lay around ball python.

now this is not true for ALL balls, each snake has it's own personality, but in general, if they are trying to flee, they are stressed.

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Originally Posted by jeffjr464

another question, i know your not supposed to handle them for the first week or so, so they can get comfortable and such, but i picked up my ball earlier today, it seemed like it was really happy to be in my hands and was really inquisitive lol ,now that i think of it maybe he was loving my body heat. so my question is, the more you handle them the better? i have a little boy and i want the snake to be as accustomed to people and friendly as i can get him to be.

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You may want to cover the back and sides of that big tank with some sort of backing or just plain black paper. This can help your snake feel less exposed to the world in a larger glass tank.

I think snakes and kids, especially ball pythons, make a wonderful learning experience. Part of that though is teaching your son to respect the snake's very unique needs. Our youngest is 6 years old and he knows after living with snakes for a few years now that the snakes have their own ways and are very different than "normal" pets. I'm not sure how old yours is but the neat thing about having a snake in the house is the great life lessons you can use the snake to teach your child.

Things like counting the days the snake is in "quiet time", having your child participate by using a calendar to mark things like feeding day, handling day, cleaning day, etc. Learning to move quietly and to be very patient with the snake when handling it. Talking about how predators and prey are vital to each other and each fills the role nature gave them (important in our home since we raise the rats that are fed live to the snakes). Learning to judge the snake's mood by it's subtle cues and developing empathy skills.

Three of our four children now have their own "personal" snakes and it's been a joy to watch them learning about such unique and wonderful creatures! The maturity they all show when dealing with each of their snakes as well as helping with the rat colony and snake collection, makes us very proud as parents.

I'm sure this experience will be as equally wonderful for your child and your family as a whole. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jeffjr464

i got the 30 thinking it would be the only tank id need for him and i have the setup in my livingroom, i have to have it looking good or the wife will relegate it to the basement rec room lol

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i have had my BP since november shes about 25 ins. long and at first we had her in a 20 gal tank and she was fine with it but like 2 months ago i moved her to my boyfriends house where she is now in a 50 gal tank and i watched her carefully for like a month cuase i know that some times tanks can be to big but she seemed to be ok with it...now shes moving around and everything just like normal. so if you do keep him in the tank you have just watch her its probilly not what hes use to. make sure hes eats normally and not acting funny.

i dont know guys corect me if im wrong.

good luck

Stacie

ok setup update, i went out an got a rheostat, uth, 2 small hides, small water dish, digital thermometer with probe and some more plants and some driftwood, i have the plants suctioned to the sides and back of the cage, the temps are 73 on the cool side 90-91 on the hot spot, think thats good?

anything below 75 is bad for your snake.

you need the cool side up in the 80's... like 84-82 would be great.

lol i just realized why i had such a low coolside temp, i had the uth and lamp both on the same side, now i have the lamp on my coolside and the uth on the hot, will post pics soon!!!