Ralph says 'Hello!'

Hey guys... I'm new here as you can see.. I am posting here to check how i am doing because this is my first ball python and i am really excited.

I bought Ralph (Not sure of his/her sex, but i suppose i could change the name to "ralphieatta" hahah) On a whim the other day because i have always appreciated these creatures and have researched them before but had never bought one.

I have a friend who is pretty experienced and he is helping me throughout the process, but i'd like you guys to critique/ make recommendations as well.

So here is the info

I bought the python at a flea market and apparently they did not know much about snakes because i asked questions like "is he eating well" and how old he was.

They say he is about two months old and that he had been fed recently (they didn't know when)

he is about 14/15 inches and is currently staying in a 10 gallon aquarium with cypress mulch, a hide on the hot and cold side... both filled with reptile moss , a big water dish, a UTH, and a bulb over the warm side.

i went out and bought a digital thermometer/humidity gauge and the current levels as of now (its 9:30 PM) with only a UTH on the hot side and no overhead light...

temp: 80 F
Humi: 54%

The digital gauge is located on the warm side of the tank

Humidity is a bit low due to I bought a new lid today which is mesh and i haven't done the foil trick yet.

I heard you guys like pictures, so , enjoy!

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/DSCN0658.jpg
gauge
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/DSCN0663.jpg
over head of tank
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/DSCN0665.jpg
close
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/DSCN0667.jpg
Ralph says Hi!

sounds good but i dont think you would need the light unless u live in a cold environment. I got rid of my lights once i put in my UTH. thats personal preference though. Lights just dry out a tank quicker lowering humidity other than that looks good and nice snake. looks like my little Ziggy. lol.

you want to get the warm side up to about 92-94 and the cool side about 82-84. foil trick should help the humidity, which you want at about 50-60%. i am sure you have found/read the caresheet. just follow that as ask questions of what you are unsure of, there are tons of people that would love to jump in and help ya out.

and welcome to the forum.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kagez28

you want to get the warm side up to about 92-94 and the cool side about 82-84. foil trick should help the humidity, which you want at about 50-60%. i am sure you have found/read the caresheet. just follow that as ask questions of what you are unsure of, there are tons of people that would love to jump in and help ya out.

and welcome to the forum.

---

thanks, but these are night time tempatures i thought they could lower some

Anyway, i need the light for heat and light during the day because its in a dark area of room and its for the basking area. i leave the UTH on all night

I did the foil trick on a different lid but i bought a new lid that has a folding top opening to make things easier for me

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by coolcasemods

thanks, but these are night time tempatures i thought they could lower some

Anyway, i need the light for heat and light during the day because its in a dark area of room and its for the basking area. i leave the UTH on all night

I did the foil trick on a different lid but i bought a new lid that has a folding top opening to make things easier for me

---

I understand about needing the light for extra heat, I have to use both a UTH and an overhead heat source to keep my glass enclosure heated at the right temps. Do you have anything to control the amount of heat that's going into the cage like a thermostat or rheostat? I know that with my CHE and UTH combined that it gets too warm, but I have a Helix thermostat to keep things at the right temps.
Also, once you get things situated, Ball Pythons don't require any source of light, they would actually prefer it to be dim. The natural light cycles that occur in your room should be enough for him/her.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Purrrfect9

I understand about needing the light for extra heat, I have to use both a UTH and an overhead heat source to keep my glass enclosure heated at the right temps. Do you have anything to control the amount of heat that's going into the cage like a thermostat or rheostat? I know that with my CHE and UTH combined that it gets too warm, but I have a Helix thermostat to keep things at the right temps.
Also, once you get things situated, Ball Pythons don't require any source of light, they would actually prefer it to be dim. The natural light cycles that occur in your room should be enough for him/her.

---

my mom likes a cold house ( I have no idea why) and so im having a hard time keeping my daytime temperature with the light around 90 (even though i live in texas)

My ambient room temperature is probably 72 24/7..


my friend said i can have his CHE.. should i just replace my bulb with that?

ugh i just checked my temperature and the Warm side is 79...

i need to get a thermostat but as of now i have a heat pad 24/7 and a timer for my light which is about 12/12

You need to have a lamp that would be safe to use with a CHE, because they can get extremely hot and can potentally damage the lamp, by melting, etc. If you're not 100% positive that your lamp can be used with a CHE, they sell some at Petsmart/Petco for around $20-$30. If you look on the box it should say somewhere that it's compatable for CHE's. Then of course you need to know what the wattage of the CHE bulb is, and the max watts that the lamp can sustain.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Purrrfect9

You need to have a lamp that would be safe to use with a CHE, because they can get extremely hot and can potentally damage the lamp, by melting, etc. If you're not 100% positive that your lamp can be used with a CHE, they sell some at Petsmart/Petco for around $20-$30. If you look on the box it should say somewhere that it's compatable for CHE's. Then of course you need to know what the wattage of the CHE bulb is, and the max watts that the lamp can sustain.

---

he has a lamp connected to it.

If i get it from him should i leave it on 24 hours?

and if yes should i do this schedule

heatpad 24 hours
CHE 24 hours
Light 12 hours



Ambient light in my room will not be much as he is in a dark corner with no window and i barely ever leave my light on to save money on the electric bill. if push comes to shove i could hook up a fluorescent light instead of incandescent which fluorescent barely gives off any heat

i'd say top priority is to get a thermostat, if your uth or something goes on the fritz your in for trouble, everything else is trivial for now, as long as your temps stay above 75 your snake will be fine, but 92-94 hot, 82-84 cool are where you should be aiming to be, it will take some dinking around to keep them constant, have fun!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jeffjr464

i'd say top priority is to get a thermostat, if your uth or something goes on the fritz your in for trouble, everything else is trivial for now, as long as your temps stay above 75 your snake will be fine, but 92-94 hot, 82-84 cool are where you should be aiming to be, it will take some dinking around to keep them constant, have fun!!

---

ok thats all i needed to hear... i was getting worried that the temp was too low at night and i tried to pick him up (he was leaning on a rock looking odd) and he was seeming weird in my hand so i turn on a heat lamp right away and held it over him for a while until he became active

i guess im just worrysome

Your thermometer is a little bit away from where the heat lamp is. That might be why your temps are reading so low. Digital Temp gun with probes might work better. Also try covering the right side of your lid with aluminum foil + tape over the top of it or a sheet of plastic. That'll help keep humidity/heat.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WTHbbqSnake

Your thermometer is a little bit away from where the heat lamp is. That might be why your temps are reading so low. Digital Temp gun with probes might work better. Also try covering the right side of your lid with aluminum foil + tape over the top of it or a sheet of plastic. That'll help keep humidity/heat.

---

Well the heat lamp isn't on at night i just turned it on for a moment to take a picture.


Alright guys... i'm having another problem that i havent ever heard of... i think it might be stress... he slept in the ceramic pot all night and he came out to bask for a moment and started acting all crazy... and then he rolled into a ball belly side up... I knew the guys at the flea market hadn't been treating him good but i thought it was just dehydration or something.

:(

Hi,


What do you mean "acting crazy"?

Was it when you went up to look at him or did it seem to come out of nowhere?

coiling into a ball when frightened is natural ball python behaviour but we need to check thats what actually happened.


dr del

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jeffjr464

i'd say top priority is to get a thermostat, if your uth or something goes on the fritz your in for trouble, everything else is trivial for now, as long as your temps stay above 75 your snake will be fine, but 92-94 hot, 82-84 cool are where you should be aiming to be, it will take some dinking around to keep them constant, have fun!!

---

Imma have to disagree to a certain extent. Yes, your top priority is to get a decent t-stat, HOWEVER. I would not consider leaving a snake in a tank with the hot side at 79 degrees to be trivial, especially for more than a few days. Cool temps make snakes very susceptible to diseases/infections such as a URI. I would try to fix both these problem immediately.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by coolcasemods

Well the heat lamp isn't on at night i just turned it on for a moment to take a picture.


Alright guys... i'm having another problem that i havent ever heard of... i think it might be stress... he slept in the ceramic pot all night and he came out to bask for a moment and started acting all crazy... and then he rolled into a ball belly side up... I knew the guys at the flea market hadn't been treating him good but i thought it was just dehydration or something.

:(

---

So wait... what are your nighttime temps? There shouldnt be any fluctuation in temps at night. You should either get a CHE (which if I hear you right, you are) or a nightime bulb to keep his temps up. Sounds to me that your snake may already be suffering the consequences of the cold temps and should be taken to a vet ASAP to be tested for an URI. Do you have any other reptiles? If so, I would quarantine this animal if you havn't already.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,


What do you mean "acting crazy"?

Was it when you went up to look at him or did it seem to come out of nowhere?

coiling into a ball when frightened is natural ball python behaviour but we need to check thats what actually happened.


dr del

---

hmm... I'll do my best to describe it.

He came out of his hide and his head was leaning to the side.. and then he kind-of rolled over into a ball with his head down, belly side up.

And last night i saw his head sideways as well and i propped him up proper...

I think it may be due to stress because yesterday a drunked neighbor of mine (no im not kidding) came over and through a pinkie in its face and was slapping him in the face with it before i came in the room and realized what he was doing and i told him to STOP. He used to raise burmese so he thinks thats how its done or whatever...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gooseman

So wait... what are your nighttime temps? There shouldnt be any fluctuation in temps at night. You should either get a CHE (which if I hear you right, you are) or a nightime bulb to keep his temps up. Sounds to me that your snake may already be suffering the consequences of the cold temps and should be taken to a vet ASAP to be tested for an URI. Do you have any other reptiles? If so, I would quarantine this animal if you havn't already.

---

No signs of URI. no gaping of mouth and no foam inside mouth.

no harsh/odd breathing either

O.k.


I want you to read these two threads and tell me if this is similar to what he was doing and ask if you can get any pictures of it.

In the first thread I'm afraid the video has been removed but I may have a copy of it and might be able to re-host it if the owner agrees - pay special attention to the description from adams website quoted on page 4.

First thread on loopy

Second thread on loopy

If this isn't similar to what you see we may need to dig bit deeper.


dr del

Ok, thank you Dr. Del.... I think that may be it.

I have a normal ball python and it does what the quote said, let me bold the art he does

Quote:

---

Some shook their head from side to side, some spun like tops, and others did the corkscrew thing as they were cruising their cage at night, still others were less noticeable but it was there. The less noticeable ones didn’t wobble or corkscrew, but they held their head at an angle when you looked at them. Kind of like the way a dog looks when it hears something it doesn’t understand.

---

I noticed this as well. he did it a few times and then right before he rolled over. i seriously thought he had died when he rolled over... I did not know what was going on.

Also, he did the head tilt, and rolled over and it seemed as if he was wrapping up a prey item because he looked like when a python is being fed.

Hmm,


Well it's not all that common with normal patterned ball pythons from what I understand ( any of you big breeders wanna step in here?) but is fairly common with spider morphs.

There are other reasons for him to be doing it though rather than just genetics so I wouldn't just asume thats what it is or that it isn't something treatable.

list of reptile vets

It might be a great idea ot try and find someone near you who has god knowledge of herps and have him checked for parasites or infections.

If he poo's put it in a ziploxk bag or something in the fridge (NOT the freezer) as they can check it for internal parasites and, while your there they can also take a culture from his mouth to check for RI's etc.

It might be worth while running over the tank set up as well to see if we can get your temps up to par as that will also help his body fight any infections that might be present.

How ( and where) are you measuring the temps?

What kind of UTH are you using?

Did you get any usefull information from the guys you bought him from at all?


dr del

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dr del

Hmm,


How ( and where) are you measuring the temps?
Digital thermometer located towards front of warm side
What kind of UTH are you using?
Exoterra
Did you get any usefull information from the guys you bought him from at all?
None at all

---

their are also pics of the set up in the first post of the thread

thanks for the help

Hi,


Sorry to say I think you really need to get him to a vet to be checked out.:(

What kind of bedding is that in the tank? I was just curious.

Hope the little guy pulls through ok.

Is there a vet on that list anywhere near you? Remember to tell them on the phone you think he has neurological problems of some description.


dr del

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,


Sorry to say I think you really need to get him to a vet to be checked out.:(

What kind of bedding is that in the tank? I was just curious.

Hope the little guy pulls through ok.

Is there a vet on that list anywhere near you? Remember to tell them on the phone you think he has neurological problems of some description.


dr del

---

He is on cypress mulch

im trying to find a good vet


thanks

Hey Matt,

Dr. Del (Derek) said there was a member here with a snake that may be exhibiting looping behavior. He said he had the video of my Loopy saved and was asking if he or I could post it. I thought I didn't have it anymore and gave him the go ahead to post it if he had it... BUT I just remember that I stuck it on my photobucket account too.

So here is my Loopy... doing what he does.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...h_P1050029.jpg

Ahh,


Thanks for that Allison - my computer is running a process at the moment that all but kills cpu and memory for everything else so I was waiting till it has finished to post.:)


Coolcasemods,

It might also be worth seeing if any of our other members live in your area and could reccomend a vet - personal experience is always the best recomendation.


dr del

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lillyorchid

Hey Matt,

Dr. Del (Derek) said there was a member here with a snake that may be exhibiting looping behavior. He said he had the video of my Loopy saved and was asking if he or I could post it. I thought I didn't have it anymore and gave him the go ahead to post it if he had it... BUT I just remember that I stuck it on my photobucket account too.

So here is my Loopy... doing what he does.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...h_P1050029.jpg

---

Now that i watch that, i believe that is what it is. If i can get a video, I definitely will.

Next time he flips over, should i let him try to get up or should i pick him up?
When he flips over it looks as if he is trying to coil around prey and i notice that is similar with your loopy.

Are thier any medical concerns i need to be aware of? and for a first ball python would you count this as a blessing or something else?

We might need to bring this to PM because now that i think i have a looper too... you might be the victim of thousands of questions.

haha

Matt,

Like Derek said... spiders are known to be "spinners", but in normals it's not common at all. Loopy was born the way he is and will be like that all of his life. It's not a blessing at all. First of all... where did you get this snake from? Breeder, pet store, friend... do you know if he hatched out like this? Second of all I'd get him to a vet! Where do you live also? Him not being able to flip himself back over and "looping" is not a good thing.

If you could get a video of him doing this looping/spinning thing that would be great. It also would help a lot of us to see exactly what you are talking about and saying about your snake,

I will ask you to please keep all your questions (even if they are 1000 of them) right here in this thread. Not trying to be rude, but if we go to PM's... it will not be out in the public. Honestly I like to help people out and would like to be able to help others who think they may have a snake with the same problem(s). So your questions and our answers may be a huge help to someone else out there that comes across this thread.


So yeah any questions you have... post. We are all ears (well eyes). ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lillyorchid

Matt,

Like Derek said... spiders are known to be "spinners", but in normals it's not common at all. Loopy was born the way he is and will be like that all of his life. It's not a blessing at all. First of all... where did you get this snake from? Breeder, pet store, friend... do you know if he hatched out like this? Second of all I'd get him to a vet! Where do you live also? Him not being able to flip himself back over and "looping" is not a good thing.

If you could get a video of him doing this looping/spinning thing that would be great. It also would help a lot of us to see exactly what you are talking about and saying about your snake,

I will ask you to please keep all your questions (even if they are 1000 of them) right here in this thread. Not trying to be rude, but if we go to PM's... it will not be out in the public. Honestly I like to help people out and would like to be able to help others who think they may have a snake with the same problem(s). So your questions and our answers may be a huge help to someone else out there that comes across this thread.


So yeah any questions you have... post. We are all ears (well eyes). ;)

---

I did not say he could not flip him self back over.

As stated throughout the thread... he was acquired at a flea market.

Conditions at the flea market?
10 gallon aquarium with 20 2 months old snakes huddled in a ball with 1 water dish.

Was he displaying this kind of behavior when you first chose him?

Oh sorry. I did read that but wasn't thinking back to your original post.

Sorry to everyone if i sound like a jerk.. i was upset earlier.

He started exhibiting these things on the 2 day i had him which was yesterday

When i picked him out he was the healthiest from what i could see

From what I gather if this behavior is a new development, then he's not a spinner. However I would be worried about your snake having IBD. IBD is known for making snakes act in an odd manor before death. However I'll let someone with more experience in the matter take the possibility of IBD from here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gooseman

From what I gather if this behavior is a new development, then he's not a spinner. However I would be worried about your snake having IBD. IBD is known for making snakes act in an odd manor before death. However I'll let someone with more experience in the matter take the possibility of IBD from here.

---

It quite possibly could be IBD as well... what is IBD? he is acting so odd... i opened his cage to make him a tight crevice so he can feel secure... he was in a small bin so i could get into his cage and when i went to pick him up he striked at me but it was so slow... he tried to bite me in this manner about 3 times (without succeeding)

:/

I'm very saddened to inform you all that ralph passed away tonight

RIP Ralph.... you were a short lived friend but a friend indeed.

thanks for the help guys... talk to you later....

I personally would take Ralph to the vet to have a necropsy performed to see if it was in fact IBD.

RIP Ralph, it's a sad day whenever a ball python passes away.

im nearly crying, :( sorry to hear it m8.. you tried ur hardest to make him surcure but. unfortunaty life is means and cruel sometimes... hopefully you will get another from a decent petstore and this one can be treated well and serve a good lifw with u..

RIP RALPH/RAPHETTE

Awww Matt, I'm so sorry to hear. :(

I do agree with Ben on getting a necropsy done on him. That way you will be able to know if he did indeed have IBD or another issue that caused him to die that sudden.

:( Poor guy!

Yeah... i will look into the necropsy for him

I learned a lesson... buy from breeders! that can actually give me info and are helpful