Finally got her, Now what?

:confused: I just got my 1st bp friday. When i brought her home he was in the ball position in her tank for awhile and then started exploring for a bit. Today she wouldn't come out of her hide. Is this normal? My temp and humidity are good. She was in a little tub before, maybe the tank is weird to her????

If you were looking for a really active snake, a bp ain't it. :) They are perfectly content to do just about nothing. Plus it's going to take her a few weeks to get used to her new home. Even then, she'll probably still be a couch potato.

my ball spends 80% of the day (sometimes more) in one of his hides. sometimes he sticks his head out, but mostly just lives in there.

yea if you want a snake that makes your aquarium look like somethings in it go for a corn snake or possibly red tailed boa.

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Originally Posted by Kagez28

my ball spends 80% of the day (sometimes more) in one of his hides. sometimes he sticks his head out, but mostly just lives in there.

yea if you want a snake that makes your aquarium look like somethings in it go for a corn snake or possibly red tailed boa.

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But only after you get some experience. :) Balls are good starter snakes w/size and temperament. Sometimes picky/touchy w/eating issues and stressors, but they're good for a first snake. Boas can get VERY large (as vs. the ball or a corn) and sometimes their feeding responses and behaviours are aggressive.

Learn the right husbandry and establish good habits with your new pet, then when you're ready, you can move "up" to something like a BCC or BCI (boas).

The best thing you can do for your snake is leave it alone for the first week other then to check for water,urates,decfications or that it has shed.Don't take it out to play with it let it get used to its new home. After a week feed your snake if it takes it let it alone for 48 hours then you can start handling it for a bout 15 minutes a day.If it dosn't eat leave it alone for anohter week and try to feed it again repeating the process till it is eating.AS for being able to see your snake in it's home some of ours stay in there hide all day some stay out of there hide all day rember our day is there night time most of our snakes move about at night you can catch them doing so when you walk in the snake room late at night.Bp's are great pets just take your time and follow proper handling guidlines for your new pet taking into account snakes are not like cats and dogs and don't really need or want your attention much past feeding them and providing them with saftey,but within these guidelines they make great pets. Good luck with your new pet.

Yeah I never see my male sometimes i have to remove his hide to make sure hes still alive lol. My female on the other hand she is very active at night and will be out for hours trying to figure out how to escape her enclosure. But then again this happens at like 2 in the morning. My red tail on the other hand is content just curling up in the middle of her tank. She refuses to use her hide even though she is a new addition to my collection.

Some basic housing information might be of use here. What sort of enclosure do you have the snake in, what size, substrate, hides, temps on both sides, humidity. Then about the snake. Is this a new hatchling? A bigger snake? Did you just get it at the pet store or from a breeder or at a herp show?

She is in a 30 g tank. I'm using repti bark with two hides.91 on the warm and 82 on the cool, humidity is at 55%. I got her from a breeder who says she is almost a year.

That is good. Except the tank size. But pictures will always help best. So got any?

[IMG]DSCN1829[/IMG]
This is the set up the log is out bc she just ate

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This is my girl sammy

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still trying to figure out pics sorry lol

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Hi Razzle,

Check out these4 links on posting pics on the forum and see if they help you.:)

video tutorial by Raj


Sticky on posting pics

You need to have the full web address between the image tags.


hope this helps.



dr del

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...d-2_898182.jpg
This is my set up. What do you think? I know the bricks are a bit much but that's the only way my fiance would be comfortable

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...d-1_940091.jpg
This is my girl sammy

you dont need 2 thermometers like that, if you take that accurite(the one on the left) and put it in the coolside of your tank INSIDE the tank near substrate level, then run the probe underneath the substrate to the hot side it will look a little neater, also go out to the pet store or walmart and buy some fake plants, they love em the ones that stick to the glass will do, about your light setup, what are the wattages etc? are you using an under tank heating pad? is one light for illumination and the other for heat?

The one on the left is 100 watt it also goes with a UTH. The other is a 50 watt with another UTH. I only use it when the temp gets to low on that side. That not often only when my fiance puts the ac on full blast. My bp is still a bit nervous when i hold her, she'll ball up if get near her head. Does this behavior go away? Any type of fake plant will be ok?

yea, any fake plant is good, easy to clean :) 2 uth's? i bet if you had the 100w light on the coolside and your uth on the hot side your temps would be perfect, everything you have seems like a little overkill, i have a uth on my hot side and a 100w ceramic heater on my coolside in a 30gal long,with a thermostat and i have my temps perfect and steady, you could probably do a 60w for the coolside and the uth for the hot

Yeah, I know it was my 1st snake and i got a bit excited. I heard once you put a UTH on it won't come off. True? How long do they take to get use to you?

Nice stuff.

He is definitely in Fort Knox with all that. But the girl prob feels better. :D

Very pretty snake. :)




Staying on is true w/the UTH, once you've plugged it in. You need to have it on either a rheostat(dimmer) which then you're tweaking/ adjusting all the time, or a thermostat. Otherwise you chance on cooking your snake......*personal experience talking. :( *

There are some really good t-stats that won't cost an arm and a leg. I have Johnson Control stats, and they work really well for me. Another would be a Ranco. Top of the line (and more $$) are the Herpstat and Herpstat II.

I don't need the bells and whistles of night drop temps and multiple controls. As long as the tubs and UTH styles and sizes are identical I can plug them all into the same t-stat.

But you do need some sort of temp control...either proportional (rheostat/Herpstat) or the on/off (Ranco/Johnson Control). :)

:sunny:

she is still a bit nervous i tried to touch as she was going in the hide and she took off. :( I didn;t even know she could move that quick. One thing though I noticed her out of the hide twice today, maybe she's getting use to it here. One more ? Is that fake garland stuff ok to put in there? :confused: