bp wont come out of hide

i just bought my baby bp 2 days ago and mbefore i brought her home i had the guy at the store feed her. by the time i got her home she had just started to eat the mouse. i stayed and watched to see what ahe would do after completely eating the mouse but she didnt move out of the box i brought her home in (i just opened the box and placed it in the encloser so i wouldnt disturb her while eating). after a while i had to go to work. when i came home a few hours later she had gone into a hide on the colder side of the tank and hasnt moved from there since. shes been moving around inside the hide but still has yet to come out and explore her new home. is this normal because i really want her to come out so i can start handling her.

thanks

*blinks*

Wait. What?! You carried the snake home....while it was still eating?!

*Loss for words...*

Hi,


It might be a good idea to hang off on the handling for a little bit to let her settle in to her new home. :)

We normally recomend 48 hours after eating without handling but also its best to not handle for at least a week in a new tank so she gets relaxed and comfortable and, if possible, avoid handling till she has eaten 3 times in a row so you know she is fully settled.

I'm a little curious about getting the people in the shop to feed her but that she "had just started to eat the mouse" when you got home, could you explain this in a bit more detail as it sounds a bit odd to me.

Check out our caresheet and the glass tank setup sticky and let us know what questions they bring up.:)

Oh and we like pics so don't be worried about posting pics of your set up and, once she is all settled and eating well, plenty of pics of your little girl would also be appreciated.:D



dr del

If it would was a good size meal, you wont see your bp for a few days. I would wait for a few sucessfull feedings before you begin to handle. This will aid your bp in getting use to its new home. Check out the caresheet from the post above and make sure your temps and humidity are good. I would post a pic of your setup so more exp members can assist you in providing the best care/home for your new bp.

how exactly do i post pictures without including a link to another website? i took a few pictures but im not sure how to get them on a thread

Hi,



You can post links to other websites such as your own or a hosting service like photobucket or similar as pictures and even to other peoples pictures on other sites as long as, in that case, you use links not pics and give full credit to the original source etc.

we have a couple of tuorials that will help you post your picture on here as well. It's easier if you resize the pictures to 800 x 600 pixels if possible then upload them to your galery on this site.:)

You can upload larger pictures if you wish but as you cannot post larger than 800 x 600 in threads and it saves you gallery space I stick to smaller ones myself.

Tutorial 1 - video tutorial

tutorial 2


hope some of this helps.



dr del

heres some pictures. the temps are:

hot spot: 88.4 right now. ranges in teh upper 80's (i try to keep it a little lower becuse the hide in the hot spot can get over 95 degrees)

cold spot: 80.8

humidity: ranges alot... i try to keep it around 50% but i work alot so when i come home i mist the entire cage to bring it up to where it needs to be

alice 1

alice 2

hot spot

tank

i know the tanks a bit big but im still in the process of filling it up.. i just wanted to keep it kinda simple untill i can relax from keeping an eye on her and the habitat as much

Hi,


Yeah it is a little big for comfort but there are a few quick things you could do to try and help a bit.

I would put some form or backing over the back and two sides of the tank to increase security - you can get special pretty ones from pet shops but kraft paper would work just as well from the snakes point of view.

Did you check out the lid on the glass tank sticky? that might help with your humidity a bit.

And you never told us about the eating thing - cos, no offense, but that's just wierd and I'd like to know what the shop thought they were doing and what the procedure was.


dr del

yeah i plan on puting some type of background in tomorow and then working on the screen lid with some type of insulation.

i agree it did seem kind of weird how he just fed it, put in in an enclosure and had me take it home... i made sure not to mess around with the box and keep it as stable as possible in the car ride home but the owner of the shop has an albino boa and from what i percieved he seemed like he knew what he was doing( he was the only pet store around that even knew the sex of the snakes they had). could that have to do with why she hasnt left the hide at all or should i not be concerned with how shy she is being.

thanks for all your help

i would just like to throw in something.

a ball python is a very shy snake, and they spend 90% of the day in their hides, only coming out a little bit at night. every snake is different, but most of the time you tank is going to look empty :)

Hey,


Yes, BP's are really shy little gentle snakes. A happy BP is one you almost never see in daylight and often rarely at night too.:)

Also once they have eaten they like to get peace and quiet to digest their dinner - think grandpa after Christmas dinner.:P

Did they feed it live (as in just drop a mouse in the box), leave a frozen/thawed mouse in the box, or assist feed by placing the mouse between its jaws?



dr del

he took a live mouse and pre killed it then danlged it in front of her.. she quickly became interested and struck it. then while she was coiled around it he put her in the box i took her home in

from what ive noticed she hasnt even come out of that hide, not for water, not to check out the other hides or to even go over to the hot spot. i put her in the tank friday evenening. how long untill i can see that shes being active... atleast to go to another hide to regualte its temp

it looks like your hides are the same, but are they? just to make sure she is not choosing comfort and safety over thermoregulating. i would give her a week like the doc said and do nothing but change her water and maybe some spot cleaning. by then she should start exploring her enclosure and such.

and as for drinking, i rarely see my ball drink, except after a meal or he may venture into his water before a shed. so don't be worried if you don't see her drinking. balls get most of the moisture they need from the food they eat.

Sound like pretty normal BP behavior. Feeding and traveling is not a great idea. Most Bp's don't come out of their hides until night fall and usually stay in hides for days while digesting. They are very private snakes.

its been about a week, its time to feed her and i see no attempt of her even leaving her hide yet. however she moved up to the top level of the hide. i insulated the screen and put background around the tank but i doubt she even noticed since she hasnt even left that one hide. should i be worried?

have you been watching her 24/7? just cause every time you look in the tank she is in the hide doesn't mean she hasn't been out. snakes are very sneaky creatures, and in the wild don't come out in the open unless they feel they are totally safe. you being in the room, walking by, noise, vibrations, all of those might keep her in the hide. once everyone is in bed and things quiet down, then she probably ventures out a little.

a nice quiet, low traffic area is the best place to keep a ball python. and even then you won't see a whole lot of then basking in the open.

That hide does not look very fitting for a ball python, not good at all. The fact that you have one whole side of the hide against the glass is not going to make your snake feel very secure which in turn can lead to any number of problems. A stressed ball is everything you want to avoid, they can get sick, stop eating, you name it. Making your snake feel secire as possible is easy to do and will save you a ton of trouble in the long run.

If I were you I would ditch that hide and buy two identical hides that are tight around your snake on all sides with only a single opening for your snake to get in and out. Having two identical hides will allow your snake to thermoregulate as apposed to sitting in the hide they like better. If you do that you will be off to a great start.

PS, the guy who let you take that snake home while it was still coiled around that mouse is an idiot. You're very lucky your snake didnt either spit it out before swallowing it or regurging it after it was swallowed.

Here is a picture of my setup. It's very simple but great for the snake.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...il152007-1.jpg

that hide closes from teh outside

heres a link that shows what i mean

http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/reptile_den.php

if you still feel like its bad for her than maybe i will ditch it. i put two new hides to match on both sides and keep the magnetic one in the middle

I'm just as new to BPs as you are. I got McGregor last Monday(the 16th) and I hardly ever see him except for when I get home from work and hes basking a bit then after about 20 minutes or so he's back in his hide. If I were you I would either get a new hide simply cause that one looks a little sketchy to me. At least put other half of it on so your Ball feels a little more secure.

Like I said I'm a newb but it looks like your tank is a bit cluttered. I could be wrong.... :2cent:

Hey man, Just because your snake is in the hide does not mean it wont eat. Take some of your substrate and rub it on the mouse an hour or so before feeding time and throw it in the snakes cage. Your snake will smell it and most likely poke it's head out and go into feeding mode. For the first three weeks with my snake that is what I did and he ate every time. Again though, other than changing water and spot cleaning you should keep interuptions to a minimum.

I still think you should get two simple identicle hides, if for nothing else that hide is going to be a :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: to clean. You will see as the months pass that your going to want a simple setup to make disinfecting and cleaning easier.

For what it's worth just remember that once you get everything dialed in and the snake settles in a BP is one of the easiest (in my experience) pets to own and care for as long as you provide it's few needs.

Hey, I just wondered something- it seems like a lot of folks feed their BPs in their cages, and I was always told NOT to do this so they don't associate feeding with their cage.

Does anyone else know if there's any credence to this theory?

Hi,


Very little credence at all.

Ball pythons are creatures of habit though and certainly appreciate a routine.

The reason I mention this is one of my girls was always fed in a seperate tank before I got her and stubbornly refuses to eat in her tank almost 8 years later.

This is best described as a pain in the bahookie.

There are excelent reasons for feeding in the tank ( reduced stress, they are ambush hunters, no handling needed after eating etc) and no real reasons to feed outside of the tank for most of us. It's recomended for those who house multiple snakes together but as we don't recomend that in the first place it's a moot point.


dr del

Okay we're going to start with the assumption that your pet store guy is an idiot. Nobody sends home a snake in the process of eating. It's not usually recommended to move them at all like that within 2 days of eating so it's pretty plain that any advice that guy gave you is a wash out and best ignored.

Next, your snake is a baby and is thinking like a baby snake. It's in a new environment, it's wondering what's going to come along and eat it (you're included in that predator category), it's at a stage of life where it's as much a prey as a predator and it's instincts know this. It's also from a species of snakes that live naturally in tight, dark burrows in termite mounds and unused rat tunnels. BP's feel safe in places that are tight, dark and nothing can sneak up on them easily. In captivity that's their hides and they love em!

Your tank is big, it's glass and it's open. Your snake isn't going to feel safe moving about in it at this point. You can add in scrunched up newspaper balls. Not pretty but VERY effective to settle in snakes. They can slither through them and feel like nothing can get at them or see them. Here's some pics....

Tub before newspaper addition...
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...MuirnesTub.jpg

Top view after adding newspaper....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ickTopView.jpg

Side view......
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ckSideView.jpg

Once the snake is settled and eating week after week, you can take a few newspaper balls out each week, slowly letting your snake get used to them being gone. It takes time and patience.

How are you measuring the temps on both the cool and warm side? The snake won't thermoregulate properly if those temps aren't correct and stable 24/7. Here's a great little gadget from Walmart. $12.00 or less plus the cost of one AAA battery. Will give you two readings plus humidity...it's called an Acu-Rite and generally found in the outdoor thermometer/weather station area or in gardening....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...g/Acu-Rite.jpg

Lastly would be the placement of this enclosure in your house. Is it in a high traffic, noisy area where a lot of people walk around, other pets prowl by or loud bass music plays a lot. These snakes live in a world of vibrations and don't do well with that. They also don't make great display snakes.

first, how would i feed him with the paper balls in it... i fed him on monday and he came out struck it and after he was done coiling around it he pulled it into his hide. with all that paper i dont know how i would know if hes coming out to get it or not. (i dangle the pre killed mouse with those big tweezers that they have at pet stores.).

second i put a background around the entire tank except for the front panel and im still working on filling the tank with alot of fake vines and leaves.

i live in the attic of my fraternity house. it can get pretty loud on the first floor but im up on the third floor and its usually not bad at all... sometimes we have pretty big partys and im probably just as stressed out about my bp as she is about the vibration so im constantly sneaking in the music room and turning down the base. and i got rid of the sub i had in my room completely
er tank is in the corner away from the stairs and the door. the only normal traffic around her tank is me misting and checking on the temps.

lastly i have one digital thermometer on the hot side and a thermometer and hydrometer on the other side

I think that unless your environment is extreme your snake will adjust to the sound. I've found that lots of nearby movement that the snake can see causes more stress than anything. I may have missed some other replies along these lines but here are my responses to your husbandry:

1) your warm side should be in the lower 90's. My snake spends the vast majority of the time in the warm side hide. My advice is to worry more about the temps being too low than being too warm (assuming your snake can't come in contact with burning temps). Eventually, you'll want to get everything dialed in perfect. But, when things are in flux I would prefer a tank with a good 82-85d ambient temperate and a 97d hot side over a tank with a 77-82 ambient and 92d hot side.
2) If the humidity drifts so quickly on you that you require daily misting to keep it in range I would suggest the following:
* make sure you have the majority of the tank covered over. Generally speaking you only have to leave a small area around the heat lamp open. See the care sheet stickies.
* Try not to expose the cage to direct air currents such as those from AC vents and ceiling fans.
* Make sure you have enough moisture in the tank to last you. For example, I've found that when using newspaper keeping humidity up can be real hard simply because there isn't enough stuff there to hold water. To correct that I put a couple of handfull-sized water-soaked paper towel wads in the cage. I re-soak them whenever I mist. I also keep them semi-close to the heat lamp to aid in evaporation.
* Arranging things so that the water dish is slighting heated helps boost humitidy.
3) Make sure your hide measurements are an accurate reflection of the temperature inside right next to the snake. I actually have the accurite probe set up so the snake lays right on it in the warm side hide. Its tricky though because if I don't do it just right he doesn't like it and boycotts the hide. :snake: :mad:
4) Make sure you have an accurate idea of the "ambient" cage temperature. Or, to put it another way, don't assume that a couple of measurement points means there is a some smooth temperature gradient. I have had problems where my warm hide was 93 and a few inches away in the corner of the tank it was 75d! Covering restricting excessive airflow helps with ambient temp alot!
5) Playing classical music in the room during the day while your snake is young will make it smarter. :eek:

Ok, just kidding about #5 :P