Site Newb Here!!! Meet my new BP!!!

Hey Everyone!!! I am new to this site... I have two very happy Bearded Dragons (Mork and Mindy) and I am a 2 day old owner of a 2 year old Ball Python (Lucy).

It was awesome how it happened. I am constantly on Craigslist looking for Deals and stumbled upon an add for a "Free BP to good home" about 2 mins after it had been posted and called right away. After work I made the 45 min drive to go pick her up. They gave me the 60 gal tank she has lived in since they got her as a baby, and all of the supplies that went along with it. By far the coolest thing I have ever gotten for free.

I am totally in love with this snake. She is a little over 3 feet long and such a lover. They had said they didn't get a lot of time to handle her and they were a little nervous because she had lunged last time they tried to handle her. Well I took her out right when I got her home and she loved it. It almost looked like she wanted to be held. I fed her yesterday and she took mousey out real quick. They told me they were feeding her once every two weeks... but since I know she can get bigger and her tank has plenty of room for it... I'm going to start feeding her a bit more. I was going to go towards once a week... and then maybe a smaller one twice a week. Please tell me if that is not good. I have been doing a ton of research to ensure I can give her a healthy and happy home... There is a lot of good info on this site. But I am always looking for more.

Here are some pics of my buddies ... Hope you like...

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...liSon/Lucy.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...iSon/Lucy1.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...Son/Couple.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...Son/Mindy1.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...andDragons.jpg

welcome to the community! This is a great place to ask questions and get answers...and we hope you do. don't be shy :D

I feed all of mine on a weekly schedule. once every two weeks is not enough, in my opinion. I feed one small rat every week..

If you haven't already, please check out our Caresheet and then ask any questions you want!

Hi and welcome!

I have not yet had the experience of having a 2 yr old BP, but from what I've read, and just knowing how much my 6 month old BP eats, 1 mouse every 2 weeks is not really enough. She doesn't look terribly skinny in the pictures, so that's good.

Most people will recommend that you feed your BP one appropriately sized meal a week. If one mouse a week isn't enough, you can feed 2 mice in the same feeding, or you can try to switch to rats.

Her eyes look funny in the pictures, which might just be light reflecting, but I wonder if she has retained eye caps from previous sheds. Proper temps and humidity are going to be very hard to maintain in that big tank, so you might want to switch to something smaller.

Keep reading and ask any questions you have! The people on this forum love to help!

Hi and welcome to BP.net! :handshake

Lovely snake ya got there! Keeping her in a 60gal tank can be done, if you wish to...but it will take a lot of effort to get the environment up to par. In particular, it looks like she has had humidity issues for a long time. (Going by the look of her face and eye) You'll want to try and maintain an ambient humidity of around 50% in the tank and you may have to bump it up some during a shed cycle.

It's hard to tell from the picture, and as kc noted, it may just be a weird reflective thing...but it does look like she may have some retained shed and multiple retained eyecaps. A soak in a luke-warm bath would probably help a lot...and she may need a trip to a qualified herp vet to have her eyes checked out and for a general check-up anyhow.

By soaking in a "bath"...I mean a small, plastic tub with a couple of air holes punched in it and a lid you can put on it...put in just enough water to come about half-way up her sides...not enough so that she'd have to swim....and the water should be neither warm nor cool but feel rather neutral to your touch, or just barely warmish. Let her soak in that for about an hour...but you'll have to stay close and keep an eye on her. Never leave a soaking snake (or other animal) unattended.

The beardies are adorable!! Mork & Mindy!!! LOVE it!!! :clap: Cute kitty, too!

Thanks Guys! That is not a reflection... Her eyes do look a little odd compared to the other pics I have seen. When I started researching it became aparent to me that her humidity has not been kept up on at all in her previous home. In addition to her eyes she has a small dry spot on the top of her head. The top of the cage is has the two big screen sliding doors that I'm sure have been letting out her humidity her whole life. What I did was take the lid for her feeding bin and use it to cover one side of the top. But I doubt that is doing to much... This weekend I am going to invest in a quality digital Temp/ Hygro meter and I am going to make sure all of her levels are staying at what they should be. The only thing her previous owner was using was a 99 cent plastic stick on temp gauge. If anyone knows a good knowledgable reptile vet in the Southern California Ventura County area... I would love a reference. I am worried about her eyes now... This has prompted me to get her checked out ASAP. Thanks Again!

Here's a list of California reptile vets

http://arav.org/Members/CA.htm

:gj:

Here are some links to help you find a vet!

http://www.arav.org/USMembers.htm
http://www.anapsid.org/vets/index.html#vetlist
http://www.herpvetconnection.com/

And personal recommendations from our own members:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=56792

:welcome:

I am in your area somewhat. Shoot me a PM when you get a chance and we can discuss.

Welcome to the forum!

:welcome:

Welcome!

im also in SoCal. send me a PM if you need any help with a vet.

I found a Vet here in Ventura Cnty that does house calls! I can't remember his name right now cause I left all his info at my office... But I found him on one of the Vet links you guys left so much thanks! Apparently he started his career at a local zoo. I spoke with him on the phone for a while and he seems to know what he is talking about... and almost insists on doing house calls for reptiles in order to see how the animal is kept because it is a main factor in a herps health. He said he would come out and do a check up on my two adult Beardies for $75 and my Python for $25. That seems like a good deal (even though that is the same amount I had to pay for all three animals and their tanks!, but I got lucky). Since I have recently acquired all of these animals as adoptions I just want to make sure they are healthy and that I do what is right to keep them that way.

Welcome! Im also new, so I know how it goes. This forum is filled with nice and helpful people, youll love it here!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SoCaliSon

I found a Vet here in Ventura Cnty that does house calls! I can't remember his name right now cause I left all his info at my office... But I found him on one of the Vet links you guys left so much thanks! Apparently he started his career at a local zoo. I spoke with him on the phone for a while and he seems to know what he is talking about... and almost insists on doing house calls for reptiles in order to see how the animal is kept because it is a main factor in a herps health. He said he would come out and do a check up on my two adult Beardies for $75 and my Python for $25. That seems like a good deal (even though that is the same amount I had to pay for all three animals and their tanks!, but I got lucky). Since I have recently acquired all of these animals as adoptions I just want to make sure they are healthy and that I do what is right to keep them that way.

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Wow a vet that does house calls.....excellent! Once you've had the vet visit and if you are pleased with the service, please feel free to send me all the pertinent info and I'll post your recommendation on our Exotics Vet List here.

You might want to ask this vet if he will be bringing along a scale so you can get a weight on this snake (always good to know) as well as if he will be confirming gender either by popping or probing (also good to know).

You're likely to have some challenges bringing that big glass tank into the right temps and humidity ranges but it can be done. If you do a search for "Acu-Rite" you should find many links on this handy product sold by WalMart so you can get a good handle on what your temps/humidity are. It retails for around $10.00. You'll also want to have extra hides as these are normally quite shy snakes that don't like feeling exposed.

Welcome to BPNet.

Welcome to BP net. I hope it's not Dr. Rick Garcia, he is terrible(with snakes) and cocky. I had a very bad experience with him, and he was extermely expensive(many hidden costs). Where in SoCal are you?

welcome. i am also fairly new, and have already learned a lot from the people on this site.