My first BP

Hi all. I finally bought my first BP, after a few months of research and lurking around here:). I purchased this gorgeous little 2007 female from Larry Kenton of MD Reptile Farm on Saturday. Her name is Makena, but we call her Keenie-beanie! She's 149.2 grams (fed a maintenance diet) but I intend to get her up to weight with time. She's currently in a 12-qt tub with a UTH controlled by a rheostat with warm side temp of 93.4 degrees F and the cool side of 82 degrees F. Humidity is 57%. The cool side temps are maintained with a 75W Heatglo IR bulb that's about 12" above the tub. Temps and humidity are monitored with an Accurite unit. She has two identical hides (6.5" plastic flower pot bases) and is currently on paper towels as a substrate. She's been hiding for the past two days, but has switched between the warm and cool hides at least twice. Occasionally I see her little head pop out of the hide. Here are a few pics of my new little girl:banana:!
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/88925/7...ckg1Fte5pM.jpg
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/88925/7...6Fe8Z2ZcM2.jpg
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/88925/7...EywbGw2zhR.jpg
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/88925/7...QqF48uRe8u.jpg

Everything sounds great and your wee one is adorable! Make sure you give her time to settle in;)

she really is adorable! congratulations on your new addiction! :D

Your snake is really pretty! And it sounds like she has a great home.

Also, for whatever reason, the guy's shirt in the third picture cracked me up pretty badly. :P

Congrats, welcome to the forum (and the addiction known as ball pythons).

Looks like she has an attentive owner, best thing any captive snake can want.

She is a beauty, hands down. :)

Bruce

Thanks everyone. She was somewhat active last night. I'm thinking I might add some construction paper on the sides of her tub...

Kathleen, it's good to know someone else likes my shirt :)

Very cool!! Keep the pics commin! :gj:

Awwwww so cute. Welcome friend!!!

UPDATE:
She ate for me for the first time today. I gave her a little over a week to settle in. I prescented for 30 min by placing the box with the mouse in it in her enclosure. Within a minute she was checking out the box and later I saw she was resting her head atop it. When I let the mouse lose it, explored a bit and within a couple minutes she'd bitten its head and had it wrapped up. The whole thing happened so fast. I must say I quite proud:banana:! Hopefully, within a few weeks I'll have her on F/T. So my 149 gram snake (less since she had a poo on Sunday) ate an 18 gram mouse on my first shot feeding her. I'm loving it!

Congratulations, :)


I would probably try and establish a good feeding routine for a few weeks before trying to convert to F/T though. :gj:

Once they get used to knowing when feeding day is and expect the meal to be offered it might make it easier to convert to an alternate prey item.


dr del

agreed my snakes already lookin, but shes got a plus today a bigger tank :rolleyes: shes royalty in my house.

Thanks. I'll keep her on live for a few more weeks then. The breeder suggested feeding every 4 days, instead of every 5 like I had planned. Does that sound good to you guys? Every 4 sounds awfully frequent, even though I know some people do it...

Congrats!! She is gorgeous. Sounds like you have the husbandry under control. :gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by branson

Thanks. I'll keep her on live for a few more weeks then. The breeder suggested feeding every 4 days, instead of every 5 like I had planned. Does that sound good to you guys? Every 4 sounds awfully frequent, even though I know some people do it...

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I feed mine every 5 days, but a lot of people feed every 4 days. It is personal preference. I just want to make sure that when I offer food, they are going to eat, so I wait five days.

Hope this helps.

Just a little update:
Makena's doing great. She's pounding mice like a champ and took her first F/T on Monday (1st time F/T was offered). She had a great shed and doesn't seem to mind me handling her a couple times a week. She's up to 257.95 grams as of today and has really filled out, but she hasn't pooped in a while. She looks like she has a big ole turd in her now, so we'll see how she is afterwards. I'm just happy that she's growing well and eating like a champ. I'm quite attached to the little squirt!

She just took a poo. I'd drop her down to 220ish now...