New to the forum & snakes!

Hi everyone! Somebody on another forum recommended this site to me, since I was planning to get my first snake... I finally got her today, and wanted to introduce myself and the new family member. :) She is a baby (about 6 months old) Ball Python, born in West Africa, and has the most gorgeous markings. She also seems to have a very sweet personality, really gentle and calm so far, and is definitely a GIRL.

As for myself, I am a 32 year-old woman from San Francisco... I work as a librarian (branch manager), and have a dog and 2 cats in addition to the new snake. I met the guy from East Bay Vivarium in Berkeley when he did a children's program at my library, and he said to come by and talk about getting a snake - since I told him I'd ALWAYS wanted one. It took me 6 months to get over there, but now I am finally the proud owner of a Ball Python. I look forward to meeting everyone here, and know this place will be very useful to me! Here's the baby... any name ideas?

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/DSCF4709.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/DSCF4717.jpg

:welcome:

This is the place to be :).

Check out the sticky forums for proper enclosure set-ups, great information there.

Welcome! Pretty baby there.

Welcome! Glad to see you here! What a cutie!:) I'm not to good at names. I have three that just get called by whatever their mood! Some of my rat snakes don't have names fit for family friendly forums!;) But I love them!

Good luck with your new girl. That doesn't sound like you original choice!:D
But I like all snakes.

Great looking BP! Welcome to BP.net!

You'll certainly want to check out the General Ball Python forums for some housing and husbandry tips. Have fun and enjoy your new little one.

Welcome to the site. There is a great wealth of information about the care and feeding of ball pythons here.:welcome:

Thanks everyone! :gj: The yet-to-be-named little girl is doing well, and seems to be adjusting fine... having some issues with keeping the temperatures steady, but I guess that will take a few more days. San Francisco is definitely not the climate an African snake is used to, LOL. I'm also fighting the urge to handle her, since I don't think she would mind at all (I held her for a while before she went in the cage) - trying to be good, though, so I'll wait until next week! They suggested feeding her on Tues or Wed, and then I can hold her once the meal is digested. Can't wait... :) Thanks again to all who responded, and I will go peruse the other forums now.

Remember that the proper digestion period until you can handle her is at least two days... but you probably know that! ;)

:welcome:

She is beautiful.

Welcome to the forum. BPs are a really nice snake to have. Do not believe the lies, once set up and established they are a dream to keep. :)

Love the pic that is your avator.

Bruce

Btw, since a couple of you mentioned housing, did you notice anything wrong with my vivarium? Here's a better picture...

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/DSCF4716.jpg

I know it will have to be upgraded when she's bigger, but the place where I got it said they'd give me a credit (about 1/3 of what I paid). And fyi, I have to use the carefresh bedding since I'm allergic to shaved woods. :oops:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DutchHerp

Remember that the proper digestion period until you can handle her is at least two days... but you probably know that! ;)

:welcome:

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I was told between 24-48 hours, so I guess I'll wait the maximum... ugh, it's so hard to resist the temptation! :tears:

Welcome! Gorgeous snake you got there. Whatever you name her, don't call her Monty. :D

I would check out the stickies in the husbandry forum on setting up that snake...

A few problems...

Log hides do not offer the security they need. Two identical snug hides on each side of the enclosure.

I would just put down paper if I had the option of carefresh... sheets of brown paper, paper towel, or newspaper is sufficient.

No exposed lamps... she will wrap around it at some point.

Also you need to measure your temps at the ground level and provide a temp gradient of 80-90 degrees.

Those are in detail in the husbandry forum.

It may be worth starting a thread in that forum, show the pic and ask just that question. :)

Bruce

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead

She is beautiful.

Welcome to the forum. BPs are a really nice snake to have. Do not believe the lies, once set up and established they are a dream to keep. :)

Love the pic that is your avator.

Bruce

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Thanks! I love that picture too, since it reminds of a snake-charmer. :) That was right after I put her in the vivarium, and she finally started to uncurl herself and take a look... within a few minutes she was fully stretched out, and checking out the place from top to bottom. Based on that and her behavior at the store, I think she'll be quite outgoing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead

It may be worth starting a thread in that forum, show the pic and ask just that question. :)

Bruce

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Yeah, I'll probably do that... thanks for the tips, though! I am measuring the temps at ground level (there are 2 thermometers on the ground), but I'm not sure what to do about the exposed lamp. I'm going back to the Viv on Tues/Wed to get her food, so I'll see if they have anything better to install.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by anatess

Welcome! Gorgeous snake you got there. Whatever you name her, don't call her Monty. :D

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LOL... I was just reading about Monty being the most common Python name, so we're definitely not picking that! :D

You know, I named my JCP Monty. I didn't name him that because of Monty Python, but I was also stupid enough to not think about that everyone calls their snake that... :confused:

Hi,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lolo76

......... but I'm not sure what to do about the exposed lamp.

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I made these with pliers and fixed them in place with corner blocks.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ramicgaurd.JPG

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...rtankgaurd.JPG

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...urdfixings.JPG

If you look at my male you can see the kind of damage wrapping round a light bulb can cause;

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...rmansscars.JPG


dr del

Whoa Derek that sucks that happened to your snake! How bad was it when it got burned?

Hi,

We didn't get to see him when it had just happened - he was handed into the pet shop I worked in at the time when the owners couldn't get him to eat.

You can see some close ups of the scars in this post.

The owner of the shop force fed him for two years until the shop closed down and I volunteered to take him home. I got lucky in that the change of scenery and a really small, totally dark, tank kicked his feeding response into life.

He can still go through fussy periods (at the moment he will only eat one F/T mouse per week - after he first refused rats he was eating three mice at a time. ) but he seems to be one of the strange ones that can be re-started a little by changing prey until he gets bored of that.

At the moment I am trying not to get him on chicks or gerbils so am just offering the mice and occasionally an F/T rat when I'm feeding one of the others at the same time.


dr del

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

We didn't get to see him when it had just happened - he was handed into the pet shop I worked in at the time when the owners couldn't get him to eat.

You can see some close ups of the scars in this post.

The owner of the shop force fed him for two years until the shop closed down and I volunteered to take him home. I got lucky in that the change of scenery and a really small, totally dark, tank kicked his feeding response into life.

He can still go through fussy periods (at the moment he will only eat one F/T mouse per week - after he first refused rats he was eating three mice at a time. ) but he seems to be one of the strange ones that can be re-started a little by changing prey until he gets bored of that.

At the moment I am trying not to get him on chicks or gerbils so am just offering the mice and occasionally an F/T rat when I'm feeding one of the others at the same time.


dr del

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Geez that sucks man.

Well it's awesome that you took him in, and a little funny he has those feeding issues. :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead

I would check out the stickies in the husbandry forum on setting up that snake...

A few problems...

Log hides do not offer the security they need. Two identical snug hides on each side of the enclosure.

I would just put down paper if I had the option of carefresh... sheets of brown paper, paper towel, or newspaper is sufficient.

No exposed lamps... she will wrap around it at some point.

Also you need to measure your temps at the ground level and provide a temp gradient of 80-90 degrees.

Those are in detail in the husbandry forum.

It may be worth starting a thread in that forum, show the pic and ask just that question. :)

Bruce

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I use blank newsprint...

Any way welcome to the forum and you really should go post your husbandry and cage pictures in the BP husbandry section.

Mike

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,



I made these with pliers and fixed them in place with corner blocks.

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That's very cool! Looks a bit complicated for me, though... I'm not a very handy person. :oops: I'm going back to the store tomorrow or Wed for food, so I'll talk to somebody there and see what they recommend.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hoax

I use blank newsprint...

Any way welcome to the forum and you really should go post your husbandry and cage pictures in the BP husbandry section.

Mike

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Thanks! I looked for that forum, and only found the "advanced husbandry" one - is that where I should post? Also, doesn't husbandry refer to breeding, or is that just a general term? Sorry for the stupid questions, LOL.

Edit: Never mind, I found the correct forum!