New BP.. How soon should i feed her?

[princess17]

After my best friend sat there and hugged me when my vet called to see joker died, her and her mom went to petco and got me a new snake! Also a female, her name is Mercedes. My best friend is the bees knees. Spent like $90 to make me feel better. Although, I am still very upset because it's just not the same as Joker. I was Sooo attached to her it was ridiculous. I am excited to start fresh with more experience under my belt with an actual healthy snake! But my friend didn't ask all the questions I was wanting to ask because it was a surprise purchase she came home to me with haha so we went back and talked to 3 different people. My biggest question was "what is her feed schedule?" Okay one said Thursday. One said Sunday. And one said Monday. I thought it was kinda weird that no one really had any idea what the exact day was. Well I talked to a different local reptile person and he said that petco gets the best and healthiest snakes shipped in, but they are always aggressive when sold because no one handles them and they have been known to skip their feeding so they are hungry when they're sold, which they can get in trouble for obviously. I got her today so my biggest question is how soon do i feed her? She strikes at everything that moves. But if you're still, she just cruises around your arm. If I don't know what day she was actually fed when should I feed her?? It's like she's hungry.

[The Serpent Merchant]

You need to leave here alone for at least a week. Don't handle her, or try to feed her. After 1 week you can attempt to feed her. And after 2 successful feedings in a row you can start handeling her again.

Pet stores don't get the best reptiles nor do they take care of them well. Most are underfed and kept in terrible conditions. It is an issue of employees who don't even know the basic care requirements of these animals... And the tragic thing is they often give out bad information to customers. May threads have been started on this site because a pet store employee told someone something wrong about how to take care of their new snake.

The best snakes come from reputable breeders, many snakes at pet stores are either imported from the wild or eggs taken from the wild. These have a high chance of having a worse attitude and internal parisites.

Right now your snake is stressed out from being at the pet store and now being in a new place. The best thing that you can do for her is to leave her along and provide her with perfect temperatures/humidity. I hope you cleaned everything that came into contact with your last snake before your new one came into contact with it. We really din't want you to loose another one.

[rebelrachel13]

Wait at least a week. She's certainly very stressed at the moment, since she's only been home a few hours. Did the pet store tell you if she's eating f/t or live?

Also - are you using the same supplies that you did for Joker? Is everything sterilized? Both Petco and Petsmart often have really unhealthy snakes, so make sure you watch her behavior and health very closely.

If it were me, I would honestly recommend returning the snake and waiting until you are sure that everything is sterilized and until you can get one from a local breeder at a show. Although she had the best intentions, your friend paid way too much for that snake and way too soon, and I am worried about the outcome. I know how attached you were to Joker, and I certainly don't want anything like that to happen again.

And again, I'm sorry for your loss. I sincerely hope you (or anyone else, for that matter) never have to go through that again.

[princess17]

I sterilized everything with a special sterilizer from sintas you have to have a business license to get. It's good stuff. I soaked it in it for hours.

[DooLittle]

I would make sure I washed everything with soap and water after the chemicals.

[RetiredJedi]

I agree with paying too much for it. You can get a healthy BP that eats for really great price from breeders. Heck some of the great folks on here breed BPs. Most breeders don't even sell their BPs until the BP has actually fed three times. That will give you time to have everything set and ready and all you will have to do is put the snake in the enclosure.

An example of being setup first before the BP gets there. I just got a brand new rack at my local Repticon. I out hides, water bowls, substrate, and a hygrometer in the tubs and let it sit. I checked the temps and humidity (frequently) every day for four days. I had to use a soldering gun to put the right amount of holes in the tubs to get the humidity right. All the while, my BPs are still in there original tubs doing things as normal. Then once it got right and everyone fed in there old tubs, I waited 24 hours and then put my BPs in the new rack. I continued to moniter the temps and humidity with the BPs in there (humidity is a little higher due to the BPs breathing in the tubs) but one or two more holes and it's great so far but I still am monitoring before I get totally comfortable. So my point is to set the enclosure upand have everything good to go and in the mean time check with some of the breeders on here to find the new baby you want and then everything will be good to go. I think this will increase your chances of not having a repeat bad encounter.

[RetiredJedi]

I agree with paying too much for it. You can get a healthy BP that eats for really great price from breeders. Heck some of the great folks on here breed BPs. Most breeders don't even sell their BPs until the BP has actually fed three times. That will give you time to have everything set and ready and all you will have to do is put the snake in the enclosure.

An example of being setup first before the BP gets there. I just got a brand new rack at my local Repticon. I out hides, water bowls, substrate, and a hygrometer in the tubs and let it sit. I checked the temps and humidity (frequently) every day for four days. I had to use a soldering gun to put the right amount of holes in the tubs to get the humidity right. All the while, my BPs are still in there original tubs doing things as normal. Then once it got right and everyone fed in there old tubs, I waited 24 hours and then put my BPs in the new rack. I continued to moniter the temps and humidity with the BPs in there (humidity is a little higher due to the BPs breathing in the tubs) but one or two more holes and it's great so far but I still am monitoring before I get totally comfortable. So my point is to set the enclosure upand have everything good to go and in the mean time check with some of the breeders on here to find the new baby you want and then everything will be good to go. I think this will increase your chances of not having a repeat bad encounter.

just my 2cents

[Daybreaker]

they are always aggressive when sold because no one handles them

They aren't being aggressive from not handling, they're being defensive because they're scared and not in the right setups (I went to see my local Petsmart's BPs that they keep in the back room and none of them were being kept right, and therefore quite a few weren't eating for the employees hence why there were some back in the back. Most of those were being very defensive too).

But regardless, sometimes people get really lucky with pet store BPs. I got my first (overpriced) normal BP from Petco, and she has been doing wonderful for me. She was a bit slow to take food, but that was because my husbandry was off and I was keeping her in a tank that I now know was staying too cold for her. Switched her to a tub, figured out her feeding quirk (she needs me to leave the F/T feeder in her tub at night and leave her alone for her to eat, but she'll take multiple mice that way if I leave them for her), and I have never had any health problems with her. Plus, she's a real looker:



If you're set on this baby, I agree with sanitizing everything to the best of your abilities or even ditching the tank (which I think you had it in) and try a tub setup with it with all new materials. As mentioned, wait a full week before trying to feed and start this one on adult mice.

If you have problems with this snake, don't hesitate to bring it to the attention of the MANAGER of the store and keep your receipt. If your friend got this snake from the same store that your last one died from, mentioned that and if need be complain to the manager's boss or higher up. Two dead snakes (with proper husbandry on your part) is unacceptable and if they're worth anything to their customers they should be able to help you out with a refund.

[princess17]

Okay I don't mean to be rude to anyone but I don't need to be lectured about sanitizing or where I got the snake. My only question was how soon do I feed it. Thank you for the advice but I've done my research. This snake is very healthy as I have gotten her checked. Thank you everyone though!

[RetiredJedi]

Okay I don't mean to be rude to anyone but I don't need to be lectured about sanitizing or where I got the snake. My only question was how soon do I feed it. Thank you for the advice but I've done my research. This snake is very healthy as I have gotten her checked. Thank you everyone though!

I don't think anyone was lecturing you, we all just wanted to help and make sure you and your BP are happy. I think some people read your question and click right on "reply" to get you an answer. No harm no foul. We realize you did your research but you obviously had to do more or you wouldn't have had another question. Not to lecture just want you to enjoy your BP as we enjoy ours, that's all. Please be sure and post some more pics of your new girl as soon as you get a chance.