My poor baby...

[SKO]

As far as the feeding~~~ if your having a problem with him feeding it is stress related most likley. No Ball python wants to be held for 5 hours a day.. 3/4 times a week for 20 min is normal. Also dont forget when you have him out he has no heat.
Stress from coming home with you, handling for 5 hour a day, soaking him for a couple days ect.. This is all a recipe for him to get stressed & sick. A ball pythons immune system declines with stress. Give this lil guy a couple weeks to get strait. Several new owners want to hold and play with these cute snakes and I hear about and see hundreds die from stress all the time. Another big problem is Respiratory infections. Stress can be a major factor in that when there immune systems worn down.
Put this lil guy in his enclosure, cover the glass for security and let him get use to his new home.
Some of it might sound to strict, but every week new keepers post on here "my Balls a month old and I found him dead"..
These arent domestic animals, they Tolerate us but thats all and some tolerate better than others.. Just trying to help you so you and your family have him/her to enjoy and he deserves a good safe place too.

Woah, lol I THOUGHT I read everything. 5 hours is a really long time to have the snake out

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[Ckrumn]

Sounds normal to me. The not eating part can be for a few reasons, but let's focus on the shed coming off first. When I was a new owner, I was on this site everyday trying to learn everything I could. A lot of good info on here. Google searching how to care for ball pythons will either lead you here anyways, or to a site that has some wrong info.

Do you have a pic of your setup? I might be able to help you with your humidity problem easier. I had two tanks for almost a year before I switched so I might be able to give you some pointers

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This is about it for now. Have a massive shopping list started for this weekend. Hoping to have a much better setup soon. He has several silk plants at the back to hind under and I placed a dark cereal bowl in there also for now.



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[Ckrumn]

As far as the feeding~~~ if your having a problem with him feeding it is stress related most likley. No Ball python wants to be held for 5 hours a day.. 3/4 times a week for 20 min is normal. Also dont forget when you have him out he has no heat.
Stress from coming home with you, handling for 5 hour a day, soaking him for a couple days ect.. This is all a recipe for him to get stressed & sick. A ball pythons immune system declines with stress. Give this lil guy a couple weeks to get strait. Several new owners want to hold and play with these cute snakes and I hear about and see hundreds die from stress all the time. Another big problem is Respiratory infections. Stress can be a major factor in that when there immune systems worn down.
Put this lil guy in his enclosure, cover the glass for security and let him get use to his new home.
Some of it might sound to strict, but every week new keepers post on here "my Balls a month old and I found him dead"..
These arent domestic animals, they Tolerate us but thats all and some tolerate better than others.. Just trying to help you so you and your family have him/her to enjoy and he deserves a good safe place too.

Hey, I'm all for the advice. I'm very guilty of trying to treat him like my dogs or cat. I know he is neither, but he's just so darn cute. I also didn't think I would get this attached this quickly. I don't want to lose him/her at all so if leaving him alone for now is what's best then that's what we have to do. As he gets older/bigger, can we handle him more??


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[SKO]

This is about it for now. Have a massive shopping list started for this weekend. Hoping to have a much better setup soon. He has several silk plants at the back to hind under and I placed a dark cereal bowl in there also for now.



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Sorry if I'm repeating anything somekne has told you.
Alright so pretty similar to my first tank when I first got my snake. First thing that popped out it the open sides. Cover the left and right sides just like you did with the back. Adds more "security". The stick on thermometer is not really a good one. A digital one which reads both temp and humidity is more accurate. One with probes is more suitable, that way you can measure the temp directly over the hot spot. You would also want to place it basically as low to the substrate as you can. The halfogs are no good, a tight fitting hide with a small entrance is best, one for the hot side and one for the cool side.

I mentioned the mulch already, I used aspen too at first. By now you either have or are aware you need to have any heat source on a thermostat. There is a sticky thread on setting up tanks. The sphagnum moss, damp towel on the screen, and misting daily will help your humidity problems.

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[SKO]

Also, can't tell if you have them but as your sneky snek grows you will want to get some screen lid clips to lock that lid. They are pretty good at escaping.



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[Ckrumn]

Also, can't tell if you have them but as your sneky snek grows you will want to get some screen lid clips to lock that lid. They are pretty good at escaping.



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I'm hoping to have a more solid enclosure built by the end of the weekend. Front side open with plexiglass. I'm looking at having the exterior hinges on the front panel for easy access. The rest of the enclosure will be solid. Light source will be fluorescent lights mounted to the inside of the top. I've been reading about ceramic heating tiles someone had mentioned and if I can find a way to make them work I would like to use those as well. Shoe boxes for hides for now. Cheaper to replace as he grows. I'm thinking of closing off a section of the enclosure for now also. Several others have said they feel safer in smaller tight areas. I only want to build one enclosure for him so I'm looking at building it for his max length.


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[SKO]

What material are you planning on using? Also, I would suggest staying away from the heat tile. A better choice would either be flexwatt heat tape or a UTH heating pad.

Also, it's great you want to make sure you have the best setup and want to get him in there quick, but once you have it built and setup, have it "running" for a few days or even a week before you introduce the snake to it. See if you can maintain proper husbandry without the snake in there. This way you can trouble shoot without having to worry about the snakes stress and health. You can also post progress pics on this site and get even more pointers. I know the feeling, and if you are this concerned about the snake I'm sure you will want to make sure everything is done right when you build the cage and have it up and running.

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[Ckrumn]

What material are you planning on using? Also, I would suggest staying away from the heat tile. A better choice would either be flexwatt heat tape or a UTH heating pad.

Also, it's great you want to make sure you have the best setup and want to get him in there quick, but once you have it built and setup, have it "running" for a few days or even a week before you introduce the snake to it. See if you can maintain proper husbandry without the snake in there. This way you can trouble shoot without having to worry about the snakes stress and health. You can also post progress pics on this site and get even more pointers. I know the feeling, and if you are this concerned about the snake I'm sure you will want to make sure everything is done right when you build the cage and have it up and running.

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From what I've been reading, melamine or MDF appears to be the better quality material to build the base of the enclosure. I would use 1/2" to 3/4" at most. And then use plexiglass for the front. I do agree with making sure it's going to do its job before putting him in it.
I don't want to screw the poor guy up any more than I already have.


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[CALM Pythons]

Hey, I'm all for the advice. I'm very guilty of trying to treat him like my dogs or cat. I know he is neither, but he's just so darn cute. I also didn't think I would get this attached this quickly. I don't want to lose him/her at all so if leaving him alone for now is what's best then that's what we have to do. As he gets older/bigger, can we handle him more??


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Honestly Ball Pythons are not good display snakes nor do they want to be handles much. You hardly see them when they are happy. Happy = Hiding with balls. At night they come out of their hides and love to climb. Build them a 1/2" PVC pipe Jungle Gym in the enclosure. Just never use tape and always cap the ends of pipes.
My Burm is the people snake. A lot of people here have Smaller Retics for a snake that is more involved, also Blood Pythons... But Balls like to be left alone.. Just who they are.

[zina10]

First of all Kudos for listening and taking all the great advice.

It can be overwhelming at first but once you got everything ship shape it becomes so easy

Getting the setup right is the biggest hurdle and now is the time to put a lot of thought into which way to go.

I actually had a Melamine cage a LONG time ago and it was so heavy it killed me to move it. And it was harder to keep clean. You have to seal all the seams well, too. More difficult to heat.
Some of the ready to go enclosures don't seem much more then what the material is going to cost in building one, and they will be easier to maintain, so that is one thought.

In the beginning there is some trial and error, but keep asking questions and you will get there. The most important things you can change now, before you even get a new setup. Less handling, more hides, etc etc. Everyone already went over all that.

Your snake is beautiful, the shed issue will get resolved and the rest you will work on.

Upward and onward