Hi, I am a first time snake owner. I chose the ball python after some reading and watching of the you tube. I bought my ball python (Jayk) at a local reptile store. I got a 15 gal tank closed in the sides and back with black foam boards and sealed all the gaps with electrical tape. I cut some plexi glass for the the top part of the cage. I have a ceramic light up top, and an ultra therm UTH on the bottom both are plugged into a thermostat. I am measuring the temp with three different thermometers (2 on the hot side and 1 on the cold side) and 2 different hydrometers. They are all within 5% of each other. I am using a repti carpet with cypress bedding on top and with sphagnum moss soaked in spring water treated with repti safe weekly. He has a hide on both sides of the cage and a water dish in the middle (also treated with repti safe). The thermostat and 1 thermometer are reading the belly temp in the cypress bedding, one hydro stat is above the substrate and one is in the substrate. I have fed him 6 times (tonight was the sixth). His first feed was a live pinky mouse, then a frozen pinky mouse, then a frozen pinky mouse, then a live pinky rat, then a frozen pinky rat, and tonight he ate a frozen fuzzy rat. I noticed a few days ago his belly was pink and skin was dark and eyes were grey, today when I cleaned out his cage I found his shed. While I was handling him I noticed a little bit of shed left on his head not very much, I made sure to soak all the sphagnum moss and spray the substrate very well. He ate his meal very quickly (I am guessing the work up an appetite shedding). I am so thrilled to have this guy and so are my kids and fiance. He is super friendly, and curious, he likes to crawl around on us and hangout on us while we watch tv, he likes exploring on the floor when we let him out too, oh yeah When I got him he was around 75 grams and weighed in last week at 127 grams. I like having him in the aquarium and have plans to decorate it so it looks a bit cooler and tidy up the wiring. I also have a tub that I am going to transfer his old hides and water dish to once I get his terrarium set up how I want it. I am going to get a heating pad for it and build a little shelf to hold 4 of the tubs. I think I would like to have a couple in the future, I have been looking at all the different morphs since getting him and they are so fascinating. I am not sure what makes a leopard a leopard, when I was at the store I was drawn to this guy because he was friendly but also moving around on me while I held him and he was pretty dark. Any way thanks for this great site and all the great information on here. Any suggestions or recommendations I am happy listen and learn.
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