Cleo - my first snake

[Maron]

Hey guys,

I thought I would throw a few pics of my beautiful new companion - Cleopatra. She was labelled as a パルテルバター in Japanese which I guess translates to a Butter Pastel morph.

I have been researching BPs for a while now and took the plunge at the Kyushu Reptile Festival earlier today.

She spent a good hour after we got home exploring her new home and then has settled down in one of her hides since then. Since it has been around the high 20's today (centigrade) she seems to have chosen the cool end of the enclosure.

Anyway, here are some pics:

1: Just in the cage getting used to the space.


2: Climbing around to see if there is any way out.


3: "What's this hide thing for? I like it up here!"

[Bodie]

Very nice. Welcome to the club.

[Valyndris]

Aww, she's a cute little noodle, she looks like she will be happy in her new home. Congrats on your first ball python, if you haven't already, you will fall in love with her as ball pythons are just the most amazing pets. Also, welcome to the forums and the hobby.

[Maron]

Thank you both.

I am just going to let her chill for a few days to get settled in. The guy I got her from said she ate 4 days ago so will probably try and give her a mouse in a couple of days. Think that is too early? Should I give her a full week of settling in time? That would make it almost two weeks since her last meal.

[Shayne]

Thank you both.

I am just going to let her chill for a few days to get settled in. The guy I got her from said she ate 4 days ago so will probably try and give her a mouse in a couple of days. Think that is too early? Should I give her a full week of settling in time? That would make it almost two weeks since her last meal.

Hi, Maron!

She's a beautiful noodle! Typically, what most of us do with a new addition to the family is allow him/her to eat at least 3 consecutive meals with you, in her new home, before handling her at all. I know the wait can royally suck but you just need to make sure she feels safe & secure and all is well before handling.

I have a beautiful lil' Blade Clown that hasn't eaten since I got her almost 2 months ago. Gonna try a live mouse in a couple days and see if that'll entice a reaction. We shall see.

Good luck on her 1st meals and keep us posted! She's a cutie.

EDIT: Just my humble opinion....I don't think that's too early to start trying to feed. Some of the local experts will probably jump in here and give some more sound advice as I'm just barely a novice. Got my 1st BP last October and already have a 2nd addition. Be warned, it's a sickness and it only gets worse from here. ��

[Maron]

Thanks for the advice Shayne.

I will head to a pet shop tomorrow and pick up a few hoppers (that is what I was told she was eating). I think she could handle a bigger mouse but I would like to get a couple of feeds under my (our) belt and then take it from there. I will maybe try to give her a mouse on Monday night.

I love the responsiveness and friendliness of this forum already!

[Maron]

Woot.

I had my first poop in the enclosure this morning!

I mean, I didn't, Cleo did.

She must have been out and about exploring last night while I was in bed. So far during the day she is just hiding in her cool hide.

I am going to head to the pet shop this afternoon to pick up some mice.

She is 130g and was told she takes hoppers. Does this sound about right? Or should I bump her up to a small mouse. Rats are really hard to find here in Japan.

[fadingdaylight]

Woot.

I had my first poop in the enclosure this morning!

I mean, I didn't, Cleo did.

She must have been out and about exploring last night while I was in bed. So far during the day she is just hiding in her cool hide.

I am going to head to the pet shop this afternoon to pick up some mice.

She is 130g and was told she takes hoppers. Does this sound about right? Or should I bump her up to a small mouse. Rats are really hard to find here in Japan.

There are two common ways to base the meal size. You can find the thickest part of the snake, and feed a prey that is the same diameter, or you can go off weight. The meal should weigh in at 10-15% of the snakes weight, so at 130g, you want a mouse that is roughly 13-18g, I believe a good sized hopper should fall right in there.

[Shayne]

Thanks for the advice Shayne.

I will head to a pet shop tomorrow and pick up a few hoppers (that is what I was told she was eating). I think she could handle a bigger mouse but I would like to get a couple of feeds under my (our) belt and then take it from there. I will maybe try to give her a mouse on Monday night.

I love the responsiveness and friendliness of this forum already!

You're very welcome!

Like Fadingdaylight said, 10-15% of the body weight or roughly the size of her largest diameter will be just fine. My boy weighs roughly 500g right now so I'm just giving him 2 to finish up a bag of fuzzies I had left over.

Also, not sure if you have one already but a cheap ($20) laser temp. gun is a necessity. It's good to keep surface temps in check. I had an issue with keeping my warm hide around 90 without getting the surface too hot. It was good for me to know exactly how hot the bottom was so I could dial the temps. in with more accuracy. Those lil' probes can be a bit off sometimes, depending on substrate type and/or depth, also where the temp. probe is positioned. Not really sure why I brought that up but I hope it makes sense. lol

[Maron]

I have a temp gun. Currently the cool side is hitting around 79F and the warm side is around 90F on the glass with it a little cooler on top of the substrate. Humidity is at around 60 as it is quite humid here at the moment.

I don't want to pull her out to see her body diameter as everything I have read says to let her be for a while until she is feeding well and settled in, so I will base it off her body weight and try her out on a mouse that is around 15g or so. The mouse sizes seem to be different here to the ones I have researched. They go from hopper to medium adult. I guess I will start her on the hoppers just to get some success with feeding for the next 2-3 feeds then move onto a bigger mouse.

Thanks again guys. I feel almost as neurotic about trying to do everything right as when my wife and I had our first human kid . The difference is she wants nothing to do with Cleo.