Hey everyone, this is my first time posting on here. I recently got my very first snake on July 5th(so around 3.5 weeks ago). I had wanted a baby ball python for a few years now, had done lots and lots of research and I was super happy and excited when I brought my baby home. Unfortunately I must say, we didn’t get off to a great start, which was surprising because I went to get my snake from a well reputed, exclusively reptile store in my area. I went in and explained that as this was my first snake, I was looking specifically for a healthy male hatching or juvenile that was a good eater and had good sheds. They brought out a beautiful baby and said he was their biggest hatchling male, and ate and shed without any problems but he only ate live. I asked about transitioning to f/t and they basically told me it wasn’t going to happen with a baby bp. So anyways, as they were so well reputed I really had no reason to doubt them and brought my new baby home. However, in the past 3 weeks or so, I’ve already had to treat him for mites(which he came with as I have no other reptiles), and he had the hardest time shedding and had a pretty intact stuck shed. I soaked him in lukewarm water for 30 mins and tried to help him manually get it off but after a week of this, I took him to the vet this past weekend to learn he is actually a she, and she was very underweight and she had a whole other layer of stuck shed under this current layer!!!! The vet told me to start feeding her every 3-4 days instead of once a week, and showed me how to put her in a little container with damp sphagnum moss and then showed me how to help her peel her old shed off and we did this on Sunday night and got half of it off, and then after I put her back in her tank I saw that she was moving around rubbing on things and getting the rest off on her own. I’m happy to say she was able to get 90-95% off including eye caps and tail tip and just has a couple tiny patches on her back so that’s good news. The other really great news is, she’s been feeding f/t for me every single time!! She’s a great eater strikes at the mouse within the first minute of offering.
so on Tuesday, I decided to take her out for her first “real” handling session. I left her completely alone the first week aside from changing out water, and after that the only interaction I had with her was feeding every Saturday and taking her out to treat for mites and taking her out to soak for stuck shed. So seeing that she ate for me every time and she had most of the shed off and was acting like a typical bp should be(as in hiding most of the time and coming out to explore for a bit on some nights), I decided it was fine to handle and I had her out for around a half hour paying very close attention to her body language. The previpus times she had been out, she seemed stressed and trying to escape and was balling up, and even tagged me once. But on tues she was very calm and moving slowly and tongue flickering. She didn’t seem tense(no heavy breathing, no hissing, balling up, running away) but she was really just crawling around my fingers and chilling in my hoodie. I also know for a fact she wasn’t stressed out because I offered her her second meal of the week right after handling, and she ate it immediately and went into . But what I’m worried about is starting weds night she’s been sitting in her cave with her head sort of sticking out and seems to be on high alert. Every time I check on her or even walk by I see her follow my movement and when I go to change her water, she used to go back int her cave while I had my hands in her tank but now she stays sticking her head out and watches my hands. Is this normal and am I overreacting? Or is something going on with her?! The reason this is wierd to me Is because the only time she’s done this before is on feeding day as I’m defrosting the mouse next to her tank to “get her in the mood” . But now there’s no mouse and I know she’s not hungry so is she stressed and freaking out??!? I haven’t handled her since Tuesday night and I’m kind of nervous to stick my hand in her tank to tell the truth because I’d rather not get bitten and constricted lol. She hasn’t tried to do that yet when I changed her water but she was very intently watching my hands instead of hiding in her cave like she used to.
as for husbandry, she’s in a ten gallon terrarium with two hides(one in each side), a mopani branch, and a large water dish., temps are 91-93 on hot side with the probe touching the substrate right next to her hide. On the cold side temps are 82-84. I have a digital thermometer on the hot side and I also verify with a temp gun several times a day. Her humidity used to be maintained at 55% but recently I try to keep it at 65-70% because of her shedding issues. She is in a glass 10 gallon long, with a mesh screen but I cover 75% of the top with a damp towel for humidity purposes and I use cypress mulch substrate with Damp sphagnum moss scattered around the floor and also inside her hot hide. Also I have the sides and back of the tank covered up and even cover up part of the front of the tank with the hanging part of the towel that covers the top.
I’m sorry for the really long, possibly ranting post. I’m just a first time snake mom and I don’t want to stress her out or make her unhappy in her new home. Also I think my confidence is shot because we had such a rough start with the mites and the stuck shed and I’m so afraid of doing anything wrong. I’d appreciate any help regarding her new behavior as well as any advice or tips in general. Thank u!