My new Super Pastel Het Clown!! Plus some questions!

[JNN]

Hey guys, first post on here, figured I'd post considering this is my first BP, along with a couple of questions.

So this little dude is a Super Pastel Het Clown, purchased over on MorphMarket on Sunday. Shipped Monday, arrived Tuesday.. He arrived perfectly warm considering NY temps, and I'm just obsessed with his colors lol. Definitely makes me want to find a female BP for a future mating project, but I don't want to put the cart in front of the horse until I have him on a steady feeding regimen.

His temperament is mostly docile, though he has attempted to strike a few times, but I'd chalk this up to him not eating on the day he was supposed too (happened to be the day he shipped out to me). As well as just overall de-stressing from the long ride he had 2 nights ago to get here. So I'm letting him chill out for the week, and I was told to feed him a rat pup this weekend. I'm going to try switching him to F/T considering it's a bit difficult getting my hands on live, but he's a "voracious eater" from what I've heard so he should be fine. He's 5 months old, a November hatch, his parents were a Pastel Enchi Clown x Orange Dream Banana Mojave Bumblebee Het. So from my understanding his genetics are pretty rich.

I currently have him in a 64qt, and before anyone freaks out, it's got a bit of height to it for some little bars he can climb around (since I hear they do like to be at least a bit arboreal), he's been using it fairly often in the 2 days he's been here. He also has plenty of hides, a cool side hide and a hot side hide. Temps range from 74-77 on the cool side, and 84-92 on the hot side. I've got the thermostat/UTH combo running under the warm side at 94 degrees and he seems to love it considering the hot side hide has been his go-to for sleep and peace. Humidity stays between 67-80. Night temps are a little more difficult to control but they've been 73-76 so far.

Since yesterday was his first night spent here in comfort, he seemed very inquisitive and curious during the day (he even periscoped AND defecated perfectly casually!), but he was asleep throughout the night. Now today he's currently roaming the tank again, wrapping himself around the bar, going up and down the tub walls. Very slowly I might add, as if he's relaxed, not stressed. When he's done he goes back in his hide to relax until he gets another spurt of energy. So I don't know if he somehow turned himself Diurnal, or if he's going to take the week to acclimate back into a night time schedule. Could he just be super hungry? And somehow getting my attention that he wants food? He has plenty of water, so that can't be it. I'd love to hear your thoughts on him and maybe some suggestions!

Here's a bit of pic spam from his first day here! (Btw the hot side thermometer says 79.5, I know it's blurry and may look like 70 to some)

[dakski]

1. Leave him alone until he's eaten 3 consecutive meals. He's probably stressed out and that's why he struck at you. You'll have plenty of time to handle him as he should live well over 20 years.

2. You can offer F/T but if he's been eating live, be prepared to offer live if he refuses F/T.

3. Offer AFTER you get temps dialed in. 95F anywhere is way too hot and nowhere should it be less than 75F. Ground temps as measured by an IR temp gun should be as follows:

Hot side: 87-89F

Middle/Ambient: 80-84F

Cool side: 77-80F

4. How many hides to you have? Are they identical? He should have identical hides on hot and cool sides. If his container has room, put another in the middle. The hides should be snug for him. He wants to feel safe.

Frankly, your makeshift hide is terrible for him. He won't feel safe in that and you do not have one on the cool side. Big no no.

You need two hides like this and probably small size right now.

https://www.reptilebasics.com/hide-boxes

5. Is he in a low traffic area? He should not be somewhere where there is a lot of commotion and light, etc.

He's likely cruising because temps are off, he's not settled in, and/or he doesn't like his one hide.

At his age, it's imperative to get things dialed in right away and get him established.

We are here to help so ask anything you want/need.

Finally, if you are going to offer F/T food, below is a guide to properly defrosting and offering.




This is my step by step list on defrosting F/T rodents.

Others may do it differently and that's fine. This how I do it and it works for me.


STEPS FOR DEFROSTING F/T RODENTS/PREY

1. Put prey item(s) into appropriate size plastic bag. I use Quart size ziplock bags up to a medium rat. NOTE: Bags are optional. Some people just throw the prey in the water. I like the bags, but you have to squeeze the air out of them.

2. Fill the container/storage box 3/4 of the way with room temp to slightly warm water. If you have a temp gun (which you should, so if you don't, get one), make sure the water is not hotter than 85-90F, or there about.

3. Put F/T prey item(s) in water. Cover (optional) and leave for an hour +/-.

4. After an hour, rotate/flip prey. If in plastic bags, they often will stay on whatever side you put them in on. So if mouse is on left side, turn to right side, etc.

5. Leave for another hour +/- for a TOTAL of about 2 hours (up to medium sized rat - longer if bigger prey).

6. Check that prey is defrosted totally through. Squeeze at different sections of the preys body. Should be cool/room temp to touch, but be soft with no cold spots. If hard (except for bone), in abdomen, for example, or cold, put back in water until room temp and soft.

7. Take prey out of the container/storage box and put aside. THEN FOLLOW STEPS 8-11 OR STEP 12

8. Fill container with hot water from tap. If using temp gun, water temp should be 110-130F, not more.

9. Drop prey item into water for 30 seconds +/-. If multiple prey items, do one at a time. You want each item hot when you offer.

10. Remove (if hot water, with tongs).

11. Dry as best as you can, and is quickly as you can, with paper towels. I dry with paper towels while I am walking from the bathroom where I defrost to the snake tanks. I kind of wrap the prey item up in them. It's ten feet, so by the time I get to the tanks, the prey is drier, but still warm.

12. If not using hot water, use a hairdryer to heat rat so it entices snake

13. Open tank and offer ASAP on tongs.

[JNN]

Okay so a couple of things here,

- I haven't held him since he arrived, I don't plan on it until I feed him once or twice, he's struck at me 3 times from his hide while I cleaned his enclosure yesterday.

- Temps are no where near 95 anywhere near his tank, I keep the UTH at 94 exact, because the plastic in-between the tub and the heater is thick enough to where 92 degrees = 90.

- I figured out how to keep temps above 73, I have a space heater to bring the room back up if need be.

- He is in a very low traffic area, as I'm the only one who comes in and out of this room. As it is my bedroom, I don't tend to go back and forth unless it's to relax or sleep.

- I have a temp gun, and I've noticed cool end stays around 75-76/ hot end 80-92, ambient and general gradient 80/84, cooler end gradient being 75-77.

- There is a cool hide on the left side, though it's not easily noticeable, it's actually the big tan rectangle, I'll get a better pic. I also have plans for upgrading the warm hide as I agree it's a bit too open. However he seems to like keeping his head poked out a bit when he sleeps. Last night he slept in the cool hide, which provided much more cover with a smaller entrance, but seems to prefer the open hide. Though that could just be because of heat.

- He seems to like to hang from the middle bar/ middle stick when he's out searching at night (he switched his schedule back to nocturnal overnight so I'm happy about that).

- I do plan on holding onto those step by steps for the feeding as it seems to be exactly what I've read previously. If not I may try braining, but I was told he's a feisty eater so hopefully he'll eat on first serving.

Honestly I feel like I followed the guidelines pretty well all things considered, outside of another hide or two and maybe some leaf litter? Now while I wouldn't necessarily call it a terrible setup, I respect and appreciate your insight.

[Bogertophis]

And by the way,

Hides should be "low ceiling" types...snakes (& especially BPs) prefer "back pressure"- feeling snug so predators can't sneak up on them. Nothing wrong with using modified boxes & toss when they get dirty, until or even instead of plastic+ ones. Whatever keeps our snakes comfy, eh?

Those appear to be bigger ventilation holes than most use, so if (-?) you have trouble keeping the humidity up, you can always tape over some. (on the outside only, please- no tape ever inside a snake's home, trust me, lol)

[dakski]

JNN,

Nice work on temps and I apologize for not seeing both hides.

I am also glad you are not handling him.

Assuming temps stay good and he's using the hides he has for now (I would still upgrade), you can try offering this weekend. You might get lucky with F/T.

I did with my BP and she was about the same age when I got her 8 years ago. Don't be discouraged if he doesn't take the first meal though. We will see what happens and be here to help if he doesn't and we can problem solve. Hoping it all works out on first try though.

I am glad you found the defrosting guidelines helpful. Follow them and you should have a high probability of success.

Keep us posted and happy to answer any other questions you have.

Good luck with your "stunner."

[JNN]

No worries! It's my fault for not taking a better picture of the setup, they were screenshots taken from a prior video, so the quality wasn't the best. I've just upgraded his temporary hot hide to something smaller, and as Bogertophis said, a much shorter ceiling so he feels enclosed, I'll attach a pic for you guys. I have some frozen rat pups coming in this Friday (that's what the breeder has been feeding him, well "live" ones but still).

Thank you for all the help! I'll be sure to keep you posted!

[JNN]

And by the way,

Hides should be "low ceiling" types...snakes (& especially BPs) prefer "back pressure"- feeling snug so predators can't sneak up on them. Nothing wrong with using modified boxes & toss when they get dirty, until or even instead of plastic+ ones. Whatever keeps our snakes comfy, eh?

Those appear to be bigger ventilation holes than most use, so if (-?) you have trouble keeping the humidity up, you can always tape over some. (on the outside only, please- no tape ever inside a snake's home, trust me, lol)

I was contemplating using much smaller vent holes, but I figured since ball pythons tend to be rather large, they'd prefer wider air circulation. Surprisingly the humidity is staying relatively normal, I credit the cypress mulch for that, it's great stuff.

[JNN]

So he just ate!! The rat pups I ordered never arrived on time, so I got a shipping refund on those. They'll be expedited this week.

But I picked up some "Arctic Mice Small Mice", and he ate one!! I did the water trick and it worked perfectly! He snatched it immediately!!

Do I feed him a second one? How many small mice (6 inches with tail, 3 without) =/= one rat pup?

I'll be posting pics later today.