A Couple of Questions

[Garf426]

Hey Guys

First post, so please go easy

Loved snakes since I was a kid but finally been lucky enough (wore my wife down over years) to own my first BP, Morpheus.

He's absolutely amazing, feeds like a beast, and handles perfectly. I've had him since the start of Feb this year, hasn't missed a meal but he seems to do everything slower than I've read, which is fine but I'd love some reassurance as I get to know him and his behaviours:

1) I was concerned he hadn't pooped for some weeks, it was 6 weeks before I found one, although I had found several urates. I'm pretty sure this is fine now having read lots and he has no bulging.
2) When he arrived in Feb he'd shed on the journey, whilst I don't know if this is the case (the breeder could have just popped it in there) everything I read says he should shed about every 4-6 weeks, its been about 10 weeks now. He recently went very quiet and didn't come out in the evenings (this lasted around 10 days but he did feed), I kept a close eye on him and after about 9 days he went into blue, that cleared up 5 days ago and when I went in tonight to refresh his water and wet his moss, he was really curious again so he's clearly hungry now (last feed 8 days ago). I don't want to feed him before he sheds as I understand this can cause issues. My question is, when will he likely shed after 'blue'?
3) Final question, I clearly have the BP bug now and plan to buy a second, initially I got a male as they're smaller and more 'wife' friendly my plan is to have x2 4ft vivs upstairs outta the way but at what age/length/weight is it ok to move Morpheus into a larger viv? He seems very at home at the moment but when he's big enough the plan is to move him into a 4ft (I'd replicate the current layout) then use his current viv as a starter home for a baby female.

All said and done, he seems very healthy and perfect in everyway, I'm just a worrier and want everything to be perfect. I'd welcome any advice.

Thanks

Garf

[Hugsplox]

Welcome to the forums Garf, congrats on getting your first BP.

To answer some of your questions, as far as not finding much poop, this really depends on the size of your snake and the size of your feeders. Younger rats are more digestible so you'll see less waste, and as your snake grows and starts eating larger feeders, you'll see more waste. So no worries here.

As far as shedding, there's estimated times but these snakes are on their own schedules. Once my guy goes into blue he's typically shed within 6-8 days, but he's gone quicker, and he's gone longer. I typically don't feed during shed, as I had a bad shed when I first brought him home, and got some good advice here not to feed, so I stopped. I haven't had any other shed issues so I've stuck to that. I would keep an eye on your humidity, and check all your hides, it's possible that he's already shed and it's balled up in a hide or under a bit of substrate.

As far as your last question this is kind of open for debate. I think most keepers will tell you not to move too quickly when you're talking about upgrades. You don't want to put a smaller BP in a massive enclosure, but you can do it if you have plenty of hides, plenty of cover, things like fake plants etc etc. MOST PVC enclosures you can also order with a divider, so you could order one, put the divider in, and just use half of it until your guy gets bigger, which would open up your other enclosure for another snake. OR if I were you, considering how long it takes to get PVC enclosures, if you're able to I would go ahead and order to 4x2s, and just divide one for both snakes (after quarantine of course) until they're both big enough to use the full enclosure.

[Garf426]

Hi Hugsplox - thanks for getting back to me, its put my mind at rest a bit.

I was mostly concerned about the shed, I keep expecting to see it every morning and now he's back to himself and really inquisitive when I go in, I really want to feed him, which I definitely won't do until shed is complete. I've upped humidity to approx 70% and checked all his hides and in the substrate, I just need to be patient

That's a great shout on dividing one enclosure, thanks for that, I'm definitely not in a rush to move him or get a second but its on the agenda and I want to get everything bought and built so when the right one comes along I'm ready to go.

Really appreciate you taking the time, thank you.

Garf

[Cheesenugget]

Hey Guys

First post, so please go easy

Loved snakes since I was a kid but finally been lucky enough (wore my wife down over years) to own my first BP, Morpheus.

He's absolutely amazing, feeds like a beast, and handles perfectly. I've had him since the start of Feb this year, hasn't missed a meal but he seems to do everything slower than I've read, which is fine but I'd love some reassurance as I get to know him and his behaviours:

1) I was concerned he hadn't pooped for some weeks, it was 6 weeks before I found one, although I had found several urates. I'm pretty sure this is fine now having read lots and he has no bulging.
2) When he arrived in Feb he'd shed on the journey, whilst I don't know if this is the case (the breeder could have just popped it in there) everything I read says he should shed about every 4-6 weeks, its been about 10 weeks now. He recently went very quiet and didn't come out in the evenings (this lasted around 10 days but he did feed), I kept a close eye on him and after about 9 days he went into blue, that cleared up 5 days ago and when I went in tonight to refresh his water and wet his moss, he was really curious again so he's clearly hungry now (last feed 8 days ago). I don't want to feed him before he sheds as I understand this can cause issues. My question is, when will he likely shed after 'blue'?
3) Final question, I clearly have the BP bug now and plan to buy a second, initially I got a male as they're smaller and more 'wife' friendly my plan is to have x2 4ft vivs upstairs outta the way but at what age/length/weight is it ok to move Morpheus into a larger viv? He seems very at home at the moment but when he's big enough the plan is to move him into a 4ft (I'd replicate the current layout) then use his current viv as a starter home for a baby female.

All said and done, he seems very healthy and perfect in everyway, I'm just a worrier and want everything to be perfect. I'd welcome any advice.

Thanks

Garf

1. Most pythons take a lot longer to metabolize food compared to active snakes like colubrids. Ball pythons is no exception. If the prey item is too small, you might not see poop for a long time. That is a sign to look into checking if you are feeding the right size. Normally, you should find a poop once a week or every other week. Some may even go 3 weeks until they poop. Imo, pinky rats have little to no bone matter and it's mostly fat/water, so poops may take awhile.

2. I didn't read the whole paragraph. To answer your question, it may take a few days from the time you see the blue to the actual shed. Make sure your humidity is bumped up a little during this time and providing something like a cork bark or rocks for it to rub against when needed would be helpful. When humidity is up, air flow should not be blocked.

3. My advice is to wait. You are currently in the honeymoon phase when you get a new pet. You may think or feel differently 6 months from now, maybe you will see a different species that caught your eye, or your current snake suddenly requires vet care, etc. Collecting too many, even 1 more too quickly, may not be a good idea. Window shop, do more research, focus on adding enrichment for your enclosure. Save up to upgrading your thermostat if you are using a cheaper version. Make a wishlist of the snakes you think that you may want, wait 30 days, and look back at that list. Did your interest change? Did you check out which breeder you may want to buy from? There is no rush. There will always be ball pythons available in the market for you to buy when the time is right.

[Bogertophis]

Hi Garf...I'll "second" everything Hugsplox said, & It sounds like you're off to a great start with your first BP.

[Garf426]

Thank you everyone for the tips, found it really helpful.

And with that, low and behold checked his cool hide this eve after he moved and found a poop and full shed!

Really appreciate you guys taking the time to answer my questions.

G

[Bogertophis]

Thank you everyone for the tips, found it really helpful.

And with that, low and behold checked his cool hide this eve after he moved and found a poop and full shed!

Really appreciate you guys taking the time to answer my questions.

G

I love it when it works, LOL, The only thing better is when snakes actually leave their poo INSIDE the old shed- it's just so much neater that way, but good luck trying to train one to do that.