Yay I am a newbie!

[Reptilian]

Hey all-

I am excited to say I am a newbie to the ball python world. I picked up my little guy, Spot, on May 6th at the Cleveland Reptile Show.

A bit of history on Spot:

As of the 6th the breeder says he was 2 weeks old. He's a little fella and can sit in my palm. He was only $20 and unfortuantly hadn't had his first meal yet, nor his first shed from what the breeder told me.

Now I know, some of you are thinking why not buy a bp that is older and more established with feeding, being a first time BP owner. I probably should have. Even thinking about it now I wish I had. But Spot is with me to stay through thick and thin.

I had originally picked out Monty, a beautiful little BP that had more yellow in it than the coffee/carmel color of Spot. In my excitment of owning a BP I failed to do a complete check and it turns out (thanks to the help of a sales person) that he had major kinks in the spine. So the gentleman I bought Monty from gladly let me replace him.

The excitment of owning a BP again caught up with me, but this time I ran a full check of my new Spot. No visible mites, or ticks, no discharge from the mouth or nose, non kinked spine, vent clean, eyes clear - non dented.

The sales lady said that i needed both a lamp and a UTH. So i picked up both and set them up. Now with my corns, I have had a hard time getting temps correct with just a UTH (they are finally stable), so I figured having both the lamp and UTH I'd be able to reach the 90°F mark no problem. So I rheostat the UTH and plug in the lamp. Temps soar to 115°. Oh no... I go out and buy a 50 watt bulb, considering they gave me a 75 watt for a 10 gallon. It was supposed to be a 60 watt but it was a 75 in a 60 package. So with my 50 watt the temps drop to 105°. Crap still not good enough. :::lurks forum to find answer::: No bulb, she reads. Unhooks light and watches temps drop to 91°. Good close enough, work on getting it to 90. Check it this morning (5 days later, temps are at 88°).

He has two hides, which he doesn't use, he's content sleeping under the crook in a piece of drift wood in the middle of the tank. If he's not under there he's squished himself between a hide and the glass. I caught him near the water bowl, so hopefully he's drinking.

I bought a mouse the second day I had him and admit i tried to feed him. He took no interest. I then scolded myself for having cornsnake already I need to wait a few days to let him get adjusted. I am just so damn excited though!!! So I left him alone for 3 days, didn't hold him or anything. He's crused around his tank a few times, so that's good, he's active.

I am waiting till the 13th to try and feed him a live small mouse. I'll try it at night w/o watching him. I do have an issue with that though...since it's live, how long should I keep it in with him? I don't feed live to my corns, and am concerned about attacks. If anyone can give me a suggestion or a post link that would be great.

Other than that I am done for now, sorry for such a long post, but I am so excited to have him. If I keep typing I'll go on forever. LOL. Thanks for listening.

P.S. Pictures will come this evening, I need to buy batteries for my camera.

[Freakie_frog]

First of all welcome.

I would have to agree with you that a less established ball might be a little discouraging for a new owner. How every it is not impossible.

I see that you said that he doesn't use his hides this is more than likely because they are 1: to big and he is not feeling secure or 2: due to the temp difference they don't offer him the right temp he is looking for. active in a ball that young can mean it is stressed.

If your using a glass tank I would suggest setting in up along these lines.
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=32800

If your not I suggest getting an accurite thermometer the dial type sold in pet stores are bad known for being wrong by up to 15-20 degrees..

Allowing your snake at least 1-2 weeks to settle in before feeding is best (this means no handling, feeding or any contact other than spot cleaning and water changes.
When feeding live if my snakes don't eat with in 30 minutes I remove the prey and either try a different prey size or type. if they still don't eat then wait till next week.

Hope all this helped

again welcome and I can't wait to see pics

[lord jackel]

Congrats on the new boy.


A few comments -

1. I wouldn't bother trying to feed him till he sheds the first time (he won't eat till then)
2. Make sure his first meal is really small (pinkie would be ideal) this way you can leave it with him overnight without issue.
3. At 88 on the warm side you are getting low you need to get some more warmth try for low 90's
4. What is your humidity? You need it to be higher right now as hatchlings can dehydrate quickly (my pre sheds are on wet paper towels...just to give you an idea)

Good Luck...keep us posted.

[rabernet]

Welcome! Are you sure he's captive bred and not farmed (captive hatched)? I don't know many breeders who will sell babies at 2 weeks old without their first meal in them.


Looks like other issues have been covered pretty well already!

[ZEKESMOM]

Welcome to the forum and good luck with you new little guy...sounds like you've already recieve the info you needed.

[Reptilian]

Thanks everyone for the imput. I'll wait till he sheds with me to feed him. I'll also be adding paper to the sides and investing in a better thermonter. I have one with a probe though, that's sold in reptile stores...it's not flukers but something else. As for the temps they popped up to 92.3. I am not sure if it was captived hatched...I hope not, but in my excitment I didn't think to ask....

[Reptilian]

Quick question: Since I am not using a heat lamp, with the foil thing should I only still cover it 2/3rds of the way or the entire thing? Thanks!

[lord jackel]

Quick question: Since I am not using a heat lamp, with the foil thing should I only still cover it 2/3rds of the way or the entire thing? Thanks!

You still want airflow so don't cover it all (so you don't build up too much humidity...and risk getting mold).

As for how much to cover you need to play with it based on your setup and weather. Start with 50% (wait a day and see where the humidity settles) then go to 75% (if too humidity is too low), keep going till you get it right...just don't do it all.

[Reptilian]

Thanks that's what I figured

[Mindibun]

welcome welcome welcome! ^_^ I think we all know what it feels like to be excited about a new snake. Good luck with yours. I'm still waiting on pics, too.