My first BP..

[MikeC1212]

So my first is an 07 female pastel. She's tiny. BTW, this post could get pretty long..

I got her tuesday afternoon(I've had her about 4 days). She seemed to have been packed well, even though I don't know much about shipping a snake. She was in some kind of clear container w/ some kind of substrate, then put in a box w/ styrafoam. That box was in another box that had paper in it. When I brought her in, I didn't know what to expect! I was like.. when I cut this tape.. is she gonna fly out of this box? LoL. I was happy to get to see her for a minute in a clear container. I tried to show her to my wife (who wasn't having it) and then I looked back into the box and into the container. This is when she immediately tried to eat my face! Man, I won't lie, I got a little nervous when it came time to let her out because she obviously was a little nervous herself. All I did at that point was put this container into her home, slowly took the lid off.. and left her alone.

She explored a little. It wasn't long after that before she was under the newspaper and on the UTH. She pooped the day after I got her. I changed the paper, leaving her where she was laying on the UTH. Yesterday (3rd day at home) I still didn't see her. Decided to go lift the paper & take a peek, that's when I saw her laying in the middle still (still breathing! ) but laying where the thermostat probe(or)sensor used to be. Not sure if I should have done what I did next, but I needed an accurate reading. I picked her up and set her on top of the paper on the cool side while I put the probe back on top of the UTH. She didn't seem to mind. Then after a minute of trying to put her logs and hide back in, she started getting a little jumpy and breathing heavily? I moved slowly but quickly, if that makes any sense, and left her alone. The logs/hide/bowl seem to hold the paper down on all 4 sides.. so I was hoping she'd stay out and find a new comfortable spot. I left her alone while my wife and I went outside to smoke. After that, we went back down to see her exploring.. until she must have caught our shadows and hated it because she tucked her head to her body and did what looked like some heavy breathing again. Only briefly, because a few minutes later after we left her alone, she was looking around her logs and hide again. I was comfortable with that so we went to bed.

This morning I woke up and hoped to find her on top of the paper and in a hide.. or exploring. Nope. She got back under the paper on the UTH and some how got under the log as well. This log is pretty big in comparison so I have no idea how she could lift it and ball under it. I know I'm not going to see her much.. I just hope to every now and then.

So a total of 4 days and I "handled" her for about 3 seconds or however long it took to pick her up and set her down. Although she got a little startled a couple of times, her stay has to have been fairly stress free. She's been hidden & she's been in a low traffic area.

WHEN CAN I OFFER FOOD?! I'm obviously excited to see if she's going to eat.. and I heard a few days was ok to offer- I heard a week too. I'd like to try today unless this is considered a horrible idea.

My feeding plan: Live in her place (to reduced handling) for a couple feeds or about a month until she's really settled in.. then trying to switch to F/T in a seperate tub when she starts to realize I'm not the enemy. Any suggestions on this?

I think this is it for now. Oh, any my wife named her Clover. ..and I don't know why.


Thanks for reading.


Mike

[Mindibun]

That sounds just like my experience with my girl. She looked so menacing inside that little plastic cup like she could strike any minute. I was petrified to open it since I didnt know anything about her personality. -lol- She turned out to be a sweetheart though. I hope yours will too. You must have been doing a lot of research and planning if your first bp is a morph. Most people just start out with normals. Cant wait to see some pics!

All the best-

[dotc0m]

It's different for every snake. I know when I got my first snake which wasn't too long ago, I fell under the category of not being able to stay away from him. I moved him around from tank to tub and from tub to tub until he finally settled in. I managed to squeeze all those movings within the first two or three days of him staying with me, so I left the rest of the week so he could settle down in a VERY dark and quiet room (My brother's room LOL because he was away for 2 weeks) and when his next feeding schedule came, I threw in a live mouse, and he ate.

He's only had his second feeding with me which was yesterday so you can tell how long ago this really was. You're doing a great job, and just remember that every snake is different. The general rule is to leave the snake alone for 7-10 days but again, every snake is different.

[littleindiangirl]

"She got back under the paper on the UTH ..." Is the UTH IN the enclosure???? Thats a big no no, ESP if she peed on it. She could get electrocuted or burned if the UTH goes haywire... A pic would be great

[MikeC1212]

"She got back under the paper on the UTH ..." Is the UTH IN the enclosure???? Thats a big no no, ESP if she peed on it. She could get electrocuted or burned if the UTH goes haywire... A pic would be great

No no no. lol. I can see how it would seem that way by the way I wrote it though. The only equipment that's inside is the 2-in-1. That's velcroed to the back wall on the cool side. The probe goes out behind the 2-in-1 and comes back in on the warm side w/ the probe for the thermostat and they're both velcroed to the middle of the enclosure floor, where the UTH is sticking beneath.

I just meant she found the middle of the warmth and just stayed there.

[dr del]

Hi,


If you want to try feeding her make sure you have a cage,waterbowl,food etc on hand for the prey item if she doesn't eat. Or, if the prey item isn't old enough to live on it's own for an extended period, the means to either return it to the store or humanely euthanise it.

And if she doesn't eat leave her alone for another week then try again.

I would make sure to pre-scent the room though so that she knows food is a possibility and can get herself ready if she chooses to.

Don't be discouraged if she doesn't eat the fist time though.


dr del