Just a few questions..

[Leah]

Soo.. Just a few questions on several things. Thanks in advance

1) I posted a thread a few days ago about a bad shed and what to do. I tried the whole soaking my BP in water and so on. She still has patches on her head (one over her eye) and on her belly right beneath her head.. So, do I try the whole soaking thing again? I know the eye caps you should just let them come off on their own on the next shed, but it's almost all of her head.

2) Because I'm still trying to get these patchy spots off of her, do I keep my humidity high? I've been keeping it around 75-80%. Is that too high?

3) Is there anyway of guessing a BP's age by just looking at her? I know weighing her would probably be a good help with determining an age, but I don't own a scale. I got her from the place I work (PetSmart. I know, I know.. Pet store pets = bad. Buuut I think even they deserve a good home), so I really don't know how old she is. I know she's still young, because she's small. I got her about a month ago.

4) How quickly do they grow? I mean, I'm not expecting to wake up one day and BAM! There's a huge snake. I'm just curious on how long it takes the to reach max. length/weight.

5) How do you know when to upgrade them to the next size f/t? Right now, she's been eating two pinkies once a week (Well, last week she would only eat one, but I just fed her and she definitely wanted two). When do I start feeding her fuzzies? And do I keep feeding her two, or just one?


Well, that's all for now. I appreciate the responses!

[Royalherper]

Have you tried peeling the old skin off after soaking her in a luke warm tub of water for about 20 - 30 minutes? Remember to peel it towards the tail. I've removed old eyecaps myself on occasion but I don't recommend doing it if your not experienced at doing so. The chances of them getting the remainder of their skin off by themselves is pretty slim. You might as well get the humidity back to normal. As far as guessing their age, good luck. Its too hard to get an accurate guess on it. Their rate of growth depends alot on how much and often you feed them. They grow the most their first 3 or 4 years, but snakes never stop growing. They just slow the rate of growth. My oldest male is 5' and my oldest female is 5 1/2 '. They are both 13 yrs old. If your snake is small it was probably hatch this spring or last. As far as prey size, I try to feed them a rat that is the size of the snakes midsection or a little smaller.

[JLC]

1) I posted a thread a few days ago about a bad shed and what to do. I tried the whole soaking my BP in water and so on. She still has patches on her head (one over her eye) and on her belly right beneath her head.. So, do I try the whole soaking thing again? I know the eye caps you should just let them come off on their own on the next shed, but it's almost all of her head.

You can soak once a day until the stuck shed comes off. Also, after a soak, try holding a warm, wet (wrung out) towel on your lap with the snake and let the snake slither through the towel while you are holding it. That will likely help rub most of the stuck stuff off, if not all of it.

And so long as the stuck shed isn't fully encircling the snake's body...if there's little bits left over that just won't come off...it'll be ok to leave them until the next shed.

2) Because I'm still trying to get these patchy spots off of her, do I keep my humidity high? I've been keeping it around 75-80%. Is that too high?

High humidity for a few days won't hurt anything, but if you can keep it in the 50%-60% range all the time, that'll be perfect for your snake, in shed or out.


3) Is there anyway of guessing a BP's age by just looking at her? I know weighing her would probably be a good help with determining an age, but I don't own a scale. I got her from the place I work (PetSmart. I know, I know.. Pet store pets = bad. Buuut I think even they deserve a good home), so I really don't know how old she is. I know she's still young, because she's small. I got her about a month ago.

With ball python ages, all you really need to know is what year they were hatched. If she's still a little baby, then you know she's an '07. (As are 99% of all PetSmart ball pythons) That's about as close as you'll ever know. Knowing her weight wouldn't narrow it down any.

4) How quickly do they grow? I mean, I'm not expecting to wake up one day and BAM! There's a huge snake. I'm just curious on how long it takes the to reach max. length/weight.

It really depends on the individual snake. Some never miss a meal...and some are picky eaters. Some grow fast regardless, and some grow slow. My own female BP is 2 years old and is just now hitting a solid 1000g of weight....which is about 1/2 to 1/3 of what I expect her fully mature weight to be. They just grow at their own pace....and probably never as fast as we want.


5) How do you know when to upgrade them to the next size f/t? Right now, she's been eating two pinkies once a week (Well, last week she would only eat one, but I just fed her and she definitely wanted two). When do I start feeding her fuzzies? And do I keep feeding her two, or just one?

What sort of pinkies are you feeding?? Rats or mice? Mice pinks would be WAY too small for her...she should be eating one small mouse each week, or one rat pup.

Hope this has helped some!

[Leah]

Thanks for the quick replies

I've been feeding her ArticMice pinkies, so common sense says that they are mice? When I got her, I was told that they were feeding her 2 pinkies on Monday and then 2 pinkies again on Friday each week. When I tried feeding her on that schedule, she wouldn't eat that much.. So I dropped it down to just 2 pinkies on Friday. So am I underfeeding her? Should I be feeding her fuzzies or a small mouse? I just ran out of my container of pinkies, so I'll buy whatever y'all recommend next.

[JLC]

I can't say exactly what you should be feeding her since I've never seen her. However, I know that even newly hatched ball pythons can take fuzzy or little hopper mice.


Don't go by the size of her head when trying to choose her prey...go by the size of the thickest part of her body. You want to choose a prey item that is as thick at its widest point as she is...or a little bit smaller. Feeding every seven days is best.