Site Newb Here!!! Meet my new BP!!!

[SoCaliSon]

Hey Everyone!!! I am new to this site... I have two very happy Bearded Dragons (Mork and Mindy) and I am a 2 day old owner of a 2 year old Ball Python (Lucy).

It was awesome how it happened. I am constantly on Craigslist looking for Deals and stumbled upon an add for a "Free BP to good home" about 2 mins after it had been posted and called right away. After work I made the 45 min drive to go pick her up. They gave me the 60 gal tank she has lived in since they got her as a baby, and all of the supplies that went along with it. By far the coolest thing I have ever gotten for free.

I am totally in love with this snake. She is a little over 3 feet long and such a lover. They had said they didn't get a lot of time to handle her and they were a little nervous because she had lunged last time they tried to handle her. Well I took her out right when I got her home and she loved it. It almost looked like she wanted to be held. I fed her yesterday and she took mousey out real quick. They told me they were feeding her once every two weeks... but since I know she can get bigger and her tank has plenty of room for it... I'm going to start feeding her a bit more. I was going to go towards once a week... and then maybe a smaller one twice a week. Please tell me if that is not good. I have been doing a ton of research to ensure I can give her a healthy and happy home... There is a lot of good info on this site. But I am always looking for more.

Here are some pics of my buddies ... Hope you like...

[Nate]

welcome to the community! This is a great place to ask questions and get answers...and we hope you do. don't be shy

I feed all of mine on a weekly schedule. once every two weeks is not enough, in my opinion. I feed one small rat every week..

If you haven't already, please check out our Caresheet and then ask any questions you want!

[kc261]

Hi and welcome!

I have not yet had the experience of having a 2 yr old BP, but from what I've read, and just knowing how much my 6 month old BP eats, 1 mouse every 2 weeks is not really enough. She doesn't look terribly skinny in the pictures, so that's good.

Most people will recommend that you feed your BP one appropriately sized meal a week. If one mouse a week isn't enough, you can feed 2 mice in the same feeding, or you can try to switch to rats.

Her eyes look funny in the pictures, which might just be light reflecting, but I wonder if she has retained eye caps from previous sheds. Proper temps and humidity are going to be very hard to maintain in that big tank, so you might want to switch to something smaller.

Keep reading and ask any questions you have! The people on this forum love to help!

[JLC]

Hi and welcome to BP.net!

Lovely snake ya got there! Keeping her in a 60gal tank can be done, if you wish to...but it will take a lot of effort to get the environment up to par. In particular, it looks like she has had humidity issues for a long time. (Going by the look of her face and eye) You'll want to try and maintain an ambient humidity of around 50% in the tank and you may have to bump it up some during a shed cycle.

It's hard to tell from the picture, and as kc noted, it may just be a weird reflective thing...but it does look like she may have some retained shed and multiple retained eyecaps. A soak in a luke-warm bath would probably help a lot...and she may need a trip to a qualified herp vet to have her eyes checked out and for a general check-up anyhow.

By soaking in a "bath"...I mean a small, plastic tub with a couple of air holes punched in it and a lid you can put on it...put in just enough water to come about half-way up her sides...not enough so that she'd have to swim....and the water should be neither warm nor cool but feel rather neutral to your touch, or just barely warmish. Let her soak in that for about an hour...but you'll have to stay close and keep an eye on her. Never leave a soaking snake (or other animal) unattended.

The beardies are adorable!! Mork & Mindy!!! LOVE it!!! Cute kitty, too!

[SoCaliSon]

Thanks Guys! That is not a reflection... Her eyes do look a little odd compared to the other pics I have seen. When I started researching it became aparent to me that her humidity has not been kept up on at all in her previous home. In addition to her eyes she has a small dry spot on the top of her head. The top of the cage is has the two big screen sliding doors that I'm sure have been letting out her humidity her whole life. What I did was take the lid for her feeding bin and use it to cover one side of the top. But I doubt that is doing to much... This weekend I am going to invest in a quality digital Temp/ Hygro meter and I am going to make sure all of her levels are staying at what they should be. The only thing her previous owner was using was a 99 cent plastic stick on temp gauge. If anyone knows a good knowledgable reptile vet in the Southern California Ventura County area... I would love a reference. I am worried about her eyes now... This has prompted me to get her checked out ASAP. Thanks Again!

[Nate]

Here's a list of California reptile vets

http://arav.org/Members/CA.htm

[JLC]

Here are some links to help you find a vet!

http://www.arav.org/USMembers.htm
http://www.anapsid.org/vets/index.html#vetlist
http://www.herpvetconnection.com/

And personal recommendations from our own members:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=56792

[Wh00h0069]

[FL0OD]

[LadyOhh]

I am in your area somewhat. Shoot me a PM when you get a chance and we can discuss.

Welcome to the forum!