Newbie with a BP

[OldHippie]

I'm certain I've done some of it wrong, but things seem to be going OK so far. I've been interested in snakes for a very long time, but for one reason or another never adopted one. Recently, I was at a PetSmart to buy fish for my daughter and noticed two ball pythons in a display.

I probably get some points for this one: I went home and did a lot of online research. I saw a lot of data, some with indicia of trustworthiness (I was particularly attentive to the thoughts of the primary reptile curator at a zoo), others purely opinion and everything in between. After reading and reading, I decided I was ready for a ball python.

I located a 29H fish tank on Craigslist that already had a metal mesh lid, two thermometers and a hygrometer. I got it for less than the cost of the instruments. Then I made a trip to the local department store for items like clamp lamps and flower pots to use as hides - a lot cheaper than the pet store. But PetSmart got to sell me a UTH, light timer and heat bulb.

I took everything home and put together an enclosure. I wanted to see how the temperatures and humidity would work out. (These snakes had been at PetSmart for a while, no one was going to come in and close them out.) Finally, I felt I was ready to bring home a ball python.

When I went to PetSmart to make a purchase, I'd already been there and had handled their snakes. I'd also had a nice chat with a gentleman who worked there who had ball pythons of his own - this had a positive impression. When I was ready to buy, I handled both snakes and chose the one who seemed most comfortable with the exercise. I paid the bill, and now owned a ball python.

Based on everything I'd read, I wasn't expecting a lot of interaction for a while. However, when I put Escher in his new home, he spent some time exploring it. Originally, I had one small clay flower pot as a hide, propped up against a flower pot base that served as a water dish. Escher seemed happy with this arrangement, and eventually found his way under the flower pot. It's on the cool side of the enclosure (between 75 and 80 degrees, depending on the time of day), and it seems to be his favorite even though I added another on the warm side (95-90 during the day). I also added another water dish, which I've seen him use. The current lighting is a 75w heat lamp on a dimmer (which is nearly all the way up), plus a halogen office lamp to provide additional light; the halogen stays on a bit longer than the heat lamp, to provide morning/evening dynamics. Escher seems most active (at least to my eyes, since I don't see him at night) during the 'morning' and 'evening' parts of the light cycle.

I've handled him a few times, trying not to overdo it but also wanting him to become accustomed to the practice. In every case, when I grasp him gently about a third of the way back on his body, he begins to 'ball up' but doesn't go into a tight wrap. As I stroke his body, he loosens up, and eventually usually relaxes most of his body. Most recently, as I held him, his body was completely relaxed and extended, and he rested his head and neck in my palm, gently flicking me with his tongue occasionally. I would like to think I've met with approval.

I'm following all the advice on not being stressed about feeding. The pet store advised me (and showed me their records) that their balls were feeding about once every two weeks. This seems less frequent than it should be for snakes of this age, but on the other hand there were two of them in a small enclosure. I purchased pinkies from The Mouse Factory, which arrived in excellent condition. I still haven't achieved feeding, but this morning was encouraging - and embarrassing. I defrosted the mouse in cold water, placed it in hot water for a few minutes to get the temp up, grabbed its tail with a hemostat and went to work. I dragged the mouse by the hide (where Escher was curled up), and he came right out after it, tongue flicking. As I held the hemostat, the snake struck at the mouse. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite prepared for that, and I jerked my hand back (despite the fact I was perfectly safe on the other end of a hemostat). Worse, I wear a heavy class ring on that hand, and it banged against the glass....

But I am consoling myself that this is all new to me, and I've learned the 'magic' formula for engaging Escher with food. I plan to try again tomorrow evening, after removing my class ring. I'm also encouraged by the fact that he seems so active and healthy and, although I'm sure he's hungry, he's doing fine.

Thus far. I'm concerned about disturbing his day/night cycle because he is in my home office; I usually work late there, but I've been avoiding turning on the lights for now. (I'm writing this on a laptop on the dining room table.) I think I'll get a blue moonlight bulb, as well as a dimmer for my office lighting. I'm a bit concerned about temperatures this winter, but my office also contains my main workstation (a quad-core AMD with a terabyte of storage), which pumps out a fair amount of heat (and makes me uncomfortable in the summer for that reason!). I'm moving another computer in, a VAX 4000-300, which can generate a fair amount of heat in its own right. If needed, I may do another UTH, but for now my temperatures seem within suggested norms and my snake appears OK with it (spending most of his time on the 'cool' side).

One funny thing he did, and I'll give it a rest: I was watching him in the morning and he headed for the water dish on the warm side. He drank from it, his small tongue flicking into the water, and it appeared he might crawl in for a bath. Instead, Escher extended his head over the water, lightly dipping his belly in the liquid as he stretched across the dish. His head reached the far side, and the remainder of his body flowed across the dish. As his tail started to cross the edge, I was sure it would plop into the water - but no, he held it up, again gently touching the water's surface, as he completed the crossing. What a graceful animal!

I'm looking forward to learning from all of you as my new friend settles into his home. Cheers....

[phrack3r]

whats the size of the snake cause i think a 29 gallon is too large for a baby, i learned that and got him a 10 gallon which cost about 30 or 40$ at petsmart. next is id never use pinky mice for a ball even newborns can eat hoppers, the reason why not pinkies is thats there is no nutirtional benefit to them due to the fact they are made up of mostly water and no fat or anything beneificial for the snake. you can order small mice most likely and your snake will eat it and start growing really fast. also theres really no need for the heatlamp unless your not getting the temps you need at the hot spot, the only benefit other than that is to show when its day or night for the snake unless there is fairly lit windows in the room that will do the same but seeing as you have a halogen light that does the trick also. last is what kind of thermometers and hydrometers are you using, if its one of the ones thats i dail and a needle they will go bad shortly or ineffective cause they are that accurate unless they already went bad, id suggest going to walmart for $12 you can get a digital one which will do all your needs and most likely wont break on you. but congrats on your new ball python and welcome to the club.

[dr del]

to the site,

I would probably try a mouse hopper rather than the pinky as suggested - you will be amazed watching these guys eat.

Have a look at our caresheet and see if anything pops out you want to ask questions about.

The main suggestions I can think of is the addition of a thermostat rather than a dimmer to keep things a little more even and I would discontinue the night time temp drops as they are really only used for bringing them into breeding condition.

I would also try and keep the cool end around 80-83 if you can and add a second hide on the warm end. They really will choose security over temperatures so a second identical hide lets them have the best of both worlds.

I wouldn't bother too much about light cycles as most people find the ambient light in the room to be enough but a moonglow or similar for nightime viewing is a handy addition.

Oh and make sure the tank is escape proof - these guys leave houdini in the dust.


dr del

[python.princess]

welcome to the club!

[STORMS]

You'll be buying your second BP soon They are addictive little critters

[OldHippie]

He struck and bit!

I admit, I've started to get a bit stressed about getting Escher to eat. As I said in my first post, I got him to strike once, but I jumped and jerked, and that was the end of his interest. I've tried a couple of times since, leaving at least 36 hours between attempts. One try was to put the mouse in his 'other' hide - he prefers the one on the cool side. He did a beeline for the warm-side hide and went it - but the next morning I found the mouse outside the hide. <sigh>

I also tried, just today, placing him in a small dark container (in fact, the box in which he came home) with a prepared mouse. I left for a couple of hours, came back - and the snake and mouse were still in the box. I took him from the box, handled him briefly and placed him back in his enclosure. Then, not really expecting much but feeling the need to try, I took the mouse in a hemostat and offered it.

I learned something from a video that's on one of the stickies: I presented the mouse by holding its body rather than its tail. This allowed me to orient the mouse as though it was 'facing' the snake. I moved it about, sliding it on the substrate (newspaper), thinking the aural stimulus might help as much as the possible scent from rubbing. I moved it back and forth, from side to side in front of his head, and the side to side seemed to get the most reaction. All this was a couple of inches in front of him.

After a bit, seeing his tongue going but no other reaction, I started moving the mouse further away, still moving it from side to side and sliding it along the substrate. Suddenly, I saw his body go into the striking position. I steeled myself for the strike so I wouldn't jerk away again, and kept moving the mouse. Suddenly, it happened! It was almost too fast to see, but there he was with the mouse in his mouth. I quickly but carefully (and as quietly as possible) closed the top of the enclosure, turned off the room light and left.

OK, for those of you who've owned snakes forever, this is boring as all get out. But I'm thrilled that it looks like he's going to eat. According to the pet store's records, we're nearly at four weeks since he last ate. That video was helpful, but it showed mature BPs. I'm learning to feed a young snake in a new home, and I hope my account will help other newbies who are fretting, "How do I get him/her to eat?" No, I don't have the answer - just my own newbie experience to share.

[dr del]

Hi,

It's always nice to hear a feeding sucess story.

For future reference we actually recomend leaving them alone for a week between feeding attempts for them to settle in and feel more secure.

As you found out these can be quite shy, timid little snakes at first but once you get them settled they are cool as mince.


dr del

[snakecharmer3638]

That's great! Now wait five days "Rinse and Repeat".

[Oroborous]

Congrats on your new BP. A great beginers snake. It's great that you researched everything instead of buying the snake on impulse like most do. As said before you could probably start him on f/t hoppers and or small adult mice. A 29 gallon may be too big. But as long as there's plenty of cover, hide spots, and a large water dish that's easy to find for the little guy, I don't think you should have any problems. Good luck with him, you've got a scaley companion that could last many decades.

[OldHippie]

I really appreciate all the feedback I've received. Yes, I have two hides for him in his 29 gallon tank. He favors the cool-side hide, but I also seem him exploring the enclosure nearly every day. I also have two water dishes for him. One of his hides is propped up on one of the dishes, and the other hide and dish are each free-standing.

I've gotten him to feed twice now. Lots of folks have said that pinks are too small for him, and I will be ordering some larger mice this week. In the interim, I figured that a five-day interval was reasonable: I fed him last Tuesday for the first time, and again today. After the first time, he and I are both getting better at this.

I also cleaned his enclosure this morning, removing him to a small dark enclosure (the box in which he came home) while I did a thorough job on his digs. He's obviously excreting, which is goodness. It's interesting that he really favors his cool-side hide, but I have seen him in the hot-side hide a couple of times, as well as exploring. He tries to climb the side of the enclosure, but eventually falls off. I'm thinking nylon straps securing the metal mesh top before he gets much bigger. (Right now I have a 4x4 across the top.)

I wasn't sure he'd eat after this morning's experiences, but after about five or ten minutes of presentation this evening, he nailed that mouse.

I'm so relieved that I'm seeing what seem to be normal and appropriate behaviors. I feel at least minimally competent as a snake dad.