Need help with my Bp

[z00ted]

I got a ball python from a friend a while back because he was mistreating it (having parties and people spilling beer in its tank, people being mean and burning it with cigarettes, not the proper lighting, etc...) I have fallen in love with this snake, except for the fact that sometimes its very jumpy and I know I need to handle it more often than I do (which I plan on this summer bonding with bella a lot)



So I have a few questions

1. I have seen videos of ball pythons on the web and i've seen how big some of the heads have gotten, my snakes body is pretty big except the head seems to stay the same size, when can I see some growth out of its head.

2. Can anyone tell me how old this snake is just by the look?

http://www.picsend.net/images/148523SNAKEY.JPG


That picture was taken about 2 months ago give or take.


The guy I got bella from never told me how old she was, im assuming she is still pretty young.


3. Tonight I fed bella her first rat, she killed it with ease (live prey) but had a little problem with finding where to start eating it maybe because its a new thing. But she did eat the rat, it was not a huge rat, but bigger than the mouses she was getting. Judging by that picture I posted do you think its fine to feed bella rats from now on?



If anyone could answer these questions for me that would be great, Thank you and have a good one.

[blackcrystal22]

Your girl there looks a bit skinny, but the head is in proper proportion. Nothing wrong there or anything, not sure what you mean about their head getting bigger, generally the heads don't grow a whole lot, but they stay proportionate.

Feed food items that are approximately the same width as the thickest point on her body. Or (if you have a gram scale) 10-15% of her body weight (multiply her weight by .15). And I would feed that every 5-7 days.
It may potentially be easier to feed and size prey items for your ball python if you switch to f/t and thaw out the rats once a week, if she'll eat them alright.

I see aspen in there which is good, but I'm pretty sure I have that same water bowl, and that bowl is HUGE. What size cage is your girl in?

Also, ball pythons don't need any proper lighting, they just need a good stable heat source (preferably belly heat from an Under Tank Heater (UTH)). Generally heat lamps will dry out the environment and cause bad sheds because the humidity is too low.

I would get some good tight hides in there (no log hides) and some probe thermometers and digital hygrometers.

Since you seem a little new at this, I'm giving you a bit of extended advice. Hope it helps!

[z00ted]

Its a 40 gallon aquarium, she has tons of room, and ive also got a nice big piece of drift wood so she can use it to help her shed, and shes got a hole in the driftwood to hide out at. For my heat source I've got a red heatlamp the temp usually stays around 80 degrees in the tank, and yeah the water bowl is huge she enjoys it since shes always in it. She has gotten bigger since that last picture, when I get a camera I'll upload some pictures of her now. And yeah the rat I fed her tonight was a little smaller than the thickest part of her body, I was just worried that her head/neck is smaller she wouldn't be able to swallow it, but she did. Judging by that picture I showed you would you be able to make a guess on her age? I don't have the slightest clue on it. Thanks for the fast reply

[DJ_Bizarre]

it is tough to gauge age because there are many instances in which some snakes dont grow very quickly because of poor husbandry. I would say your best bet is to ask your friend if he got the snake when it was a baby and try and then try and figure out from there how old the snake is. Another thing that would help in aiding the people on this forum to give you an answer would be to put something of everyday use(such as a dollar bill) next to the snake curled up and/or outstretched for size comparison.

[z00ted]

Yeah, the only comparison I can give you right now without a camera is when I stretch my arm out fully, she is about from the tip of middle finger almost to my shoulder.

[Kaorte]

From the looks of the picture she looks pretty small. She also looks very skinny.

It sounds like you may have to do a little bit in terms of husbandry. Have you read the care sheet on this site? http://ball-pythons.net/modules/Sect...warticle&id=59 It has a ton of useful information that may help you to realize what is good and what needs some work in your setup.

If the snakes only place to hide is under a piece of wood then something is wrong. She needs at least two identical tight fitting hides. I use plastic cereal bowls from the dollar store with a hole cut in the side for an entrance.

A 40g is pretty big for a ball python. I would only put a very large female (over 2,000g) in a 40g. Your snake looks to be quite a lot smaller then 2,000g.

If you can, I would think about switching her to a 20g long, or if you are willing, a plastic tub setup. There are a lot of great things about tubs for ball pythons. They hold humidity very well (no need for misting), they hold temps much better then glass, they are easy to clean (no hauling glass cages around the house), and they are very very inexpensive to setup.

here are a couple of DIYs for setting up tubs:
http://ball-pythons.net/modules/Sect...warticle&id=40
http://bp.kaorte.com/tubsetup.htm


Good luck with her! Thank you for taking care of her

[mommanessy247]

aw poor snake. your so good for taking her in. if someone did all that to me i'd be jumpy too...i've seen on here that with plenty of handling they calm down quite a bit, but considering she was abused it may take some more patience on your part. keep up the good work & good luck with her.

[BPelizabeth]

ugh..........I hate hearing stuff like this. Makes me want to.......well I clearly cant say that but you get the picture!!

Kaorte gave you some great advice as always!! She knows her stuff and is a stickler for details. As the others have stated she looks malnurished. They get that triangle affect when underfed. Just go slow with her and she will end up being a great snake. Remember not to try to overdo the feeding at first. I tend to go with the widest part of the snakes body to judge size...you may want to go a bit smaller at first. Get her on a 5-7 day feeding rotation and take a look at that care sheet...there is great info on there.

Good on you for saving this little one!!

[Adam Chandler]

Kaorte's input pretty much covers it. Just remember ball pythons are not all about having alot of space, it can stress them out. If you decide to keep the 40 gallon at least get a few more hides for you BP, Some under the light on the warm side and some on the cool side. Even if it seems crowded in there you BP will be happier being able to change hides if he wants to be warmer/cooler.
You could lose the light all together if you want also, they don't need any special light and it really does make it harder to keep it humid in the tank. A under tank heater is all you really need, you just some way to control the output of the heater so its not going full blast all the time.

[blackcrystal22]

Its a 40 gallon aquarium, she has tons of room, and ive also got a nice big piece of drift wood so she can use it to help her shed, and shes got a hole in the driftwood to hide out at. For my heat source I've got a red heatlamp the temp usually stays around 80 degrees in the tank, and yeah the water bowl is huge she enjoys it since shes always in it. She has gotten bigger since that last picture, when I get a camera I'll upload some pictures of her now. And yeah the rat I fed her tonight was a little smaller than the thickest part of her body, I was just worried that her head/neck is smaller she wouldn't be able to swallow it, but she did. Judging by that picture I showed you would you be able to make a guess on her age? I don't have the slightest clue on it. Thanks for the fast reply

Just remember, in this case the cage size is likely stressing her out and 'tons of room' isn't a good thing! Ball pythons like minimal room with tight spaces they can squeeze into and feel secure.
Also, soaking is usually a sign of stress (a method of security to feel water on all sides) or a sign of a mite infestation. Soaking isn't a good thing in most cases, and big water bowls aren't needed.

It's hard to tell age because she could have been fed small amounts for years and is extremely underweight and under-grown. Don't worry about neck size, it stretches. It might help with something for a comparison in the picture though.
Kaorte probably covered everything already. I'm tired, forgive me if I'm repeating things.

Driftwood isn't enough of a hide. She's going to need some good tight hides that she can emerge her entire body into (but have little to no space left over inside) which probably explains why she's in the water bowl sometimes.
You'll need a proper thermogradient, you need a warmside of 90-95F and a coolside of 80-85F. That warmside is very important to achieve for digestion and health.

Good luck!