Stupid Question

[Xan Powers]

I'm just guessing on the pine substrate, I'm not entirely sure that's what it is cause like I said, the store owner put brand new substrate in the tank when I bought it. He had this stuff in quite a few of the tanks in the store though, even with his 16 year old, 13' long boa (I think it was a boa I can't remember now) that was in the doorway to the reptile room.

He gave me two small rats to feed her and told me she had eaten last Wednesday. I guess I will just wait and feed her on Wednesday and try and stick to what she's already use to. I didn't realize how big she actually was hahaha, she looks huge to me in those pictures with the dollar !!

Thanks for all your comments and help!!

no problem, if you start having humidity problems/bad sheds I'd go to Aspen or coco husk. also verify with the store owner what substrate he uses and go from there


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[Carlene16]

She is pretty good sized I think she could handle small to medium rats.

I agree, she looks to be of a pretty good size. Try out small rats first, and see how that goes. You should also try to feed her once a week, that should put a bit more weight on her.

She looks very beautiful!

I would also say try to find a new bedding, or just use paper towels. I think if you use paper towels you will definitely need a thermostat as the UTH could cause a burn with the substrate being so thin. They tend to get very hot! I measured mine without a Tstat one day and it was 114 degrees! So a thermostat is a necessity!

This is the bedding I use for ball python rack...

http://www.petco.com/product/10791/C...1#BVRRWidgetID

It holds humidity well and is white! So it's very easy to spot clean as you just have to look for anything that's not white.

[tequilasunrize03]

When I do feed her is it better to move her to a different place like a tub and then put her back in her normal tank after she's finished? Or if you do this do you leave them in the tub where they ate for a few days before you move them back?
I really don't want her to start striking at my hand when I reach into her tank because she thinks I'm going to feed her there...

[Carlene16]

Hmm... well I've done it a couple different ways.
When I just had glass tanks I had problems feeding in the tank. When I would thaw the mice/rats, they would be a little wet and when I put them in the tanks the substrate would get stuck on them! That scared me enough, I didn't want my snakes to swallow the substrate along with the mouse/rat.

Then I switched to moving the snakes to a separate feeding tub. This became a problem too because they got so used to this that I had a couple that would strike at anything that moved. Also a problem because moving them back afterwords was a pain. I was just not comfortable moving the snake back into the tank once it had a full meal in it's belly.

So now what I do is thaw my mice/rats, make sure they are completely dry, which can take a good amount of paper towel. Then I feel comfortable letting the mice/rats touch the bedding. No bedding sticks! It's been working for me ever since.

[Xan Powers]

When I do feed her is it better to move her to a different place like a tub and then put her back in her normal tank after she's finished? Or if you do this do you leave them in the tub where they ate for a few days before you move them back?
I really don't want her to start striking at my hand when I reach into her tank because she thinks I'm going to feed her there...

as the user above me has already stated it's a pain trying to move them after they eat. hatchlings arent so bad but when you're trying to move a fully grown adult that just ate a medium rat but could definitely eat another if she wanted to she will most certainly be in strike mode for awhile. point is, I've used both ways and I feed out of the normal enclosure since about 3 years ago, saves time and you don't have to worry about trying to put them back in. they shouldn't confuse you with food when you reach in to grab them, just make sure you wait a day or two after feeding to get them out. some people will say less some will say more but in my experience a day or two is plenty. also remember if there is any blood/other excrements from the rat in the tank after feeding it's probably best to change it after that one to two day period.

hope this helps


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[Bellabob]

When I first got my BP, the first day I got her, I would take her out of her cage and hold her constantly. I know I shouldn;t have done this, but she didn't seem to care. She has never once missed a feeding ever since I got her about 2 years ago. NOT ONCE. That snake could easily get down a small or medium rat. You sound like your doing fine with he snake.

[rdoyle]

Just put the f/t mouse on like a paper towl of a paper plate something like.

[tequilasunrize03]

I'm definitely going to get a different substrate. Last night she decide she was gonna get completely inside that rock at all costs, so she flipped it upside down and now it's laying against the glass and she's underneath of it, hahaha!

[Xan Powers]

I'm definitely going to get a different substrate. Last night she decide she was gonna get completely inside that rock at all costs, so she flipped it upside down and now it's laying against the glass and she's underneath of it, hahaha!

hahaha yeah my female used to flip her log too.


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