New owner, new member, and a few questions!

[Jebus11]

Hey, well about a week ago I finally decided to get a snake. I've always been fascinated with animals and reptiles are no exception.

I did do my research before purchasing, though I didn't quite research where to get a pet snake. A few times i was at Petco for other reasons, i saw a ball python they had... Thought, man I wish I could get that.... but at $80, I didn't quite have the funds.... Well, I got my taxs back, and had some money, and now the snake was half off!

Well, I got the snake, had a tank, bought a light, some crap tape thermometers(i have a different one i put in after reading about the tape ones) and figured i would use newspaper and make my own hides.

Thinking back now, at the pet store I got her from (they said they think it was a her), didnt really have a hide for her, just a water dish and a U shaped log upside down with big open ends... Also, during one visit I noticed shedding that didnt come off, at the time i thought nothing of it because i wasnt versed in the shedding process...

I went in figuring i could purchase F/T to feed her... The employee was telling me how she gets bitey when she is hungry... and then asks me if I could hold her (first time holding a snake in 6+ years, im 20) while she gets a box.. Im thinking, wait you just told me she needs to be fed, and that she gets bitey.. and you want me to hold her..

All in all, i was fine holding her and even if i did get bit i wouldnt drop her. I have pretty good will power. So yeah, she comes back and I asked, if they sold frozen mice here. She goes yeah, but she wont eat anything but live...

Now im thinking, crap.. i know im buying the snake, and I know its not recommended to feed live and I honestly dont think i could kill the mouse myself.... but okay, i come home with my white mouse and awesome snake.

I set up the cage, and made a gladware hidey and such, and put her in. She was curious of course but wouldnt hide in the hide! She would go in the corner behind it and such.

Well, I knew you were suppose to let the snake chill for a bit before you try to feed them, but i was curious as this snake was! So i put the petco box with the mouse inside (still closed) in the opposite end of the cage.

Now, let me tell you, I've been around pets my whole life, mainly dogs... but ive also watched plenty of animal planet and discovery channel. I love nature and animals and science....

So, my new snake decided to come out from her corner and started looking at the box like a fat kid looking at a pie cooling on the window sill, Now I could just tell, that this snake, wanted what was in that box, and it didnt care who was watching or where it was... My instincts told me this snake was hungry. So under close supervision i took the mouse out, let her see it, then set it down in the cage...

That mouse shouldnt have taken that second sniff of the snake.. I swear she was lightning fast..... I thought to my naive self, "How could a snake get hurt feeding live, that thing didnt stand a chance."

So, a little later, i made a hide out of the box i got the mouse in, because I heard that in the wild balls like to eat the rodent and live in its home for a bit. She now loves it, hides there pretty much all day...

So i knew for sure considering i was suppose to let her get used to her new place before feeding, that i should 100% give her a couple days before handling, considering she ate 20min after getting to her new home.

It was SO HARDDDDDDDD!!! To leave her alone for a few days..!! I was going nuts, but I finally was able to take her out, watched a movie with her while she curiously crawled through my hands trying to either get on my desk or on the back my chair, only stopping for short periods of time to regain some energy it seemed.

After those few times handling her, i feel like she is underweight. I can feel her spine and it feels like she has loose skin at times, like a fat person who lost weight quick ahah, i dunno. So I fed her again today... same way as before, showed her the mouse, dropped it in. under a minute and it was grabbed. Im thinking of feeding every 5 days to try and get her weight up. What are your suggestion? The employee said that had her for 6months, which is why she was on sale.... not sure how old she is, i forgot to ask .

Though in my short time owning my pet (6 days) Im already picking up cues that she is hungry. I took her out before feeding her to take some pictures.. and when she flicked her tongue, it stayed out longer, went out further, and flicked a bit slower... not like when shes just curiously crawling about. She started looking at my hand taking the pictures funny so i had to put her down and feed her, i didnt want to get bit....

Though the employee said she can get bitey, she has not once struck at me, and has been less shy since i've been handling her.

I also, saw the thread about if snakes can Love, now considering that thread is 50pages long, I didnt read it all, but im going to put my ideas on that here....

i read some of it, and people said that BP's just think of us as warm rocks.. Now that is obsurd to me.. I believe, these snakes can tell we are living for one.. not just rocks, and how many humans have the skin complexion of a rock? I feel like the people are arguing semantics.. linking definitions of Love, like really? We have a symbiotic relationship with these snakes, i feel they can identify us.. and they know we are a living animal.

The main thing is, I would much rather have the respect of an animal then have its love... Love can cloud ones judgment. And respect runs deeper than these new feelings us Humans share...

Anyways....

Main questions are, how should i deal with the underweight snake, or how can I tell if it is underweight? Is feeding every 5 days sound like a good meal plan to get her back to a healthy weight?

And just re-assure me its okay that she hides all day and night on the cool side.

Thanks for your time and in advance for the help!
Jerry

[Adam Chandler]

Just keep feeding it size appropriate prey items and your BP will be fine. I find every 5-7 days is a good feeding schedule for young snakes. What size mice are you feeding? I'm guessing for the age its at least hoppers, right?

For the hide I would recommend getting 2 identical hides, one for the warm side and one for the cool side, that way she will thermoregulate properly. If you have 2 different hides your BP will always spend its time in the one it feels most secure in and will not properly thermoregulate.

and people said that BP's just think of us as warm rocks

Nah I don't think BP's think we are warm rocks, they look at us and think we are animals going to eat them, which is why BP's bite defensively, BP's that don't bite defensively don't perceive us as threats, which is the best we can hope for.

Also, what are you using for heat? A under tank heater?

[Jebus11]

What size mice are you feeding? I'm guessing for the age its at least hoppers, right?

Nah I don't think BP's think we are warm rocks, they look at us and think we are animals going to eat them, which is why BP's bite defensively, BP's that don't bite defensively don't perceive us as threats, which is the best we can hope for.

Also, what are you using for heat? A under tank heater?

Im not sure what these mouse terms mean, they are small white albino mice, only cost 3$ at petco, they are a little bit smaller then the thick of her body, though. I was looking around and they dont really have a selection of rodents.. they kinda just go from small mice to like hamsters. I will check out other stores later for food selections.

Thanks for the tip on the hides, ill make the new mouse box from today into her second hide. she loves em.

And yeah, I agree with what you are saying, thats why i like to think of it more of a respect thing, and a symbiotic relationship, specifically mutualism where both organisms benefit.. because i do believe we gain some kind of peace of mind, or something from our animals. and of course they get fed.

Like that guy in Alaska who lives around all the bears.. if they didn't have respect for him, i don't know if they would let him stay... I was watching this episode where this bear pawed at his hand because he had something, without a thought he slapped the wild bear in the FACE!!!!!! Im sorry if that bear didnt have some kind of respect for him, as he did towards the bears... then things would have gone different. I could talk for hours about nature and animals....

Alas, bears =/= snakes, but you get my drift.

As for heating, I am using a 100-150w heat lamp, and for humidity i have a humidifier going in my room at all times. I do know that the warm side is warm enough, but i feel like the cool side gets too cold at night, i was going to get an under tank heater today!! Arg, i knew i forgot something!

[Adam Chandler]

For Mice sizes fuzzy mice are little fuzzy baby mice that crawl around. Hopper mice pretty much just hop around and after that is small mice. If its slightly small then her girth thats fine, you want to aim for a prey item the size of her thickest girth or slightly bigger.

As for heating, I am using a 100-150w heat lamp, and for humidity i have a humidifier going in my room at all times. I do know that the warm side is warm enough, but i feel like the cool side gets too cold at night, i was going to get an under tank heater today!! Arg, i knew i forgot something!

Yeah you can do with or without the heating lamp but the undertank heater is a must. BP's don't bask and don't need a lamp, even with a humidifier you may have humidity issues in the tank with a lamp, in the end you want it to stay at least 50% humidity, but they do need the belly heat from a undertank heater for proper digestion. The problem, however, with undertank heaters is they tend to get too hot, you need something to regulate the UTH, something like a thermostat or rheostat.
Also I would recommend getting a IR thermometer in order to keep track of the temps on the bottom of the tank (which are the temps that matter to BP's) something like http://tempgun.com/

[Swilz]

Just a word about the "warm rocks" and the bear story!

I've never found snakes to be particularly clever or warm, but in my experiance owning an iguana it was much different than any other reptile I've ever owned. She was clever, moody and fun. She was clever to the point that when she was hungry and wanted to be fed she would come over to me on the couch or where ever and lick the parts of my arm (which are fully tattooed with flowers and foliage) and lick the leaves of my arm, never a flower, always a leaves. And I would go get her some greens!

Maybe I read to much into things like that, but I thought little things like that from a reptile were pretty neat. She learned things so quickly, I absolutely loved her.

[Jebus11]

Yeah, i truly did mean to pick up a UTH while getting her dinner... and yeah, i felt that sticking the lamp ontop of the cage, so it blasts through the screen, created too much dry heat in the cage.. so its been facing the side of the tank and im looking into the tempgun, would be endless fun either way ;P checking everythings temp..

Swilz, yeah thats quite the smart iguana! Animals truly intrigue me, they can teach us a lot.

Well, I know how everyone just loves pictures! So.. here it goes!



^^ Food for two! She eats more healthy then I



^^ curled up in last week's dinner's house.



^^ Shows her head markings, I like the three spot design.



^^ some of her side markings



^^ this is the awesome figure eight, infinity sign, on her side...


Thanks for checking out my thread!

[dragonboy4578]

Very nice looking bp....

[PitOnTheProwl]

Good looking BP you got there. I know most of the pet stores around here, all of their balls are under weight.

[Skittles1101]

Hey welcome to the addiction! What size tank do you have? I have a 20 long gallon for my guy, and I use a (small 10-20 gallon) UTH, I also have day and night bulbs, but after getting be digital thermometer I realized the 100 watt day bulb is making my tank too hot! So the night bulb (and UTH) during the day keeps it high enough and then I just leave the UTH on at night. Using lights, you may have to mist a couple times a day. Congrats on your new addition, this forum is a plethera of knowledge!

[Dave763]

You remember What happened to Timothy Treadwell ? No respect.