First Time BP Owner! :)

[Chris Yi]

Hello everyone. First time BP owner, and glad to have stumbled upon this forum! I got my little guy off of craigs list from a kid who said he bought it from PetCo a month earlier. At the time, he said that the pet shop guy told him that the little guy was about 3-5 months old. I've heard all the warnings to stay away from main stream pet stores, etc, but it's really the only information I have to go off of.

Anyway, I was just wondering how much/often I should be feeding him about now. He's about 1.5 - 2 feet long, but not very think girth-wise. The kid said he was feeding him 2 mice, twice a week, but recently went to 3 in one sitting. That sounds a bit much and I'm thinking I should be doing a small rat every 10 days or so.

It seems that the rule of thumb is to feed him something slightly larger than the girth on the thickest part of his body, which is why I'm thinking 1 small rat, but I havent actually seen a small feeder rat before so I'm not too certain yet. I think the adult mouse is just about the size of the girth of his body.

Also, I have the reptitherm UTH unit without a thermostat for now (arriving Tuesday from Amazon prime). Is it safe to let it run 24/7 without a thermostat for a few days? I've heard a few horror stories so I'm a bit concerned. Also, my thermometer and the thing that gauges the humidity is coming in on Tuesday too.

One last question! I only have a somewhat "too large" hide for him right now, and it's over the heating pad. I've learned that 2 hides, one on each side of the temp gradient, is ideal, but for the time being, should I generally keep it over the UTH or the opposite?

Basically all my stuff is coming in on Tuesday, so I need to hold the little guy over for a few days with what I have. A tiny UTH, basking light, large hide, large water bowl, and a little log for him to slither around. 20 GAL tank, aspen bedding (planning on switching to indented kraft). Mmm.. and that's about it. I'm in Los Angeles, and it's been about 87-90 all day today in my room... or so says the dinky PetCo thermometer in the tank. I havent turned any of his heating sources throughout today, but it's getting a bit cooler now so I just switched on the UTH.

Whoops that came out a lot longer than I intended! I would appreciate any feedback or tips. Thanks!

[martin82531]

Me personally I would unplug your UTH until you have thermostat to regulate it, the snake has a higher chance of being harmed with it plugged in unregulated.

You want to get your ball two identical hides, one for the cool and one for the warm side. I personally use these http://www.reptilebasics.com/hide-boxes

As for as feeding, I would also pick up a kitchen scale, you want to feed you ball 10%-15% of you balls weight. This is the scale I use to weigh my ball and its food. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o05_s00_i00

Also check out these this thread if you haven't already, http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet

[Skittles1101]

You could always run to home depot or any other hardware store a buy a $10 plug in lamp dimmer for the UTH temporarily sounds like he's in good hands with you, good luck and welcome to the forum!

[Skittles1101]

As for the hides, if they're too big you can turn anything into a hide! For my little guys I get small plastic bowls from the dollar store and cut a hole in them for a "door". And as for the feeding, it sounds like he could take either an adult mouse or a weaned rat, I'd offer every 7 days or so

[martin82531]

You could always run to home depot or any other hardware store a buy a $10 plug in lamp dimmer for the UTH temporarily sounds like he's in good hands with you, good luck and welcome to the forum!

This would be a good idea as well, you just need something to measure the surface temps above your UTH. I use these from walmart http://www.walmart.com/ip/Acu-Rite-I...mometer/896347

[satomi325]

Congrats on the new snake!


You can stuff your large hide with newspaper or paper towel to make it feel more snug and secure for your snake. Like Lgray, I also use dollar store bowl hides. They work great.

I would get a temporary lamp dimmer/rheostat to regulate that UTH.
If you can't do that, then don't use the UTH. It's better for the snake to be a little cool, than burn on an unregulated UTH. You can get a cheap thermometer to measure your temps and humidity from Walmart for $12. It's an indoor/outdoor thermometer with a probe.

I offer hatchlings food every 4 days then bump up their feeding schedule to 7 days once they reach 500 grams. But these are intended/current breeders.

Growing snakes need food more often than adults. If the snake is strictly a pet, I would feed him every 7 days then bump him to a 10 day schedule once he's older (yearling perhaps).

[shelby9189]

good luck with the new snake. I hope everything works out for you. word of advice I would listen to the people on here before listening to the ones at the pet store that is my case anyways didnt find this fourm till after i lost my lil guy i got from petsmart.. they told me all wrong. I wish you the best of luck. alot of people on here know there snakes

[Chris Yi]

Thanks everyone for your feed back! I've turned off the UTH, and placed the heating lamp over the hide for now. It seems like a standard heating lamp wouldn't have the risk of overheating as much as the UTH and it should be safe... right?

The $12 thermometer is exactly the one I've ordered already. Since it measures humidity and TWO differrent temps, it really does seem like the perfect one!

Stuffing the oversized hide is a great idea! I'm also going to pick up a few of those dollar bowls so I can at least have one on the non heated side until my "asthetically" pleasing one comes in.

Thanks again everyone!

[martin82531]

Thanks everyone for your feed back! I've turned off the UTH, and placed the heating lamp over the hide for now. It seems like a standard heating lamp wouldn't have the risk of overheating as much as the UTH and it should be safe... right?

Just make sure the bulb is a few inches away from the lid, the ball can also get burned from the heat lamp as well.

[Chris Yi]

Oh yeah, and regarding heating units... is it necessary to have a lamp and a UTH running simultaneously to heat both the floor of the tank and the air in the tank? If so... both would be on one side?I'm thinking you'd do that, place the dandy $12 walmart's thermometer's probe on the floor of the tank, and the place the thermometer itself above it, and make sure that the temps are identical. Thanks!

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Just make sure the bulb is a few inches away from the lid, the ball can also get burned from the heat lamp as well.

Gotcha! The lamp is about 3/4 the size of the hide, and directly above it. I think he's pretty safe from being too close/exposed directly to the lamp, since the bulb is just beaming down on the top/middle of the hide. Unless it's not a good idea to have the lamp directly over a hide... It's one of those tree bark halves so it doesnt seem like it has any risk of melting or anything.

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good luck with the new snake. I hope everything works out for you. word of advice I would listen to the people on here before listening to the ones at the pet store that is my case anyways didnt find this fourm till after i lost my lil guy i got from petsmart.. they told me all wrong. I wish you the best of luck. alot of people on here know there snakes

Thank you! I actually read your thread too, and just wanted to say good luck with your new ball too. I'm sure you'll have a much better experience, like you said, esp with all the good advice around here. Are you planning on feeding in a separate tank? And what kind of substrate are you planning on using?