Rescued a BP.. omg poor thing!! :(

[New guy]

You didn't pick him up in Portland Oregon did you?

[MissStress]

Nope, in Canada

[New guy]

Ok thought u saved the one I saw on Craigslist sounded very similar. If I had room I'd take him

[angllady2]

If you insist on gloves, try to find some really thin, light cotton gardening gloves. Those will allow you to handle him without too much discomfort.

I can tell you, if you've never been bitten, it IS a shock. It's kind of an "OMG he just BIT me!!!" Then you look down at your hand/finger/arm, and you go "I THINK he bit me? Didn't he? He struck at me I'm pretty sure." Then if you are really lucky, you will find a microscopic pinprick of blood, and then you go "He DID bite me! So..... what on earth was I so worried about?" Then you laugh.

I had a nice sized female pastel bite me at a reptile show. She was cranky and in blue, so she couldn't see real well. I knew she struck at me, but I wasn't worried about it. Almost 30 minutes later, I go to scratch myself with the hand she struck at, and I notice a little smear of red on my palm. I looked at it and looked at it, finally I rubbed it with my finger and realized it was blood. She'd bitten me and I never felt a thing.

The best of them is when the tiny little babies, no bigger than a magic marker, try to re-arrange your hand/face. They think they are robot guard dogs or something, just snap,snap,snap,snap. It's so hilarious because they think they are all big and bad, and if one actually connects, it feels kind of like running your finger over a burr.

The only one of mine I ever worry about biting me is my 6' long 3600 gram female. She's powerful enough to nearly dislocate my shoulder when she strikes her rat, and if she ever did get me I would know I'd been got. Of course, she's the sweetest of my collection, and I think the only way she'd ever bite me is if I wasn't fast enough with dinner for her!

Truthfully now, the worst part about a ball python bite is the strike. They are so darn fast, they'll make you jump a mile even when you know it's not going to hurt. Once you get past the knee-jerk reaction, a bite is really no big deal. Even the ones I've seen from people who got bitten and then wrapped, I've seen kittens do a LOT more damage. I think the only really bad ball python bite I've ever seen was some moron who was laying on the floor with his friends ball out, and he kept agitating her. Then he did the really dumb thing of letting a cranky snake get up next to his face. He got it in the eye. It bruised up really good let me tell you, but even the tooth punctures weren't bad.

The best thing for it as far as most of us believe is just to get that first bite over with. Once you really see what a non event it is, then you will be more relaxed around your snake. And when you are relaxed, so are they. I look forward to seeing you both change and grow here.

Gale

[MissStress]

Maybe I'll make my dear, dear hubby handle him then! I shouldn't be freaked about it.. I stick a 3" needle in my leg weekly and I am sure that is much, much worse! I was thinking of really soft leather driving gloves but didn't buy any.
Picked up thermometer (indoor/outdoor/humidty), UTH, and an infrared bulb. 6 feeder mice and totes for them to go in to (but got the wrong lids dammit!)
Going to have to get a thermostat/dimmer for the UTH too right?

[mechnut450]

great job rescuig tat bp , I also agree that he will need bigger than mice in the near future ( if you gothe room and supplies start a small rat colony now so by the time he over the worst of his neglect you can start bumping him up to proper sized prey. I aslos think ( not sure if you managed to yet) is to allow him to soak in a tub or a large tub to help loosen the many layers of sking that appears he got stuck on .I am shocked he was able to see food yet grab it . those layers of skind will need to be worked off a little at a time ( unless they flake off in chuncks while soaking. I also would not be shocked if he not empty the water bowl overnight as rough as those pictures look.

[MissStress]

His new home is 90% habitable. He should be soaking in his sanitized tub within the hour!
I stuck my hand in long enough to get the decorations out (except hide). He looked but didn't S me.

[arialmt]

Picked up thermometer (indoor/outdoor/humidty), UTH, and an infrared bulb. 6 feeder mice and totes for them to go in to (but got the wrong lids dammit!)
Going to have to get a thermostat/dimmer for the UTH too right?

http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermos...onics-ve-200d/ Dimming thermostat for bulbs

http://www.reptilebasics.com/ve-200 Baseline proportional thermostat

[MissStress]

He's in! He was no problem for hubby to pick up, he balked right up. Dropped a mouse in... Being prepared to take it out when he didn't eat it and poof! Gone!
Will update pics

[MissStress]

That'll have to wait until payday but I think we can keep a relative constant temp in the meantime, the room temp doesn't fluctuate.
Trying to find a source rats.. not an easy thing to find where I am.
Will also have to get him another hide for the cool end of the tank.
Nothing will show up if I take pics now so I'm going to wait until daylight in the morning.