Good morning!

[Maybeka]

Good morning. We are new to this site and need a little help. First we would like to say thanks for letting us join.

My son got his first snake a week ago. She's just a baby. Wondering if anyone can tell us what it is (we know it's a ball python) but we aren't sure of what the color would be called.

Second he has had her/him for a week today. He tried to feed her last thursday and friday and she would not eat. (he had her 3 days when he first tried to feed her) the lat time she had eaten was the saturday before purchase which would have been saturday the 24th of this month.

He is also having a bit of an issue getting the humidity to stay up.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[MD_Pythons]

Well first off, welcome to the forum. Can you tell us about your setup? Temps humidity, what equipment you use to measure those. How much does the snake weigh?

[Maybeka]

Hi thanks for answering.
She is in a 40g tank with a screen lid.
Red heat light for night and a UV light for day.
The temps in the enclosure are between 80 and 91 on the warm side.
The cool side seems to be staying between 75 and 80. I think those numbers are good.

He has a hidey hole under the heat lamp on the warm side.
Aspen snake bedding with some moss mixed in for flooring.
A huge water bowl.
A very large piece of bark for her to climb all over.

What do you think of her color?

Thanks.

[MD_Pythons]

Hi thanks for answering.
She is in a 40g tank with a screen lid.
Red heat light for night and a UV light for day.
The temps in the enclosure are between 80 and 91 on the warm side.
The cool side seems to be staying between 75 and 80. I think those numbers are good.

He has a hidey hole under the heat lamp on the warm side.
Aspen snake bedding with some moss mixed in for flooring.
A huge water bowl.
A very large piece of bark for her to climb all over.

What do you think of her color?

Thanks.

Ah, well there's your problem. She doesn't feel secure in a tank that big and open, I'd downsize her enclosure. Check this thread out. Do you have a thermostat to regulate the light? As for the color, she just looks like a nice normal to me.

[Maybeka]

Oh well that helps a bit. We thought that the bigger tank would be better.
She does come out every night and goes all around her enclosure up and over the branch and checks everything out.

My son has a gauge for the heat and one for the humidity. Heat seems to be ok, but humidity just isn't staying up.

Is this the reason she won't eat? I was told by one person she should eat within a week of bringing her home and something i read said she may not eat for a couple of weeks.

She was eating frozen thawed when he got her and when we showed her one she totally ignored it and wanted out of the box he was feeding her in.

[Maybeka]

Another pic:

[L.West]

Once you get all the temps and humidity set in the cage - I would simply feed right in the cage. It tends to add additional stress when you move them to a separate container for feeding.

You may want to check into a thermostat to control the heating devices. That is very important. The most important piece of equipment you can have. I would also invest in a temp gun so that you can get accurate readings of temps.

Best of luck to you and congrats on your new snake.

[Zincubus]

As above plus ..

For the time being I'd keep the set up you have already . In my experience a bigger enclosure is fine if it's full of branches / bark / fake foliage/ plastic plants just so there isn't too much open space/s .

Also block out the back and sides with card or black paper to give even more security.

Don't handle until it's eaten at least once or twice .

Research feeding strategies -- basically feeding in the tank , at evening time and heat the mouse up with a hairdryer ...

Hopefully you have or will get a thermostat to regulate the heat source..

Plus as already suggested get yourself a ten quid digital temp gun !!

Good luck


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[dakski]

I concur.

Feed in the tank.

Lots of hides, stuff, etc. so the little one feels safe in that tank.

Definitely get a temp gun! You need to know the temps on the ground!

Make sure to defrost the prey item properly and offer properly. Also, offer no more than once a week. Too often can stress the snake out.

No handling until the snake eats 2-3 consecutive meals for you.

Sorry to be brief, and I can write more later, but I have a business meeting. I saw this thread and wanted to help.

Feel free to ask for clarification on anything.

Good luck!

[Sunnieskys]

She is a normal. Welcome to the normal club. #normalsarebeautiful