My 1st snake

[Damen]

Hey i just picked up my very first snake and he is only 3 to 4 months old the guy told me, i have done every thing i can as in providing him a good home, he is in a 10 gallon tank for right now till i can get a bigger one or kick out my fish in the 36 gallon.. but he has got his drift wood,water dish and his hide, i have had him for about 6 days now and he is so calm and tame, wich is why i named him Damen wich is a greek word for tame. Anyways he is already taken his first meal and now he just wants to hide, he has came out a couple of times, and i have held him, and he likes me i think... now my question is when i do hold himand he goes around my neck and he checks me out and his surroundings is it normal for him to move fast? And when he is around my neck his head will be on my shoulder and his tail will be around my neck is it normal for him to gently squeez my neck? It feels like a massage though.. any comments would be great as well as advice thank you

[Shelby]

Hi welcome to the boards!

I am glad to hear that he ate for you.. the hardest thing with ball pythons is getting them to eat consistently.

We do recommend leaving your snake alone for at least one week prior to handling him. His 'moving fast' is probably because he is afraid of you. I would leave him alone for at least a few days, and then keep your handling sessions short and sweet.. about 15 minutes at a time.. just let him get used to you slowly.

Also, never hold your snake for 48 hours after it has fed.

If you haven't seen it already.. check out our caresheet, it covers just about everything!

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

Oh.. and it is normal for them to 'squeeze' a little when they are climbing on you.. they don't want to fall down after all!

[kenzie]

I have found it totally normal for the slight squeeze when they are around your neck. I've been told here and by the breeder I bought her from that the squeeze is to get closer to the heat. Just remember you are waaaayyyy to big for him to eat. You may want to think about two hides on opposite sides of the tank (hot and not as hot). But with a 10 gallon tank you don't have much room. If you move him into that 35 gallon you may want to provide multiple hides as he may be overwhelmed or scared by all the space with nowhere to hide.

Good luck and enjoy! I love my little girl!

[Damen]

i would just like to say thank you for all the info... if there is anything else any of you can think of please let me know.. another question would be how big of a mouse should i feed him the guy told me when i got him i could feed him a mouse as big as he is around is this true? thanks


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josh

[Shelby]

Yes, typically you feed a food item that is as big around as your snake's belly is.. or slightly smaller.

[Damen]

thanks shelby now another one which is better for them frozen or live i have been told both but what would you reccommend? thanks again for all your info

josh

[Johar]

if you search around u'll find alot of people talking about this
well, some people think that feeding pre-killed/frozen feed is better for both the feed and the snake . "less painful death for the feed" and "safe feeding for the snake!!, atleast the food wouldn't find back!"

but some snakes like mine. dont even look at pre-killed. so you have to go for live ones..

whatever goes with you

[frankykeno]

Welcome to the forum Josh and congrats on your first BP. You will find a lot of information in our BP caresheet as well as in the BP forum husbandry threads.

As for the feeding issue you asked about. In my humble opinion, what is best for your snake is what you feel comfortable and knowledge to offer and what the snake will eat consistently and with an aggressive feeding response week in and week out. Each method has it's pro's and con's and each has specific ways to handle it that make the feeding experience either successful or not.

Best thing I can say since you mentioned the snake ate for you already is stick with success. If the snake is eating, and the method it takes it's prey is something you can manage just fine....don't fix what ain't broke LOL.

Remember to let your snake have 48 hours after a meal to properly digest before handling.

[Damen]

joanna and johar you guys have been a really big help thanks for all the infor and i have printed out the car sheet now i will have to look at other ones thanks again

josh

[frankykeno]

Glad to be of assistance Josh. There's a huge amount of great common sense, proven to be true experience on this site. When I was new here I would spend hours just cruising through threads and picked up wonderful gems of knowledge from owners and breeders here that would have taken me years to figure out on my own. Talk about a spike in the learning curve! LOL


Feel free to post questions, pics, etc. and just plain enjoy hanging out with people here. We're a pretty good bunch I think, we sometimes have to agree to disagree and we are all very passionate about our herps but on the whole, I can't think of a day going by without a visit to BPNet.