Help

[Sheri]

My daughter bought a ball python from a vender @ a reptile show about 2 weeks ago. Beautiful little girl....she hasn't eatin anything yet, I'm not too worried cause I know she needs time to adjust. I went to check on her and she's coiled up and her eyes are hazed over. My husband has just left to buy her a heat lamp, what else should we be doing? Should I be worried with her eyes being hazzy? Thank for the help!!

[dsirkle]

More than likely the snake is shedding it's skin. It is normal for the eyes to look like that at that time.

[fishmommy]

It sounds like your snake is beginning a shed cycle. There is a great sticky post on the shedding process somewhere on this site.

Some more information about your setup would be helpful so we can double check but hazy eyes are normally nothing to worry about.

[starmom]

It sounds like she is starting her shed cycle; called going into blue or going opaque. The eyes will clear after a few days and then a few days later she will shed.

During this shed cycle you will need to monitor humidity (like always) and bump the humidity up to about ~60% (from your normal ~50%).

Can you tell us about the environment your snake is in? You say your hubby is purchasing a heat lamp right now? What other heat does the snake have? How are you controlling the heat? Thermostat? Rheostat? Do you have hides for the snake on the cool end and the warm end? What is the temp gradient and the ambient temps?

Do you know how much your snake weighs? What have you been trying to feed her? Live? F/T? Rats? Mice? Size?

The more info you share the better the advice we can offer

[Sheri]

Thanks for all the advise...we are new @ this. I'm learning about the need of the snake from this site as well as others.

We have her in a container with some wood chips, like what you'd put in for a bunny. I haven't been regulating her temp, but I will now. She just had a shed when we purchased her, how often do they shed?

I bought frozen fuzzies...thawed and gave it to her @ room temp. That was one of the questions my daughter forgot to ask was what she ate, and how often. As far as what she weighs, I'm not sure. But I'll go buy a scale and find out. So as she hasn't eatin anything yet, when should we try again? Should we try something else?

[littleindiangirl]

Cedar chips are a big NO, they are highly toxic to reptiles! If that is indeed what you have her on, get her off of that and onto some newspaper or paper towels. I would even go so far as to wipe her down to get everything off.

Please read over this care sheet.
http://vpi.com/publications/the_ball_python_care_sheet

Most importantly: Maintenance requirements

I know others will chime in, I'm at work or I would walk you through a simple tub set up.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I bought frozen fuzzies...thawed and gave it to her @ room temp. That was one of the questions my daughter forgot to ask was what she ate, and how often. As far as what she weighs, I'm not sure. But I'll go buy a scale and find out. So as she hasn't eatin anything yet, when should we try again? Should we try something else?

If you offer at room temp it will not work, you need to warm up the prey prior to offer it to your BP (you can use a hair dryer to do so)

Also if this BP has never taken a meal for you before that and was eating live previously, I would recommend to offer live for the first couple of meals (4 to 6) and than attempt to switch.

The priority is to get your BP to eat first, switching is secondary and should be attempted when the animal is well established.

In the mean time make sure everything else is optimal

Proper temps 80-84 on the cool side 90-94 on the warm side (measure with a DIGITAL thermometer)

Proper humidity 50%-60% at all time

2 tight identical hides (all sides touching your BP’s body)

Adequate enclosure (not to big as this could be overwhelming)

Etc

[starmom]

No wood chips.
What kind of a container?
~You need a thermostat to regulate the temps and a thermometer/hygrometer to monitor temps and humidity.
~Newspaper is a good substrate, especially for a new snake.
~Most people feed every 7 days, but if its a baby then every 5 days .
~Thoroughly thaw the prey and then raise its heat signature with something (I blast mine with a hair dryer for a minute, concentrating on the head area.)
~Always thaw by the snake enclosure- this is pre-scenting and is a very good way to get the hunting juices flowing!
~2 hides; one for the cool end and one for the warm end.
~Cool end about 82 and warm end about 92 with ambient temps about 85.
~Here is a good website that sells things- like one stop shopping:
www.reptilebasics.com. The owner's name is Rich and he is well respected and a great guy. He could help you with your needs or just fill you in on some stuff.
~Ummmmmm....what else?????

[Sheri]

Thanks so much for all the input, gettin on everything to keeping her healthy.

[tigerlily]

Wood chips are okay as long as they are cypress or aspen (I like the aspen myself), but yes cedar is likely to cause respiratory issues.