Hey everybody out there.
Last week I bought my first Ball Python ever! Im really excited but am also quite nervous as I have never owned a snake or any other reptile for that matter. I have a few questions and concerns, which i am sure this forum has seen this a million times but you know I just want to do whats best for Nagini (Her name) LOL. Like I said I have had her (not confirmed her but I just call her a her) and she is definitely a juvenile she's fairly small still. I bought her from a Pet Store, and they had her on a regular feeding schedule, so I actually fed her on the 3rd day I had her. I did feed her in the enclosure because I didn't want to stress her out by picking her up, but feeding in a separate enclosure is what I plan on doing from now on. She ate like a champ, so I wanted to know if this was a good thing. She has not pooped since though its almost been a week and this concerns me as I am not sure how long it should take her to poop. Another thing is since she is fairly small I only have a 10 gal. terrarium, but plan on building her a large one that will be a lot nicer for when she gets bigger. I keep her warm side in the high 80's low 90's and the cooler side about 80-82. I have one hide, when I bought it i did not realize how big it was until i put it in the terrarium, and the way i have it is that half is on cool and half is on warm. As I use a screen top, I have a heating pad on the far right, so this is the hotspot, and a 60W bulb in a heat lamp that goes sort of more in the centre but it seems to be keeping the temps just where i think they should be according to many forums out there that I have read. I would like some opinions on this set up if somebody out there is willing to comment and let me know what they think. One big questions I have, is I really really want to handle her, but Im not sure the tell tale signs of a stressed BP, and am wondering if its wise, she NEVER comes out of her hide, I have not slept in the last 2 days I had a campout outside her terrarium watching for her to come out and she will not come out. When I lift her hide she is always in the exact same spot curled up, and she looks like she is pulsing a little (I assume this is her breathing.) Yesterday my roommate was giving the terrarium a spray for me, and she was spraying near the snake and she instantly looked like she was going to eat her hand, no hissing or striking but she looked exactly as she had when i threw a mouse in the tank last week, just like she was going to eat it, so maybe her feeding instinct kicked in I am not sure. So should i try to handle her now, I really want to get her used to being handled or should I give her another week to settle in? I really just want what is best for her. Although I want to handle her whether she likes it or not I just don't want her to hunger strike on me, (which I have full expectations of) and am not sure if she's happy. So any opinions on anything I have mentioned in this post would be very very much appreciated!