Firstly I would just love to say how much help this community has been to me even before me making this account and posting here... I've been reading as much as I can both before and since getting my little ball python in November and so much of what I've read here has been helpful in that.
Ok, so I got my ball python (Apollo, pastel mojave) Nov 14th. I have wanted a snake for the majority of my life and I finally moved into a place that allows me to keep them. At first I feel my husbandry was meh, but at this point I'm feeling much more confident. Got a medium zoo med UTH on his hot side, white light for the day and red light at night. Ambient temps during the day are about 90-84 and at night the hot side drops to 80-82. UTH thermostat is on low, those zoo med pads get hot! I've got him in a larger enclosure (which may change as at some point I need to replace it... I used a UTH a friend gave me initially, it must have had a fault in the wiring, shorted out and cracked the glass. I've got tape over it and monitor the substrate to make sure it doesn't expand/come into contact with him). He's been a little inconsistent with his eating... he seems to really prefer the mice from his breeder, when I was unable to go get a bigger mouse pickup due to weather and had to buy from a pet store he refused two of them, but he's eaten again this Monday and I may feed him again Saturday just to help him grow (his skipped meals seem to have delayed his shed).
I just feel very silly.. every little thing that may be wrong or seems imperfect works me up and gets my anxiety going a mile a minute. When his temps were too low I was constantly thinking about it. When he wasn't eating as much as I tell myself he's fine I worry. In educating myself just yesterday I was reading more about illnesses and about "stargazing" as sometimes Apollo will climb about or rest with his body extended against the glass looking up and I wanted to know the difference. After reading about IBD and seeing the videos of actual stargazing behavior I was both comforted that he wasn't doing that but horrified and had a difficult time falling asleep. Is it normal to get this freaked out dealing with a very different kind of pet? I'm 26 years old and have lost cats, friends, and family and been through much worse already.. but somehow this little guy seems to have the ability to trigger my most protective instincts. Pictures of tank and bonus pic of cute snooting included.
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