Hi guys! So a couple things! My ball python, Pixel, got here yesterday morning. When I took her out of her bag that she was shipped in, the bag was wet and the paper towels in there were also yellow. I'm assuming she urinated while in the process of being shipped. I know its not great to handle new BPs until after they have eaten the first time, especially babies (Pixel turned one month yesterday). My first question is, should I take her out and clean her now or should I wait until she has eaten for me first? My goal is to keep her as calm as possible, shes scheduled to eat tomorrow and I really want her to eat for me.
Okay, now on the to next thing. So when I first popped Pixel into her terrarium, complete ball. Not surprised, she was just crammed in a box for the past 24 hours. She loosened up within a couple of minutes and immediately went into her warm hide. From there she explored the cage, she found both of her hides, warm and cool. In the cage, I have some fake ivy put up, there's a suction cup that you stick to the side of the cage and the leaves hang off of it. When she was finished exploring her cage, she completely ignored the hides and curled up in between the leaves and the corner of the terrarium, basically completely exposed and very visible. It's almost like she created her own hide spot, in a place that's not very hide-y. Shes been there pretty much every time I've seen her now. And when I come up to the cage to look at her, sometimes her breathing will become heavy. I haven't ever really heard of this before, so is this normal or is it an indication that she may be stressed out already? I'm not too concerned, primarily just wondering if I should change up the cage, get new hides, or leave it be.
Thanks guys! Sorry for the long winded post that probably means I have nothing to worry about. #NewBPowners