Soba [black pastel orange ghost]

[fireflii]

[Soba: mid-2015, male, black pastel orange ghost]

So I'm going to try to keep this relatively up to date, so possible progression thread? I guess we'll just see. I got him back in August 2015, so I have a bit of catching up to do. Anyway, before I post pictures, if anyone is interested, here's my experience with him so far (mind, I do edit pictures since most of them are on my phone, so colors may vary slightly).

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I bought him from Mike Brizzee in August 2015 at HERPS expo in Austin. I didn't go planning on buying a black pastel morph. In fact, I was planning on something like a lesser, ultramel, or soul sucker (all of which I have somewhat lost interest in as I've broadened my knowledge about morphs). I almost skipped over him, as I was looking for a more active, curious ball python (not like a stressed active, but a curious active). When I held him, he didn't really move, and I gave him back, but he started opening up as soon as Mike was holding him. So, convinced by my friend, I ended up getting him. I loved his dark colors and bright yellow-oranges (since I love contrast, ironic since he's a ghost morph), and ended up getting him. He wasn't named until about a week or two after he arrived. I ended up naming him Soba after the soba noodles since... well, snakes are like noodles.

Alas, when brought him home, I made the first mistake of immediately trying to switch him to f/t (I mean, since the first time I fed him a week after he arrived, not the first day). I did that for awhile and he wouldn't take it. He was about 89g when he first came home and ended up dropping to about 66g after 5 failed feedings before I fed him a live mouse. Based on some advice I was given, I ended up feeding live for every feeding until he was 300g before trying to switch him over (so he would have some weight he could afford to lose). It took maybe 6-7 months approximately for him to finally take f/t reliably. The whole time I was worried it was something with my husbandry (not enough hides, not hot enough, cool side too cool, not enough decor to hide, etc.), the way I was heating the rat (too cold, not wiggling enough, etc.), etc.

In the end... all it turned out was that it didn't SMELL like a rat. About a month ago I got some used rat bedding, heated it up in a bag with the rat, and he took it. Of course, I DID try this before (as other techniques like using broth, feeding in dark room, leaving overnight, different color, etc.), but it didn't work back then (which is why I later assumed it was an issue with my husbandry or heating methods). I'm guessing the difference is that this actual bedding is from a local reptile store while the other was some poor bedding from petsmart that didn't hold scent well (we're talking about pellets versus... light, soft... felty-papery bedding???)? I'm not sure. Regardless, he is now feeding f/t and has been reliably for 5 weeks. On Saturday, he was even in a very deep shed (it was very obvious even for a ghost morph, very blue eyes) and still ate the f/t, so I'm very glad about that.

As for today, I took him outside today to take pictures since he shed. He didn't leave the paper towel from the grass, and didn't really have time before I moved us under the porch since it started lightly drizzling. But he moved off once there and climbed a few stairs before we went back inside. Right now, Sept 14 2016, he weighs 486g (not empty), measures 2ft 10in long, and is about a year and two months old.