should i try to feed?

[johnny wobble]

sorry if this gets long, just a little background first, then question at the end.

i just adopted a ball python, was told it was a male and he's 6-8 months old. he seems healthy and not skinny, and is probably around 18" long, just guessing on the length, didn't mess with him too much after the drive home. but he hasn't been kept in ideal conditions. he's in a 20 long tank (i think. it's 30"x12"x12" or so). he's had 1 hide that's too big, day and night heat lamps, liquid calcium supplement added to his water and gravel for substrate. his water bowl is one of these lizard lagoons and he was curled up wedged inside from the bottom when i found him.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/tc-photos/11...ard/512062.jpg

anyway, tomorrow's shopping list includes aspen, thermostat, rheostats and a couple of UTHs.
i found this posted on this site...

"What I used for my old 20L tank, since I had to use two UTHs was:
I got a Repti temp 500r and two Lutron 300W dimmers. Plug UTHs into dimmers, set temps to 95 and 85 for warm and cool side, respectively. Plug dimmers into thermostat and set dial to appropriate level. This way, both a warm temp of 93ish and cool of 83ish are maintained."

...and that's how i plan to set up his tank. i've got a couple of matching hides that i can put in for him after i sterilize them. getting some black foamcore from work tomorrow for the sides of the tank also. i already changed the heat bulb with a CHE i had and gave him some fresh water without calcium. i used reptisafe. is that a good choice?

now for the main question. the guy said he normally feeds him every 2 weeks so he'll eat aggressively. i assume so the mouse or little rat doesn't stay in with him too long. ??? he said it's been about 2 weeks. he's pacing around the tank a little, trying to climb out, obviously not too comfortable. should i try to feed him tomorrow as well? i want to try giving him f/t but he's been eating live. so, try to feed or wait?

thanks

[bamf64]

well when i first moved my Bp into a 20L she was kinda trying to get out and wondering. its all because shes exploring her surroundings. and being 6-8months, i would be feeding once every 5-7 days. and i would give her a few more days maybe even a week to let her settle in b4 feeding or handleing.

[rynpckrd]

If he's in a new tank with new surroundings, I think the main thing you want to let your snake do is get used to the changes that are being made to his home. Roughly a week or so will do it, and then afterward, feeding him shouldn't be an issue.

I think the main thing is to establish a feeding schedule once you've allowed him to settle. Snakes are able to go awhile without eating (as I'm sure you're well aware of), so I'm sure if you fed him within the week after you've waited a little bit that you shouldn't have any issues.

If the snake is an aggressive eater, I recommend feeding him outside of his tank rather than just dropping his food in, especially if he eats live. I, personally, put Atticus in a good size tub and feed her in that; it's easy to watch over her to not only make sure she eats and isn't injured by what she is eating but to also help condition her with what she associates your hand with whenever you're reaching into her cage.

I hope this helps.

[johnny wobble]

another little question, didn't want to start a whole new thread about it.
i've replaced his gravel with aspen and replaced the big hide with 2 same, smaller ones. they're a little big, but i stuffed a piece of wadded up newspaper in the back of them to where i think it is just the right amount of space for him.

i left his same water bowl in there and he's continuing to wedge himself up in it from below. it's shaped like a rock, made of what feels like ceramic and it's hollow with an open bottom so he actually gets wedged up in there. he barely fits in there and moves it around trying to get in it. should I leave this in there since it's his choice hideout? I want to replace it with something bigger to help with humidity and also don't want him spilling water all the time trying to get under his bowl.

so leave it in there for him or replace it? or just add another one and don't put water in this one and eventually he'll be too big to get under it? he's a pet to my kids and I, so we want to be able to get him out regularly without having to try and get him unstuck from something.

[dr del]

Hi,

Well if you need to replace it anyway to avoid spills then you might as well do it when he is already in a settling in period I think.

If he is the nervous sort it might mean a reset of the settling in period though so bear that in mind.


dr del

[johnny wobble]

sid's been settling in nicely. he's been hanging out in the cool side hide most of the time. he comes out around sundown and wanders for a bit, then goes back in. his hides are facing kinda towards the back of the tank, so they're private and he's dug little tunnels for backdoors. he stayed in the tank for a week and that was his routine. i tried feeding him a f/t hopper rat yesterday, in a feeding tub, and he wanted nothing to do with it. he flicked it with his tongue a few times and crawled away. so i took it away. i tried a good size hopper rat live tonight, in the tub, and it didn't last 2 seconds. he pounded it down then went to the warm hide when i put him back. i'm going to try frozen again, but at least i know he's eating.

[HerpKeeperVA]

Good to hear he ate for you! Some BPs are picky when it comes to rats vs. mice and live vs. f/t. Maybe try a f/t rat next time, if that doesn't work try a freshly killed rat. You should be able to wean him over to f/t before too long. Get a pair of tongs to wiggle it and see if that helps.