Finally Fed :)

[Kaorte]

If the thing about the rat was true then whether you were watching or not, there would be nothing you could do. If it got a good hold, tearing it off would just do more damage.

[Ham]

Hey just a heads up for you on your substrate, that fir bark bedding is craptastic, it doesnt hold humidity and it is hard and chunky, terrible stuff for a ball python. I highly reccomend you go get some cypress mulch and spray it down once and awhile to keep the humidity around 50-60%. Cypress mulch is very good for ball pythons because it holds water well and is very mold resistant. I really want to stress to you how terrible that bark stuff your using is, ditch it fast...

On the other hand, those hides of yours are great! I love that brand of hide, they make bigger sizes that you can get as the snake grows.

Also I reccomend trying to get the snake started on frozen/thawed mice, its nice because you can store a ton of frozen rodents for long periods of time, that way you dont have to make a trip to the pet store every 4-5 days to get a live rodent. Not only that live mice and rats especially can bite the snake even while the snake is contricting them, I have seen it happen, just watch youtube if you need proof. In the wild snakes can be injured and killed by their prey more often than you would think possible, nature is brutal and the predator does not always win. Wild caught snakes usually have a number of scars to prove it. Frozen is just a way more convenient way to go about feeding the snake. This is all my opinion, but I work with hundreds of snakes a week, ( I volunteer at a reptile shelter ), and we always feed frozen if the snake is willing to take it. Why chance injuring your beautiful ball python?

[stevepoppers]

If the thing about the rat was true then whether you were watching or not, there would be nothing you could do. If it got a good hold, tearing it off would just do more damage.

That was kinda the point. Well, more like, it could start chewing on your snake right away, or it could wait that 30 minutes, but would you want to give it that 30 minutes to chew on your snake if it does start right away?

I'm not fighting. That's just how I see it.

And he may be fine with the reptibark. Let him see if he has humidity issues before condemning his substrate.

[Ham]

In my personal opinion reptibark is trash, its all hard and abrasive with sharp edges and stuff, would you want to sleep and try to burrow in that stuff?

That stuff is for landscaping not for reptiles...

Even if you could maintain proper humidity on it, which I think would be pretty difficult, it could lead to problems from abrasion and if they somehow managed to ingest a peice of that bark it would be instant bowel impaction.

Some people may think it is ok, but I am only telling you this because I love snakes and dont want your awesome pet to develop any problems from this stuff. I do alot of volunteer work with reptiles and have a large number of my own, I am not saying any of this to be pushy, its just that in my semi-professional opinion cypress mulch is a hugely superior substrate to use on your ball python, and the few bucks for the cypress mulch could save you a huge headache and vet bill later down the road...

I am psyched to see you getting into one of the coolest possible hobbies anyone could have, herping of course! And hope that your snake thrives under your care!

[stevepoppers]

I'm pretty sure lots of people here use it without any problems. And skiploader made a thread in the general herp section (I think) and mentioned (and linked to) a thread on another forum in which someone's ball passed a piece of repti-bark the size of it's food without any apparent discomfort. The main point of the thread was to ask for people to report any and all firsthand impaction incidents and so far there are none. There is no reason to worry.