New guy drops by and... Iggy!

[brunorod]

Hey people! I'm new to the forums and new to Ball Pythons and reptile care in general. I live in southern spain where reptile care isn't as popular as in other places.

When I was a kid, I always wanted to get a cool pet, a big scary snake or a weird lizard but I never got around to owning one. Well, about a month or two ago this idea came back in my head and I started researching and such and decided on ball pythons.

I told my girlfriend about it and being the cool chick she is look what she dropped by my house on my 18th birthday:

Meet Iggy!



I know a normall BP doesn't seem like much in this forum but this is my first real pet, and it was such a wonderfull present! I named it Iggy after The Stooges frontman Iggy Pop.

Anyways I was researching BPs and wanted to improve the cage since the little guy would probably get stressed out in such an empty space.

Here's what I came up with:


I added a water bowl that I change every day, some branches and a nice hide, pretty big for her size but also not too tall so she can feel secure.
Also, the terrarium came with a thermometer (located in the upper middel in of the back panel) but it's complete bs so I decided to add an external one that measures in and out temperatures so I can get a pretty good idea of the hot and cold sides. I might add some cooler pieces of wood in the near future also.

I have a couple of questions for you guys:

1st of all, I don't have any way to measure the humudity yet and the room seems like its lacking some. What I'm currently doing is spraying down the tank with water about twice a day. I spray down the panels to check if they evaporate and they do rather quickly. Any tips?

Also, if you check the pics, you can notice that Iggy's scales on the top of his head are either dried off or damaged. I'm kinda worried about this do you have any ideas what this could be? Should I really worry about it?

Finally, it's summer in southern spain and I have her in a room where there's no AC so currently the room temperatures in the day are about 86-93 and 77-83 in the night. I don't turn on the light much since it seems like it would fry the poor guy! Are the temperatures good for the snake? Should I do something else?

Finally, they told me to feed her on thursdays a mouse. But I've looked into it and there so many sizes! Can you guys help me decide what size of food she needs? I hope she's not too much of a picky eater!

That's all for now guys, she seems much more comfortable now that she has her hide, she spends most of her day in there.

Sorry for the long thread guys, that's all for now! Please answer my questions or comment whatever you want!

[Paysons Bps]

Hey people! I'm new to the forums and new to Ball Pythons and reptile care in general. I live in southern spain where reptile care isn't as popular as in other places.

When I was a kid, I always wanted to get a cool pet, a big scary snake or a weird lizard but I never got around to owning one. Well, about a month or two ago this idea came back in my head and I started researching and such and decided on ball pythons.

I told my girlfriend about it and being the cool chick she is look what she dropped by my house on my 18th birthday:

Meet Iggy!



I know a normall BP doesn't seem like much in this forum but this is my first real pet, and it was such a wonderfull present! I named it Iggy after The Stooges frontman Iggy Pop.

Anyways I was researching BPs and wanted to improve the cage since the little guy would probably get stressed out in such an empty space.

Here's what I came up with:


I added a water bowl that I change every day, some branches and a nice hide, pretty big for her size but also not too tall so she can feel secure.
Also, the terrarium came with a thermometer (located in the upper middel in of the back panel) but it's complete bs so I decided to add an external one that measures in and out temperatures so I can get a pretty good idea of the hot and cold sides. I might add some cooler pieces of wood in the near future also.

I have a couple of questions for you guys:

1st of all, I don't have any way to measure the humudity yet and the room seems like its lacking some. What I'm currently doing is spraying down the tank with water about twice a day. I spray down the panels to check if they evaporate and they do rather quickly. Any tips?

Also, if you check the pics, you can notice that Iggy's scales on the top of his head are either dried off or damaged. I'm kinda worried about this do you have any ideas what this could be? Should I really worry about it?

Finally, it's summer in southern spain and I have her in a room where there's no AC so currently the room temperatures in the day are about 86-93 and 77-83 in the night. I don't turn on the light much since it seems like it would fry the poor guy! Are the temperatures good for the snake? Should I do something else?

Finally, they told me to feed her on thursdays a mouse. But I've looked into it and there so many sizes! Can you guys help me decide what size of food she needs? I hope she's not too much of a picky eater!

That's all for now guys, she seems much more comfortable now that she has her hide, she spends most of her day in there.

Sorry for the long thread guys, that's all for now! Please answer my questions or comment whatever you want!

Dang dude! Congratz! Is the reptile trade big in Spain?

[cboocks]

Okay. First, congrats on the new snake. My boyfriend bought me my first one, and it's an awesome feeling.

To take up some space and make her feel more secure, you should get two, smaller, identical hides and put one on the hot side and one on the cool side.

As for food, get a small scale and see how much he weighs and take the scale with you (if possible) and try to get a mouse that is 10-15% of Iggy's body weight, or judge the size mouse by the largest girth of your snake.

As for the lamp, do you have an under tank heater (UTH) as well? or just the lamp? If you don't have a UTH, you should invest in one. Ball pythons use belly heat to digest. With a UTH, however, you also need to get a thermostat to control the temperature so Iggy doesn't get burned. Your lamp is going to KILL your humidity as well.

You could probably find a cheap hygrometer and if it turns out your humidity is too low, get a bigger (not deeper, but wider?) water dish (this might be wise anyways because your tank is so large for such a tiny snake). You could also place a wet towel ontop of the tank, or create a foil top (there's a sticky for them somewhere on here) by putting a few layers of foil on the screen top, taping it down, cutting a hole for ventilation and one for your lamp if you keep it.

Hope this is usefull and good luck with Iggy!

[snakesRkewl]

Humid hides are much better than having to spray, research humid hides and make one that suits your needs.

Congrats on the baby ball!

[blushingball419]

Hello and welcome!! Really cool to see someone on here from Spain!

First of all, I agree with the poster above me... you need two identical hides, one for the cool side and one for the warm, so he can regulate his temperature without sacrificing security.

Also, the other BIG THING that I noticed was that, at least from your picture, it looks like the heat lamp is inside the tank where your bp could come in contact with it. That's not good. It definitely needs to be OUTSIDE the tank or he could seriously burn himself on top of the screen top at the very least.

As far as humidity, you can find hygrometers for pretty cheap at any pet store or home & garden stores. Digital is obviously better because it's much more accurate, but even a regular analog one will at least give you a general idea of what your humidity is like. Until you get a hygrometer, I would say the misting is a good idea, and covering the top with foil or a wet towel will help too.

The dry scales on the top of his head are just what's left of an old shed that didn't come off properly. It's nothing to worry about, although you could try gently rubbing some water on the area and see if it will come off. If it stresses him too much though, then don't worry about it. It will definitely come off with his next shed (as long as he gets enough humidity this time around )

Also FYI: heat lamps destroy humidity, so only use it when you have to. And it sounds like those temps are actually pretty good for a bp. Definitely buy an undertank heat mat though and some sort of rheostat/thermostat to control it. The warm side of the tank should be around 88-92 and the cool side should be 77-80.

Oh yeah, and from his size I'd say you could try giving him a rat pup or small mouse.

Otherwise, your tank looks great and congrats on your cute little Iggy!!

[snakesRkewl]

Also, the other BIG THING that I noticed was that, at least from your picture, it looks like the heat lamp is inside the tank where your bp could come in contact with it. That's not good. It definitely needs to be OUTSIDE the tank or he could seriously burn himself on top of the screen top at the very least.

Good catch, that's an absolute no-no that needs to be addressed immediately.

[brunorod]

Thanks to everyone for the help!

@blushingball419: I'll get another hide for the other side. I got one just because I didn't know if that one was going to work.
About the lamp thing, it seemed kida wierd when I saw it and bummed me out when I saw it but since temps get pretty hot I just didn't use it. Also, I went to check on my snake on my second day with it and it climbed on the tank thermometer and then wrapped around the (turned off) lamp. Since it didn't have a hide yet, the thing was probably stressed out and trying to get out some way or another. I'll try to find a better tank top as soon as I can, until that time, I won't even touch the lamp. I'll also get a hygrometers as quickly as possible.

Thanks for all the comments everyone, I'm just trying my best to have a happy snake. She seems much more calm when I put the hide in. She hasn't been out of it the whole day. I took her out once just to check on her, she kinda crawled on the branches for abit, explored and then crawled back into her hide. As soon as I can get her the other needs, I suppose he'll be happy!

[blushingball419]

About the lamp thing, it seemed kida wierd when I saw it and bummed me out when I saw it but since temps get pretty hot I just didn't use it.

Well, that's good! I just saw it on in the picture and started thinking fried snake

Another thing I should have mentioned is that if you just got Iggy recently, you should really leave him alone (no handling) for about 5 - 7 days to let him relax and get used to his new surroundings. I know it's hard, but your snake will be much happier! Since you've already been handling him, I suppose you can try feeding him this week if you want, but I bet he'll be too stressed to eat.

So yeah, get him a second hide, a heat mat + thermostat, and then let him relax for a week or so

[jfreels]

I'd get a UTH before getting a hygrometer.

[snakesRkewl]

I'd get a UTH before getting a hygrometer.

That and a thermostat and block 3 sides of the tank so the snake feels more secure.

I am not sure I even own a hygrometer, I just know my humidity is good because my snakes shed in one piece.