Needing some help, first time snake owner.

[astoudt]

Hey everyone!

I have been looking into getting a BP and finally found a 4yr male on Craigslist. The add said,
"4 yr old 3ft ball python comes with enclosure, lights, heating pad, temp/humidity gauge. "

I emailed questions and got text message answers. I decided to get the snake!

I went and picked him up today. I am now officially a first time snake owner!!!

I quickly realized when I got home that the setup she had been keeping him in is not going to work!
It is a 20 gal, long aquarium with some type of wood shavings, two lights, a white one and a black one, and a tiny hide and small heating pad. This and the snake are all I got!!!

I quickly added a water bowl and cover a section of the tank with a towel to give him some privacy.

I know he needs more and soon, but I'm not sure what I need to add/adjust/change to make the setup more suitable for him. I didn't get any thermometers or gauges or thermostats either.

I found it odd that she said, "he's really relaxed and never even hides, he's always just chilling in the cool side of his tank."
I realized it is because his "hide" couldn't fit 1/3 of his body into it and he is probably hanging out on the cool side because the warm side is too hot.

Also she said he only eats one rat once a month.. is this normal for a 4yr or will he need fed more often?
Can anyone help guide me in what I need to do to the setup to make sure he is happy and healthy?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36195246@N04/5575677868/

[Mft62485]

I'd get a bigger hide to start. And something to moniter the heat better. My BP's not 4 yet, so I'm sorry I can't be more help.

[deftones2015]

I would recommend 2x hides preferably the same. One for hot side one for cool side. Make sure it's tight but not too tight.
Also, if the heating pad isn't large enough, I would invest in a new under tank heater or UTH.
Invest in a thermostat or at least a plug in lamp dimmer.
You'll need a temp gun or thermometer with a probe. Preferably both. Put the therm. probe on top of the glass directly above the uth, that way you'll know the temp. I like my basking/hot side to be around 90 and I let the cool side stay room temp.
The wood she was hopefully using is aspen. I use newspaper but I also keep mine in tubs lol.
I feed all my snakes every 7-10 days. My ball has been off feed for 3 months now though.
Hope that helps

[dr del]

Hi,

Have a read through the caresheet - and some of the links at the bottom should help you as well.


dr del

[Mikekrause2000]

use paper towels as substrate. just roll a few layers down on the bottom of the tank, if your tank is a 20L it should be 3 squares of paper towel to cover the bottom, i use 3 layers for absorbency. Also get a water dish, they should be able to fit in it. get 2 hides, www.reptilebasics.com is a good website for them! they are really inexpensive and made to be reptile hides. get a rheostat and an under tank heater. also some sort of foil or bubble wrap to cover the top of the cage to hold humidity in is good. dont cover it all, just about 2/3 of it.

[Vypyrz]

Hello, and to BP.net.
Nice looking BP.

I have found that a good size UTH should cover at least 1/3 but not more than 1/2 of the floor space, but smaller ones can be used.

Here are some links for some of the supplies you should get. The total for everything will cost you about $70.

Thermostat- Thermostats come in several styles, brands, prices and features. This is a good basic thermostat:

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...1529683&sr=1-7

Thermometer- This is a good thermometer. It has a probe to monitor the warm side temp, and it will give you ambient (cool side) temp and humidity, as well. You can also use a temp gun if you prefer.

http://www.amazon.com/Chaney-Instrum...533152&sr=1-25

Hides- These are the hides that I use. They are light weight, durable, and easy to clean. The medium size is good for a 3ft BP. If you don't like them, there are many different styles available, just make sure they are a good size for your snake and will fit in the tank.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/medium-hide-box

Dimmer- If you need to use one of the lamps as supplemental heat, I suggest using a lamp dimmer switch on it. This will let you adjust the amount of power to the bulb and regulate the ambient temperature. You can get them at Lowes or Home Depot in the lighting section for about $10-$12. You can also use them to control the UTH, but you will need to make a few more checks and adjust ments on it each day to maintain a fairly consistant temperature.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Instructions

Also here are a couple of threads that may give you some ideas on setting up the tank.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...p-w-pics-*DUW*

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...tment-Tutorial

[Jyson]

The hides from reptilebasics.com are great, I have a few myself. However, if you want a slightly more cost friendly option you can get a small cat litter pan from Walmart and use that as a hide. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...0-Hides-my-way

[astoudt]

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions!

I found two large sunny d jugs and cut them to make them into temporary hides for now. I filed the edges so they wouldn't be sharp. He was pretty interested in them but just crawled on top instead of inside them haha.
He also investigated and appreciated the water bowl I gave him.
He seems happy, for now but I am definitely running out to get him the rest of the stuff tomorrow.

I was holding him while I put the new hides and water bowl in and he was squeezing pretty darn tight. When he finally loosened up he had left an imprint on my hand... Should I take this as a sign that he's hungry? Would it be too soon to try to feed him?

Thanks for all the help.

[blushingball419]

Welcome, and congrats on your first ball python!!

That's good that you got him 2 new hides and a bigger water dish Those are the main things I would have suggested that you look into. He probably hasn't gone in and really settled down yet since he's still adjusting to the change, so that's perfectly normal.

And I didn't see that you had said anything about an UTH, so you should definitely get one of those instead of the lights that came with him. Lights aren't bad if you need to keep the cool side temp up, but I try to minimize their use since they will eat up humidity. And some sort of thermostat or dimmer would be good to keep the UTH from getting too hot. I personally use the Hydrofarm one that Vypyrz already linked you too on Amazon, and it works great!

So just that and a digital thermometer/hygrometer, and everything else looks good

I was holding him while I put the new hides and water bowl in and he was squeezing pretty darn tight. When he finally loosened up he had left an imprint on my hand... Should I take this as a sign that he's hungry? Would it be too soon to try to feed him?

No, once you finally get him all set up, I would let him relax for around a week or so before trying to feed him. Squeezing like that doesn't mean he was hungry, it just means he was trying to hold onto you and keep himself from falling!

[Skittles1101]

Just like everyone else kind of touched base on, I can't stress the importance of getting something to monitor the temps of the heat pad. At the very least you will need a plug in lamp dimmer ($10.00 at Home Depot) and a tempgun. Some use a digital thermometer, but I just don't trust them for heat pad temps. They are great for ambient temps though. Tempguns.com has a really great model for sale for $35.00, also Home Depot carries them also not sure for how much, as I got the PE-2 from tempguns.com. This is at the very least, a good thermostat is obviously preferred. That Hydrofarm one is okay, I've never used it, there's Johnsons, Ranco, Spyder Robotics Herpstat, and Helix are the popular ones from cheapest to most expensive.