New bp owner, a few questions

[adum]

So I just got my new baby male bp on monday (2 days ago from writing this). From the moment I handled him at the pet store I just had to have him :) anyway, so my setup is a 20 gal tank, aspen bedding, heat mat under the tank on one side with a water bole half over the heat mat (so as to increase the humidity in the setup) and a cave hide on the cooler side. Also purchased a flexible meter long branch thing that is meant to aid in the shedding process. Have 2 thermometers on either hot and cold side, and a humidity gauge. After installing the heat mat yesterday, the temps are currently 79F (26 Celsius) cold side, and 85 (30 Celsius) hot side, and humidity at 55%.

So after introducing him to his new tank yesterday morning, he proceeded to inspect every nook and cranny, and then went into his hide about 3 hours later and has remained there since.

My questions are:

After how long should I start handling him? I've read around and read that I should wait a week until he settles in, but not entirely sure whether to follow that advice.

Should I feed him in the tank (going to be feeding either thawed mice or freshly killed) or should I introduce him to a new environment for the feeding process, so that when I reach in to the tank he wont think my hand is food and tries to eat me xD

Should I disturb him and lift his hide, or should I wait for him to come out by himself?

Sorry for the long post, but I'm really eager to start handling him and I really want to do everything right!

Thanks, Adam :)

[FoxReptiles]

Congrats on your new Ball Python Adam!

It sounds like your setup is pretty spot-on. The only improvement I can think of would be to add a thermostat to your setup. You would place the probe of the thermostat in-between your heat mat and the glass of the tank to regulate the temperature. This would prevent the mat from getting too hot and possibly harming your little guy.

I would definitely stick with the recommendation of giving him 5-7 days of peace and quiet to acclimate before handling him. If you just can't wait, make sure that you only handle him for 5-10 minutes or so to avoid any additional stress.

I always feed my Ball Pythons outside of their enclosures. Some animals wont get cage aggro from feeding them in their regular enclosures, but it's easy to feed them in a separate bin or box. If you happen to get a picky eater, you might have to get creative though.

If you wait for him to come out by himself, you might die of old age. =) Unless it dark or he's hungry/thirsty, he'll be content to sit in his hide all day long.

Congrats again and I hope I helped.

[crepers86]

my advice. wait at least a week before any type of interaction. Then attempt to feed and let it settle for a couple days. The feeding in its cage over taking it out depends on the owner. in your case you have aspen I would recommend taking it out I use green sheets and Houston Press newspaper as my bedding. It used to be though that feeding in another tub, cage, or what ever kept cage aggression down because of what you said "...that way the snake don't think I am trying to feed it everytime" Well I handle all my snake on a daily basis so I am not opening the cage up everytime to feed. I think it is less stressful on the snake to feed in there cage, but again you have aspen bedding which can cause problems if ingested during feeding. Also it seems more natural to the snake because the snake is not going to go to another enviroment to eat and then come back to its home...

as far as moving the hid to feed. most of my snakes will come out of the hid once I open the cage and hang the rodent in at the door. if you stick to a schedule on feeding (which I recommend you do) you may be waiting for a ball python to come out of its hide to feed sometimes.

Though you really should wait for him to settle in for a week or so, a lot of owners don't, I did with all my snake except for my boa but that is because I wanted to get her to calm down because she was really aggressive. but she has never skipped a meal and has calmed down a lot over the past couple months I had her. when I got her you couldn't go a foot with out her hissing or striking it used to be glove up and to deal with her now I can just pick her up with no tention between her and I

[adum]

Thanks for the prompt reply guys!

@FoxReptiles , yea might go for a thermostat. How does it work though? Will it automatically turn off the heat mat when it goes above a certain level, or will it just inform me by bleeping or something?

Might just leave him be today, and wait till Friday when i'll handle him a bit then feed him, probably in a clothes basket or something :)

Thanks for the sound advice guys!

Just another quick question, if he refuses to eat on Friday, should I wait another week to feed again or should I try every day until he does eat?

Thanks again!

[crepers86]

If he refuses wait till next scheduled feeding if you keep trying you can cause stress

[adum]

Sweet, thanks :)

[The Serpent Merchant]

No need to feed in a seperate container... You will actually lower your chances of him eating, and increase your chences of getting big by moving him to a seperate container for feeding. A BP will never mistake you for a rat unless you smell, look, and are the same temperature as a rat (100 f)

A thermostat isn't optional. Heat mats can easily get to 150 degrees. That is hot enough to kill your snake. It may not feel that hot yet, but it will get there eventually.

A thermostat uses a temperature probe to adjust the power going to the heat mat. It does everything by itself.

Don't bother with the thermostats sold in pet stores, they are all a waste of your money.

Here are 2 good thermostats:

1. The hydrofarm thermostat, sold on Amazon for $30 these are the bare basics thermostat, considered to be the cheapest "acceptable" thermostat on the market. These will do their job, but lack the accuracy and safety features of better thermostats.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000NZZG3S

2. The Herpstat is the best of the best. These thermostats are extremely accurate and have multiple safety features built in. They have a higher price tag though. The entry level model runs $99. They are worth the cost, and make it much easier to provide the proper temperatures

http://spyderrobotics.com/

Do you have a probed thermometer? If nit then you have no way of telling how hot the heat pad really is. Heating pads don't change the air temperature in the cage. All they do is increase the temperature of the floor of the cage. This means that if the room the cage is in ever gets below 75 degrees you will need another hear source to keep the air temperatures above 75 (78-82 is ideal)

This is a good thermometer. It costs $12 at Walmart and measures 2 temperatures (hot side and cool side) as well as humidity.



Finally how thick and what are you using for substrate? When using heating pads your really need the substrate layer to be 1/2" thick or less for the heating pad to be truly effective.

[The Serpent Merchant]

A few more things:

Read this, it really will help you understand the proper way to take care of your new BP.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

Also you shouldn't try holding your snake at all until he gets 3 consecutive meals in him. You should wait 7 days from bringing him home before you try feeding him, then offer food every 4-7 days no matter if he eats or not. If he turns down the food you offer just wait until the next scheduled feeding day. They can go over a year without feeding so it is no big deal for them to not eat sometimes. I currently have one who hasn't eaten in a few months. As long as they don't lose and significant amount of weight then you are fine.

Speaking of feeding you should always feed a ball python a rodent that is about the same size as its widest point. If you have a scale (high recommend that you get one) then you can go by weight. Ball Pythons should eat a rodent that weighs 15% of their body weight.

So say your BP weighs 100 grams. You should feed your 100 gram BP a 15 gram rodent (100 grams x 0.15 = 15 grams)

Never leave a live rodent unattended with your snake. A rodent is just as likely to injure or kill your snake as the snake it to the rat. Feeding live is dangerous and poses risk to your snake. Feeding frozen thawed rodents is preferred because of this.

[adum]

Still unsure about feeding him in his tank though, I'll keep your points in mind

Wow, didn't know that about heat pads. I'll certain look into purchasing one!
I use aspen substrate, and its an inch thick.

I'm currently measuring the temps with mercury thermometers, and have one lying on the substrate on the side of the heat mat, its reading 85F.

Thanks!

[The Serpent Merchant]

ok, you need to replace your thermometers with the one I pictured above.

Thin out the substrate the layer a little so it is about 1/2" thick for best results.

most people on this site, and all of the big breeders feed their BP's in their cage all of the time with no negative effects. I'm not saying that you will never get bit, even around feeding time... but it won't be because he thinks that you are dinner.