new baby

[Kitty Softpaws]

Hi everyone. I'm Heather, from TN. Most everyone I know is a snake hater, so I'm glad to have found this place. I've never had a snake, but my husband has and I was thrilled when my daughter (almost 8) said she wanted one.
We started researching and came to the conclusions that we wanted a corn snake, and we were not getting it from a pet store. The BP narrowly lost out only because of the picky eating. We made plans to go to a reptile expo near us in Sept, right before her birthday, and started getting everything set up.
We had been scouting the pet stores because I wanted to see the supplies in person, then order them online.. this is where we failed at both our conclusions. She of course wanted to look at the snakes, as did I, but then she wanted to hold them. She held the tiny corn and didn't really like it, she wanted to hold a python. So they get them out, she gets one, I get one, my husband gets one. I'm not sure what her dad's was doing, but mine looked sullen..can snakes look sullen? Hers started crawling all over her arm. I knew then that snake was going home with us, and I tried to fight it, though only halfheartedly because I really liked it too. I felt like an idiot bringing "her?" home after doing a lot of corn snake research, but the worker lady assured me that she has a ball python, and she is a good eater. Ninja hasn't eaten yet, but I'm pretty sure I know why, and how to fix it. I will be posting again to see what the opinion is on here about it.

[liv]

Congrats on your first ball and welcome! Ninja is an awesome name! And of course, we all want to see pictures

[Vypyrz]

Hello, and to BP.net...

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[gsarchie]

Welcome and congrats on your new snake! My advice would be to still get a corn, too!

[DooLittle]

Welcome, and Congrats! Check out the care sheet here, its full of great info! I personally like ball pythons way better than corns, IMO. We went down the corn road first, then on to bps, them onto boas. Gotta say corns are my least favorite.

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[Kitty Softpaws]

Thanks! I don't have any pics I'm especially proud of yet, but I don't know why I tried to get away without posting any at all.



That was when we first got her home. We have since added some plants, a background around the back and both ends, and more hides.
I thought about getting a corn snake, too when we go to the expo. But at the moment, I'm fussing enough over this one. So, DrDooLittle, tell me why they're your least favorite. Please talk me out of it!

I'm going to go ahead and get the problem and potential solution out there while we're here, if that's ok. If not, I'll go post it under husbandry. I have a large tank (because the plan was for an adult corn snake), but three hides (so far), and she does venture out of them a few times a day, so I don't think she's insecure. Of course, I am a noob so I really don't know. There is an ultratherm uth not being used yet because my thermostat is still in transit. I've been using a lamp in the meantime because at first I was scared of the uth and didn't plan to get one. I've got the temps at a pretty consistent 90 on one end, 80 on the other, and the humidity is 51-53%. I don't have a scale yet, so haven't a clue what she weighs. BUT we got off on the wrong foot handling too much, and tried to feed every couple of days. I *think* that is what went wrong. We were attempting to feed f/t in a separate enclosure, as we were told that's how the snake had been eating. She didn't want to eat, just wanted out of that little tank. We haven't so much as spoken to her since Sunday, the last time we tried to feed. Would Friday be too soon to try again? In her own home. And what can I do to keep her from getting a mouthful of aspen in the process? And she was eating pinkies, but we think she can handle at least a fuzzy mouse. There are a couple of breeders around here, so should we try live? I just want this snake to eat before I worry myself into a frenzy.

[RestlessRobie]

Grats on the pic up And yes I love my Ball Pythons they are a great snake very docile and sometimes can be a little picky about eating but I beleive this is mostly due to improper husbandry or care. Few words of advice.

First cover 3 sides of your tank with a background or Black construction paper this will make your new addition feel way more secure. This solved my first non feeding snake issue I had.

Second get a thermal temp gun. This will more accurately keep track of your temps if they are off this can casue a non eating issue as well.

Third get 2 identical hides just big enuff for you snake to fit into I used old flower pots for a while and cut them to size.

Fourth get a Thermostat to regulate the heat pad or tape you will have under the tank for your warm basking spot. There are several available the Hydroform found on amazon.com is the cheapest but can be dificult to get an accurate reading. Some people like the herpstats I presonally love my VE 300 from Reptile Basics. If you havent already check out the caresheeta ton of great info in there and if you have anyother issues feel free to ask a lot of great people on this forum with tons of great advice. Below is a pic of what my tanks looked like when I had them I have since built my own enclosures and now have 4 Ball Pythons and will be breeding this fall. So be carefull they are addicting

Edit Looks like you have some great plans already

[Kitty Softpaws]

Thanks Robie We like Slinky. The Hydrofarm is the one that's on the way, so I hope it will work properly. It'll be set up this weekend so I can keep an eye on it. I'll look into the temp guns. Are there any that we should stay away from?

I can just sit there in awe and watch her move around, so I see how it can be addicting and have been bargaining with my husband on what "we" can do with my stepson's room in a few months after he has moved to go to college.

[RestlessRobie]

I would recomend the ones from Reptile Basics mine has worked wonderfully for my a well Rich (the owner) is such a great guy I buy almost all my hardware from him anymore I have since built custom enclosures and Rich spent a good 45 min talking with me about which heat panel would be best and actually recomended the smaller 40W heat panels for my design. About the only thing I buy at the petstore anymore are feeders and aspen. Here is a link to his websight. As for what I use for my in tank thermometers I, like most people here love my Accurite such as this one but I beleive they have stopped probucing this one, but the new model is available at WalMart. Slinky is such a great Ball she loves to watch TV and such around my neck most evenings. Let me know if you have any other questions
Erik

[DooLittle]

Corns can be great starter snakes, as the are good eaters, and are fairly easy to keep. Handling is not as enjoyable as a bp or boa, IMO. Corns are very busy, and don't sit still. Boas don't sit still either much, but are different, they will lock their tail onto something then just explore the area. Corns are all over the place. My bps will either chill, or explore a little, but are more like lap dogs. I sit and watch tv with them, with a corn, you would be watching the busy corn. It depends on what you want out of a snake. I just enjoy my bps and boa better. If you want another snake, check out all the beautiful bp morphs available!

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