odd.. some questions..

[aimeejmpr]

Wow...lots to address here. I'll try to be quick and brief because my time is short, but thorough as well...

1. Sounds like you got that snake from a horrible place. Good deal or no, I wouldn't have given someone like that my money...all it does is reinforce their bad business/husbandry practices.
he wasn't a breeder. he was just looking to get rid of his snakes because he had an autistic son that handled them too roughly. but i understand where you are coming from and i would have taken them all home if i could have. if i wanted to report him, how would i do that?

2. I'd be very concerned about the overall health of an animal from a place like that. He may be harboring all sorts of nasties...from mites to parasites to any manner of germs. Make sure you keep him VERY WELL quarantined away from the rest of your animals...different room, different handling/husbandry supplies....never, ever share supplies or rodents with the other animals. Watch for signs of mites, signs of RI, and seriously consider a thorough checkup from a good vet.
he definitely doesn't have an RI or mites. i am definitely going to try and get him into the vet this week. i sent the exotic vet an email with all of what i wrote in this post before i posted it. i just wanted some other BP owner's feedback.

3. Your cool side temps are too low...especially for a ball python who is at such risk for health problems. Aim for something closer to 80 on your cool side....definitely nothing below 75. 90 is good for the warm side, BUT...is that the temperature of the surface? Or the air? Our hands are NOT accurate ways to measure a heated surface. And what if he goes under the paper towels? They like to do that, and would be directly against the heat pad. What are you using to measure that surface temp? And what are you using to control the max temps on the heat pad? Both critical questions.
okay. phew didn't know that. i got the cool side up to 80, so that's good! i have the therm. on the side of the enclosure so i'm guessing that's the temp of the surface then right? how would i measure the air temps if it's attached to the wall?.. i have a thermometer strip thing on the plastic underneath the paper and it reads 93 degrees. is that bad? it hasn't gone about 94 and i have been checking on it every 2 hours. i've never had a problem with paper towel, but i will definitely do more research. my vet that i've used for my other snakes said paper is okay, but i'll ask around.

4. Nothing wrong with live feeding, so long as it is done carefully and correctly. Do what works for you and for your snakes. The dangers in live feeding come primarily from tossing in freaked out, hungry, thirsty rodents and then leaving them unattended for some stretch of time. Don't do that. Make sure your rodents are well fed and watered before feeding them off...and don't do anything unnecessarily rough before putting them into the tub...and don't leave them in there if the snakes don't show interest in eating right away.
okay cool. thanks!

Hope this helps some....you've got your work cut out for you on this one. Good luck!

thank you for your thorough reply! i answered the questions with bold under your questions(:

[satomi325]

Nice looking spider. He doesn't look thin to me. He has good body condition based on the photos.

I agree with everyone else who posted.

I'll just emphasize on the thermostat. You need to get one asap. A heating pad can reach up to 130+ degrees when unregulated. That's hot enough to cook your snake. A thermostat regulates the pad and keeps it at a steady set temp.

And ball pythons don't need soaking bowls. Small water dishes are fine. It's not normal for a ball to soak unless there are other issues abound. (aka skin problems, mites, or too hot of a temp)

[aimeejmpr]

Nice looking spider. He doesn't look thin to me. He has good body condition based on the photos.

I agree with everyone else who posted.

I'll just emphasize on the thermostat. You need to get one asap. A heating pad can reach up to 130+ degrees when unregulated. That's hot enough to cook your snake. A thermostat regulates the pad and keeps it at a steady set temp.

And ball pythons don't need soaking bowls. Small water dishes are fine. It's not normal for a ball to soak unless there are other issues abound. (aka skin problems, mites, or too hot of a temp)

the pictures are misleading. his backbone is pretty prominent.

- - - Updated - - -

first of all i want to thank you for everyone's input! i am going to get a thermostat. no worries i got the temp up to 80 degrees on the cool side and it is 91 degrees on the warm side right now. i talked with a few people and they said paper towel is fine as long as i have a thermostat. he ate the adult mouse i offered him within 30 seconds of it being in there! and then he was cruising around his enclosure, and finally chilled out in the corner, so he's a happy guy now

another thing the guy told me is that he's a really picky eater that's why he doesn't "waste his time" offering every 5-7 days. but he took the mouse no problem about it.

[Annarose15]

the pictures are misleading. his backbone is pretty prominent.

- - - Updated - - -

first of all i want to thank you for everyone's input! i am going to get a thermostat. no worries i got the temp up to 80 degrees on the cool side and it is 91 degrees on the warm side right now. i talked with a few people and they said paper towel is fine as long as i have a thermostat. he ate the adult mouse i offered him within 30 seconds of it being in there! and then he was cruising around his enclosure, and finally chilled out in the corner, so he's a happy guy now

another thing the guy told me is that he's a really picky eater that's why he doesn't "waste his time" offering every 5-7 days. but he took the mouse no problem about it.

He's a little thin, but not on death's doorstep by any means. Judy's point about the paper towels was that he can get under any substrate and be closer to the heat, so you need to measure the temp of the plastic directly above the UTH, not on the wall beside it, for the hot spot. You can get an infrared temp gun or a digital Acurite indoor/outdoor thermometer with probe (Walmart $12) to do this.