First Ball Python

[Blake]

I got my first BP about four weeks ago. it is 19 inchs long and the skin seems pretty lose. I feed it every week and it eats just fine, and it is really active and seems to enjoy being held. I was wondering how often are they suppose to shed and should i be worried about the lose skin?

[The Serpent Merchant]

Young BP's should shed about once a month

What size rodents are you feeding your BP? His skin shouldn't be lose.

Can you give us some details on your cage/temperatures/what you are using to heat the cage/what you are using to measure temperatures?

Check out these 2 threads:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...gius)-Careshee

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

[Daybreaker]

Sounds like dehydration to me, how often does he pee/pass urine/urates?

[Blake]

Ok the BP is in a ten gallon cage, It has a wood Hide a water dish and I used PVC to create a thing for him to play on. I use the turf like stuff for the floor. I have a UTH on the side and a heat lamp. I mist the cage about twice a day. the BP is peeing about twice to three times a week. I am feeding him frozen fuzzes. I will have pics up here in a min

[The Serpent Merchant]

What are the cage temperatures? what are you using to measure temperatures.

UTH's applied to the side of the tank don't really do much (heat travels vertically not horizontally) Plus UTH don't effect the air temperature in the tank. UTH's are best when used under the tank. UTH's must be regulated by a thermostat. Without a thermostat regulating them they can get hot enough to kill a snake.

Here are some good thermostats. Stay away from the junk sold in pet stores.

Budget: http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR.../dp/B000NZZG3S

High Quality: http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

[Daybreaker]

Ok the BP is in a ten gallon cage, It has a wood Hide a water dish and I used PVC to create a thing for him to play on. I use the turf like stuff for the floor. I have a UTH on the side and a heat lamp. I mist the cage about twice a day. the BP is peeing about twice to three times a week. I am feeding him frozen fuzzes. I will have pics up here in a min

Maybe he's looking a little "loose" because there's hardly ANYTHING in fuzzies (mice): they're really much too small for him. Bump him up to AT LEAST mouse weanlings (even rat pups or adult mice would be fine) and I think he'll fill out a lot more/quicker. I think of fuzzies for balls like I think of lettuce for people: it's just a lot of water with not much else in it IMO.

[Blake]

I just ordered a thermostat from amazon. my temp cage i have in the middle of the cage reads 75F the humidity is always around 50% to 70%