Found the Snake! and questions

[BHReptiles]

So how long do I have to wait to handle him after feeding? If I'm planning on feeding once a week, how often could I actually hold him? The goal is a "friendly" snake that we don't have to be as nervous about him biting someone.

Give him about 48 hours to digest and then you can hold him. As a baby, he might be defensive, but with a little age on him, he should mellow out. Ball pythons are some of the most non-bity snakes there are. I would be more concerned for my corn snakes biting someone than my ball python. A ball python's first reaction is to ball up first and then strike if balling up doesn't work first.

[mike689]

I would absolutely switch to frozen prey. Its much easier to have a bunch of rats stored then have to go out every week nd pay triple what you should be for a live. I get all of my rats at expos and always pay under $1.00, itl save you a lot!

[obsidianembrace]

Just a quick question about behavior. What does it mean when they lift their whole head/neck up while I'm holding him? Is he really just looking around?

[obsidianembrace]

Okay I looked very closely at Cato today. I got a cotton ball and almond oil and rubbed off as much of the gunk/dust I could. He has 3 scales on his belly, 2 near the head, that kind of stick up and catch if you rub lightly backwards. Will that sort itself out?

He seemed comfortable, didn't ball up to hide or anything. A little jumpy around his head but as I understand that's normal. I think he'll be a big sweetie

[xFenrir]

Just a quick question about behavior. What does it mean when they lift their whole head/neck up while I'm holding him? Is he really just looking around?

You'll know if he's mad. If he's not coiled into the "s" shape, hissing, or generally making you feel that "hey, I'll probably get tagged if I try to touch him right now", then odds are he's just scouting around. My Ball had a tendency to do the "cobra stance" (or periscope-ing) when she felt she needed to check everything out.

Okay I looked very closely at Cato today. I got a cotton ball and almond oil and rubbed off as much of the gunk/dust I could. He has 3 scales on his belly, 2 near the head, that kind of stick up and catch if you rub lightly backwards. Will that sort itself out?

He seemed comfortable, didn't ball up to hide or anything. A little jumpy around his head but as I understand that's normal. I think he'll be a big sweetie

Both my snakes had/have scales that kind of stick out in some places. For them, it's usually where they bend frequently, but in your case if they're not bleeding or look like there's more of a problem than just a slightly out of place scale, I would just leave it alone. He'll probably fix it after a few sheds.

[obsidianembrace]

They're not bleeding, but they have gunk under the edge that I couldn't get off (from his adventures under shelves in the storage room...) I would just worry about infection but as far as I can tell it's not a wound.

[obsidianembrace]

At what weight do you usually switch to adult rats? I'm wondering when I can mass order

[BHReptiles]

Those scales will probably fix themselves in a shed or two. I wouldn't worry about them.

As far as bulk ordering, you want to order from a company that allows you to order in small quantities (like 25 in a bag). I order from Loxahatchee Rodents and I love them. They offer smaller packages (so do Layne Labs and Mice Direct). I would get 1 bag of fuzzy rats, 1 bag of weaned rats, and 1 bag of smalls. That will last you a long time for one snake. Just feed him all the fuzzies, then go to the weaned, then onto the smalls. You'll end up feeding smalls until he's about 1500g or so and then when you're ready to do another shipment, you can always order more smalls before mediums or you can choose to have him eat smalls for the rest of his life. Since you aren't breeding him and he's male, he might not even get big enough to eat mediums

[obsidianembrace]

Sorry for all the random questions! I'm grateful for all the answers though. I'll probably ask more in a couple days, haha

[BHReptiles]

Sorry for all the random questions! I'm grateful for all the answers though. I'll probably ask more in a couple days, haha

That's quite alright! We are here to answer them!