Got my first Ball Python! Picture and questions.

[dbassa]

A good way to determine appropriate prey size is to weigh your snake and feed a mouse/rat that is between 10% and 15% of the snakes weight. Slightly larger or smaller is fine if that is what you have. I have used that for the last year for my ball and she seems to be doing well. Got her at 62g and at approx. 1 year was about 500g. Good steady growth.

Another way is to feed an item that is 1 to 1.5 the width of your snake at it's widest point. I like to weigh for my record keeping, but I think either way works.

One of my resources suggests heating any wood to be place in a viv be heated to 135 deg. f for 30 min.

Good luck and congrats!

[MsMissy]

Aspen is fine unless you have humidity issues in which case coco husk or reptibark will hold humidity in the tank better. You might want to think about blackening out the back and sides of the tank. This will help make your little no legged friend feel more secure.

The proper size prey for her really is going to be determined by her weight, you want her eating about 15% of her body weight. She seems small if in fact she is about a year old. I would question that.

Pretty snake, is she a pewter or Mojave? Seems more than a normal.

[Shera]

A good way to determine appropriate prey size is to weigh your snake and feed a mouse/rat that is between 10% and 15% of the snakes weight. Slightly larger or smaller is fine if that is what you have. I have used that for the last year for my ball and she seems to be doing well. Got her at 62g and at approx. 1 year was about 500g. Good steady growth.

Another way is to feed an item that is 1 to 1.5 the width of your snake at it's widest point. I like to weigh for my record keeping, but I think either way works.

One of my resources suggests heating any wood to be place in a viv be heated to 135 deg. f for 30 min.

Good luck and congrats!

Oh, the weight thing might help. I have a digital kitchen scale that should do the trick. I have always wondered about the width thing...is it prey that is 1-1.5 as LONG or as WIDE as the widest part of your snake??

[Shera]

Aspen is fine unless you have humidity issues in which case coco husk or reptibark will hold humidity in the tank better. You might want to think about blackening out the back and sides of the tank. This will help make your little no legged friend feel more secure.

The proper size prey for her really is going to be determined by her weight, you want her eating about 15% of her body weight. She seems small if in fact she is about a year old. I would question that.

Pretty snake, is she a pewter or Mojave? Seems more than a normal.

Yes, thanks, I keep forgetting that I mean to darken the sides of the tank, it keeps slipping my mind since I have so many other things to attend to with the set up. I want to buy something pretty, for aesthetics sake, but anything will do for now.


He said she was a year old, and maybe a little bit older (he got her on his birthday last year), but he was an uninformed...well "pet store informed", owner. I'll weigh her tomorrow, she might be stunted, I wouldn't be surprised.

[Shera]

Pretty snake, is she a pewter or Mojave? Seems more than a normal.

Sorry, I missed this part. I don't know much about morphs tbh, but she strikes me as a normal. What would be the difference in appearance? I can post more close up pics, but I know most of these morphs can't be proven unless they are bred.

[dbassa]

Oh, the weight thing might help. I have a digital kitchen scale that should do the trick.

A digital kitchen scale is what I use

"I have always wondered about the width thing...is it prey that is 1-1.5 as LONG or as WIDE as the widest part of your snake??"

Width, not length. Side to side rather than nose to tail. You are looking for a mouse or rat that leaves a slight bulge in the snakes belly.

[Kodieh]

Paper towels are fine for ball pythons same as Leo's. Though, like yourself, the geckos are on paper towels and the snakes are on aspen.

The dimmer "would" work, however it won't flux and move with the room. So, if the air conditioner fails, then the room spikes to 90, the cage is heated on top of that, so like 110F. Bad news for snakeypoo.

[Shera]

Paper towels are fine for ball pythons same as Leo's. Though, like yourself, the geckos are on paper towels and the snakes are on aspen.

The dimmer "would" work, however it won't flux and move with the room. So, if the air conditioner fails, then the room spikes to 90, the cage is heated on top of that, so like 110F. Bad news for snakeypoo.

Yeah I suppose that could happen although I'm not in a hot climate or anything (I think we are basically done with temps over 85F for the summer, we actually haven't been using the A/C all month), I'd be more worried about temp dips at night, but that shouldn't be a huge issue eh? I'm a stay at home mom, so I'm basically home all day, except for maybe an hour here and there. I'll definitely look into the thermostat though, but will probably use a dimmer in the mean time and just keep it to the lower end of ideal to be safe and monitor it frequently until I get one.

She's always cool to touch when I take her out, so I feel bad that she doesn't really have a way to warm herself (besides from my body heat when I hold her), I went to put the lamp on last night and the red bulb was burned out. Apparently the kid I got her from hadn't been using that either, and she'd just been at room temperature. The low on her thermometer said it only went down to 77F last night though, so that's not terrible.

On a side note I didn't know I shouldn't be messing with her or feeding her when her eyes are foggy (opps), but I have been. She's tolerated it well and she ate a thawed mouse last night. I'm torn between leaving her alone until she sheds, and just continuing what I'm doing to warm her up periodically. She hasn't been acting nervous and she's totally not head shy, I can pet her chin and head.

[Kodieh]

It's just a rule of thumb on not feeding or handling in blue. You can, and it won't throw the world off its axis. But, you'll know what does and doesn't do it for your snake.

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[Rickys_Reptiles]

She will always feel "cool to the touch" since her body temperature is always lower than yours.