New Member, new BP - Rochester NY

[bgcole]

Hi All -
Just wanted to say hi, im new the the BP world. my son Ezra is 5, about a year ago he said he wanted a BP. I said for his 5th bday he could have one - figuring we would either get one, or he would lose interest. He spent the next year planning and reading, counting down the days. I spent about a month before reading and learning when i realized this was defiantly happening so i didnt go into this thing blind - plus i had alot of herps as a kid, just never a BP. We have had our male BP for about 4 weeks now.

We have been told he hatched in december of 12'. I havent measured him but i would say hes pretty close to 24" long, and about the thickness of a good size italian sausage, probably a little thicker. I dont know his weight but i plan to do that at some point soon. I got him at a country max near me which acquired him from a breader so hes captive raised, they had him for about 6 months, we held him there about 3 times over the course of 2 months. They told me the source, but i dont remember - extreme something maybe - i know it was california

setup is a glass tank with two hides (stacked rocks) with Zoo med UTH under one of them, and a heat lamp over the other. Seems that he spends about an equal amount of time under each, maybe favors the UTH side 60/40. I dont have a thermostat hooked up to UTH, seems to stay at a constant 105F measured on the glass right in middle, which translates to about 92 - 95F on top of substrate. At some point i would like to get this hooked up to a thermostat. Humidity has been a bit of a challenge to regulate but i seem to have been able to get it to stay around 60/65% with half the tank top covered. Actually ambient temp has been the hardest because its a tall tank, but after covering half the tank its in the 85 range. I know the tank is a bit on the large side but there is plenty of hides and it seemed there was a difference of opinions on whether this was super important anyways. My footprint is 30x12".

He does climb pretty regularly...at night...when my son is asleep haha

Has fed twice, first time we fed him was in a separate tank, and it was almost instant feed response about a week after bringing him home. week two he wouldnt take it in the feeding tank, skipped the feeding. Week 3 (yesterday) he wouldn't take it in the feed tank... So after some reading, i put him back in his cage and left the frozen pinkie in there under the heat lamp. was gone this morning. that was a whole lot easier than dangling a mouse for 20 minutes with tongs, unless someone tells me otherwise, ill probably keep doing it that way

The frozen pinkies are i would say about half the size of his thickest point but about double the size of his neck right behind head. from what ive learned this is probably on the small side... thoughts? He has pooped once

Been trying to limit the handling especially the first few weeks... hes been much more active in handling the last couple weeks.

So - probably a little long winded, but if you see anything i have totally wrong or any unsolicited advice i'd love to hear it. Want to learn as much as i can. I dont know much about warning signs to watch for either for illness or discomfort, failure to thrive....

Ben

[Mephibosheth1]

glad you came to the forum; hope to see and hear lots about this little guy's progress.

And kudos for cultivating a live of herps in your son; more kids need that

My advice for you would be to get a thermostst ASAP. 105 at the glass is pretty dang hot, and if your snake decides to nestle into the substrate you could end up with some burns. Hydrofarm is the cheap solution; Herpstat is the pricier one, but more reliable in the long run.

Also, make sure the pinkie is thawed AND up to room temp at least before putting it in the tank; if its too cold you can have problems should the snake eat it before it's warmed up enough.

Size wise, you want a prey item that is about as thick as the thickest part of the snake's body; this translates to 10-15% of their body weight. Once you get a scale to weigh him it'll be easy to find the proper size.

[bgcole]

Thanks - Will keep both of your points in mind.

[Cissin]

Mouse Pinkie Or Rat Pinkie? Mouse Pinkie is way to small. Get a scale as said above. Also feed prey items about the same size of the widest part of the snakes body. It might look like there is no way the snake would be able to swallow it but they will. Also try to get him onto Rats if he's not already. Also the Zilla 11939 Temperature Controller is a great thermostat and it's pretty cheap. You can find it on amazon. I got mine for 21$ shipped. Also how are you measuring the temperatures? Wal-Mart carries an AcuRite Indoor / Outdoor Thermometer. It measures 2 temperatures and humidity. Costs about 12$. You place the probe on the hot spot and the actual unit on the opposite side of the tank to get the cold side.

[toyota89]

Welcome I live near canandaigua and go to school in Rochester. If you need anything let me know.


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