Another new owner

[crackerslapper]

I recently came into the possession of a year old pastel ball python (Pythagoras). He has been a fairly social always moving around kind of explorer of a snake, on his last feeding (friday april 25th) he feed as normal except when he had most of the mouse down he extended about 1/3 / 1/4 of his body vertical and finished consuming the mouse (tail end). Is this normal or a sign of something wrong? Since then he has been in his hot side hide and not coming out as far as i know. I looked him over today to see if he was just starting the molting process; It does not appear so to me. His scales seem to be a bit "duller" than usual, I have not seen any pinkish hue of the underbelly, the eyes seem to be slightly "fogged over" looking. If this is the start of the molting process around how long does it seem to take overall? And should I change anything about his enclosure? his vivarium is 2ft x2.5ft with a heating tape on the underneath on one side with a hide and a water dish over the heat mat, cold side has a water dish and a hide as well (rarely uses the cold hide). I keep the humidity between 60-70% as best i can with work and all. The temp inside seems to stay between 72-78F. I have a couple chunks of treated wood from my local pet store for him to climb around and rub on.

any advice/ input would be much appreciated

Its a post it note for a size/scale refrence.

[whatsherface]

The body lifting thing is normal. Nothing helps food go down like gravity Snakes tend to seek heat after meals to aid digestion, so its usual for him to be hanging out on the warm side. The dull scales and cloudy eyes sound like he's going into shed. Not all bps get the pink hue to the belly, so that's not really a true indicator.

Do you have a thermostat regulating the heat tape? The tape can get really hot and burn the snake if it isn't regulated. You also want to try and keep the ambient temps at 75 at least, the closer to 80 the better.

[crackerslapper]

The body lifting thing is normal. Nothing helps food go down like gravity Snakes tend to seek heat after meals to aid digestion, so its usual for him to be hanging out on the warm side. The dull scales and cloudy eyes sound like he's going into shed. Not all bps get the pink hue to the belly, so that's not really a true indicator.

Do you have a thermostat regulating the heat tape? The tape can get really hot and burn the snake if it isn't regulated. You also want to try and keep the ambient temps at 75 at least, the closer to 80 the better.

I do not have a thermostat checking the temp of the tape; I do have about 3 to 4 inches of aspen reptile bedding over the whole enclosure; What type of thermostat would i need for monitoring the temp of the tape?

- - - Updated - - -

and thank you for the input; it is quite reassuring

[whatsherface]

I use a Hydrofarm thermostat, which is not too expensive and works well. You want to put the probe between your tape and the bottom of the enclosure, then use a thermometer to track the actual temperature inside the enclosure so you can adjust the thermostat accordingly. My thermostat is set to 94 to maintain a hot spot of 90ish. Accurite thermometers are inexpensive and have a probe so you can track both the hot and cold side temps.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[crackerslapper]

Ok; I will look into getting one of them.

on another note my baby had his first shed in my possession (got home at 3am so im not really looking) but it looks as though it was not a 1 piece or complete shed. if this is this case when soaking him to help the old scales/skin off should i let him soak for a bit and then try removing it on his own or should i hold him and help sluff the old stuff off?

[whatsherface]

Best bet is to provide him a humid hide in the future, that will help prevent any incomplete sheds. There are lots of tips on dealing with incomplete sheds in the stickies here.

[crackerslapper]

well good news it was a perfect shed and he was active and looking good and bright when i got home from work

[Mr Oni]

Thermostat man MUST HAVE

He looks good

good job and welcome

[Morris Reese]

Thermostat man MUST HAVE

He looks good

good job and welcome

Mr. Oni said it all.... MUST HAVE! When you add substrate to any UTH or heat tape it acts as an insulation and actually will cause the heat to hold in better, thus making it hotter.