So a little more than a week ago, I got a ball python as my first reptile. I've been watching him pretty carefully...at least partially because I'm paranoid and don't want to screw this up.

Also yes, I did get him at a pet store. I know, I know! I checked him over with my limited knowledge when I got him, and I was impatient, I admit. I didn't want to wait for Colorado to stop its winter madness to get my new snake.

So the second day I owned him was a feeding day by their schedule, but he was having none of it. No surprise, as he was in a new environment. He ate this last Saturday with no issues, though as I research more, the store definitely had him on too small of food.

Anyway, I'm worried he might be stressed because he's shown a few symptoms. Most of the times he's been removed from his (glass) tank, upon return he'll spend a good amount of time exploring, especially checking the ceiling corners for an exit. The most worrying was that rather than settle down, he did this after his last meal. I've attributed that specifically to the size of the food, which I'll be correcting next week. He's also been sitting with his head at the door of his hide when he's in it, which I understand is a sign of looking for prey?

He spends most of his hide time in the hide on his cool side, though I think that might be due to going a bit big (and with a second entrance) on his hot hide. I'm going to fix that up shortly with newspaper to close off the second entrance and give him a better sense of tightness.

The glass tank has been a bit of an issue. Another situation where I should've researched more, I know. I wanted a display piece, and wasn't aware enough of PVC setups to know that glass was not the only good looking option. I've currently got humidity staying around 44, because Colorado fights me to get it to stay any higher. I have a controller coming tomorrow for the humidifier I have to solve that issue. Over the top as far as a BP needs, I know, but I have a bad habit of throwing money at a problem to fix it. More secure sealing of the mesh top has held humidity better, but also heat so the hot side is around 99. Plan to fix THAT with a lower watt bulb. It's a lot of learning, but I'm getting there tank wise.

So in summation, he shows some decent signs of stress, mostly the exploring and trying to escape pretty often. On the plus side, he's shown no issues towards myself since I just recently started handling me. Doesn't stay balled up, perfectly content to slide over my hands and arms, has never snapped at me. I'm fairly certain that getting his temps/humidity figured out, and a better size meal should right any issues, but I'm also making this because he's new, and I'm new to this. It's hard for me to tell what is an issue and what is just an idiosyncratic snake.

I appreciate any help. More than anything I'm just trying to make sure I do right by the snake, and he doesn't suffer for my inexperience. Or maybe I'll be told I'm paranoid and that will help me relax a bit on this. I shall see.