first python (childrens).. suggestions possibly needed

[Clay]

just picked him up at the Expo..
he's a 6 month old children's python..
the wife was not impressed but I'm hoping since he's a small breed she will warm up to him..
I did a lot of research on them before purchasing so I was super excited to actually find one for sale.. never seen them locally at the pet store and was shocked not many of the employees actually knew what they were..





I had some trouble getting him to eat his first fuzzy because I thought ur suppose to feed them out of the tank and he was really not interested in it.. i waited until night when he was moving around his tank than dropped it in, he snatched it up an ate it no prob so I'm excited about that.. I'm giving him his 2 days then I'll handle him some more tomorrow as I want him to be a tame guy..


Tub is a bit big but they didn't really have an in between size at Walmart. . Was either too small or too big and I really liked the lid locking system on this one



Inside the tank.. I'm not sure if my hygrometer is suppose to go in the tank either but I did tape the probe in the corner of the hotter side as u may be able to see in the pic below..

*i know the Hides should be the same size but the guy at the Expo said i needed Larges but i knew i could fit 2 larges in the tub so i grabbed one Large and a medium, as u see they just fit..


Tank



i do have one concern however.. one of you with a keen eye will notice the tank temp is only 75F.. i've got the UTH on a thermostat set for 32.5C (90.5-91) cuz i couldn't figure out how to switch it to F but it doesn't seem heat the entire tank.. my room temp is 75F.. i was thinking of an infrared heat bulbs but because the tank and lid are plastic i don't really have a way to set that up..
humidity however is perfect with the little water dish.. should i get him a bigger water dish, if i can even fit one?


I did want to get some suggestions on the tank set up however and make sure everything is OK as this is my first python..
I've got a 7 yr old bearded dragon who took a bit of money and time to get his tank right so I wanna do this right the first time..

[Penultimate]

How big are the hides compared to the python? Those look huge.

[Clay]

How big are the hides compared to the python? Those look huge.

the medium sees to fit him perfectly.. the large hide is on the hot side so he's always in there and takes up a little less than half of the hide.. usually hides in one of the corners..
i still wanna check the ground below the hide since the UTH is under it, make sure it's getting enough heat through as the UTH is wrapped with foil tape as suggested around the internet so the tub doesn't melt and so i can re-use the UTH

[Skiploder]

Nice little snake you got there.

Antaresia in general warm up with age, not handling. They can be defensively nippy as babies and lose that as they gain some size and settle in.

75 is okay for an ambient but a little higher would not hurt. May be hard to raise the ambient in that small container without throwing some other parameters off....there are some ways you can bump the ambient up a few degrees...PM me for more details if interested.

Childreni like to climb and are an animal that - while capable of existing in a tub - really show much more of the natural behavior in an environment where they can stretch their legs (in a manner of speaking). Unlike ball pythons, once acclimated they can show a tendency to spend less and less time in their hides.

[T_Sauer]

Your gonna want to move that probe outside the tub .... Tape it between the uth and bottom of the tub .... You never want to use tape inside of a snake enclosure .... Everything else looks great and nice looking lil snake as well

[jclaiborne]

I saw that you posted in the Childrens Python Thread as well. Look through the 15 pages to see the evolution of some of the cages http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ic-post/page15 . Like Skip said they warm up with age, not so much on the handling side. They are very active and love to climb, so I too would move away from the tub and try to produce a naturalistic environment for him. I have a water dish in my cage that is big enough for him to soak in. Everytime I put fresh water in it he is over drinking. My guy is a just shy of 3ft and he is in a 36inx18inx16in cage and he uses every inch of it so much that I feel like he needs bigger. My house ambients are around 75 as well and the only heating I have for his cage is a UTH. I actually have keep my hot spot warmer in the high 90s to 100F range.

[Clay]

...

Childreni like to climb and are an animal that - while capable of existing in a tub - really show much more of the natural behavior in an environment where they can stretch their legs (in a manner of speaking). Unlike ball pythons, once acclimated they can show a tendency to spend less and less time in their hides.

i did originally have him in a 20gal tub i borrowed from my brother than i seen everyone used the tubs so i grabbed one cuz they said pythons don't really climb but it was hard to find info on Childreni pythons so i was just grabbing general python info

i'll shoot you a PM in regards to bumping up the temp a bit too

[Clay]

Your gonna want to move that probe outside the tub .... Tape it between the uth and bottom of the tub .... You never want to use tape inside of a snake enclosure .... Everything else looks great and nice looking lil snake as well

that probe is for the hygrometer.. i already have the thermostat probe between the tub and UTH..

thanks for the feedback.. i want to get the set up right so i can keep him a long time, he's great and hasn't bitten once so i think im on the right track haha

[Clay]

I saw that you posted in the Childrens Python Thread as well. Look through the 15 pages to see the evolution of some of the cages http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ic-post/page15 . Like Skip said they warm up with age, not so much on the handling side. They are very active and love to climb, so I too would move away from the tub and try to produce a naturalistic environment for him. I have a water dish in my cage that is big enough for him to soak in. Everytime I put fresh water in it he is over drinking. My guy is a just shy of 3ft and he is in a 36inx18inx16in cage and he uses every inch of it so much that I feel like he needs bigger. My house ambients are around 75 as well and the only heating I have for his cage is a UTH. I actually have keep my hot spot warmer in the high 90s to 100F range.

i'll start checking more pages on that thread.. did you build a custom tank than??
i just gave my brother his 20gal tank and bragged up my tub setting so i didn't really wanna beg to use his tank again plus i've always had a hard time keeping proper heat temps in glass tanks with my beardies in the past.. not sure if it's our room set up let's a lot of air through or what..
i'm very short on funds as well as the wife has cut me off on spending since i secretly bought the snake and she wasn't a fan haha

as for climbing i've got the one stick but he doesn't seem very interested in it.. he usually just goes on or behind his hide when he's out.. the tub is fairly tall i could figure out something for climbing tho, any suggestions? ill check around google for some idea's as well

[jclaiborne]

i'll start checking more pages on that thread.. did you build a custom tank than??
i just gave my brother his 20gal tank and bragged up my tub setting so i didn't really wanna beg to use his tank again plus i've always had a hard time keeping proper heat temps in glass tanks with my beardies in the past.. not sure if it's our room set up let's a lot of air through or what..
i'm very short on funds as well as the wife has cut me off on spending since i secretly bought the snake and she wasn't a fan haha

as for climbing i've got the one stick but he doesn't seem very interested in it.. he usually just goes on or behind his hide when he's out.. the tub is fairly tall i could figure out something for climbing tho, any suggestions? ill check around google for some idea's as well

I haven't built a custom cage for him yet, he is still in a glass tank for the time being as I am focusing on finishing my tegu and Blueys' cages. That being said he will probably end up in a 4x2x2 cage down the road. On the last few pics of that thread you will see my current cage as it sits today with plenty of rocks, wood pieces, branches, dirt substrate and moss. I cover the top of the cage with a towel over the screen for now and provide a LED light for the day/night cycle. I also covered the 3 sides of his enclosure so that he couldn't see out of it. You need to give your lil guy some time, they are so tiny, I'd say once you get the enclosure setup right let him settle for a month and you will see him out exploring. IMO those hides are way too big. Mine has never used a hide like that. I put pieces of cork flat in the cage and he wedged himself in there when he wants to hide. (I am not saying my setup is perfect, and there are many ways to care for each snake) but I have seen positive changes in his behavior and activity when providing him with the setup I have now. Any questions feel free to ask.