New Ball Python Owner, Need help and assurance.

[FeathersRuff]

So Recently I became a owner of an 8 month old female BP. She's been with me for almost a week now. I wouldn't have got her if it wasn't for my uncle who already has two of them and basically taught me what I know now of how to take care of her. His way of taking care of his will probably majorly differ from your advice so I'm kinda conflicted with what to go with, so thats why I'm asking for your help.

So far she's been really good. She hasn't hissed at all when I pick her up anymore. Mainly all she does is curl up under her bedding and rest, sometimes coming out to drink or just stare. Before I brought her home she was with my uncle while I got all the things I needed to care for her. I brought her home a few days ago and she's been doing fine. I already fed her once with no problem. She did look at the mouse for a few minutes but then struck down on it. After that I let her digest for 48 hours. Recently (as in just an hour before typing this) I took her out of her tank to handle her for an hour. She was perfectly fine, she loves to slither around me and try to explore the world, but I make sure she stays on me because I don't want her getting caught in my cushions. My uncle said that its good to handle her often so she gets used to it and myself. She's a bit head shy, which I'm working on. I gently run my fingers down the base of her neck but sometimes she just jerk back a bit. I want her to get used to being handled so she can became more relaxed. I cleaned her tank a bit before I put her back in. When I did she was moving around the walls for a bit before settling down. I guess maybe she wanted to see her clean tank?

Now, after seeking help from the r/Snake subreddit, I was basically told everything I was doing was wrong. I should not be handling her at all for a week and when she slithers around me she's actually trying to escape me. I was kinda shocked to say the least. She didn't seem stressed to me. I mean I know if they move around their tank a lot thats a sign, but I thought she was just checking things out. She rarely ever does that anyway. Heck, I ever touched her nose to mine while holding her and she didn't mind. I can tell she can be a little uneasy, but thats only because I haven't handled her enough yet. But now I'm being told I shouldn't be handling her at all, for at least a week. I don't want her to not get used to me after being held. If I just leave her in her tank for a week and then pick her up wouldnt she go back to being uneasy?

As you can tell I'm kind of conflicted with what I'm being told. My uncle says everything I'm doing is ok, she's just being curious and wants to explore, shes happy and it'll take time and regular handling to ease her. But then I have other people (on reddit) telling me I'm doing everything wrong and I should leave her alone for quite a long time.

Sorry for the long post, but I've been looking up all my questions here since I got her and I figured I could use some sound advice from some smart people.

[redshepherd]

The handling isn't like an extremely strict rule that you're breaking, but it is just recommended to not handle a new snake in a new enclosure until they take at least one or two (which is better) meals consistently. But if she was with your uncle in the same enclosure, same setup, and the ride home was only a few minutes or something, plus she already ate a meal with you... I don't think there's much of a problem!

If she ends up refusing a meal later on though, then you know to avoid handling her for a couple weeks until she takes a couple meals for you consistently.

If that's your only issue and your husbandry and equipment is all correct, sounds like everything's fine to me.

[stickyalvinroll]

Please summarize the question

[Seven-Thirty]

There's only really a few things that are set in stone and you should stay away from the subreddit. They hate anyone who doesn't think like them.

For husbandry, is the temperature on the hot spot and ambient temps okay? Does she have belly heat? (Heat lamps arent ideal for ball pythons) Does she have a place to hide? Is she shedding in one complete piece? (This one you'll find out soon and it is related to the humidity) Does she have water?

Those are pretty much the things set in stone. Im just running through the things in my head so Im sure i've missed one and im sure you've done most of these things. The week thing is generally what you do when you get a snek in the mail or an expo or anywhere that requires a long drive or was a stressful situation for the snake. If your snake is eating it's safe to say that everything is okay. A sign that she is stressed around you is if she feels hard to the touch. Ball pythons tense up when stressed or scared so yeah.

another to note is that the week of not handling thing is also sort of a reset button for any problems the snaje may have like not feeding. It isn't fool proof but it works sometimes.

all in all im sure you're doing fine.

[Rob]

If you have the basic husbandry down and its eating and shedding fine you're doing just fine. People will tell you everything you are doing is wrong if it's not exactly what they do. Or it's been repeated by the Internet snake gods so many times everyone just follows blindly. There are a ton of Golden rules in the snake world you will learn can be broken. If you have a healthy feeding snake you're doing it right.


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[FeathersRuff]

The handling isn't like an extremely strict rule that you're breaking, but it is just recommended to not handle a new snake in a new enclosure until they take at least one or two (which is better) meals consistently. But if she was with your uncle in the same enclosure, same setup, and the ride home was only a few minutes or something, plus she already ate a meal with you... I don't think there's much of a problem!

If she ends up refusing a meal later on though, then you know to avoid handling her for a couple weeks until she takes a couple meals for you consistently.

If that's your only issue and your husbandry and equipment is all correct, sounds like everything's fine to me.

First of all, thank you all for your really good assurance and advice. I feel really comfortable with trusting you for this knowledge.
Well the way I bought her was we picked her up at an reptile Expo. Brought her to my uncles where she stayed for a week. She was in a plastic tub with a water dish and hide (Which she has now outgrown). The tub was placed in one of his snakes tanks. He said while she was there she was doing just fine. She ate her first mouse and everything was good. He even handled her for a while. When the day came to bring her home, we unfortunately needed to bring her on the car ride with us to pick up her supplies for her tank. There really was no other way as traffic back and forth was horrible. She was in the car for about a couple hours.
Now yes I know that must have REALLY stressed her out and I thought so. So when I got home I settled her in and left her alone for a while. She seemed pretty cool, only hissed once but after that never again. When I first fed her myself, she didnt take right away, so I dangled the mouse infront of her for a few minutes, then she took it. I let her digest for the 48 hours as well. About a could days later I had to clean her tub because of the condensation. I had to place her in her tank just for a few minutes while I cleaned it. Needless to say she loved her new plant, she finally got to climb on it for a few seconds before I put her back.

There's only really a few things that are set in stone and you should stay away from the subreddit. They hate anyone who doesn't think like them.

For husbandry, is the temperature on the hot spot and ambient temps okay? Does she have belly heat? (Heat lamps arent ideal for ball pythons) Does she have a place to hide? Is she shedding in one complete piece? (This one you'll find out soon and it is related to the humidity) Does she have water?

Those are pretty much the things set in stone. Im just running through the things in my head so Im sure i've missed one and im sure you've done most of these things. The week thing is generally what you do when you get a snek in the mail or an expo or anywhere that requires a long drive or was a stressful situation for the snake. If your snake is eating it's safe to say that everything is okay. A sign that she is stressed around you is if she feels hard to the touch. Ball pythons tense up when stressed or scared so yeah.

another to note is that the week of not handling thing is also sort of a reset button for any problems the snaje may have like not feeding. It isn't fool proof but it works sometimes.

all in all im sure you're doing fine.

The temps seem to be ok, around the 85-87 range. If by belly heat you mean a heater under her tank, no not yet. I do have one but I haven't set it up because I don't have the proper cable to control the temp for it just yet. Right now she sits in her tub that sits in her tank. Sadly the hide I have for her is too big for the tub, but she does crawl under the bedding a lot and rest. As for shedding she hasnt shedded just yet. I was told she shed just before I bought her. And she does have water, I make sure at all times.

When I handler her she does tense up a bit, not alot just when I stroke certain parts of her body. I'm not sure if that isnt normal, but I would think so. Just a side affect of not being handled too much.

Below I have provided pictures of her current tank.




Now you may be wondering why is she in a tub in her tank. My uncle told me to wait at least a month before I put her in the tank itself because it'll be too big for her. Sadly I cannot put her hide in her tub as it is too large for the tub and only squish her up and her waterbowl.

I am thinking I will need to set up a weekly schedule with her, I'm the kind of person that likes to be organized and if I follow a weekly regiment with her the process will go a lot smoother. If you guys are willing to help me figure something out I've be really greatful. I'll also need to know if I should start now on leaving her alone for a week or two. I'll hafta feed her next week and change her water dish, but other than that I won't handle her.

Oh I should probably point out Wednesday evening is her feeding time, so she'll be fed by me for a second time next week.

[chrid16371]

85 is a little low for the warm side imo, you want warm side 88-92 and cool side 78-82. You can make a hide out of a small card board box or anything. You want the hide to be snug when she balls up in it. So if your snake can ball up in the tub you should be able to make a hide to put in the tub. Also there should be a 1 hide on the warm side and 1 hide on the cool side. If you only use one hide she will always be in it and most likely wont regulate her body temp correctly. Also you need the 2 hides to be identical bc if there not she may chose the more secure one and not regulate temp properly. I always recommend the reptile basics hides bc that's what was recommended to me and my male now regulates his body temp and never was before. The hides I recommended are very dark inside and very secure, your snake would feel very comfortable in them.

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[FeathersRuff]

Just a little update, I made a little hide for her out of a coke 12 pack end. Its on the basking side of the tub so I hope she goes for it soon.

[Aercadia]

Please summarize the question

Do you ever do anything but talk down to people? If you don't have time to read the post, don't comment on it.

[stickyalvinroll]

Do you ever do anything but talk down to people? If you don't have time to read the post, don't comment on it.

95% of my posts are helpful or encouraging....