First timer - first BP! Intro

[SpacegirlSpiff]

Hello all! Just wanted to say hi since I've been lurking these posts a lot lately while preparing to receive my first baby BP. I am a first time snake owner, but have loved them since I was a kid ... of course my Mom never entertained the idea of ever letting me have a reptile. Luckily my husband was easier to convince after a while, ha

She is a female Black Pastel (her pic is my avatar), born mid Sept 2016, and I just received her today. She seems pretty sweet and wasn't jumpy at all when I handled her to put her in her home, although she has been very actively exploring her terrarium rather than relaxing... so I assume she is a little bit stressed

Her last feed date was last Thursday on the 2nd, so trying a feed tomorrow would be good, correct? And just keep it on a weekly rate?

the only other issue I seem to be having is keeping temperatures more consistent... they haven't gone WAY out of range or anything, but I'm using a combination of UTH and heat lamp, trying to find the happy medium between the two to have both ideal ground and ambient heat. I think I'm close to figuring it out... I purchased a light dimmer and also a stand so that it's not right up against the screen, hoping that keeps the light from heating up a little too much (my main issue -- it starts out a good temp, but left too long goes a bit too high for my comfort, so it makes me nervous to leave her alone)

Any tips or questions, I'm open! I've been doing A LOT of reading for a good week before this (including on this forum), so hopefully all will be good

[SpacegirlSpiff]

OH, and her name is Calypso

[cletus]

Welcome! I would wait a bit before you feed. I would let her acclimate to her new environment for a week or so. Just put her in and let her be. I wouldn't handle her or anything like that. In 7 to 10 days or so offer a meal and see how she does. It's very important to let them adjust.

[CALM Pythons]

Hello all! Just wanted to say hi since I've been lurking these posts a lot lately while preparing to receive my first baby BP. I am a first time snake owner, but have loved them since I was a kid ... of course my Mom never entertained the idea of ever letting me have a reptile. Luckily my husband was easier to convince after a while, ha

She is a female Black Pastel (her pic is my avatar), born mid Sept 2016, and I just received her today. She seems pretty sweet and wasn't jumpy at all when I handled her to put her in her home, although she has been very actively exploring her terrarium rather than relaxing... so I assume she is a little bit stressed

Her last feed date was last Thursday on the 2nd, so trying a feed tomorrow would be good, correct? And just keep it on a weekly rate?

the only other issue I seem to be having is keeping temperatures more consistent... they haven't gone WAY out of range or anything, but I'm using a combination of UTH and heat lamp, trying to find the happy medium between the two to have both ideal ground and ambient heat. I think I'm close to figuring it out... I purchased a light dimmer and also a stand so that it's not right up against the screen, hoping that keeps the light from heating up a little too much (my main issue -- it starts out a good temp, but left too long goes a bit too high for my comfort, so it makes me nervous to leave her alone)

Any tips or questions, I'm open! I've been doing A LOT of reading for a good week before this (including on this forum), so hopefully all will be good

The light dimmer goes on the UTH. They heat up to 140 degrees and will cool the snake. You want your UTH to be the Hot Spot 88-91 and the Heat Lamp to be the ambient cool temp 76-81...
For a 10-20G tank a 60 wat CHE (Ceramic Heat Emitter) will make it around 80.
You should run a thermostat for the CHE/Heat Lamp. Here is a Sticky you can follow for Aquariums.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-With-Pictures!

[SpacegirlSpiff]

My UTH is already controlled by a thermostat, sorry I should have mentioned! No issues there...I'm using the Jump Start one

I have UTH attached to the bottom of the tank and then the probe is securely taped to the non-sticky side of the UTH with aluminum tape

I use low-watt bulbs along with the controlled UTH to keep ambient temp up, but wanted to get a dimmer for that as well so I can adjust with fluctuations/seasons. I also have a couple of higher watt bulbs too so I can swap out if I need something a bit stronger. I'm in SoCal so temp usually stays pretty moderate (and then hot in the summers), but it's been a bit colder than usual lately during the night so I've noticed the temps are a bit too low when I wake up in the morning

As of now, I've seemed to find a sweet spot during the day time of the UTH t-stat set at 95 and a 40-watt heat bulb ... keeps hot side at around 89-91 and cool side at around 79-80ish ... different spots vary a little

I have two thermometer probes inside the tank (one on each side), and also have a infra-red to double check particular spots and the main hot spot under her hide

a bit of overkill maybe, but I'm a bit obsessive with trying to keep the environment right...at least until I get used to things

[SpacegirlSpiff]

Welcome! I would wait a bit before you feed. I would let her acclimate to her new environment for a week or so. Just put her in and let her be. I wouldn't handle her or anything like that. In 7 to 10 days or so offer a meal and see how she does. It's very important to let them adjust.

Today (2/9) is 7 days since she last fed, and she's 5 months old so still young... isn't that too long to let a baby go without? She was hiding in her hide during the late afternoon/evening (before that was exploring a lot, but then seemed to calm down and rest for awhile).... but once night time hit, she came out again and was prowling a lot... I'm sure much of that is nerves/exploring, but I also wondered if maybe she's hungry too

[Slither Seeker]

from what I've read, if they are stressed it's best to let them calm down before adding food to the mix. digestion takes energy and I would think that it's best if they have had a chance to establish their happy spots in terms of temperature within the enclosure. I found with my two BP's that they settled right in and I fed them within a few days. With my BR Boa, when he was young, he did get very active when hungry, so I guess you'll have to get a sense of the timing and just make a call, IMHO. from what I gather, if they aren't happy, they won't eat.

[SpacegirlSpiff]

Well, I figured I would offer a thawed/warmed medium mouse just in case she was hungry and willing to eat, since it was day 7... made peace with the fact that if she didnt eat I'd waste a mouse but at least I tried...

I'm happy to report.... she took it! She didn't get the best grip on it with the strike, and it took her awhile to adjust and finally start to swallow it, but she persisted and finally did it, and now she's curled up in the corner peacefully

Success! My first time ever feeding a snake as well... I admit my heart skipped some when she struck lol

[CALM Pythons]

All mine come out at night, thats good and normal. Surfing the glass during the day for hours on end means stress... Peaking out if the hide or coming out quick is curiosity or may be a bit hungry. Young Balls can go 8 months without eating, don't worry...
Ps: I see you just posted she ate.. Great!!!!

[anthroterra]

Congrats! Beautiful snake. Welcome to the addiction lol. Looks like you're monitoring heat well. How are you keeping up with humidity? Do you have a hydrometer in there? It took me a bit to get that right when I first started, which led to a couple of bad sheds, so I like to check in with new owners