Just got 2 pythons

[DerekG4]

Recently I just bought 2 ball pythons and I was wondering if they look healthy. I bought a baby female Mojave on Thanksgiving that was being sold by a breeder for only $50, I figured that was a pretty good deal and I bought her. She looks pretty healthy, no deformities, weight seems fine (She's 64.2 grams and 26 days old). I guess she was just so cheap for the fact she was a small hatchling, but for a hatchling she's eating fine. The breeder told me shes eaten 3x and has shed once. 2 days later I attempted feeding her and she happily took it. I'm not really concerned about her at all, she seems as healthy as she can be (at least to me).

This is also the second time I own a snake in general, so I'm not exactly that experienced with them. (If you want to see the post I had when I owned my first snake, here's the link: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-a-Ball-Python ) I researched a lot more before I bought the Mojave, so I'd say I'm ready now.

However, yesterday at my job (I work at a pet store, Beverly's Pet Center to be exact) and they had brought a bunch of different ball python morphs for Black Friday. I noticed they had 2 Blue Eyed Leucistics and I immediately wanted one, especially since both were male (I was planning on breeding my Mojave to a BEL in the future). No one really knew however when was the last time it ate, what morphs are the parents, it's age, etc. Just that it was a male (I'm sure its a male too, it has some fairly large spurs) and they said it was hungry (I tried feeding it the same day I bought it, he didn't want to get the hopper, which I knew he wouldn't want, so I just fed it to the Mojave). Since I saw it at work and it was fairly cheap for a BEL ($325), I thought I'd buy it. So far it looks healthy to me but I'd like to make sure here that it really is healthy.

His size and weight look okay to me, he's about 104.6 grams. He appears a tad bit skinnier than the female Mojave but he seems to be at an appropriate weight anyway
He seems to have a few grey specks on his neck, but I'm 90% sure its just his color so I wouldn't worry about it.
He's a little shy and hissy. I went to open his tub and I noticed he spilled his bowl of water and soaked the paper towel. I picked him up to change the towel and he hissed a lot, no strikes though.
His breathing seems normal, doesn't seem to have any mites, mouth looks healthy (No brown spots or mucus), scales look fine (other than the grey specks which I'm not entirely sure if it is his color) and his weight seems ok.

Mainly I just want to ask how they both look and if they look okay. Also wanted to ask what size mouse should I feed the BEL, how old do you guys think he might be, and around what size/age should I start feeding them Frozen/Thawed.

Gimme a few minutes and I'll post both their setups and pics of the pythons.

[DerekG4]

Top to bottom: my BEL's setup, my Mojave's setup, side view close up of the BEL, full shot of the BEL, the Mojave before eating, screenshot of my Mojave's feeding video (couldn't post a video, otherwise I would)

[oodaT]

I'd definitely switch up hides that are identical to each other, one on each hot and cold side. Alot if open space in the tank and open sides, could possibly lead to problems down the road with either not feeling secure enough in the tank. Are you using UTH?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[DerekG4]

Yes, I'm using under tank heaters.

Those were all the hides I had, so I had to improvise and make hides out of dried coconuts I had in my back yard.

[Stormy]

Recently I just bought 2 ball pythons and I was wondering if they look healthy. I bought a baby female Mojave on Thanksgiving that was being sold by a breeder for only $50, I figured that was a pretty good deal and I bought her. She looks pretty healthy, no deformities, weight seems fine (She's 64.2 grams and 26 days old). I guess she was just so cheap for the fact she was a small hatchling, but for a hatchling she's eating fine. The breeder told me shes eaten 3x and has shed once. 2 days later I attempted feeding her and she happily took it. I'm not really concerned about her at all, she seems as healthy as she can be (at least to me).

This is also the second time I own a snake in general, so I'm not exactly that experienced with them. (If you want to see the post I had when I owned my first snake, here's the link: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-a-Ball-Python ) I researched a lot more before I bought the Mojave, so I'd say I'm ready now.

However, yesterday at my job (I work at a pet store, Beverly's Pet Center to be exact) and they had brought a bunch of different ball python morphs for Black Friday. I noticed they had 2 Blue Eyed Leucistics and I immediately wanted one, especially since both were male (I was planning on breeding my Mojave to a BEL in the future). No one really knew however when was the last time it ate, what morphs are the parents, it's age, etc. Just that it was a male (I'm sure its a male too, it has some fairly large spurs) and they said it was hungry (I tried feeding it the same day I bought it, he didn't want to get the hopper, which I knew he wouldn't want, so I just fed it to the Mojave). Since I saw it at work and it was fairly cheap for a BEL ($325), I thought I'd buy it. So far it looks healthy to me but I'd like to make sure here that it really is healthy.

His size and weight look okay to me, he's about 104.6 grams. He appears a tad bit skinnier than the female Mojave but he seems to be at an appropriate weight anyway
He seems to have a few grey specks on his neck, but I'm 90% sure its just his color so I wouldn't worry about it.
He's a little shy and hissy. I went to open his tub and I noticed he spilled his bowl of water and soaked the paper towel. I picked him up to change the towel and he hissed a lot, no strikes though.
His breathing seems normal, doesn't seem to have any mites, mouth looks healthy (No brown spots or mucus), scales look fine (other than the grey specks which I'm not entirely sure if it is his color) and his weight seems ok.

Mainly I just want to ask how they both look and if they look okay. Also wanted to ask what size mouse should I feed the BEL, how old do you guys think he might be, and around what size/age should I start feeding them Frozen/Thawed.

Gimme a few minutes and I'll post both their setups and pics of the pythons.

Spurs are are not an indication of sex; you need to have the snake probed or popped by someone who is experienced sexing snakes to be certain if it’s male or female.

Is the UTH regulated by a thermoSTAT? If not please unplug it immediately until you get one, all heat sources need to be regulated.

[DerekG4]

Spurs are are not an indication of sex; you need to have the snake probed or popped by someone who is experienced sexing snakes to be certain if it’s male or female

Either way, I'm sure the Mojave is a definite female (I trust the breeder) and the BEL I'm fairly sure anyway is male, I'd pop him but since he's new I don't want to pop him and stress him out. At least not until like maybe a couple weeks have passed. I only popped a snake once, so I can't say I'm experienced in that.

Is the UTH regulated by a thermoSTAT? If not please unplug it immediately until you get one, all heat sources need to be regulated.

It is not, I figured there was no point in having it since the heater is hardly going any higher than 92 degrees, but if it really is needed I'll order one. At the moment I don't have a heater for the BEL, but I ordered a 1-5 gallon heater for his tub that should be arriving Tuesday. He's currently in my closet where it's about 78-80 degrees. The thermostat is to make sure the heater doesn't randomly malfunction, yes? If that was the case, I thought there wouldn't really be a need either since its a brand new heater.

[PitOnTheProwl]

A thermostat is ALWAYS needed.
Get a temp gun and check what the surface of the glass is UNDER you substrate.

[BallPythonWannaBe]

Either way, I'm sure the Mojave is a definite female (I trust the breeder) and the BEL I'm fairly sure anyway is male, I'd pop him but since he's new I don't want to pop him and stress him out. At least not until like maybe a couple weeks have passed. I only popped a snake once, so I can't say I'm experienced in that.



It is not, I figured there was no point in having it since the heater is hardly going any higher than 92 degrees, but if it really is needed I'll order one. At the moment I don't have a heater for the BEL, but I ordered a 1-5 gallon heater for his tub that should be arriving Tuesday. He's currently in my closet where it's about 78-80 degrees. The thermostat is to make sure the heater doesn't randomly malfunction, yes? If that was the case, I thought there wouldn't really be a need either since its a brand new heater.

A thermostat also keeps the UTH at the set temp either by shutting off heat until it reaches that temp or by bringing it down. The Jump-start thermostat is a good one and is about $30 on Amazon. Even if a UTH is new it can malfunction.

[DerekG4]

A thermostat is ALWAYS needed.
Get a temp gun and check what the surface of the glass is UNDER you substrate.

I did, its 91.5

A thermostat also keeps the UTH at the set temp either by shutting off heat until it reaches that temp or by bringing it down. The Jump-start thermostat is a good one and is about $30 on Amazon. Even if a UTH is new it can malfunction.

Can I use 1 thermostat for the 2 heaters?

I personally never saw a reason to buy thermostats, I've always had my leopard geckos on their UTHs without any thermostats for about 4-5 years (I always check it about once a week to see how hot it is) and I've never had any problems, however I do have them on a thick layer of substrate for whatever reason it does malfunction. I only have 1 thermostat for my Blue Tongue Skink's light because his cage is outside and I know it can get pretty hot outside.

[Godzilla78]

Ball pythons are not lizards. They have different heat requirements and not using a thermostat is a horrible idea.