Proud New BP Owner!!

[wolftrap]

Hey there everyone!

I'm a newcomer to the world of BPs, and I'm not leaving! I went to my very first reptile convention (Repticon in Texas), and after looking at every animal at least twice, the hubby and I decided to go home with a sweet normal female. I had been absorbing information about BPs and snakes in general for the past couple of months prior, and after playing with the husbandry a little, Kira was home! I know it's kind of lame to just have a normal, but really she is so pretty, and I'm a solid believer that there's no such thing as an ugly ball python.

I left her alone for the first week (besides picking her up a little bit before then to check for mites), and then it was time to feed her. The vendor had been feeding all of their animals live fuzzies, so I went to the feed store and picked out possibly the cutest little rat I'd ever seen, along with some frozen fuzzies because I planned on switching her to F/T. I was worried that she wouldn't eat on account of potentially bad husbandry or stress, but she killed and ate without a problem!

48 hours after I fed, I handled her a bit and she was NOT happy... hissed, made a show, kinda made an S shape so I left her alone until she had fed successfully twice, just to make sure that she was happy in her enclosure. The week passed and I tried thawing a frozen fuzzy, again worried that she wouldn't eat because I'd heard how difficult it can be to switch your BP from live to F/T... but after dangling for just a few seconds, she ate without any problems whatsoever!!

I just wanted to share my experience as a new owner, and maybe tell my story of the first couple of weeks and get some pointers about what I should be doing differently, etc. I am now handling Kira for about 10 minutes a day (48 hours after eating and watching for signs of shed, of course), and she is to the point where she will accept handling without hissing or making a show. This post might be boring to some, since I can't even post pictures, but I'm just so proud of my little danger noodle!! It's so difficult for me to find people who want to hear about Kira without wanting to kill her!

[Phillydubs]

Congrats and welcome !

care to share more about your set up?

how are you heating it? Using thermostats I hope ?

all snakes are beautiful in their own right ! Nothing lame about a normal! That’s where it all began and the “wild” type !

my only advice based on what you said would be to maybe handle every other day. Seems like she has calmed down a lot already but you don’t want to over do it.

- - - Updated - - -

Congrats and welcome !

care to share more about your set up?

how are you heating it? Using thermostats I hope ?

all snakes are beautiful in their own right ! Nothing lame about a normal! That’s where it all began and the “wild” type !

my only advice based on what you said would be to maybe handle every other day. Seems like she has calmed down a lot already but you don’t want to over do it.

[pretends2bnormal]

Welcome! Sounds like you're off to a great start!

You've hit on most of the important details that newbies miss (letting her settle in, keeping what the breeder offered for the first few meals to ensure she eats, short handling sessions to start, etc.). The one bit you didnt mention was how you measure temps and humidity, which folks on here strongly recommend digital thermometer/hygromteters and IR temp guns (all can be had for pretty cheap at Walmart or Amazon if you need to find them).

Don't worry about "only picking a normal", all BPs are wonderful and there is definitely appeal for the natural patterning. Im planning to get one as well somewhere down the road. The other way people describe them is as wild type. It sounds much cooler to me.

Glad to see another fellow Texan on here! Good to hear you enjoyed repticon, there were a lot of neat snakes there to see.

If you want to post pictures (which everyone here would love to see), you can use the app tapatalk. Free version works well and you can upload pictures easily with it.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[EL-Ziggy]

Congrats on your new BP. My first snake was a beautiful normal BP. They're a great intro into the hobby. Sounds like your girl is settling in nicely and you all are off to a good start. Make sure your husbandry is dialed in and enjoy! Please share pics when you can.

[Craiga 01453]

Congrats!! Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of snake keeping!!

Sounds like you're off to a good start. Answering the questions above will help us help you though.

My only thought so far, is handling might be a bit rushed. I always advise new keepers to wait for the snake to eat three consecutive meals without refusal. Getting them eating well and consistently is of the utmost importance. And switching prey to F/T would be a new start so three consecutive meals without refusal starting with that meal.

I know it's tempting to want to spend time with your new pet, but their health should be prioritized over handling. You'll have 25+ years to handle your snake, let her get settled in And then start with 2-3 handling sessions a week for 10-20 minutes, gradually increasing time of handling sessions.

Other than that, sounds like you're off to a good start.

And there is nothing at all wrong with or boring about a normal. They are gorgeous animals just the way they were created. My first BP was a normal female back in 1999-2000ish. Gotta love the classics!!

[wolftrap]

Congrats and welcome !

care to share more about your set up?

how are you heating it? Using thermostats I hope ?

all snakes are beautiful in their own right ! Nothing lame about a normal! That’s where it all began and the “wild” type !

my only advice based on what you said would be to maybe handle every other day. Seems like she has calmed down a lot already but you don’t want to over do it.

- - - Updated - - -

Congrats and welcome !

care to share more about your set up?

how are you heating it? Using thermostats I hope ?

all snakes are beautiful in their own right ! Nothing lame about a normal! That’s where it all began and the “wild” type !

my only advice based on what you said would be to maybe handle every other day. Seems like she has calmed down a lot already but you don’t want to over do it.

Thank you!

I'm heating with a UTH pad; no thermostats (yet) but I do use a temp gun frequently to make sure it's not getting too hot, making sure to go through the top screen for a more accurate reading. The "cold" side is about 79/80 F and the "hot" side is 85.

I'll definitely cut down the time I spend with her. Thank you!

[wolftrap]

Welcome! Sounds like you're off to a great start!

You've hit on most of the important details that newbies miss (letting her settle in, keeping what the breeder offered for the first few meals to ensure she eats, short handling sessions to start, etc.). The one bit you didnt mention was how you measure temps and humidity, which folks on here strongly recommend digital thermometer/hygromteters and IR temp guns (all can be had for pretty cheap at Walmart or Amazon if you need to find them).

Don't worry about "only picking a normal", all BPs are wonderful and there is definitely appeal for the natural patterning. Im planning to get one as well somewhere down the road. The other way people describe them is as wild type. It sounds much cooler to me.

Glad to see another fellow Texan on here! Good to hear you enjoyed repticon, there were a lot of neat snakes there to see.

If you want to post pictures (which everyone here would love to see), you can use the app tapatalk. Free version works well and you can upload pictures easily with it.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I do use a temp gun frequently, and I will definitely be getting a thermometer/hygrometer after I do some research about them. Thank you so much for the advice!

[Newbie39]

You might want to grab a thermostat ASAP. I would unplug the mat until you get one. I also have a female normal. Lovely snakes. I believe they actually look the best. Lol. Welcome.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wolftrap]

Congrats on your new BP. My first snake was a beautiful normal BP. They're a great intro into the hobby. Sounds like your girl is settling in nicely and you all are off to a good start. Make sure your husbandry is dialed in and enjoy! Please share pics when you can.

Thank you so much! Certainly will do, I want to show off her beauty wherever I can!

[alittleFREE]

Thank you!

I'm heating with a UTH pad; no thermostats (yet) but I do use a temp gun frequently to make sure it's not getting too hot, making sure to go through the top screen for a more accurate reading. The "cold" side is about 79/80 F and the "hot" side is 85.

I'll definitely cut down the time I spend with her. Thank you!

The screen will obscure the reading in my experience. Need to open the cage and measure the temp on the surface of the glass (I'm assuming you're using a tank).

I would get a thermostat ASAP and actually would consider not using the heat pad until you do. You don't know if there's a temp spike etc. It doesn't take long for the snake to get burned and once they do that's an unfortunate setback in their health and their acclimation. You can get relatively inexpensive on/off thermostats on Amazon for around $30 that will do the trick.