New BP owner

[K80tik]

first off this forum site is EXTREMELY helpful and everyone is very helpful. well i just bought a 20'' bp about 5 days ago. my first snake and i love it! i get off work and sit in front of the tank and just watch her move about or just chill out. but she is very aggressive i would say. some people i have talked to say its due to her being stressed of a new place. she strikes at my hand 3 times while putting my hand in her tank. i do wash my hands before i put my hands in there. i have not fed her for the 5 days i have owned her. im thinking of doing it cause she seems hungry. the guy at pet store said her last time being fed was saturday. 1 of my friends said just leave her alone for 5 days, feed her her first meal, then i can handle her. i SOOO just want to hold her but i dont need her strikeing at me over and over. any ideas from all you BP veterans in here know why she can be so tempermental? i went and got her a 55 gal terrarium with glass lids. she has 2 hides. 2 dish's for water, i use 1 right over a UTH for humidity. her temperatures are 89 on hot side and 79 on cool side. humidity is at 46% i have 2 digital thermometer/hydrometers on each side to monitor everything. her bedding is cypress and theres a few drift logs in there ill post pics as soon as i can. i just wanted to know about her reasons to act as she is. ive researched for the last 5 days everyday after work about BP and they are quite interesting. any advice anyone has is welcome. thanks alot!

[jglass38]

Welcome!

Bump those temps up to 82-84 on the cool and 92-94 on the warm. A 55 gal is an enormous tank for a small BP. I would suggest something smaller at least for now. This is most likely causing security issues and is the reason for the striking. If you must use the 55 gal, put a bunch more hides in there and things to fill in the spaces like fake plants or even crumpled up newspaper. Leave her/him alone for at least a week to get settled in before offering a meal or handling at all.

[K80tik]

thanks a bunch. its funny really i read alot of peoples opinions and they all differ. but i agree, only reason i got a 55 is cause im in the u.s. army and my friend is leaving for japan in a week he had a burm and got rid of it. he sold me a 55 gal with heat lamps, 4 heat pads, rock hides, drift woods, a 20 gal seperate tank (said for feeding) heat lamps stands and a bunch of vet type sprays for snakes. all for 100 bucks. everything is about 4 months old so i figured i got a deal.
i want to bump the temps up but i dont want to fry it just spooked but i guess its a learning experience. she loves to burrow under all her dish's and the subtrate. is there a recommended way to bump temps up? on hot side is 2 heat pads and two small heat lamps holding that temp. i bought the second one and placed on side of glass but didnt really raise it all that much.
should i feed her after 6 days since her last feed? maybe it will calm her down a little. i just want to make her feel at home and unstressed.

btw thanks for the welcome. i look forward to a long well established relationship with my baby and getting to know everyone here

[Holy Balls]

I'm also a new Bp owner. My snake did the same thing ( striking ). I came to this site and found a world info. I got temps and humidity right as mentioned in the first reply, let it get use to it's new home and surroundings. Now it looks better and is less stressed out. All thanks to this site. My advice to you is watch your temps and humidty, come to this site, always something new to find out. Also find a vet in your area.
P.S. Thank you for your service in the Army

[jglass38]

thanks a bunch. its funny really i read alot of peoples opinions and they all differ. but i agree, only reason i got a 55 is cause im in the u.s. army and my friend is leaving for japan in a week he had a burm and got rid of it. he sold me a 55 gal with heat lamps, 4 heat pads, rock hides, drift woods, a 20 gal seperate tank (said for feeding) heat lamps stands and a bunch of vet type sprays for snakes. all for 100 bucks. everything is about 4 months old so i figured i got a deal.
i want to bump the temps up but i dont want to fry it just spooked but i guess its a learning experience. she loves to burrow under all her dish's and the subtrate. is there a recommended way to bump temps up? on hot side is 2 heat pads and two small heat lamps holding that temp. i bought the second one and placed on side of glass but didnt really raise it all that much.
should i feed her after 6 days since her last feed? maybe it will calm her down a little. i just want to make her feel at home and unstressed.

btw thanks for the welcome. i look forward to a long well established relationship with my baby and getting to know everyone here

First off, do you have a thermostat controlling the heat? What are the temps of the room? She needs to relax and destress more than she needs to eat. A week or two without food isn't going to be a problem. Also, no need to feed in a separate tank. What kind of substrate are you using? I suggest checking on the care sheet on this fine site. It is well written and will give you a good basis to go on.

[ZEKESMOM]

i want to bump the temps up but i dont want to fry it just spooked but i guess its a learning experience. she loves to burrow under all her dish's and the subtrate. is there a recommended way to bump temps up? on hot side is 2 heat pads and two small heat lamps holding that temp. i bought the second one and placed on side of glass but didnt really raise it all that much.
should i feed her after 6 days since her last feed? maybe it will calm her down a little. i just want to make her feel at home and unstressed.

Hello and Welcome to the best, friendliest and most knowledgable site I have found
How are you measuring your temps? You should have or buy a digital Accurite thermometer/hyrometer(sp?) It will tell you your hot side, cool side and humidity inside the tank. Your hot side temp should be 90-93 degrees and the cool side 80-83 degrees. You can control your temps with a thermostat which there are many different brands available. If you do a search on thermostats, I know there are many good threads here on just that, you can get an idea of which one is going to be best for you.
Good luck with your new baby

[K80tik]

well thanks for the welcomes .. i did as you said in first reply as far as the 55gal being to big. she's in a 20 now and i put 2 hides and branch and a big water dish. she's on cypress mulch. i have 2 accurite digital temperature monitors. 1 is in her hide in cold side and 1 is in hide on hot side. water dish is very big to help with humidity. im hoping that this down size from a 55 gal will help. i was trying so hard with a 55 gal to get humidity up. its kind of hard 2 because i live in el paso, texas (the desert). today is 86F outside. my house is about 77.. well in her new enclosure i put a big UTH underneath the hot side and there is 1 heat lamp above. the top is mesh so i taped plastic on 3/4 of it as i read from someones post earlier. ill see if i can get some pics after work for all to analyze. i really just want her in the best environment and for her to grow up health and strong. my baby well thanks all for comments ill be back after work

[K80tik]

P.S. Thank you for your service in the Army

you know ive been in for 7 years been to korea 2 years iraq 1 year kuwait 1 year saudi arabia 1 year. you are welcome and i just wanted to say thank you for appreciating our contributions. i always tell everyone who says what you have said.... out of all the awards, ribbons, medals i pin on my chest.. a simple thank you means more to me then all that material things.. but thank you

[jglass38]

well thanks for the welcomes .. i did as you said in first reply as far as the 55gal being to big. she's in a 20 now and i put 2 hides and branch and a big water dish. she's on cypress mulch. i have 2 accurite digital temperature monitors. 1 is in her hide in cold side and 1 is in hide on hot side. water dish is very big to help with humidity. im hoping that this down size from a 55 gal will help. i was trying so hard with a 55 gal to get humidity up. its kind of hard 2 because i live in el paso, texas (the desert). today is 86F outside. my house is about 77.. well in her new enclosure i put a big UTH underneath the hot side and there is 1 heat lamp above. the top is mesh so i taped plastic on 3/4 of it as i read from someones post earlier. ill see if i can get some pics after work for all to analyze. i really just want her in the best environment and for her to grow up health and strong. my baby well thanks all for comments ill be back after work

Sounds like you are on the right track!

[frankykeno]

Welcome to BPNet and I'll add in my own thanks for your time spent serving and protecting this country.

It sounds like you are really working towards a great setup for your snake and are a caring, committed owner which is the best thing any snake can ever have. Please feel free to keep asking questions and reading through the tons of great threads here as well as the BP Caresheet.

The snake is likely striking due to stress and defensiveness. Right now all you are is a big heat emitting mammal and your snake really hasn't a clue that you might not want snake for dinner. Eventually with the right environment, good weekly feeds and routine short handling sessions I'm sure things will level out. Some snakes never take to handling but most BP's are pretty good about it as long as we respect their boundaries and remember they are basically a very shy, nocturnal snake.

By the way, anyone warn you yet that ball pythons are incredibly addicting (we started with 1...we now have 13) as well as the fact that each b.p. comes with a free case of OCD. lol