Finally got my BP, tell me what ya think!

[waltah!]

I'm a firm believer in having your enclosure setup well in advance and measuring temps throughout the day and night to make sure all is well. I will say that this guy came here for help so that's a good thing. If you jump all over him then he will not be back and who knows what will happen. You can get a couple of plastic cereal bowl from a supermarket or Walmart for about $2. Cut out an entrance on each of them and they make great hides. They coil up in a circle and like to feel their hides around them. If you need to raise your humidity then place the water bowl closer to the heat source and it will help. Leave him alone for a week once all is properly setup. Feed him after that week. Stressed snakes don't eat. If he eats then look at that as a positive. It seems that you really do care or you would not be here. We all just want to see a happy healthy BP. Good luck and feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

[mtxsub7]

I'm a firm believer in having your enclosure setup well in advance and measuring temps throughout the day and night to make sure all is well. I will say that this guy came here for help so that's a good thing. If you jump all over him then he will not be back and who knows what will happen. You can get a couple of plastic cereal bowl from a supermarket or Walmart for about $2. Cut out an entrance on each of them and they make great hides. They coil up in a circle and like to feel their hides around them. If you need to raise your humidity then place the water bowl closer to the heat source and it will help. Leave him alone for a week once all is properly setup. Feed him after that week. Stressed snakes don't eat. If he eats then look at that as a positive. It seems that you really do care or you would not be here. We all just want to see a happy healthy BP. Good luck and feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

you might as well come over and help me set it up, I live practically next door. I am in brockton MA

[kc261]

I just don't understand all the negativity in so many of the replies to mtxsub7.

I agree that it would have been best if this poster had spent a little more time doing thorough research, then spent a little more time getting the enclosure set up and temps and humidity stabilized, and only after that bought the BP.

But we don't get to decide what someone else does.

And really, mtxsub7 isn't doing all that bad. Many people buy on impulse the first time they see a BP or other animal that interests them in the store. Mtxsub7 did not. Mtxsub7 did some research first.

Many people come to our forum and ask advice, and then tell all the reasons why they aren't going to follow that advice, and get angry at the persons who took time to try to help them. Mtxsub7 joined this forum only 2 days ago, but appears to be making a sincere effort to learn proper care for his/her new pet.

What we can control is how we react to this person, and others in similar situations. We can say things like you are stupid or you shouldn't get a snake or you should be doing the research yourself and only asking questions to clarify a few details. But that is likely to end up with this person still owning a BP, still not knowing how to care for it properly, never coming back to this forum, giving our hobby a bad name when they complain to friends about all the troubles they have with their snake, and the snake living in miserable conditions.

Or we can offer help. Constructive help and direct answers to direct questions. If you don't want to type it all, cut and paste or provide a link. By doing that, we are more likely to end up with this person owning a BP, learning to care for it properly, hanging around this forum and eventually being able to help other newbies, thoroughly enjoying BP ownership because proper care is likely to end up with a trouble free pet which will get their friends turned on to herps, and the snake lives a long and "happy" life.

No matter what, you don't get to choose what mtxsub7 does. But you do get to choose what you do. Which path are you going to choose?

[mtxsub7]

I just don't understand all the negativity in so many of the replies to mtxsub7.

I agree that it would have been best if this poster had spent a little more time doing thorough research, then spent a little more time getting the enclosure set up and temps and humidity stabilized, and only after that bought the BP.

But we don't get to decide what someone else does.

And really, mtxsub7 isn't doing all that bad. Many people buy on impulse the first time they see a BP or other animal that interests them in the store. Mtxsub7 did not. Mtxsub7 did some research first.

Many people come to our forum and ask advice, and then tell all the reasons why they aren't going to follow that advice, and get angry at the persons who took time to try to help them. Mtxsub7 joined this forum only 2 days ago, but appears to be making a sincere effort to learn proper care for his/her new pet.

What we can control is how we react to this person, and others in similar situations. We can say things like you are stupid or you shouldn't get a snake or you should be doing the research yourself and only asking questions to clarify a few details. But that is likely to end up with this person still owning a BP, still not knowing how to care for it properly, never coming back to this forum, giving our hobby a bad name when they complain to friends about all the troubles they have with their snake, and the snake living in miserable conditions.

Or we can offer help. Constructive help and direct answers to direct questions. If you don't want to type it all, cut and paste or provide a link. By doing that, we are more likely to end up with this person owning a BP, learning to care for it properly, hanging around this forum and eventually being able to help other newbies, thoroughly enjoying BP ownership because proper care is likely to end up with a trouble free pet which will get their friends turned on to herps, and the snake lives a long and "happy" life.

No matter what, you don't get to choose what mtxsub7 does. But you do get to choose what you do. Which path are you going to choose?

nicely put, well I am having issues with temp/humidity.. not so much with temp anymore but humidity is a big problem so waltah! is going to come hook me up with a special tank thats smaller and a lot better, so thankfully that happend. A lot of people did help out though, My snake is currently being very active in the dark, very interesting. but nicley put man

[kc261]

Here are some comments:

The complaint I always see in regards to carpet as a substrate is that it is not easy to clean and it can be a breeding ground for bacteria. As long as you keep these things in mind and act accordingly (change it often and clean it thoroughly), you should be able to use it without problem. In the long run, you might be happier with a different substrate. Lots of people are very happy with newspaper which is cheap and easy. Aspen is also popular, but since most people spot clean when using aspen and only doing a full change occasionally, it also has the potential to not be as clean as would be ideal.

You snake probably is stressed. Get your temps and humidity stable and cover the back & sides of the tank to help it feel more secure. Then leave it alone for a week. It will probably settle in a lot within a couple of days. If it still is active in the day and doing more climbing than hiding, you can try adding a layer of crumpled newspaper which will allow the snake to feel hidden and secure even when not in a hide. Then gradually (over a month or so) remove the newspaper.

Plenty of people have talked about temps and the importance of knowing exactly what they are that I think I can skip that.

I didn't see a direct response to your question about the best way to maintain humidity. That is probably at least partly because there isn't a "best" way to do it. Unless it is switching to a tub. But in a glass tank, there are several things you can do. You will almost certainly need to cover most of the screen top to prevent humidity (and heat) from escaping. Then you can increase humidity by having a water bowl with more surface area, or putting the water closer to the heat source, having a substrate that can hold some humidity, misting, etc. Also, heat lights and CHEs suck the humidity out of your tank. You'll fight the humidity a lot less if you can manage to get the right temps using UTHs.

The pepsi-box hides aren't going to be the best, but they are at least better than nothing. You can find plenty of other very inexpensive or even free things that will work better. My BP is using black plastic food containers (minus the lids) that we got at a chinese take out place.

One thing you said is that you have heard BPs often go off feed, so if yours does it doesn't mean you are a bad keeper. That is only partially true. Part of the reason BPs have the reputation of going off feed is because many people don't understand their requirements. So while sometimes BPs go off feed for unknown reasons, and sometimes adults do it because of the breeding season (whether they are breeding or not), it is most often that there is something in the environment that could be improved and make the snake feel more secure, and then it starts eating again.

Hope this helps!

[JASBALLS]

The snake is crawling around because A it's in a new setting and B it's probably stressed out. An active bp during the day is usually attributed to stress.

Wow!! What book was that in?? Not all bps are lazy sleep all day snakes you know..

[TanyaL]

I also have my bp in a glass tank (a tub is out of the question). When I had humidity problems, somebody suggested laying a t-shirt over the screen, but be sure it's not touching the shade of your lamp. Misting the glass instead of the substrate also made a big difference. We keep constant watch on temps and humidity and adjust accordingly until we can get something to regulate it instead of relying on dimmers and a constant eye. Fortunately, there is usually somebody awake 24/7 in our house so keeping an eye on temp/humidity isn't that much of a problem for us.

Good luck with your new BP!

[Subzero]

I'm a firm believer in having your enclosure setup well in advance and measuring temps throughout the day and night to make sure all is well. I will say that this guy came here for help so that's a good thing. If you jump all over him then he will not be back and who knows what will happen. You can get a couple of plastic cereal bowl from a supermarket or Walmart for about $2. Cut out an entrance on each of them and they make great hides. They coil up in a circle and like to feel their hides around them. If you need to raise your humidity then place the water bowl closer to the heat source and it will help. Leave him alone for a week once all is properly setup. Feed him after that week. Stressed snakes don't eat. If he eats then look at that as a positive. It seems that you really do care or you would not be here. We all just want to see a happy healthy BP. Good luck and feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

There ya go, nice post. People do tend to buy a snake and then ask questions, most ppl start into a hobby that way, My advice is read the care sheets here, and follow them. Glass tanks are not ideal, but it can work for now. Two identical hides on either side (snug hides) good temps and humidity, using heat bulbs is not ideal (too bright in most cases and the hot light kills humidity)

Honestly If you wanted to buy the proper cage and flex watt and thermostat thats ideal for your snake, youd be spending about 400$ for a 50$ snake, most people dont realize that.

[rabernet]

I read that problems eating aren't uncommon

Actually, they are very uncommon when all their husbandry needs are being met.

A non-feeding ball python is a symptom. A symptom that you will need to be able to identify and correct.

Repti-carpet is bad - it is great for building up mold and bacteria when it's soiled. Your better choice is aspen, cypress mulch, paper towels or newspaper.

Pepsi cartons for hides are bad - with an animal as small as the one you have, there's no way that they are touching him on all sides when he goes inside them, so he's not feeling the security that he desires. Also, as soon as they get wet - more mold and bacteria.

The enclosure also seems a bit large for a baby. If your ball python is training for the snake olympics, he's probably stressed.

I have 22 ball pythons that eat each and every week even in the winter. Not eating is VERY uncommon in my experience. And it's very uncommon for a ball python your size to not eat, unless he's stressed out about something.

Edit - good to see that Waltah! is going to come over to help you get him set up properly!

[reptile3]

Thank You Jas.... the reason I am thanking you... My bp doesn't sleep/hide allday. He is very active.. He is NOT stressed!!!

Wow!! What book was that in?? Not all bps are lazy sleep all day snakes you know..