Newbie with a BP

[spokism]

thats good news. i am also new to the snake lovers club. Like you i did alot of re search on bp before i got one. But my first feeding experience, was not with a mouse, but with my hand. I was told to wait a week before i feed him, he will probobly be stressed, so i listened. I was handleing him on the 4th day that i had him, and he was fine, all curious and what not.

i was sitting on the couch, next to my dogs, and goliath (my bp) was sitting on my lap. i noticed that he put his head throug my legs, so i looked at him and it was cute. And right then, he struck and coiled around my han, and tried to eat me. lol, i knew it wasnt out of agression, because he was not hissing, coiled up, he just really thought i was food lol.

I made a mistake when he bit me, because i riped out like 3 of his teeth, so i got really worried. so i decided to feed him the next day, i was so neverous about it. i didnt know if he liked his enclosure, if the pulling out of his teeth really hurt him enough to stress and not eat. But as soon as i put that meduim rat in front of him, BOOM! my ie ate the hell out of that rat.

It gave me such a great feeling of sucess/release, because i knew he was happy, didnt mind being handled, his teeth were ok, ans that he just wasnt stressed. It just made me feel freakin great!


(sorry to hijack your thread a bit)

[butters!]

thats good news. i am also new to the snake lovers club. Like you i did alot of re search on bp before i got one. But my first feeding experience, was not with a mouse, but with my hand. I was told to wait a week before i feed him, he will probobly be stressed, so i listened. I was handleing him on the 4th day that i had him, and he was fine, all curious and what not.

i was sitting on the couch, next to my dogs, and goliath (my bp) was sitting on my lap. i noticed that he put his head throug my legs, so i looked at him and it was cute. And right then, he struck and coiled around my han, and tried to eat me. lol, i knew it wasnt out of agression, because he was not hissing, coiled up, he just really thought i was food lol.

I made a mistake when he bit me, because i riped out like 3 of his teeth, so i got really worried. so i decided to feed him the next day, i was so neverous about it. i didnt know if he liked his enclosure, if the pulling out of his teeth really hurt him enough to stress and not eat. But as soon as i put that meduim rat in front of him, BOOM! my ie ate the hell out of that rat.

It gave me such a great feeling of sucess/release, because i knew he was happy, didnt mind being handled, his teeth were ok, ans that he just wasnt stressed. It just made me feel freakin great!


(sorry to hijack your thread a bit)

dude!

[blackcrystal22]

I really appreciate all the feedback I've received. Yes, I have two hides for him in his 29 gallon tank. He favors the cool-side hide, but I also seem him exploring the enclosure nearly every day. I also have two water dishes for him. One of his hides is propped up on one of the dishes, and the other hide and dish are each free-standing.

I've gotten him to feed twice now. Lots of folks have said that pinks are too small for him, and I will be ordering some larger mice this week. In the interim, I figured that a five-day interval was reasonable: I fed him last Tuesday for the first time, and again today. After the first time, he and I are both getting better at this.

I also cleaned his enclosure this morning, removing him to a small dark enclosure (the box in which he came home) while I did a thorough job on his digs. He's obviously excreting, which is goodness. It's interesting that he really favors his cool-side hide, but I have seen him in the hot-side hide a couple of times, as well as exploring. He tries to climb the side of the enclosure, but eventually falls off. I'm thinking nylon straps securing the metal mesh top before he gets much bigger. (Right now I have a 4x4 across the top.)

I wasn't sure he'd eat after this morning's experiences, but after about five or ten minutes of presentation this evening, he nailed that mouse.

I'm so relieved that I'm seeing what seem to be normal and appropriate behaviors. I feel at least minimally competent as a snake dad.

Since you seem unsure about prey size right now I want you to consider a couple of things.

Take a look at your ball python and find roughly the thickest point on his body. The prey you should be feeding him should be about the same thickness as that. Right now, since you have a lot of pinkie mice, I suggest feeding 1-3 pinkies in a feeding.
Underfeeding a snake can be just as dangerous as overfeeding a snake!

Good luck, and enjoy your new ball python.
Also welcome, and we hope to see you around. Speaking of, I think this thread is in dire need of pictures eh?

[butters!]

Since you seem unsure about prey size right now I want you to consider a couple of things.

Take a look at your ball python and find roughly the thickest point on his body. The prey you should be feeding him should be about the same thickness as that. Right now, since you have a lot of pinkie mice, I suggest feeding 1-3 pinkies in a feeding.
Underfeeding a snake can be just as dangerous as overfeeding a snake!

Good luck, and enjoy your new ball python.
Also welcome, and we hope to see you around. Speaking of, I think this thread is in dire need of pictures eh?

lol,for once we agree.get some pics up oldhippie

[spokism]

dude!

????? dont get it, about the hijacking? what

[OldHippie]

Agreed, I need to get a decent picture of the little guy.

But it's not going to happen today: he just ate again, and this time it was a hopper! I really want to give a shout-out to the cool people at The Mouse Factory (no, I'm not associated with them except as a satisfied customer). I asked for their opinion (not that I'm ungrateful for the great advice everyone here has offered) and we spent several minutes on the phone talking about the variables. Finally, I decided to go for hoppers. She was concerned that she'd just sold me a bunch of pinks I might not use, but I told her that was the least of my concerns.

As usual, the product came in a box with dry ice; it's fun to put the remaining pieces in the sink and turn on the water. I removed one mouse, put it in a ziplock bag and immersed that in hot tap water for a half hour. Checking, I saw that the water was cool, so I dumped it and refilled with hot tap water, this time letting the mouse-in-a-bag soak for ten or so minutes.

I grabbed the now defrosted and warm mouse by the scruff with a hemostat, opened the tank and offered it. It was only a half minute or so before I saw a little snake nose poke out of his warm-side hide, and he followed right after the mouse as I drew it across the enclosure. A few inches, and bam! he was on it. I withdrew my hand, resecured the top of his enclosure and left the room. I stuck my head in about fifteen minutes later, and there was no sign of either a snake or a mouse.

OK, this is getting commonplace enough that I'll stop going on about it. But I wanted to share this and thank everyone who has provided advice. While I'm sure there will be new challenges, I feel like I'm getting the basics down.

[bigballs]

dude!

seconded!

[starmom]

... I really want to give a shout-out to the cool people at The Mouse Factory (no, I'm not associated with them except as a satisfied customer). I asked for their opinion (not that I'm ungrateful for the great advice everyone here has offered) and we spent several minutes on the phone talking about the variables. Finally, I decided to go for hoppers. She was concerned that she'd just sold me a bunch of pinks I might not use, but I told her that was the least of my concerns...

Agreed. The Mouse Factory is a terrific place to purchase f/t rodents from. Well fleshed rodents, uber clean, well packaged, and healthy!!! I have ordered from other places and learned very quickly that TMF is truly the best place for me to shop for my snakes' food

[halfwaynowhere]

now its time to get a hatchling corn snake to eat up all your extra pinks!