New BP owner

[zimbabwepegasus]

so... I actually recommend having a water dish. I don't have BPs, but am familiar them and the vast majority of snakes need access to water, particularly if they are in a glass aquarium style cage. I know Lacy's got a mad rack set-up and imagine that kind of system keeps humidity higher.
For a BP a water absolutely can't hurt and might be helpful. If you notice your BP soaking the majority of his time, check for mites.

Ditto on losing the heat rock in favor of a UTH.

As far as the food Q goes. I strongly lean toward thawing in the fridge, but for a slightly different reason. I've never tried dunking in water, i've used a sorta double boilerish system to warm up my miceys (warm water instead of boiling). But direct contact with water tends to take away some of the rodenty smell and BPs, especially a newly moved one, tend to be a bit on the picky side. For an adult BP every 2 or 3 wks should work great for a feeding schedule, provided he's a good size and up to weight (most reptile stores will weigh your snake for you!)

Last but not least, whatever changes you decide to make- do them gradually. Obviously we can't explain changes to a snake and it tends to stress them out. Keep that in mind. A 13 year old BP is a good age for a BP, whatever your friend has been doing is working and don't ignore that. With that said, don't stress it if Zeke refuses a meal or two.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[GlaedrAg]

Zeke arrived on Friday evening. He has, what I assume, is a 40 gallon breeder tank as an enclosure. Included was a branch for him to climb on/shed on, water dish, flat rock, and a hide. The heat rock was just that stone placed over a UTH. So, I was very pleased to see that. Zeke was a bit shy, but poked his head out the moment 3 small mice were placed in there with him He snapped them up one right after the other. The substrate is shaved wood which is almost white in color (slight tan shade). My concerns as of now are as follows:

1) The rock over the UTH doesn't feel as warm as I thought it would. The UTH appears to be a 10-20 gallon one.

2) Zeke doesn't look as big as I thought a 13yr old BP would be. I'll try to take pictures and post them for evaluation. I was told he is fed once every 1.5 to 2 months. That seems to be awfully long between feedings.

3) Should I change from 3 small mice to something larger?

 

[WAFisherman]

The substrate sounds like aspen shavings. Good stuff.

Correct size is hard to determine. There are many factors that go into it. I'd first look him over to see if he looks healthy. Is his skin firm or saggy? Is he too thin or perhaps even over weight? Does he have any old shed stuck on (especially around the eyes)?

A pic of both snake and tank would be good.

A 40 gal is pretty big, but should be OK for a full grown BP. Many adults do fine in a 20gal.

The potential problem with a tank like that can include:
1) stress - BPs like privacy. Too much of being "on display" can stress them out. Glass on all sides can be hard on them. Many cover 3 sides and just have the front open.
2) humidity needs - most tanks have a screen top. This can make holding in the humidity difficult. Many will cover the screen up to 80-90 percent with foil, plastic wrap, alum tape, etc. A humid hide box can also be used. Don't guess the humidity level. Get a good hygrometer and measure! Not the stick on kinds!

Don't guess on the temps! A UTH under the tank can be fine, but you need to know the temp on the glass (below the substrate, and on top of the substrate). Keep in mind a snake may burrow and if the glass is too hot, this can be dangerous. Some put a UTH on both ends. One is kept 'cool' the other 'hot'. You control this by t-stat or rehostat and digital thermometers. Again, use a good digital thermometer to measure - don't guess. A temp gun is also very useful for measureing those surface temps.

I'd start looking at switching him to frozen\thawed rodents. 3 small mice sounds like too little to me. I'd go with 2 large adult mice, or one medium rat. But I'd need to know how big he is first.

Switching can be tricky, but other times it is easy. All my snakes were fed live mice when I got them, but the all took f\t rats with no problem. Live mice and rats can injure your snake.

 

[herpfreak]

I agree with everything said above.

A temp gun is also very useful for measureing those surface temps

Yes! I quite agree! I just received a tempgun in the mail today and it's great. $25 (plus shipping :roll: ) for the PE-1.
http://www.tempgun.com/main.html

Personally, I feed my BP a small-med rat every week; she is about 4'... that is, when she will take it, which isn't very often. Pictures would help. As long as the snake isn't over- or underweight, feedings every other week or so with a single food item that is about the width of him at his fattest point should be good.

 

[GlaedrAg]

Well, I bought 2 small rats at a PetCo and fed them to Zeke. He promptly scarfed down the first one after giving me a little "love tap" on my finger. I wasn't paying attention to how I was picking up the rat. Anyhow, I fed him the 2nd rat about 2hrs later. He tried going into his hide, which I moved over to the warm side, but didn't stay in there long as he was quite full. Zeke ended up stretching out between his hide and the side of the enclosure. I returned to my room today to find him mostly out of his hide just chill'n. This was a very encouraging experience as he's only eaten 3 small/med mice once every 2 months before I got him. My plans are to feed him 2 small rats once every 2 weeks. I will try F/T, but don't know that he'll take them as he's only ever eaten live feeders. My hopes are that he will take the F/T since that tends to be much cheaper

 

[herpfreak]

Congrats! Sounds like everything's going well. The one thing that is always sure to make my day is if my BP girl eats.

Yes, converting to f/t can be very difficult, and sometimes not even possible... all I can say is keep trying (I'm still trying over a year after I got my girl), and mix it up a bit; try leaving it in the hide, wiggling it with tongs, and thawing it in different ways (water, heat lamp, fridge, etc).

 

[sparky5969]

congrats on your new ball python. I for some reason never check this discussion but should since i own a few ball pythons(mostly on kingsnake.com). Sounds like everything your doing is good. In response to the thermostat question I have an use the zoo med 500r and have not had any problems it just takes a little bit to get it zero in to correct temp. Also it is a good idea to get a temp gun they come it handy and I use a digital temp/humidity thermometer you can get one cheap at walmart. I mainly use herp stats from spider robotics which are very good but tend to be a little pricey. You should deff have some type of temp control though so you can regulate temp. I always supply a water bowl for my snakes, some have hides depending on the snake. Some are fine with out them some of my finicky ones get them makes them feel more secure and they eat better.
I lucky and all my snakes eat F/T it is better in my opion. It is tough to switch older snakes or wild caught but it can be done some times. Also F/T tends to be cheaper than buying live from pet store every week. Might also try putting more than one hide's in the tank, when I used tanks would put one on the warm side and one on the cool side so they can go back and forth to regulate their temp. It would be great if you had any pics luv to see the big guy. Any question feel free to ask..