New Snake Owner looking for all your asvice!

[NewSnakeOwnerDD]

So, my girlfriend and I are new snake owners. I say new to mean inexperienced, as we've technically had our little guy for a few months now.

General notes (PLEASE correct me if any of these things is bad for him)
-I can't recall the size of the Vivarium, but it's about 1.5x his body length long and .75x his body length front-to back. Is that roughly enough space? We have already purchased a larger container for his bext home, but we don't want to step him up before he's ready.
-I give him a defined "day" and "night" cycle; During the day lights can be on in the room we keep his tank, etc and we use a ceramic heat lamp to get the ambient temperature in his tank up to ~78 degrees. During the night, all the lights in the room go off and we try to reduce noise a bit, and we remove the lamp to let the temperature fall to about ~70 degrees.
-In addition to the day/night cycles, we give him a "warm side" and "cool side" of the tank. When we place the ceramic light, we put it a little closer to the warm side so that there's a slight difference in the ambient temperature, and under his hide on the warm side he has a small under-the-tank heating pad. I've checked and this pad doesn't seem to make a huge difference (which I'm kind of happy, because I wouldn't want it to burn him or anything), but it is enough to make his bedding nice and cozy. I've also placed my hand directly to the glass after allowing the heater to run and held it there to ensure it didn't hurt me, as I've heard that's the best way to make sure it's not too hot for the snake. According to what I heard, if it stings or makes you pull away, it's too much for the snake.
-We provided 3 objects in the tank; one "Tree" hide on the cool side; its a twisted branchy shaped plastic tree that is hollow on the inside, and a large "rock" hide on the warm side, which is plastic, hollow, and has a large arch in its center he can lie under, and his water dish (large enough that he can pass through it and dip in lightly, but not so deep he could completely submerge).
-For his humidity, I keep the tank at ~65-70%, according to the little meter. I've never seen any condensation on his tank, but I've heard if you do get it that its a very bad thing for the snake, so we also bought a very small fan that can be used to blow ACROSS the top of the tank to reduce humidity, if the need ever arises.
-I top off his water every day and change it out completely every 3 or 4 days
-For substrate, we chose Aspen. I clean his tank out entirely and wipe it down with a damp paper towel before laying down a new layer of aspen, about once a month. For depth, I put my finger to the glass and kay aspen up to -about- as deep as my cuticle, maybe a little bit shallower.
-we take him out and feed him a fuzzy mouse once a week, though it's not always 7 days precisely. He likes to hide in his tree, and sometimes on "feeding night", he won't be out for us to get him and place him in his feeding container. Because of this, he feeds every 5-9 days or so, rather than every 7 (could this irregularity be harmful, or will this be fine?)
-despite our efforts to handle him regularly, he's "jumpy" in his Vivarium. If we reach in to get him out, he always wiggles suddenly and tries to take off; once we have him, he's very personable and likes to crawl all over us and hang from our wrists. Is that jumpiness a normal, evolutionary response to having a giant creature touch you, or are we doing something wrong? It's also worth noting he's NEVER struck at either of us - all of his sudden movements are AWAY, never violent. He does like her a bit better than he likes me - I'm admittedly a bit jumpy when I try to take him out. He's very small compared to me (former college football player), and I'm terrified I'll accidentally crush him somehow, so when he jumps I always pull away. She doesn't really have that problem and just scoops him up. Once he's out of the tank I have no issue handling him, and he doesn't seem to mind me either.
-I saw him actually drinking from his water bowl recently, and he did so for quite some time (maybe close to a half hour). He would just flick his tongue in and out of the bowl. Until then, in all the months we'd had him, Id never actually caught him drinking from the bowl. Is that normal or could it mean he's somehow dehydrated?


Here's a peak at him. Does he look healthy/happy, in your opinions?
[I WANTED TO LINK A PICTURE OF HIM HERE BUT APPARENTLY SINCE IM MEW I CANT. ILL HAPPILY PM ANYONE THE LINK.]

Based on what I've said, what improvements could I make to my care for him? Will my current care system help him grow into a big strong snake?

[SnakeyJay]

I'm not a royal keeper but just so you know, snakes drink by dipping their mouth in not by lapping water like a dog.. ��

[macandchz]

dear snakey-jay i've had my albino python 1yr now and it sounds like you are doing fine. my suggestion is when you get him out of the tank try to scoop him up under his middle and handle him with both hands since they feel more secure that way. also, i try to handle mine every day except 8 hours after a feed. i think it has made my snake extremly tame and sociable.

[Albert Clark]

I think you are doing good. Congrats and welcome! I feel the main thing is to correct and regulate the heat pad. You must get a thermostat and until you do you need to unplug the pad. It is a accident waiting to happen. A night temp of 70 degrees is a bit low, ideally it should be in the mid to upper 70's. The dial type thermometers , hygrometers should be replaced with digital ones for better accuracy.

[prairiepanda]

I agree with everything Albert said, and would like to add that you really don't need to take him out of the enclosure for feeding. I set down a piece of paper in the enclosure and put the rat on that to prevent ingestion of substrate, but all my snakes eat inside their enclosures. Feeding inside the enclosure avoids having to handle a snake that has just eaten, which in some snakes can lead to regurgitation. Some snakes also get really bitey at feeding time so it's not fun trying to wrangle them back into their homes from a feeding bin.

That said, you can keep feeding in a separate bin if you prefer. Most people who keep multiple snakes feed in the enclosure, though.

And you still haven't witnessed your snake drinking water ;) They drink by sticking their face in the water and taking big gulps. You can see their throat move with each gulp. They don't drink very often, though.

As for the jumpiness, what you're describing is very typical for a young snake. It will grow accustomed to handling with time. When you're taking him out, try to approach him from the side rather than from above so that you seem less like a predator. Be patient and consistent eventually he'll calm down. With new babies, I make a habit of handling them for a few minutes every single day(except 48 hours after feeding, or when they're in blue) and they calm down fairly quickly that way. Some snakes get too stressed by that much handling, though, so if they stop eating or have a bad shed I handle them less often. Once they've grown accustomed to you and to people in general, the frequent handling won't be necessary.