Checking in(LONG)

[royal]

Its been awhile since I have checked in. My ball python, Slang, was born in december courtesy of Jamie at JK Reptiles, he has eaten (sadly) a couple times from me.. once I didnt see.. the second time I fed him with tongs while he was in his feeder box.
HOLY SH#T talk about scary, first he's just lookin at it.. a milisecond later he had already striked, and missed, so again he set up bam the freakin fuzzy was gone.... Deffinetly an experience.

So I am trying my best with him and his setup, I am finding it very very hard to keep humidity in his top opening glass enclosure. The enclosure has a plexiglass cover underneath the metal screen top with two holes (in the plexi)about 4x4 on either side of the top.
The temps are pretty good, I have two heat pads underneath the tank with tinfoil encasing them to the bottom of the tank. There is about 1-1.5" of substrate(will show pic on mon 10) and a couple different types of substrate. But the light I have in the top corner of the cage is facing inward, I turned down the heat on it (rehostat) but surface temps are still about 85-87.... In his hides he has temps ranging from 80-92. The reason I am worried about temps is that he doesnt seem to be thermoregulating? He is staying in his one insulated rock hide(the kind with half the rock on the outside of the cage, stuck with a magnet) and not movin around too much.

Slang hasnt pooped for me yet, but I am not too worried(or should I be) because another owner has the same thing goin on with his snake of the same age. Also he hasnt shed yet.. I thought he was going into shed, MY BAD, he wasnt...

The only other thing worrying(sp?) me is the food and feeding situation... It is the Worst in fort mac.... The pet store barely has live food, I am forced to feed different types of food.. going from gerbil to mouse. I am trying to get slang to eat frozen, but he is my first snake and its hard. The method that worked last feeding was to feed a live pinkie then feed him a frozen fuzzy. I dunno.

Thats about it, I would say though that ANYONES respective critisism(sp?) on anypart of this thread would be WELCOME.
And
What would happen if I tried to feed my baby ball a big mouse.. For example, there was a mouse at the petstore that was smaller, almost hopper... but I got scared to feed him to my snake cause of his size. Should I have tried anyway?

[marisa]

I am not sure about your other questions, but I believe most ball pythons can eat ADULT mice from the day they are born. My baby was certainly eating adults shortly after birth when I got him, and had no problem.

Marisa

[Pixie]

Humidity is always tougher to keep at a adequate level in winter, with indoor heating it gets very dry so my best advice would be to either spray a bit more often or put some sphagnum moss in a corner and keep it moist.

As for the pooping, I wouldn't worry. My bp's only go every 4 weeks or so and are perfectly healthy.

You should be able to feed hoppers and small to medium mice already if not full grown. If you want to switch to f/t, you'll have to start by prekilled or stunned (place mouse in fabric bag and a good whack against had surfact), after your snake takes prekilled, you should be able to switch to f/t pretty easily.

Pixie

[royal]

I suppose, like other people have said, it seems big but if its what they are supposed to eat then thats what I will feed them. Big hoppers to adult mice it is. Thanx everyone

[Big Mike]

Yes, definately up the food size to hoppers or small adults. You will be surprised when you see it eat a mouse that big...it's amazing.

How much are you paying for mice and other food items? I recomend ordering frozen mice because it will save you lots of money. Buying mice at the pet store I was spending about $12 a week and sometimes the snakes would not even eat. I ordered enough mice for about a year and it cost me about $80 with shipping and taxes.

You have two heat pads and a lamp? The temps sound good but do you have a cool end? I have found that my ball also has a favorite hide and stays in that one most of the time so I make sure that the temp in that hide is good.

For humidity you could get a humidifier and just have it running in the same room as the snake. Balls don't need a really high humidity unless they are shedding. I put in a humid hide when he's about to shed and he always has a good shed. Maybe you could just do that rather than worry too much about keeping the humidity in the tank up all the time.

Good luck with him.

PM me and I'll tell you where (in Alberta) I ordered the mice from.

[ThEmAdHaTtEr]

I feed my 2 footer adult mice. She still has a little lump in her after shes done. Thats how I know it was a good feed. :D . If it won't take frozen, try thawing it and dipping it in chicken broth. Works every time (Thanks to the guys on Herp Forum). With the pooping thing, mine doesnt poop much either...I have had her for about 3-4 months and shes only pooped a few times. But she urates EVERY night. Every time I wake up I an expect a lovely superise.:D Good luck!

[Jeromerules]

Royal don't worry soo much bro. I have your snakes brother. I also bought off Jamie and mine is hatchling from december. Only recently did my snake start eat and he's eaten for the past 3 weeks. I feed him fuzzies no matter if they are live or frozen thawed. My snake eats them either way. And I am sure he can handle a hopper no problem. As for the pooping. I have never seen my guy poop yet. I don't think you'll hardly ever see a snake poop in the moment. I Have not seen any crap in the cage either. Doesn't bother me he's just a baby.Shedding he has not shed once for me yet again he's just a baby. It takes a while. If he is happy in his skin and looks healthy it's good enough for me. Ball pythons don't require much humidity as they come usually from african grasslands which are dry. I have a ultrasonic fog generator which I put on top of the aquarium and turn on about 2 times a day. That gives him a nice rainfall simulation. And it's neat to watch. They cost about 50 bucks. But hey they are worth it. anyways. Good luck with slang and don't worry soo much. As long as he eats then it's all good. And BP's can go on forever without eating. L8er and good luck.
Jerome