new snake questions

[snakehunter]

two weeks ago my mother purchased two ball pythons for my brother and i. after the four hour ride home i gavethem a couple days to acclimate, and about five days later offered food (pinkies) with no response, so the following week i tried fuzzies, still no response, even after sepperation in paper bags over night. so, in the past couple of days i have noticed that the two roam around the cage more and more, are they "searching" for food, or are the just used to my family, and less scared of us walking by?

thanx much
-jacob
ps-my bp isnamed Farkus, and my brothers Archibald!

[BoidKeeper]

Are these your first snakes/reptiles?

Do you have any care sheets?

Are they in the same cage, if so seperate them into their own
cages then answer the rest of the questions.

Where in the house is the cage(s) located, is it quite, or busy?

Do they have enough hid boxes, at least one per side?

Do they have a hot spot of at least 90?

How old are they?

Were you told when they ate last and what it was?

Were they eating frozen thawed or live food?

What time of day did you try and feed them, day or night?
Trevor

[snakehunter]

these are my first

no care sheets, but i bought a bp book on care and such

they are in the samecage, but seem to get along quite well they climb all over eachother, and noone seems to mind.

the cage is in the living room, it is quiet during the day, andthen alittle more busy in the after noon. we are renovating my room, and when complete they will be moved upstairs.

i have 1 hid box, that could probobly fit 2 more snakes, mine are almost a month old now., occasionally i see them with thier heads peeking out, or 1/2 in & 1/2 out.

i think so, but i have not yet purchased a thermometer, should i get one for each side?

i was not told if they had eaten, but when i called the man that sold them to me he said they might not eat for a week or two.

i was not told if they were fed live or frozen, but im possitive he mentioned live.

i offered food in the day, and with no reaction i left them in the tank, the pinkies "cooked" in the hide box, and i tried the paper bag method over night a week later.

[dm101081]

Even if they get along fine, it can cause stress and feeding problems.

When it gets a little more busy in the evening, try putting a towel or something over the front of the cage, so they cannot see you.

The fact that your hide box can fit both your snakes now, and probably 2 more means its too big. BP's like to be in tight fitting places for security.

You don't need 2 thermometers to get the temp on each side of the cage. Just get on with a probe and an in/out switch. They will take a temp through the probe, and through the actual unit.

What kind of pinky are you trying to feed them? Rat, mouse? PInkies are probably too small, even for a very young BP

You should feed them in separate containers as well, especially if you leave the food in with them. Once they get a prey item locked into their mouth, they cannot let go. If they both eat the same pinky from different ends, they will meet in the middle, and then you have a problem.

What are you using for heat. Being in you living room I cannot see it being that warm.

[snakehunter]

they were pinkie mice, my mom thought they were perfect size, but i thoght theyt were too small, and even the fuzzies i thought too small, would a hopper be too big? he's only 3 1/2 months old

for heat i have a ZooMed heat pad 10/20 gal. on one side half on the den for thermoregulation in den. above the same side i have a heat light also by zoo med, i dont recall what one.

[dm101081]

The prey item should be about the smae size, or a tiny bit bigger than the widest part of the snake. Don't be afraid to feed stuff that looks big. Remember, your snake will only be eating every 5-7 days, and only every 10-14 days when it get's older. On the other hand, don't feed huge stuff either, cuz there is a chance of ruguritation if you do. I would get a thermometer soon, and a rheostat (dimmer switch) as well. My zoo-med heat pads get well above 100 degrees with no dimmer, which is too hot.

[BoidKeeper]

i think so, but i have not yet purchased a thermometer, should i get one for each side?

Yes you need to know exactly how hot it is in the tank. Zoomed heat pads have a surface temp of 135 degrees. Plus if you have a heat light with the heat pad the hot spot will not only cook a pinkie it will cook your snakes! What size tank is it?

Unless you separate them you will always have problems. Here are some points to keep in mind about the subject of housing snakes together.

In my opinion, which I'm basing on things I've read and things that I know large breeders do, I feel that snakes should never be housed together. Here are some points that I keep in mind and reasons why I do not house snakes together.
1. The presence of another animal in their space represents competition, competition leads to stress.
2. Stress leads to loss of appetite and or disease.
3. If one sick gets sick they can both get sick.
4. How do you know who is defecating and who is not?
5. Snakes are not social animals so although captivity its self is not natural forcing two animals to live together is even more unnatural.

If you want to be success full with your ball pythons here is what I suggest.

Either separate them or take one back.
If you do chose to separate them the each should have at least a 15g tank with a locking escape proof lid. A heat pad under one side to create a hot spot of at least 90. The simplest thing to put in the bottom is newspaper. Give each cage two small tight hid boxes that are dark and cannot be seen through. A couple of turned over margarine containers work well. Put one on each side so that when your snake needs to move from one side to the other he wont have to sacrifice security for the proper body temperature. For ball pythons it is more important to feel safe then to be the right temperature so they can either cook themselves if the only hid box is over a hot spot that is too hot or they can risk all kinds of illness by staying on the cold side because that is the only side that has a hide box. Give each cage a fairly large water bowl on the cool side of the cage.
Once they are set up in their cages don't touch them for at least two weeks.
Then try to feed them in their cage. A hatchling ball python can eat an adult mouse. Offer a small frozen thawed (warm it up in hot water) mouse. Try dangling it in front of the snake while the snake is in a hide box. If it won't take it then leave it in their over night. If that does not work then there are a ton of other tricks you can try but start their first. Do not ever leave a live rodent in the cage for any amount of time for any reason. If all else fails and the snake will only take some thing live then it will no doubt take a fresh killed mouse. Kill the mouse right then and there and then give to the snake. But try to get it to take Frozen thawed first.
After the snake eats wait until it has had 4 meals and at least one dump before handling it. Then ease the snake into it slowly. Ball pythons are stressed out very easily and a stressed snake is a snake that wont eat so take it slow.
Good luck,
Trevor
Also read chondro pythons post on how he sets up a new ball python. http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15762&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

[Jeromerules]

As of food wise. One of my Bp's is a little older than yours he was born on dec.29 2002 anyways. You could try feeding hoppers. SMaller hoppers would do the trick. SOmething about the same girth as your your snakes largest spot.

[snakehunter]

thankyou very much for your replies, how do i determine the sex, i have seen many ways, but not sure what to do.

[BoidKeeper]

I only know of two ways, pooping, this is done to hatchlings that are a few days old. Your thumb is rolled up the tail from behind the vent up to the vent exposing the male hemipens. This should only be done by some one with experinces because the snake be seriousely injured by pushing too hard and injuring the spin or by damagind the hemipens.
The other method is using sexing probes. A polished steel rod with a ronded tip is inserted in the vent and slid back into on the inverted hemipens of glens if it is a femal. The depth the probe enters into the base of the tail determins the sex.
One other way that I will mention is the size and shape of the tail. Experinced breeders who have dealt with many BP's can often tell just by looking at the tail. This method however is not reilable.
Cheers,
Trevor