New Here

[Jazz6279]

Hi Everyone,
I purchased my first baby BP on Saturday. Its a gorgeous 3 month old male and have decided to call him Neo.
All seems well with him, when I first put him in his new home he cruised around for about 20 mins before picking a nice spot behind his water bowl to curl up and hide, haven't seen too much of him since but then again I didn't expect too.
I have read 'The Ball Python Manual' and about every caresheet I can find on them so hopefully i'm as prepared as anyone can be. I saw him feed last Tuesday before I picked him up on the Saturday so he will be due another feed now but because I have only had him home a few days I would be interested to know people opinions on when I should offer him some food?
I have been very good and haven't handled him yet, although as i'm sure everyone is aware it aint too easy keeping your hands off cos they're so cute!
Looking forward to your responses.
Fiona.

[BurmBaroness]

Welcome aboard! Yeah, I know it's hard to leave them alone, but he will be a much better feeder if you do. I would wait at least a week after you brought him home before offering to feed. BP's generally seem to need more time to acclimate than most snakes. I have BP's and a nice burmie, so I'm sure I'll be seeing ya in the python forums. Good Luck!

[mango]

Congrats on your new bp! They can be little angels to have. I would also like to commend you on your research and on seeing your snake eat before purchase. Like BurmBaroness said, give him a week or so. You'll probably catch him roaming and looking for food. By the time you feed him he should be nice and hungry for you. Good luck and congrats! Keep us posted!

[CyberGypsy]

I agree, give him a week in his new home before offerring him a meal. After that I'd wait another week, feed him a second time, give him 2-3 days to digest, then, when you see him out and about again at night, you can start handling him.
I know its hard to keep your hands off them for so long after just getting them, they're so cute when they're that young. But in the end it'll be better for you and the snake since they're easily stressed.
Good luck with him, and I'm sure everyone would love to see pics :)

[sapphire_moon]

Ya like everyone else said wait like a week..maybe 2.......try and get him to eat 3-4 times before you start taking him out of his home and handling him. Congrats....BP's are awesome snakes to have!

[Invictus]

Welcome to the site, Fiona!

I don't own a BP, so I'll have to take other peoples' word for it here, but the way I see it is, offer it whenever you want. The worst that will happen is, he'll turn away. I offered all of our new kids food the day after bringing them home, and they all took it. But like I said, I don't own a BP. :)

[Iceman]

i wanna ask you guys something,the ball python i may buy,is older,(maybe around 6-8 months?but it's so friendly,i held it for like an hour in total,what i wanna know is,should i wait that long to hold it?like 2 weeks?!i dont think i could,maybe 2 days?..let me know

[lilyskip]

Welcome! BP's are irresistible. I doubt that your BP would take food right away, but if you don't mind losing the $1.49 or so that the food item costs if he doesn't eat, it doesn't hurt to try. It could stress him out, but then you would just end up waiting a week anyway. He definitely won't go hungry if you follow the wait-a-week-before-feeding rule, though, so no rush.

[Andy_G]

Wait a minimum of 5 days before you feed your ball python and wait until he eats two or three times before handling. You need to get it on an established feeding schedule before handling, and this may or may not happen in two weeks. If it doesn't eat after you offer it food, wait a week and try again and don't stress out. This goes for all ages and sizes of ball pythons.

[TheRedDragon]

Welcome to sSnakeSs Fiona! From what I hear BPs are awesome, especially when it comes to their temperment. Good luck to you! :)

[Jazz6279]

Thank you for the warm welcome everyone. I will try feeding in a few days and see what happens and will keep you all posted. As for handling, well whenever i get the urge to pick him up i'll just have to go pester Beano the corn snake instead which will hopefully keep my mind off it, she quite enjoys being handled and goinge exploring!
Thanks again.
Fiona.