Got him!

[sapphire_moon]

Well I have been doing research (for about 3 months actually) and found out last week that the pet store (the one I always rave about) is haveing a 10th annual "party" where they sell all their stock (not just the animals) for 20-50% off so they bring in their new babies (they breed most of their own) and equipment.

They had yearling blood pythons there, and I asked to see one, I know these are really stressed out, from so much noise, people, and people/kids tapping at the cage. I picked up 2 (they had 3 together) and when I went to pick up the third one it was fine, then it got even more upset and started striking! And you know what, I actually brought along a bottle of antibacterial gel just in case that happened....I think I knew I would get tagged.

It tagged me three times ( 2 on left hand, 1 on right hand I didn't even notice until about 10 min ago! And I only saw it hit me once, and if I hadn't of seen it, I wouldn't have even known!) the stupid person there (all the cages were locked so one of the associates had to open it for me) just stood there with the lid in his hand while I was trying to put it back in the cage (large clear deli cup, never actually seen one so big?) It was striking at anything moving, my partner standing right beside me almost got tagged, then some kids (litterly kids, like 8-9 yrs old) walked by and almost got tagged. Finally I YELLED, "CAN YOU PUT THE LID BACK ON" (He was a new hire, and the place was packed, like 100 people atleast.) I put the snake down. And made sure I had no teeth in my hand. none found, so the snake was ok, besides being way stressed out.

I also yelled at the "reptile guy" (again not the one usually there) for allowing someone that doesn't or hasn't worked with reptiles/aggressive snakes to work with them when there are so many people in the store for his first few times.

We ended up getting one that was caged by itself, and a little less stressed, about 1.5ft long, and probed to be a borneo male, with a awesome chocolate/whiteish colored tail, and a stripe of orange on his eyeball.
I asked the guy I yelled at if I could handle that one. And he looked startled, and when he reached his hand in, scared, lol.


Now he's all set up and calming down, got the feeding record all the way back to december.

And when he gives us a fecal it's going to the vet.


BTW the little "tattoo" I got looks like a smiley face

That was also my first tag, ever. lol

And since it was supposed to be feeding day for him, (he had only been fed on small adult mice) I heated up a f/t 3wk old rat (about the size of a retired breeder mouse) and swung it infront of him, he hit it SO hard that he pulled my tongs and my arm/hand in the cage! (the rats leg had gotten twisted up in the tongs) it scared the CRAP outta me. I never had ANY snake with THAT big of a feeding response, much less, less than 3 hours after getting into the new cage.


so now it's a wait for a fecal to go to the vet. :) By the way. How long can you store a fecal? and can you store it in a fridge?

again, thanks everyone for the help!

[axwielding1]

Awesome!!! At about 18" it's still pretty young. Some have an excellent feeding responce like yours. Mine didn't, and still doesn't feed like that.. Just remember not to "reflex" feed him. Best to just lay the F/T rat outside the hide. This will get him accustomed to not having to kill anything. Your Borneo is acting as it should, hungry! It'll calm down after a while. Sounds like you have the stones to deal with a blood, and confidence to acclimate him properly. They like to burrow, and snap at you from their hiding spot so be careful when taking him out for awhile.
As you could see, they're easily stressed as babies, and the pet store episode is what bloods don't like. Those snappy bloods you encountered were acting well within their tolerances under those conditions. They are loners, and like it dark, wet and quiet. Make sure you have a good temp gradient also, 80-85 across the tank, and at least 60% humidity. Get a thermometer at each end of the tank, and one in the middle/top to get ambient temp, that should be around 81-82. Make sure he has fresh water (and plenty of it) especially before feeding..
Sounds like a great animal you have there, good luck!!
ax.

[sapphire_moon]

Already done, :) I hope I'm "Brave" enough to deal with one.

I was never mad at the snake, poor things :( . I was more worried that I got a tooth stuck. When he bit me, I pulled him back. I didn't YANK him back, or rip him back, I just pulled him back.

I dont' know whether they were feeding him live or not (forgot to ask) but I remembered reading that they rely heavily on their heat pits. So I heated it up to where it was HOT to the touch (for me) let it cool for a few minutes. And fed him.

I think that if he was really stressed he wouldn't have ate.

Like I said, I think I expected to get bitten. I took the antibacerial gel with us "just in case" and so if I handled a rabbit or something I could "wash up" with it.

Reflex feed? I didn't mean to wave it around? I just opened the cage, moved his hide (I couldn't see his head, and wanted to be able to) and was getting ready to lay it down, and he just ripped it right out from the tongs (after dragging my arm in there, lol) I'm a little nervous with him. But I don't plan on handling him (unless needed to) until he eats atleast 3 more times for us.
Then I will start him on a "scheduled" handling sessions. Maybe about once every other day for about 10 minutes or so. Of course waiting for about 2-3 days after he eats.

I was told he was a yearling, does that sound about right?

1.5ft is a guesstimation, I haven't had the chance to get him to stretch out to make a better guess. I am goning to try to get pics sometime though. :)
And a pic of "the day after" on my little bite(s)

I am really happy about getting him.

Oh btw, his humidity is about 70%, heat- hovering around 86-87, and cool side is hovering around 73-75.

I think that all sound about right, he is in a rubbermaid, with a good sized water bowl, newspaper substrate (he is under the paper) I specificly put a few "loose" layers down so he could get under them, and 2 hides. Kind of a smallish cage, because I've heard babies/juvies do better in a small, tight cage.

He is thermoregulating, Last night (when he was under the paper) he was on the cool side, this morning he was on the hot side.

That should be about right.

and again, thanks for all the info!

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Sounds good and congrats on the new edition! Mine was nippy the first day but she calmed down and only struck a few more times in a month or two. Shes really great now and I've had her out for 2 hrs with about 50-60 people around and kids(6-11) running up to me and "petting" her without even asking me and she was fine!

C.

[m1k3_88]

Congrats on the new snake! I'm looking into gettin a black blood over the summer, but ive got ALOT more reading to do b4 i do. Mike

[sapphire_moon]

Cool, do TONS of reading. As I said, I did research for about 3 months before I got one. I read probably every post in the blood pythons forum here. Reading tons of caresheets. Lol

[Big_V]

Hey congrats....I knew that huge thread would result in a new blood owner. Glad it all worked out and have fun with them...they are a great species.

[sapphire_moon]

I got some pics, I just got to get them devloped!
When I took them, he puffed his little self all up, lol. But since he had just ate, I didn't want to stess him out to much, I just put everything back where it was, paper back over him, hides down, water bowl, and lid.

how long can I keep a fecal in the fridge, and if I could even keep one in the fridge?

[Auskan]

The fresher the fecal is, the better (if you can get it to the vet immediately, that would be the best scenario). If you do have to keep it, keep it in the fridge, but try to get it to the vet asap. Overnight is fine, but if you can't get it to the vet the following morning, I'd wait until the next elimination. The longer you leave it, the harder it will be to see eggs of parasites.

[sapphire_moon]

Well guess it will have to wait till the next time then. His "bottom" looks like it is going to explode! lol, it's got the "swollen" look of a snake about ready to "Go"

I was able to get a weight on him, he is a little over 1/2 pound.

[jfmoore]

Congratulations on your new blood python!

That low side temperature of 73-75 degrees makes me nervous. I’m sure you’ve heard that bloods can develop respiratory problems fairly easily (but not just from low temps). Their tendency to not move around a lot makes me doubt that they always “choose” the best temperature. Anyway, I try to keep my minimum temperature around 79 degrees and my high around 88. My animals usually register 81-83 degrees when measured with an IR temp gun.

Good luck,
Joan

[sapphire_moon]

yes, I've heard that. This blood seems fairly active. Going above the paper, into the hides, over the bowl, behind/beside, and back under for a rest. Not always on the cool side. I will keep an eye out for it though.

How does he sound for his age/size? He is supposed to be a yearling, about 1.5ft, and a little over 1/2 pound (pre-poop, lol. He just ate about 2 days ago).

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

It probably wont poop for a month, maybe more!

C.

[jfmoore]

If he’s THAT active, I’d check for mites. :)

You know how the size thing goes. You can never know for sure how old it is if you don’t actually know the breeder. Bloods hatch out around the same size as ball pythons. A little over a half pound as a yearling would be totally normal given a moderate feeding regime. By the same token, it could be twice or even three times as big now if fed more. Your question prodded me to look back through some 20 year old feeding records and I found examples of all three scenarios with my blood pythons from hatching through the end of the first year.

Also, regarding the feeding thing you’ve been discussing – I always find it more helpful with any species of snake I work with to feed based on the weight of the snake rather than its “girth.” If you keep track of the weight of the food items (at least for some of the meals), you develop a feel for what is an appropriate amount to feed any animal.

Regarding fecals, as Auskan said, the fresher the better. Get it to the vet the same day as it is deposited, otherwise refrigerate overnight in a tightly closed container so it doesn’t dry out.

[sapphire_moon]

oh, checked and double checked for mites, (and keeping an eye on it) I do that with all my snakes. :) I just don't want to handle him and stress him out to much right now. Tryin to just leave him alone till he's got a good eating scheduel down.
He's not that active all the time, I don't think any snake is. I just think that he was exploring his cage, and look for an escape lol.


Ya, I went over the feeding record and noticed that sometimes it wasn't fed but every 2 wks a small adult mouse. And when I had offered the rat it had been one week since he had eaten. I would just think that he would have been a little bigger, or feeding on something a little bigger.

Small adult mice are so tiny compared to what I gave him (a 2-3wk old rat), and what I gave him, after he got it down, didn't even leave a small lump. I'm pretty sure he was crusin for more, but didn't want to push it.