New to site and just got a Ball Python

[Jockdeeznutz]

Hi, im new to the site and I just got my Ball Python a month ago. This is my second snake. My previous snake was a corn snake. I'm not sure if its a female or male but i haven't named my BP yet. I was thinking of Octavious lol. I dont know? Any suggestions? So far i fed him or her 5 mouses already. I have some pictures of my BP. Il take some pictures of the BP's home soon and maybe you guys can tell me how to improve his home.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wNTYyMTkxNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg

http://we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wNTg0NzI4NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D

[arkuden]

he/she looks great. thats an interesting color for a mouse lol. Im sure you will hear this pretty soon anyway and since i just found out as well haha you will want to switch to rats asap :) and are you feeding live or f/t or f/k?

I wouldnt worry about a name right now, sooner or later you will just look at him/her doing his/her thing and you will know. It would probably help to find out a gender though too lol. Congrats cuz ball pythons r0x!!!

[Artemis]

Congrats on your new additon. My advice is to go over Matt Kameka's FAQ (one of the first threads in this forum) as a jumping off point, and see how your enclosure measures up to the standards hilighted in there. If you have specific questions, we would all love to help you, but all the general stuff is right in there :)

Cant wait to see more pics-

Artemis

[Jockdeeznutz]

Thanks guys..you will be hearing from me often =)
Just curious, Do you guys breed your own rats or just buy them? Is it worth even doing if you only have 1 snake?

[munchy]

nice snake. alot of people on here do breed their own rodents but they are generally the people with larger collections. you can get rodents shipped to your house if you order them on the internet. theres a lady on here who goes by the name of anniebmice. i get all of my mice from her now and it works out perfectly cuz she lives like 5 minutes away. :cool:



speaking of which....check your PMs annie!!! i need rodents asap.:D

[Jockdeeznutz]

I woke up today to check on my BP. I couldn't find it and i was getting worried. But there's no way he could escape but its locked. I started diggin up the bark and no luck. I lifted up the waterbowl and he was underneath that!...He has never done that before. What's that mean?. He was kinda wet. Was he dry or something? I got 2 waterbowls in the aquarium. 1 one each side of the aquarium. Any know why my snake would hide under the water bowl?

Thanks..

[Artemis]

Do you have places for him to hide on top of the bark? Snakes spend the majority of their time hiding, and should have a hide on both the hot and cool side of the tank. If you do, it could just be burrrowing appeals to him, its not that uncommon for them to do that. If he has been soaking, it could indicate mites, and if you JUST got this snake I really recommend you use paper towels to start, as they make it much easier to spot a mite problem. Also, he may be "dry" as you put it. Try to keep the relative humidity in the enclosure a minimum of 50 percent, but no higher than 80 as a standard reading.

Hope this helps-

Artemis

[arkuden]

paper towels are amazing to use. Very easy to clean and super uber easy to spot messes and possible problems. I usually do a 3 sheet lining.

Also i started out breeding my own mice for echo. I didnt know about the rats being better when i started. But i had 3 females and 1 male and there were always babies to feed echo. I even gave some away or to the pet stores and what not. sooner or later ill get rid of these completely and then just buy rats as i need then as i dont have the space or energy to mess with breeding rats.

[Jockdeeznutz]

I have a hide spot for my BP and the temperature under the Hide spot is exactly 85 Degrees. There's 2 waterbowls. 1 in the hotside and 1 in the cool side. He's hiding under the waterbowl on the cool side. Thanks for all your replies.

[Artemis]

It may be the entrances on your outside hides are too large, it may be they are fine and he just likes under the water bowl. If the temp of 85 was the one under the hot side hide, you need to bump that up to 90-95.

Artemis

[Jockdeeznutz]

THanks alot. one more quick question. My BP eyes are getting milky, so i guess its about to shed soon. Is that the reason why he wouldnt eat yesterday and today. They won't usually eat when their about to shed or in the sheding phase correct?
thanks

[Artemis]

Depends on the BP. But that is likely, yes. Mine will eat shedding not shedding, whatever. Wouldnt hurt to double check your temps. Sometimes they wont eat if they get too cold. Sometimes they just wont eat :)

Good luck with your shed.

Artemis