My wife's first snake, Sidney

Norm66 · 11-27-11, 12:49 PM

My wife at first was interested in sand boas, but when she got into researching them she changed her mind. I suggested she start looking into ball pythons and corn snakes since the one thing she's really not into is getting bit.

If I would have had to guess I would have thought a colorful corn morph would have been what she decided on but she fell in love with a friend our friend Shannon's smallest BP, Sidney (it fits our Pittsburgh sports theme as Sidney Crosby is the captain of the Penguins) in large part because Sid is a somewhat picky eater but has eaten twice for Becky already. After some discussions Shannon decided to give Sid to Becky since she has three BPs. I'm going to buy a couple bags of pinkies for Shannon at the next expo even though she was just glad to give Sid to Becky.

I'm really proud right now, we bought all the stuff for Sid's enclosure last night and Becky's spent the past hour or so getting it just right, it's almost done in fact. We'll spend a few hours making sure all is ready and we're going to pick Sid up around 4 or 5 this afternoon.

Here's a pic of the enclosure:

It's currently sitting on a rubbermaid tub w/ styrofoam under it as a spacer until we get something built for the snakes. It's not pretty but it is functional. We're also going to paint the back and sides of the tank to make him feel a little more secure.

snake man12 · 11-27-11, 12:53 PM

Looks like a good setup. Oh by the way a bp can start on large fuzzies and hoppers not pinkies. Have fun with him

Norm66 · 11-27-11, 12:56 PM

Thanks. The pinkies are for Shannon's colubrids as a gift for giving Becky the snake, not for Sidney. Sid is eating rat pups (with hair, not pinks).

snake man12 · 11-27-11, 12:57 PM

Oh sorry I must have got a little confused

Norm66 · 11-27-11, 01:23 PM

Oh no problem. I'm usually confused. ;-)

KORBIN5895 · 11-27-11, 03:18 PM

Join the club! And that is a great friend.

Rogue628 · 11-27-11, 04:17 PM

Nice! And love the set up!

Confusion is my world. I constantly stay in it :P

alessia55 · 11-27-11, 06:57 PM

That's a great set up! Congrats to your wife on her first snake

Can't wait to see pics!

Norm66 · 11-28-11, 06:44 AM

Thanks all. Sid came home last night, went into the cage, took a quick spin around and went into the cool side hide. This morning just his little head was sticking out and not wanting to disturb him I didn't try taking a pic.

Here's one from last night before we brought him home. He had just shed and had a few pieces hanging on so he also got a bath. He was very sweet and actually seemed to enjoy the warmish water.

Becky is thrilled with the little guy and of coure whatever makes Becky happy makes me happy.

spots · 11-28-11, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norm66

Becky is thrilled with the little guy and of coure whatever makes Becky happy makes me happy.

Smart Man!! LOL

alessia55 · 11-28-11, 08:13 AM

Aww I love it when they're that size! so cute! I'm glad your wife is happy with him! Ball pythons are such a joy to have

**Aaron_S** · 11-28-11, 09:28 AM

I'm going to have to be the kill joy here as no one else seems willing to do it. That is not the "great set up" that everyone keeps saying it is. It looks fine but it's not really that functional. The reason he had stuck shed on him is because his humidity was too low where he was. With TWO bulbs on your enclosure and that small water dish you're going to suck out all the humidity. If you insist on using this enclosure the best I can do is inform you to cover most of your lid so as to keep as much humidity in as possible.

Kiljosh · 11-28-11, 10:33 AM

I think that kind of depends on the humidity in the room as well but he is right.

The lights will dry the cage, as well as being not the best for balls apparently. I have read on here they get most of their body heat from their bellies, so having a light on them will work but it's not suited for them.

I use lights in my tank to lift ambient air temps and allow nighttime viewing but most on here recommend using an under tank heater, heat tape/wire, or a ceramic heat emitter to keep the tank humid enough.

If you search my posts you will see one about my Ball's eye getting a dent. Because of this I've had to start misting the tank almost everyday because my lights dry it out and its becoming a hassle so I'm currently rethinking my heating solution to incorporate an extra UTH for the hot side as well as reworking my heat wire.

Lankyrob · 11-28-11, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiljosh

I think that kind of depends on the humidity in the room as well but he is right.

The lights will dry the cage, as well as being not the best for balls apparently. I have read on here they get most of their body heat from their bellies, so having a light on them will work but it's not suited for them.

I use lights in my tank to lift ambient air temps and allow nighttime viewing but most on here recommend using an under tank heater, heat tape/wire, or a ceramic heat emitter to keep the tank humid enough.

If you search my posts you will see one about my Ball's eye getting a dent. Because of this I've had to start misting the tank almost everyday because my lights dry it out and its becoming a hassle so I'm currently rethinking my heating solution to incorporate an extra UTH for the hot side as well as reworking my heat wire.

The bulbs heat the substrate and teh substrate heats the belly, not much different from usiing a UTH - in the wild the same thing happens, the sun heats the ground and teh snake absorbs teh heat from above AND below

pythons9991 · 12-08-11, 10:10 PM

Ball pythons are shy secretive creatures and using bright basking lights on them can cause them undue stress and is a common cause of the snake going off feed. aquariums are also very hard to create the proper heat and humidity that balls require, your best bet would be a plastic enclosure with a hinged or sliding door on the front, flexwatt heat tape covering 1/3 of the enclosure heats this type of enclosure nicely without needing any kind of bulbs and the snakes feel very secure my ball pythons rarley miss a meal except when in shed and their sheds are always perfect.