New member with new ball.

[dball]

About a week and a half ago I bought myself a 19" female ball python. She was CB. She is my first snake. I did a bunch of research before I bought her, but the problem I have is much of it is very conflicting. For one everyone says different things about feeding. First I would like to say I have fed her twice and she eats well. Since she seems less active during the day I feed her in the evening around 8-9pm. I was told not to handle them before feeding as it can stress them out but I find with mine it gets her a little more active and aware if I hold her first. She does not seem to stress at all. When I first open the cage she will wind up a little but as soon as I pick her up she is extremely active and friendly. Before I put her back in I let her sniff the air holes of the container I have the mouse in. Seems to work. As soon as I put her in I then put in the mouse on the other side of the tank and she takes it right away.

I have read to feed young snakes every 5-7 days. The owner of the store says every 4 days is optimal. He has owned hundreds of reptiles and knows his stuff. He has owned his store exclusive to reptiles for over 40 years. Other guys at the store say every other day or 2-3 times a week. I am thinking of going every five days as I don't want to shorten her life AT ALL.

I was also told by some to feed her in a seperate container. How are you supposed to put them backonce they have eaten if they risk throwing up for 24-48 hours?

In your stickies it mentioned stargazing. Once in a while she will rest her head on the side of her water bowl head facing up. Is this a problem?


I didn't mean to make this a long thread but I want my girl to be as happy and comfortable as possible, with as long a life as she can possibly have. She gets her privacy since I am gone a good 10-12 hours every day. Though I stop in to check on her. I am a responsible person, I have done the research, and am keeping a log of her feedings, BM's, and how often she sheds and tank gets clean. Just want some others advice. Thank you everyone in advance.

[kath]

I would not advise you to feed her in her tank/cage because this creates the thinking of everytime the latch opens she is going to be fed and she may strike at you. It is always safer for you to feed her seperate from where she sleeps. Are you feeding her live or frozen?
Do you have a heating support system for her? Mine work on timers, a good investment.
As for the rest you sound like you're doing fine. She's lucky to have you.

[kronic2005]

You will not make your snake regurg by picking it up out of the other container, just be real careful not to push on the stomach and just set her back in the main tank. If you handled it for several minutes after it ate, and it got real stressed then it would regurg. Otherwise, you shouldnt have any problems, just make sure shes getting sufficient heat, and a cool spot to go cool down.:eb:

[dball]

Thanks Kath and Kronic for the reply. Much appreciated.

That was a large concern of mine the regurgitating thing. I was afraid touching her at all would cause this reaction. Glad to know it won't.

As for the heating system I have a heat pad under the tank and a heat lamp on top. The heat pad I have covering 3/4 of the bottom of tank. And I have the heat lamp on the same side as the pad. Right now I turn of the lamp at night. But I plan on getting either a dimmer or a blacklight type bulb for nighttime along with a digital therm at the end of this week. Right now all I have is the stick on therm. Wish I would've known those aren't sufficient but everyone even my friends that have had snakes say "oh thats fine". Asap I will pick up a scale as well.

She seems very happy and loves to eat. I have fed her dead once and live twice. Live she hunts it down immediately. She can be vicious with those mice. She IMO has a very healthy appetite. I just don't want to overfeed her though.

[kronic2005]

Your Under tank heater (uth) should not be covering more than half the bottom of your tank, most ball keepers keep them between 1/2 and 1/3 under the tank, this provides them with a sufficient cool spot. The lamp can be turned off at night with no ill effects unless your under tank heaters are not working properly, drops into the mid 80's at night wont hurt your snake their used to it in the wild, if its hitting the high 70's its getting to low. Its good to switch over to fresh killed or frozen thawed rats, live can be dangerous for your snake, and its kinda mean to the rodent. You wouldn't like to be squeezed to death would you, its an agonizing process to die like that. Just my opinion. But in other situations some snakes are real finiky and will only take live. If the snake wont take f/t or fresh killed and its been a while and your worried about its health/weight, then do what has to be done. Not saying that feeding live is right, but sometimes theres no alternative.

[Reticsrule]

kronic hit the nail on the head with most of his advice. however, i have to disagree on a thing or two. IMO it is MUCH better to feed the snake inside its enclosure. by feeding it in a seperate container you are going to be handling the snake while it is still in feeding mode. when your snake exceeds 4 or 5 foot (yours might not since it is a ball) a bite is not going to be fun. also, 80% of the people i talk to tell me that feeding a snake inside the enclosure will NOT make then think they are getting fed every time you open the cage. it is much safer for you and the snake, and less stressful on the snake to feed it in its regular enclosure.