I just got my little girl, Isabella (I love that name), a few days ago (Monday). I got her home, set her tank up, etc., and gave her till Tuesday afternoon to get used to the place. I've been holding her once a day or so, towards the evening... she's a dream to work with, compared to my kings. And I fed her last night, to keep up with the schedule at the petshop. She's a little girl, and she took a f/t rat pup, which, being a kingsnake guy, looked WAY too big... but it seems to fit just fine.



Anyway, the point of all this was that I've been reading up on BP's, and it seems all of the caresheets/guides/FAQ's I've found are very quick to stress that BP's are finicky eaters, get stressed very easily, and that when they are first aquired they should be left alone from anywhere from a week to two or three! My walk-in closet is the snake room, so she gets good privacy. She's been on live mice until now, and had no problem taking a dead rat pup (even my voracious mex. black king wouldn't do that without a fight). When I hold her, she shows no signs of defense or aggression; she's very exploratory, but not in a hurry to run away, etc.



So, from anyone here who's owned kings/corns and BP's, how are they really? Is feeding and stress really as big of a problem as people make it out to be, or are they just being cautious, esp. compared to colubrids?



I know I should've probably waited more than a day to handle her, but after keeping a lot of snakes, in my experience, unless the snake is noticeably stressed, gentle handling just begins to reinforce the "handling != bad" concept sooner. I've never had a snake that was friendly from the beginning show any signs of stress from being handled a day or two after aquisition.



Thanks,

Baz



P.S. Man, I love BP's! I know they're "beginner" snakes and whatnot, but they're just a joy to have, at least so far. I know a lot of snake owners that are really missing out.

[ Hide Replies ]

• Just how... "finicky" are BP's? - bazmonkey, Thu Jun 19 20:25:21 2003
• RE: Just how... "finicky" are BP's? - VoodooDragon, Fri Jun 20 03:32:08 2003
• WC are more finicky, I think - Kuch, Fri Jun 20 09:23:53 2003
• Never turned down a meal? - babysdaddy85, Sat Jun 21 03:55:54 2003