Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My wife and I just got our first snake last Saturday at the show in Northern Virginia. She is a cutie. Pics will be up soon. I was just curious if there should be a maximum time that the snake should be out of the cage. My wife and I are starting to take her out in the late evenings and keep her out for a while (1-2 hours). The snake is very friendly and loves to curl up on a wrist for a while. If there is a max time that a snake should be out of the cage please let me know.

Now if only she will eat we will be in business. She is 3 months old and I tried f/t fuzzies. I tried feeding in the cage. I'll wait another week and then try to feed her in a separate rubbermaid container. Is there anything that I should put in the container? Any other advice/tips on feeding f/t that hasn't been mentioned on these boards?

Thank you all.

jon

If your ball python isn't feeding voluntarily yet, please do your snake a favor and do NOT handle it. Bp's are notorious for hiding stress and overhandling WILL cause stress which can even lead to death in some cases. Most bp's will tolerate some handling but keeping a bp out for an hour or two every night (or even every now and then) is far too much in my opinion. For now, you want to just lay off the handling and give this snake time to adjust to its new surroundings. Let it get used to you being around the cage, cleaning the cage, changing the water dish, etc. Keep handling sessions VERY brief (like 5-10 minutes once or twice a week) until it is feeding well. By handling this snake now you are only delaying the feeding process which is critical for the long term health of this snake. Although there are some bp's which do just fine being held for extended periods, it is my firm opinion that most bp's would be far better off being held moderately and for brief durations....my 38 year old ball python will attest to that.

Rob Carmichael, Director/Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation (IL)

I know the temptation that comes with bringing you new baby home I also purchased a ball at the northern virginia show. If its the same show i attended it was just sunday, not even a full week ago. Just like any new pet there is an adjustment stage, a time for your new pet to get used to being in a new enviroment. For the well being of your snake resist the urge to handle him at all (except for daily maint. to his enclosure for the first week at least. Give him time to adjust. Offer him a meal after about a week(it's best offered in the evening when your snake will most likely be most active). If he was being fed f/t offer him this first. If he accepts it greedily, good for you..give him a day or so to digest it quietly. Then keep handling to a minimum. When he is eating well on a regular schedule you can increase the time. A little patience now and you will have a buddy for life. Hope my advice helps a little.. good luck.

Thanks for the advice. I know we got a bit excited. I know we should do what is best for our little girl. Thanks for the insight. We had left him in his cage since Saturday up until tonight. I'll let him be for a full week, then I will try with food. I thought I knew enough, but I guess that there is always something new to learn. Thanks for all the input and the concern.

jon

I know its hard.. my snake probably thinks i'm crazy, sitting in the corner drooling over him...LOL I cant wait to hold him, even for a minute. I think mines settling in and waiting for his meal. He has a pretty good schedule. i dont see him durring the day at all, but about 7'ish he is out and about all night. his favorite spot is balanced on my humidity guage, at the top back of the cage. from here he can peer out the top. Or he will go into his hide and poke his head out. i've heard this is typical ambush behavior, (they will enter a rodent den and wait for the owners to come home) so I think he may be waiting for me to get a clue and feed him..LOL

When we got our BP, I held him a lot... about every other day, trying to get him and I used to eachother. We fed him 10 days after we got him, allowing time for him to know this tank is his home, and all that...

I feed live right now - please don't move this discussion to that debate, been there, done that - and he ate without hesitation. He didn't seem to attack SO quickly that he was starving - he hunted the mouse, stalked the mouse, and waited until the right moment, and *BAM* dinner was ready!

He has always eaten great for me, a patient hunter, not a lazy diner.

I knew little about my boy when I got him, but have been learning here since I found you all. However, I get discouraged when people "guess" at what the snake wants. I know, that's all we can do, and there are some fail-safe signs of stress, like not eating, or whatever. However, if his snake seems happy being held, let's not criticize until he attemps to feed, and the snake shows signs of stress. If he doesn't eat on the first attempt, after being handled quite a bit, then I would suggest a break for a week from handling, and try to feed again.

Maybe his snake is happy being held, and thrives on the attention? Maybe he is now wondering why no one is holding him all of the sudden? No one knows, but the owner can go off of his pet's reactions, how relaxed he is when being handled, and from being with him daily, getting to know his snake.

I am not an expert. I am a learner, but we all love our snakes, and want the best for them. That's why I am speaking up now. We all know, maybe a little too well, that each snake has his/her own personality, likes, dislikes, and preferences. I toast to learning those preferences, and celebrating them!

thanks-
Muggle
Material Witness

Thanks for the post. I agree that the owners should do what they think is best. However, I will listen to the advice given and wait a week or 10 days to attemp a feed again. My snake Reggie is very calm and interested when we handled him the last 2 nights. I know this might get bashed, (but what isn't bashed on these boards, right?) I didn't get a snake to just let it sit in its cage. I want to be active with my snake, give it some loving, play with it, etc. If things go wrong, then I will do what is best for my snake. Thanks for the attention in this matter, and I thank everyone who has helped me here.

jon

I won't yell at you, like everyone else on this forum (and others) you are entitled to your opinions. The purpose of the kingsnake forum (as I see it) is to provide a place for people to exchange opinions, suggestions, and advice. Just like having a new baby YOU are ultimately responsible for the welfare and security of your pets. And just like raising that child you ask for advice and such from others. (Just as people do here.) whether you use that information or not is your choice, but the information is there. Perhaps someone might offer a better way or an alternative in a situation. That person asked for an opinion and suggestions were given, whether he/she chooses to use it is their choice, but the options are there. So thank you for your opinion, and I hope that there are no hard feelings.

I've actually heard this from a few of my friends with BPs too. I handle Gretchen for a minimum of 10 mins every week, sometimes 2-3 times and she will even eat just after I've handled her - literally. I opened her box coz she was head butting it for her dinner, she crawled out it, I picked her up and put her back and she ate no problem. She done the toilet at 7pm, I took her out to clean her out, fed her at 10pm and again she ate with no hesitation. Other people in my herp club have some BPs who are like that too, perhaps not eating 3 hours after they've been handled but certainly they can handle them regularily and they will eat. They've given them maybe a week to settle and then once they've taken a couple of meals they've started handling them. The sooner they get used to everything around them the less stressed they will be about it is the theory. One of my friends thinks the younger you get a ball (within reason) the easier it will be to feed as it will be used to you, and be able to settle and grow with you. That said, she has one ball kept exactly the same as the others who has not eaten since the first 4 meals it had. This is going on 4 months and she has tried handling, not handling etc so it really depends on the individual, go by what the snake's behaviour tells you. But I would agree give it a week or so so settle before you try feeding and handling.