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They just came today. First thing I noticed is that they seem pretty pale compared to almost evey pic I've seen. It's in the low 70's today and they didn't have a heat pack so I'm guessing that's why. I got them warming up slowly now. I know it's bad to let them drop that low but do I need to be super concerned? It was less that 24 hours, probably less than 12. They just look very pale. I'll post pics tonight. My other question is about the set up. I normally avoid dirt or aspen type substrates during quarentine. Am I okay going with paper towels while I quarentine them or will that put too much stress on them not being able to dig in and all? I didn't notice any mites or anything from first glance but I had to get back to work. I'll post pics of the set up tonight as well. Thanks for any help.

How old/big are they? They're pretty pale when they're young, and they don't start to get red until they're a bit older. Pics would help though. I don't think the cooler temps for a short period of time should have any negative effects as long as you have them warmed up now. Paper towels/newspaper should be fine as long as they have a good secure hide, once you're sure there's no mites or anything you could switch to a different substrate to make them feel more at home. I've never had a WC snake though so maybe someone else has more to offer. -chris-

I would be very concerned. Anything below 75 Degrees for just a few hours can have some severe consequences. Some animals are more tolerent than others, but I lost 12 animals because of a 12 or 14 hour power outage

The outside temps are not your biggest concern, as long as they were packed properly (securely, in an insulated box). This time of year, I wouldn't have heat packed them either - they could easily get too hot. If they didn't feel cold to the touch, and are acting ok, I wouldn't be terribly concerned. If, on the other hand, they were shipped without insulation
...you may run into some problems, depending on just what kind of temps they were exposed to - bloods in general are not as tolerant of low temps as some other species. Their age and size is a factor here also (and could be part of the lack of coloring...but keep in mind, many of the specimens you see posted are exceptional animals.)

I have them each in thier own 10 gallon tank for now while I quarentine them. I have them on papaer towels. A water dish big enough for them to fit in, a small hide on the hot side, a small hide on the cool side, and a seperate hide on the cool side with damp paper towels in it for humididty. That should be good right? As long as I keep temps correct and the paper towels damp in the one hide. Also my first shot at keeping anything with this high of a humidity need. So my question I guess is will the damp hide be okay for a few month while I quarentine them?

I've had a number of wild caught blood pythons and my experiences have run the range from "pretty poor" to "not so bad". Here is my run-down.

1. Dont buy WC's. I have sold every single one I ever bought for various reasons, but I know others have faired better. Since you have them we'll give it our best shot and you can learn from my mistakes.

2. Tuck them away in a warm cozy spot. Shred some newspapers lengthwise and give them hideboxes. Make sure their cage is good enough to house them for an extended period of time. You dont want to shuffle them around or have to pull them out every week to clean. Spot clean if possible.

3. External Parasite- Depending on who you got them from they may have ticks, mites and internal parasites. I might start with a small piece of No Pest Strip in their cages to keep mites/ticks from spreading. Even if you quarantine in another romm these little guys can travel fairly well. You dont want to get to aggressive here because they are stressed and too much insecticide wont do them any good at all. Another option is to place the NO Pest strips outside their cages to prevent any from exiting. Make sure nobody in the house has any issues with vapona and make sure you dont have any pets nearby. I'm not a real fan of No Pest but I'm less of a fan of mites. A second option, and one I have done with success, though many will say it probably isn't wise, is to use Harts flea spray you buy at Walmart. You can spray around the outside of the cage to contain any mites or ticks. Let it dry and air before putting the snakes near the dried chemical. I have also used it in adult snake bedding with great success. P.S. I am a molecular biologist and we could argue the evils of vapona and permethrins for an eon. I have carefully used both near neonate GTPs-adult bloods with no deliterious effects. Just be careful! You can get more aggressive later as they settle in.

4. Internal parasites-dont rush to pump them full of worm medication unless absolutely neccessary. They'll likely need worming later but for now just let them recover from their stressful ordeal. If they start to look lethargic and dehydrated and wont drink or eat for a fairly long period of time (they should drink within a few days of arriving, but they may not eat for several months, though some eat within a few weeks) get them to a vet. Sometimes the parasite load shifts as a result of stress and the snakes can get overwhelmed by the worms.

5. Patience - this is my biggest problem. I buy snakes I want to look at them and play with them. Dont. Just leave them be for several months. Let them get settled in and comfortable. Check on them every few days but just let them rest and recover. I started out by opening cages and checking on them. After a month or two I started talking to them and after another month or so I would put my hand on them while a talked to them. I didnt pick them up and I only took them out of the cage when absolutely necessary.

6. Attitude - my WCs have run the range from quite docile to really nasty. Even the nasty ones will calm down a little. Just be patient. If you got adult bloods and tehy dont have a little bit of a pissy attitude it might be cause for concern. Just keep a close eye on their color and vitality. If they slip get them to a really good vet and/or write one of us.

Their are several people on this list who have wrangled WC blood pythons and it is in your best interest to talk to as many of us as you can and learn from our experiences. I certainly dont have the magic formula and every scenario is different, but I have learned quite a lot through my failures.

Good luck
Steve (615) 653-6689

I wouldnt worry too much about temps. As long as it is above 70 or so they should be OK for a couple of days. I cool my snakes to the mid 70's each winter. Excess temps (above 95) are much more dangerous. Snakes will expire quickly if they get too hot. All of my bloods have a gradient from around 80-92 (ambient air). They virtually always stay at the cool end during the day and move to the warm end at night.

What worked very well for quarantine snakes in general was to buy one of those under-bed sweater boxes from Walmart, they are roughly 40" x 20" and only 6-1/2 inches high. I also bought a coupe of big cheap platic bowls cut a notch in them and used them as hides. You can move the under-bed box around easily, it is easy to heat and it is opaque so it gives the snake an additional bit of security. It is also easy to control humidity. You can heat them with a heating pad or heat mat placed under one end. Just monitor temps carefully.

I once had a shipper send snakes to my home address in January (it was supposed to go to my business address). I was living in Iowa and the wind chill was 10 below zero. UPS was nice enough to drop them on my porch at noon. I got home at 4:00. The snakes were almost frozen solid and every one of them lived and were seemingly none the worse for the wear. Strange but true.

Steve

They looked pretty clean. My girlfriend told me she ordered them from LLL. I guess either they cleaned them up some or they might have been farmed so parasites wouldn't be as bad as if they were just plucked from the jungle. In any case I'm definitely keeping an eye on it. They're babies, about the size of a ball python hatchling only thicker, and were very calm. Not even a hiss. I'm pretty sure my set up is good. Now it seems like it's just basic WC issues like feeding, hydration, parasties, etc.

Ah you got some farm hatched babies then. That's a little different from real WC. You shouldn't have nearly as many problems. The biggest issues I would worry about is feeding and temperment, but sounds like they are pretty well behaved so far. -chris-

It may be premature to say that their temperaments are pretty good. When I got my 6 Bangka imports, I freehandled them all right out of the bag with no problems. Once their heads cleared from the shipping stress, that was it for hands on. In all fairness, I think that there are two that I could handle minimally, two that would move away if I pushed them a little to facilitate cleaning, and two that would bite the p*ss out of me if I even thought about touching them. I say I think because I really haven't tried any hands on for at least 6 months. I know the 2 that would NOT tolerated it, though. lol. I need to get myself a really good pair of gloves and work with them a bit, because I prefer to be able to move them by hand. If it doesn't work, I've got my hooks...but I'll need to get beefier hooks pretty soon.