Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just purchased a young ball python from this petstore near my house. I've never owned a snake before, and although I've read that these are not the best for beginners, I'm going to try really hard to be a good parent! Anyway, she is about 5 months old and about 12in long. Is that the appropriate size? How fast will she grow? I've read/heard that the more you feed them, the faster they will grow. I was thinking about feeding her a small mouse once every week and 1/2. I fed her for the first time about a week after I got her, and she ate that little mouse right up. I've read they can be pretty picky, so I figured it was good that she had an appetite. Right now she is in a 10gal tank, with an undertank heating pad and a infared light. I'm trying to keep the temp about 85-90 during the day. I've been a little confused about the humidity. I've read conflicting things. Some say that as long as I have a water bowl, the humidity will be okay. Others say that I need to maintain a high level of humidity. I was going to get a humidity gauge today, but is there anything I should get to maintain it? I think thats all the questions I have for now. Thanks for reading!!!

I'm guessing your talking about uv lighting and they don't require it. Make sure you anly have the heat on half the tank. Feed it 1once a week when it is that young, and feed it something big enough to show a lump in the snake. And don't try to post in the forums if you have an overly active jumping beardy on your shoulder ( probably doesnt apply to you but it does to me)

Congratulations! Balls are great snakes I'm sure you are going to really enjoy her. In a nutshell - you can feed her once a week or ever 10-14 days is fine too - you want to feed her a prey item (mouse or rat) that is about the same size around as her thickest part. As far as the humidity goes - you want to keep it at about 60% depending on where you live this may not be any problem at all - when you see her go into shed you should bump the humidity up in her tank to 70-80%. If you have a screen top or heat lamps those are major humidity killers - get your guage and we can work from there - get a good digital thermometer/hygrometer - they are much more accurate than your standard analog (those ones you stick on the side of the tank are a big no-no).

Congrats again!
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

Well, I think you heard wrong about Ball Pythons not being a good beginners snake, it in arguably one of the best first pet snakes (behind the cornsnake), especially if it's captive bred and born.

And when your snake begins it's shed cycle, in order to "bump up the humidity" that the above post suggests, you can do this with a simple spray bottle.

Good luck with your new pet,
Kirk

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1.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.1 Ball Python
1.1 Corn Snake
0.1 Gray band Kingsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
0.1 Pueblan Milksnake
1.0 Bullsnake
1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback (Hondo)
0.1 Spouse (WC)
3.5 hatchling ball pythons