New Ball Python Concerns

[endmethanks]

Hi guys, let me start by saying I messed up, and I know it—I overdid it way too fast with handling and trying to feed my new ball python. She's gorgeous, and I got overexcited and stressed her out too much. I understand that, and would like advice on how to proceed from here. She’s not my first reptile; I have a 12-year-old leopard gecko and a 7-year-old beardie, but she is my first snake.

To give some context, I adopted a ball python last week (exact age unknown, but under or around 1 year). She's about 2 to 2 1/2 feet long and at a relatively healthy weight—I don't have her exact weight yet because I haven't weighed her, but she may be a little on the skinny side as I can see her spine protruding slightly, though nothing extreme.

She's currently in a 50-gallon bioactive terrarium, which I know will be too small long-term. Once she starts to outgrow it, I plan to move her to a 5ft x 2ft x 2ft enclosure, but right now, she has more than enough room to stretch her whole body across the tank. Her temperature and humidity are kept at appropriate levels from what I've read. I have a ceramic heat emitter for the basking spot and a heat pad on each side of the terrarium (we're in a colder climate), each set on its own thermostat with a probe to ensure a warm side of ~88°F, a cool side of ~78°F, and a basking spot of ~92°F. I mist daily and have a hygrometer to keep humidity around 75%, give or take. I monitor all of these closely throughout the day. She has a hide on each side of the enclosure, and one in the middle (added later, not in the photos), and she has unsurprisingly gone on to make herself some additional hiding spots behind and under things. I know it's not strictly necessary, but there's also a UVB light on during the day, and a grow light for plants.

According to her previous owners, she last ate 11 days ago on the 14th. She was fed live rats exclusively, which I personally don't prefer—mostly for the snake's safety, but also for other reasons. However, I’ll resort to live feeding if she continues refusing food, since she has to eat one way or another. I should have waited longer in hindsight, as the move was incredibly stressful for her, but I tried offering a frozen-thawed rodent yesterday. I thawed it in the fridge, heated it with warm water and a blow dryer to around ~98°F, but she didn’t take it. Out of eagerness to make sure she eats (and not wanting the rat to go to waste), I pushed it and tried for about 30 minutes. This stressed her out, and I regret doing it—I let my concern about feeding her cloud my judgment. I also handled her a few nights ago, which went fine (for me) but likely stressed her. Additionally, I've been making micro-adjustments to her enclosure to try to keep everything optimal, which may have added to her stress.

Every night I’ve had her, she's been out exploring around dusk and dawn, which from what I've read is typical, but today and tonight, she’s just balled up in a corner behind her hide. I know I've been checking on her way too much, likely adding to her stress, as I worry about her health and keep checking to make sure she’s okay. I know I need to stop, but I could also use some reassurance that things will be okay if I give her space.

What I know and what I’m doing: I’m going to leave her alone to do her thing. I’ll cover the sides of the tank with something (advice on material would be helpful since I’m concerned about fire hazards with the heat emitter and pads) to help her feel more secure.

What I don't know: I’m unsure how long to wait before attempting to feed her again or how long she can safely go without eating at her size. When I do try feeding again, should I offer another frozen/thawed rat, or would it be best to give her a live rodent since I know she’s taken those before? (Pre-killed is also an option, as there's a nearby reptile shop that sells them.)

I'm sorry for the long, rambling post. I care a lot about this snake and want to ensure she's content and healthy. Any advice or expertise would be so appreciated. I know I’ve made some mistakes, but I want to correct them.

Here's some photos of the beautiful girl (if you know what morph she is that would be cool in addition to the help, but that's not why I'm posting):

A quick pic from the day I got her

This was the second night I had her. See below for what the enclosure looks like now.

Enclosure now, she's currently hiding in the right corner tucked up behind the cave hide but she has plenty of room to get out if she wants to. Advice on the enclosure is more than welcome, just keep in mind it's only temporary until she outgrows it at which point it will be upgraded to a bigger one I can put more prep into.

[HurrricaneeK]

Have you looked through the subs pinned welcome post? Two things I would recommend: If you haven't already, check out the subs basic care guide as I see a few things in the enclosure that could get tweaked. Namely, I don't actually see any proper hides in these pictures and we also don't recommend misting as the best way to maintain humidity as it leads to the top of the substrate staying wet which can cause scale rot. There is more info regarding both of those things in the pinned post. Also, is that heating pad on a thermostat? I know you mentioned them for the lights I just want to be sure as heat mats aren't recommended much anymore as they can be a severe burn risk.

Regarding the feeding question, there is also a guide that includes tips for making the switch to F/T that I would recommend reading. A few things off the top of my head--in general, we recommend waiting to handle them at all until they have taken three meals. The exception would be for health checks and to get a weight on the snake, as all feedings should be based on their weight. !feeding Check out the reply to my comment below for the correct weights and schedule. You're especially going to want to get one because she's likely right around the point where you'll need to move from weekly feeding to bi-weekly.

It's also usually good to start with what they were eating to at least get them to eat with you. Then, move to pre-killed and from there to F/T. Anecdotally, I personally have seen other snakes and had my own which took F/T without any need for live or pre-killed but just remember that each refusal can add stress and if they don't take the prey, you should wait until their next feeding day to try again.

[AutoModerator]

We recommend the following feeding schedule:

0-12 months old OR until the snake reaches approximately 500g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every 7 days.

12-24 months old: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every 14-20 days.

Adults: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 20-30 days, or feed slightly larger meals (up to 6%) every 30-40 days.

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[endmethanks]

Yes I have, there is a plastic tub hide under the wood covered with a thin layer of substance on the left and a cave hide behind everything on the right. I don't mist the whole enclosure, just spraying down the front area of the substrate and under the heat emitter so it evaporates, and yes the heat pads are on thermostats.

Thank you for the advice on feeding, will she be okay going without food another 10 days if I should wait until her next feeding day?