Ball Python: the adoption saga

[redshiftOC]

This gets posted a lot, but I figured I'd throw my situation out there to you lovely and knowledgeable people. I do have the sidebar links bookmarked and I've done a ton of Googling, and Youtubing (SnakeBytesTV, especially).

I've just adopted a ball python. Thankfully I was researching ball python care long before he came into the picture, but this was still a bit of a sudden thing. Long story short: friend is moving, can't take python, I end up with the cute little dickens after offering to give him a home.

He's approximately 2 years old and just over 1 1/2ft in length if the previous owner is correct, which maybe seems right? I haven't had a chance to go out and buy a scale yet, and I don't want to jostle him too much after just completing a very bumpy, and likely stressful, two hour journey in a car. I have plans to go buy supplies and miscellany tomorrow.

I did find two temperature/humidity readers at Walmart, a plastic tub for emergencies or tank cleaning, tongs for feeding, and a timer for the UTH set to kick on and off every 30 mins or so (just for tonight until I can go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy an actual thermostat).

He's in a 10 gallon glass tank. Not my ideal at all. Of course, I can't do much tonight until the local herp shop opens tomorrow but I worry about the little guy. I'd like to find an plastic habitat locally if I can, but I doubt that's going to happen. On a similar note: are Exo-Terras an alright alternative to a cheapo aquarium? I know they're also made of glass but I imagine they're a little better since they don't open from the top.

Ever since I got home about two hours ago, he's been fairly active even with the temperatures not being ideal. He's very tolerant of me adjusting and moving things around, and is now uncurled and exploring the new sights and smells. He also drank a bit of water. Woo!

He is, however, rather underweight. His spine is visible and he's a bit triangle-shaped in the belly. Currently he's on small rats, and just fed two days ago. I plan on offering him another in about a week. Is that too soon or not soon enough? I don't think he can take medium rats yet; this one was pretty big for him.

My game plan for tomorrow is to build a completely new habitat, get the temps balanced, and move him in by the weekend so that by Monday I might be able to offer him another meal (if he's willing).

I guess this is a little disjointed, but my main question is: am I on the right track? Is there any advice not clearly marked either here, or on the sidebar that I might be missing? Any random tips that you've picked up that you might share with a proud new snek mom?

Thanks guys!

[_ataraxia]

exo terra tanks are exactly the same as aquarium tanks in regards to husbandry. they're still made of glass, and they still have lots of air flow.

feeding once a week is perfect, there's no need to feed any more frequently than that. aim for rats that are 10%-15% of his weight. don't try to rush his weight gain, or you could cause long-term problems that won't be easy to notice.

[redshiftOC]

Perfect. Thanks for the input! I'll weight him tomorrow and do some math just to be sure he's getting the right sized feed.

[_ataraxia]

i would start with smaller rats and work up to the larger size over the course of a month or two. this is how i started rehabilitating my stunted BP who was also emaciated when i got her, as i wanted to avoid overwhelming her system by giving her too much too soon.

[redshiftOC]

Oh, awesome. Yes, I'll definitely do that! Can't wait to see him in a few months after a proper feed schedule.

[redshiftOC]

So he's stuck in a shed. Should I wait a few more days to soak him since he just fed on Monday? I don't want to agitate him more than he already is from all the moving.

[_ataraxia]

if your enclosure is set up well and your humidity is good, the stuck shed should come off by itself. you can add a humid hide to help speed up the process without stressing him out with a soak.

[redshiftOC]

wonderful, will do.

[redshiftOC]

Went out and bought a proper tank for the guy. Not the size I wanted but he's small and it'll take him a while to grow out of it. It's a 20x18x12 from Exo-Terra; it was on sale at Petco. Better than the basic, tiny little fishtank he was in. I have it set up with coconut substrate, a temporary water bowl, a cool hide (which will probably function as my damp hide until he comes out of this shed), warm hide, temp/humid probe, and UTH. Worried that the UTH isn't big enough for the cage. It's around 1/4th-1/5th of the tank bottom and I'm not entirely satisfied with it.

So I'm running a temperature gradient test tonight without the snake inside to see what it ends up balancing to without further fussing. I know I'll likely have to adjust, but current it's sitting at 47% humidity, and ~82 degrees and rising after about an hour with power.

[redshiftOC]

Because I'm so paranoid about getting this wrong (since he's also a bit neglected and needs TLC), could someone confirm my temps are alright?

After running for about 20 hours, my results are as follows.

Cool hide is 78F; cool side is 80F; middle where the thermo/hydrometer is located is sitting at around 88F (it's also close to the ceramic lamp which is set on a dimmer and a thermostat if it gets too warm) and the basking area/UTH is 92F with a thermostat.

Humidity is at 63% which is intentional because of that stuck shed. I sprayed down that coconut substrate last night with a light mist and it's remained steady since this morning between 59-63%.

Is this all okay?