Yet another addition to my family.

[jeanette]

I do have a couple more questions now:

@Jeanette: I do feel pretty relaxed with her. Maybe a hint of nerves here and there since she striked at me. I do plan on taking your advise using calm times of the day. What is this moss you speak of? Just regular moss you find outside on a rock or something? Also I read on these forums about a "blue" stage... I think I am seeing hints of a bluish color on her and her hidding under the water bowl might be a sign she is getting ready to shed.. Im I understanding this "blue stage" correctly or am I just seeing things??? You also said "when he becomes used to you and being fed i would recommend moving him into a dry box for feeding as these guys can get impacted although its rare" What do you mean by dry box? And I was thinking of never feeding her in her enclosure. any draw back to this?

I think these are all my questions for now.. Thanks again!

ok the moss is pretty what you can buy in some pet stores or you can use wild moss you find outside although check it for parasites and dont use it if its been in an area where fertilisers or weedkillers may have been used.
you are understanding the blue stage perfectly it gets its name from when a snakes eyes take on a milky hue that can sometimes look blue, it is simply when they are due to shed. it would be great if you dont feed her in her enclosure as snakes can sometimes get used to movement in their enclosure and associate it with food, causes them to strike and you get unhappy owners. some owners dont ever experiance it, but it does happen.
Dry box is simply a box you move the snake to for feeding it contains no substrate so they cant swallow any along with their meal.
hope that explains it
any more questions feel free to ask. Enjoy your new friend

[Flutterbye]

Thx! I am trying to keep them really focused on "different" things like Bindi The Jungle Girl, hense the shirts They were stoked when i gave them those!

thats really such a good idea, makes such a nice change...if they follow that path i'm sure your girls will go on to do great things in the natural world

[dashnu]

thats really such a good idea, makes such a nice change...if they follow that path i'm sure your girls will go on to do great things in the natural world

Thank you! It is nice to here stuff like this... I really hope to make these two buckoroo's something special and I am doing all in my power. I "gave" Kiah the Anole, the gecko, and the two garters. She lit right up So now on her days at my house she is really focused on these guys.. Its an awesome thing!

[Loren]

yea, I dont have that issue.. I live in the middle of the woods!

Sweet!

I grew up on a dairy, but live in town now.

[dashnu]

Well she feed, unfortunately live.. But shes eating and she is exploring her new enclosure, seems to be much less "stressed" now.. I also held her for a few minutes and she was content flapping her toung every now and then "smelling" me.. Not NEARLY as balled up as before.

Thanks for everything guys..

Another good tip I tried with F/T (all though it didnt work for me) :

Run the head under HOT water for a minute then dry it off.. The heat "should" trigger the feeding.

I am going to try this with my garters.. They are more then ready for pinkys.. The bigger of the two will eat three big night crawlers per feed.

[Lori P]

I swear, there is something about bp's and feeding live. The difference in the response when I offered them live for the first time really made me realize how important that is to them. I'm not advocating it necessarily, but I think I'm sticking with it for mine...

[dashnu]

Yea, On top of all that i would assume since they are a pretty mellow snake this would be the only true form of exercise.. this is just my "outside" prospective.

[jeanette]

pythons and boas need movement to trigger feeding response thats why a lot of people have more luck feeding live.
If its your preference then thats ok. I cant however feed live, it brings out my protective instincts and i want to rescue the poor little food item. it is also illegal here in the uk to use live mammels as feed items unless its recommended by a vet for health reasons.
If you dont want to feed live then you can stimulate feeding with a warmed through frozen rat/mouse/prefered food item and offer it on tongs mimicing rodent behaviour, it takes time and practice but it will work. just be patient .

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

WOW YOUR KIDS ARE ADORABLE!!!

and so is you new addition, I am a HUGE fan of normal ball pythons!

I've had my own little one for about a month now.. heres her a month ago



and here she is now!!! she is thriving on 1 thawed small adult mouse, twice weekly! i open that tub and she is ready to nail it , she has doubled in width and weight already!



i really hope yours does as well as mine's doing!

[jeanette]

shannon that is a lovely snake absolutely beautiful