Questions from 1st time BP owner

I have been doing a lot of research and reading on my ball python, but I figured I would ask a few more questions here since I have found either little to no info, or conflicting info.

1st, as it currently sets, I have a young BP, bought from a breeder at the Hamburg show. I had the tank all set and ready to go for it along with the heat regulated and ready. The warm side stays around 86-89, the cool side registers about 75, is this OK? I am using 11" flex watt with a rheostat underneath. The bottom of the cage is made of ceramic tile on the warm end, which heats up nicely and then 1/2 plywood with some slits cut in it to let heat through. The substrate is aspen shavings. We are having a pretty bad cold spell here in NY, so it is throwing the temps around a bit, I have to keep tweaking them.

I have three primary hides, one on the warm end, one in the middle, and one on the cool end. You can see them in the pic below. I also have a few plants in there, and will be heading to the craft store tomorrow to pick up a few more. Does everything look alright otherwise? I have two digital thermometers that I use to check the temps, I also have a dial therm & hygrometer, but they are stuck in the wrong place, I plan to fix that today.

On to my questions. How long should I wait to begin feeding it, and how do I judge the best size? How often should I offer food? I have seen it range from 5 days to two weeks, which seems like a really big difference. The breeder I bought it from uses live mice, I assume that I should continue to do the same? Can I train it to take frozen / thawed mice? Or should I kill the mouse first? I know that if I use a live one, I need to monitor it closely so it does not chew on the snake. I figured I would pick up a small aquarium to hold the mouse in if the snake did not take it.

I think that is it at the moment, thanks for all of the help, enjoy the pics Let me know what you think, or if I should change anything. Thank you so much!

That looks like a happy snake!! Alot better then the tub pics you usualy get on this site.. lol Looks good. Good job.

On the food questions, you can try to feed it already, but it might not take. The ball needs to get used to it's surroundings and feel good. For a normal pet that size once per week is good. When it gets a few years old every 1-2 weeks if fine then. The size of the food is based off the width of the snakes body, It needs to make a "Lump" in the middle after it eats. After you feed it a few times you will notice if it is fine or too small. If the snake is eating live mice I would stay with that untill it is eating on a regular basis. After that it will be easier to switch to F/T or Fresh killed if you want too. I have switched mine all over to F/T now with no probs and is alot easier on me and the snakes.

Hope that helps. This is just how I see it and do mine. Others may chime in and explain how they feel since there are many right answers, just depends on what works for you.

Nice looking setup!
I usually keep my baby bps slightly warmer, maybe 92 hotspot, and closer to 80-84 ambient air temps. As far as food size, a hatchling can eat a mouse that is close to weaned, so yours should be able to eat a reg adult mouse with no problems, I would keep an eye on it though, if you can get them, I would get a "crawler" size to start, and see how aggressively your snake feeds, if it is timid, an adult mouse may "put it off" for a spell, where as a crawler mouse is "easy prey" and will give the bp time to examine it without being intimidated. If it feeds aggressively use an adult next time. It is usually not to hard to feed frozen thawed, just heat one up in a cup of 90 degree water till thoroughly warmed, and jiggle it with tongs an inch in front of the snake.
Nice looking snake, and good luck!

1- Thats a very nice setup u got. very..... busy I would say.

u may wanna raise the temps in his basking spot a few degrees, up to 92.

I usually wait about 10 days before I offer food to a new arrival but if he seems hungry id say go for it. I would try a f/t, (frozen thawed) mouse, if he doesnt take it then try a stunned or f/k (fresh killed). and if that dont work try a live. U want to do live to balls that will only take live ones, that way the mouse wont bite back and hurt them and discourage them from eating. If he only takes live at the moment, when go to switch to frozen thawed id suggest u switch to rats at the same time, just to see if u get lucky and he goes for them. The prey items size and how often u feed him depends on the size of the snake, and how fast u want him to grow. U say hes eating mice, so I would assume hes between 100-200 grams in weight. I feed some snakes every 4 0r 5 days, but my older adult balls I'll let go a week or 2 if they want with no worries. Not saying its good practice, but an adult ball of good weight and health can go a whole year with out eating, and will be thin but not near dying.

I got one male I fed every 2 weeks for a year and hes still barely 250 grams. I did this for a longer life span. Generally the longer it takes for a snake to reach adult size the longer lives the usually have. But as with anything living, everything has its own personality, and results may vary.

Sounds like ur off to a good start, and remember while this advice works for me, u may find sumthin different that works for u. Its all whats makes u comfortable with ur snake and as long as it eats and is healthy, u shouldnt have any worries.

Good luck and welcome to the world of balls!

Originally Posted by Casey Hulse

I would get a "crawler" size to start, and see how aggressively your snake feeds, if it is timid, an adult mouse may "put it off" for a spell, where as a crawler mouse is "easy prey" and will give the bp time to examine it without being intimidated.

That is a very good point and when ive done it, it usually ends good for me and my snake, and bad for the mouse.

Thanks for all of the help! I will swing by the pet store this week and see if they have 'crawlers'. They have some pretty good people at the local small pet shop. I will also knock the temp up a degree or two and go from there.

Thanks for the comment on the tank too, it took a couple of weeks to build, though I still need to add a handle to one side. I am currently working on one similar to it for my beardie so I can get her out of the 50 gallon that is sitting on the floor of my dining room.

I have been wanting a bp now for about ten years, that is how long it took me to convince my wife it would not get out and strangle her while she was sleeping . Though it was an even trade, because she got to get a Pomeranian pup (insert disgusted groan here). For some reason though, the argument that her dog cost 3 times as much as my snake still won't work to insure me another couple of bp's. Go figure!

Originally Posted by rcpreis3

1-
I usually wait about 10 days before I offer food to a new arrival but if he seems hungry id say go for it. I would try a f/t, (frozen thawed) mouse, if he doesnt take it then try a stunned or f/k (fresh killed). and if that dont work try a live. U want to do live to balls that will only take live ones, that way the mouse wont bite back and hurt them and discourage them from eating.

IMO there's nothing wrong with feeding live prey. You can do it safely... I have 60 snakes who eat live prey every week without any issues (I fed F/T for awhile before I started raising my own rats, but I waste less feeding live so I switched back). My preference when I fed F/T was to get a new addition feeding before trying to switch. I'd suggest getting your new BP established on a good feeding schedule then switching to whatever you want it to eat after that. Babies are pretty easy to switch usually...it's just personal preference as to if you want to feed live or F/T.

Originally Posted by FireStorm

IMO there's nothing wrong with feeding live prey. You can do it safely... I have 60 snakes who eat live prey every week without any issues (I fed F/T for awhile before I started raising my own rats, but I waste less feeding live so I switched back). My preference when I fed F/T was to get a new addition feeding before trying to switch. I'd suggest getting your new BP established on a good feeding schedule then switching to whatever you want it to eat after that. Babies are pretty easy to switch usually...it's just personal preference as to if you want to feed live or F/T.

Hey if it works for u cool, but theres just a risk in feeding live and I attempt to avoid it if I can. All my snakes that have fed since I got them eventually switched to f/t, most fairly quickly or right away.