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Does this ball look in bad shape?

Not all of Africa is dry, um... CONGO..... there are lots of places in Africa that are swampy and jungle. To say because its Africa is dry is like saying that all of North America is full of mountains haha :D

I got my info from a Ball python forum, they actually told me they NEED to be at %50 humidity all the time, but I usually dont worry to much about keeping the humidity up unless they are shedding or going into blue. I still usually try to keep the humidity at %30 though. I mist mine once or twice a day, and have done so for almost a year now, no problem with them. Also just so you know our air gets VERY dry up here due to the extreme cold it sucks ALL humidity out of the air. Chances are where you are Lumene you have higher humidity then I do.

I was actually chewed out on the BP forum because they said %30 was to low and that my bps needed to be in a smaller cage because they would stress out and stop eating. Well so far they all feed just fine (except the fact Jess will only eat mice and not rats, but thats unrelated) and have no RI issues.

I also keep hydrometers in my cages to monitor the humidity levels.
 
I live in what is right now one of the driest places in the world. Because it is forty below zero outside the air is not able to hold moisture and our inside humidity is near zero. Balls do not live in the middle of a desert (they are in the edge habitat), so I should not be subjecting my ball to humidity levels lower than many desserts. Since I have a python that has a history of bad shed problems I view getting the humidity level of the tank up to a reasonable level as a priority. Tomorrow I'm buying a new misting bottle and switching to paper towels.

Interesting note - forty below is 70 degrees below the freezing point, or the same difference as 110F. Yes, the difference between freezing and -40 is the same as the difference between freezing and 110F. It feels colder than you can imagine. I don't live in a normal place. I lived without running water for years in these temperatures.
 
lumene said:
Um...
Balls come from Africa... hot and dry, not exactly humid. With a large waterdish they are fine on aspen, all of my current snakes are on aspen (I do live at sea level) but I would just like to warn you that too much humidity leads to disaster, that is how my first ball died in a friends care, because she thought that Lil needed misting twice a day... o_O
You will want to keep him warm and preferably dry to prevent an RI until he's gained a little more weight.
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Because Africa's one big desert right? Cypress is a much better choice.
 
Alaya said:
I live in what is right now one of the driest places in the world. Because it is forty below zero outside the air is not able to hold moisture and our inside humidity is near zero. Balls do not live in the middle of a desert (they are in the edge habitat), so I should not be subjecting my ball to humidity levels lower than many desserts. Since I have a python that has a history of bad shed problems I view getting the humidity level of the tank up to a reasonable level as a priority. Tomorrow I'm buying a new misting bottle and switching to paper towels.

Interesting note - forty below is 70 degrees below the freezing point, or the same difference as 110F. Yes, the difference between freezing and -40 is the same as the difference between freezing and 110F. It feels colder than you can imagine. I don't live in a normal place. I lived without running water for years in these temperatures.
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Its -40f up there?......I wont complain about my -10f that we have right now lol. It was -25F last night last night. Im sure we will end up with -40F by December. Im actually kinda surprised we havent seen -30f yet, not complaining mind you lol.

Also, thank you for giving an example like that. That was a pretty good way of explaining how cold it is lol.
 
-30 at the moment! Its been truly cold since last Tuesday, we got down to -40 several times, and several days with highs of -30. We have yet to get above -20.
 
Oh, poor baby! That first pic really did make him look awful. Glad he's in better shape than expected, and I hope he recovers well.

Also, WOW! -40F??? Holy crap, and here I'm already complaining about it being in the 20s at night. Brrrr! Just the weather here in Utah has me missing the wet, 30-40F winters in Washington. I would die in Alaska... I'm such a sissy. Lol. :p
 
I went to 5 or 6 different stores today looking for sphagnum moss, ended up finding a fir & sphagnum peat moss mix to make a humid hide with. I figured it would have to work, its all I can find in this town. I also bought him a nice water bowl to soak in if he wants to.

New digs:
IMG_0228.JPG


Closer look:
IMG_0231.JPG

Is he body condition all that bad? I know he's thin, but he doesn't seem dangerously thin.

He still has retained shed around his neck, but the worst of it around his vent (keep wanting to correctly call it the cloaca) seems to have come off from his soak. I think he's looking pretty good for now, I'll leave him alone until Tuesday when he gets fed. He'll then have a nice quiet week until we get back on Sunday (I have a pet sitter who will check up on everyone and spot clean as needed). I think with quiet and regular meals he should recover quickly. In December we'll make the decision of if he is going to go and live with Allalaskan or stay up here.
 
I wouldn't say his body condition is too bad, my ball python was far worse before he started eating. I think he'll do good for you :)
 
He looks about how Jericho did when I first got him, now hes bigger then Jess (body thickness I mean) haha. He doesnt look to bad to me.
 
I'm sure he'll fatten up quickly. Animal control said he took a f/t weanling without an issue. I did scare my petsitter with thoughts of regurges though! I'm sure he won't, but I wanted her to know what it was if she found it.
 
That looks like a happy snakie! Glad s/he wasn't as bad as the first picture made us think. I'm not a huge BP fan, but appreciate some of the pretty colors from them. I always thought it was funny how they eat, especially compared to corns. Lots of luck to you!
 
I'm having a hard time keeping his tank above 10% humidity unless I spray once an hour or more (then its at 30%)... I can't do that with work and school. My house is once again dropping in temp since its back down to -40 outside. I'm going to cover his cage (the heat pad is getting to 90) which should help keep him warm and help the humidity stay in.

I hate this cold and dry.
 
My hubby puts a plastic bag over half of the screen top and a very wet towel on top and sprays down Harleys cage 4 times a day. he also put a water bowl under his heat lamp to genrate humitity
 
I misted his cage real well and put two towels over it before I left. That should help. We're back down to -40 outside, so my inside temps have dropped back down to 63F or so. Set the 5th record low in 6 days, I'm tired of this.

snakewispera snr said:
Bp live in burrows, it's humid down there...
And get it onto rats. And adult Bp on mice would be a right pain...
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If you haven't read my thread then don't post in it. I have stated multiple times why this snake will be fed mice from me. Once he needs rats he is going to a new home, I already have one possibility lined up. Right now he's far too small to eat rats anyway.
 
And heat mats are a waste of time... Ambient air temp will not be met... Get a proper viv and a ceramic... The water bowl in the right place will raise the humidity.....
 
Actually, my professor who breeds ball pythons and other snakes highly recommends using a heat mat along with the heat lamp. I appauled you for saving this snake and getting him back to health. I would take what everyone says with a grain of salt. And I respect your choice in not feeding rats to snakes. It is actually up to you! And if you found his forever home, it call eventually start eating rats. It sounds to me you are doing everything within your power to care for him. Some people like to be negitive and snotty and that doesnt usually help anyone let alone the snake in the long run!
I have notice that a lot of people would rather put down and judge a noob than actually help then!
Good luck with the little guy!
 
Thanks :) I bought a new animal plastics rack today that should be here within a month. Until then he can be covered with towels to stay warm and eat his nice healthy mice. Its not like I'm abusing the snake in any way, and I will not feel guilty for the positive choices I have made in my life.

If someone here feels that they should help this snake instead of just badmouthing someone that is doing their best to care for it they can ship a ceramic heater to my POB, just pm me and I will give you my PO Box address. Otherwise let me care for my snake as I see fit. He is in a good home and being treated well.
 
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