Snakes

[Raichern]

I got the pinkies for free, but they're a bit too big for my baby snake. How long can you keep them in the freezer without them turning bad?

[plum]

I got the pinkies for free, but they're a bit too big for my baby snake. How long can you keep them in the freezer without them turning bad?

Your baby corn snake can take huge meals and digest them easily. You can go ahead and feed them to her.
Example... My three month old boa ate a rat that was over 2x her width.. She completely digested it and is fine.

[Raichern]

I got the pinkies for free, but they're a bit too big for my baby snake. How long can you keep them in the freezer without them turning bad?

Your baby corn snake can take huge meals and digest them easily. You can go ahead and feed them to her.
Example... My three month old boa ate a rat that was over 2x her width.. She completely digested it and is fine.

Yes I've been informed about that but these are nearly 4 times bigger than the other mouse pinkies. I've got 19 of them left so I'll feed him those then start on the bigger ones. But, how long can they be in the freezer?

BTW! I'm always very excited to read what you answer on my questions, I think I'm starting to like you. (Not loveish! But in some way as you always seem to be so nice and clever and just, uhm. :) )
Oh, and do you have anything like Facebook or something? I'm slightly curious about you and your snakes.. nothing personal I'm just a curious teenager.

Thanks

[Transkitty]

I figured this would be the place to go to ask a few questions. I've been considering getting a snake in a couple years, but I've never had a snake before. I do know that I don't want a corn snake. I've been thinking about a ball python, but I have a few questions.

To start, I've fallen in love with the bumblebee morph, but I've seen the term wobble thrown around a lot. I'm not exactly sure what that means, so I figure I'll start there.

What exactly is wobble? How does it affect the snake?
What size and type of enclosure should I get?
What supplies will I need to keep the snake happy and healthy?
What substrate should I use? Any to completely avoid?
How often, what and how much should the snake be fed?
Is there anything else I should know that research wont be able to tell me?

[Raichern]

I figured this would be the place to go to ask a few questions. I've been considering getting a snake in a couple years, but I've never had a snake before. I do know that I don't want a corn snake. I've been thinking about a ball python, but I have a few questions.

To start, I've fallen in love with the bumblebee morph, but I've seen the term wobble thrown around a lot. I'm not exactly sure what that means, so I figure I'll start there.

What exactly is wobble? How does it affect the snake?
What size and type of enclosure should I get?
What supplies will I need to keep the snake happy and healthy?
What substrate should I use? Any to completely avoid?
How often, what and how much should the snake be fed?
Is there anything else I should know that research wont be able to tell me?

I am a beginner but I'll do my best to answer a few of these questions. (I've only got 2 corn snakes).

2. On English, some people call it Tank but I also say Terrarium (I'm Swedish and that's most likely the used word for it). The size of the tank should be after the snakes age (lenght goes by age of course). I've got a pet box for my juvenile (baby snake) where he'll be until he gets big enough to own his own tank like my other bigger corn snake.

3. A bowl to keep water in, a cave to hide in, maybe a tree to climb in, some other decorations to hide underneat, a heating pad (plastic carpet which creates heat of electricity) / spotlight / heating coil (I first used a lamp for my corn snake, but it kept falling off the tank (it had nothing to hold onto) so I got her a heating pad), bark (not a barking dog, bark for reptiles made out of tree etc), thermometer, food. That's everything I can come up with that I've got for my snake, you can of course get much more for your pet snake.

5. When a snake's a baby it requires to eat more and it sheds more to grow, my juvenile eats each 4th day, and my corn snake which is around the year eats around each 10th day, but a snake can survive for months without food as long as it has water (not to be tried on juveniles). I'm not sure about how often a python eats when it's full grown, but you'll hopefully get informed about that.


Okay! So that's probably all of them that I can answer, sorry if something's not understandable I've tried my best. I hope you'll get some good answers by Ivanlynfyre because I have, and because of that person and many others here, I've learned alot about my snakes. And you should read a couple of books ( I readed 3 ) and ask all kind of questions to the person you get your snake from. Also read about diseases!! They are very important to know how to recognize, because you wouldn't want your pet to get ill right? It's also good to be part of a herptological group (reptiles and amphibians) closeby, I'm not part of one yet but still checking one out.

If you've got any more simple questions feel free to ask me, I'll do my best to help. c:

[plum]

Frozen mice can last a while in the freezer, especially if you aren't continuously opening and closing the bag.

I figured this would be the place to go to ask a few questions. I've been considering getting a snake in a couple years, but I've never had a snake before. I do know that I don't want a corn snake. I've been thinking about a ball python, but I have a few questions.

To start, I've fallen in love with the bumblebee morph, but I've seen the term wobble thrown around a lot. I'm not exactly sure what that means, so I figure I'll start there.

What exactly is wobble? How does it affect the snake?
What size and type of enclosure should I get?
What supplies will I need to keep the snake happy and healthy?
What substrate should I use? Any to completely avoid?
How often, what and how much should the snake be fed?
Is there anything else I should know that research wont be able to tell me?

The wobble is a defect found in the spider morph's gene. Anything with that gene has the possibility of having a severe wobble. The severity of the wobble can increase over time. Wobbles don't affect the actual health of the snake, however snakes with a wobble will have a little more trouble feeding than a regular BP.
Lemonblasts are very similar to bumblebees, although they seem to 'brown out' a little more than bumblebees(anything with pastel is bound to brown out, even a little). Bumblebees are pastels x spiders and lemonblasts are pastels x pinstripes. The pinstripes do not have a wobble.

My personal favorite enclosures are tubs, you can use them for juveniles AND adults, however some people do not like tubs and refuse to use them because they're 'tacky'.
Tub size vary for snake size, I'd say a crowded 34-qt tub would work for a baby/juvenile, then as an adult they will NEED a 41qt, but I have a 66qt for my adult male.
If you absolutely REFUSE the idea of tubs, there's vision and boaphile cages that will cost you a pretty penny, but they look better and offer 3 non-see-through sides for extra security.
I am one of 'those people' who disagrees with fish aquariums for ball pythons. Screen tops do not hold humidity and although you CAN cover the top, I find it's easier just to use tubs with holes drilled in the sides.

You'll need a suitable substrate, hides, water dish, frozen RATS(do not feed your possible BP mice), a heating pad, a THERMOSTAT(you CAN NOT skimp out on this!), a cage, and.. well.. that's all I can think of.
I'd like to add that reptiles are going to be some of the more expensive pets, and you will likely end up spending at least over $100 for the supplies alone. A bumblebee ball python itself costs $300+.

Completely avoid cedar and pine, they are toxic to reptiles, sand(why would you put a BP on sand?), and that's all I can think of currently.. I use paper towels, they are cheap, easily replaced, and can hold humidity. Humidity is essential for your snake to thrive, and substrates such as cypress, eco earth, orchid bark, etc, hold humidity well. Aspen is also used but it does not hold humidity nearly as well.
Some people prefer loose substrates as they are easier to spot clean, others prefer something like paper towels because you just throw it away and replace it.

FEED IT RATS ONLY. BP's can get 'hooked' on mice and can be a pain in the BUTT to get them onto rats. A full-grown adult BP will be eating medium-large rats. There are no mice in that size.
A baby BP will start off eating rat pups and when those do not leave a 'food bump' in them, offer the next size largest. I heard that feeding 10% of your BPs weight weekly will help them maintain more from their food.
I feed all my snakes weekly, however this feeding regiment may cause a BP to refuse food once in a while. Don't worry about that too much, if they go on a 'food strike', your snake would not get food every Tuesday(my old feeding day) in the wild.

USE A THERMOSTAT USE A THERMOSTAT USE A THERMOSTAT USE A THERMOSTAT
SRSLY
USE ONE
My male BP got burnt from a thermostat a year ago and he's left with some scars and my snake and me both are left with some bad memories...

I hope you'll get some good answers by Ivanlynfyre because I have

[Jazi]

I figured this would be the place to go to ask a few questions. I've been considering getting a snake in a couple years, but I've never had a snake before. I do know that I don't want a corn snake. I've been thinking about a ball python, but I have a few questions.

To start, I've fallen in love with the bumblebee morph, but I've seen the term wobble thrown around a lot. I'm not exactly sure what that means, so I figure I'll start there.

What exactly is wobble? How does it affect the snake?
What size and type of enclosure should I get?
What supplies will I need to keep the snake happy and healthy?
What substrate should I use? Any to completely avoid?
How often, what and how much should the snake be fed?
Is there anything else I should know that research wont be able to tell me?

In addition to what was already said, snakes with severe wobble may have difficulty feeding well and most decent snake breeders will alert you to how bad the wobble is before selling it. A very bad wobble affects aim and you might have additional misfires, a slight wobble that only pops up in response to stress is usually hardly noticible in how it affects the snake. I personally hesistate to get into any spider morph due to wobble also being a symptom of a python killing disease... It's not related to the spider wobble, but IBD still scares the heck out of me.

I have my yearling ina tank that's oversized... Males can be kept in a 20 long with minimal problems mostly. But I think every regular to this topic also has heard my troubles in trying to make glass work. Modified the top and sides and bottom plus my upkeep is more of a pain than it should be. I use cocohusk bricks which hold humidity very well and repticarpet underneath which keeps Quetzal from resting against the hot glass.

If you're getting a BP you should get one from someone who feeds rats. Quetzal's breeder was about to switch him to rat weanlings when I got him and thank goodness for that because he switched relatively easily for me. BPs imprint on their food and it can be very annoying to switch in the long run. Some breeders feed mice, african softfur rats, hamsters, or gerbils and some breeders feed live or fresh prekilled. For ease of care stick with someone who does frozen thawed rats. A BP should eat 10-15% of its body weight in grams once weekly. An adult can be fed one medium or large rat every 7-14 days. Quetzal is 720g and I will be bumping him up to 100g rats very soon. Because of all these measurements, its highly suggested you get a small kitchen scale. One that goes up to 2500-3000g will do as that's about adult size. Large females might get up to 4500. Something else to leep in mind is that BPs will occasionally skip a meal. Do not make this descion for your snake, but recognize that a skipped week or two won't hurt it. The longest a BP has fasted is currently 18 months and she lost very little weight. That's the other reason you need a scale; if your snake skips feedings and has rapid weight loss, there's a bigger problem. They're more likely to skip feedings if they're near a shed or stressed from improper conditions.

Other tools? THERMOSTAT. If you don't get one all of us will feed you to our snakes! BPs do best with an under tank heating mat, but without a thermostat they will get to 130F! And the absolute highest for them to touch is only 95! Also, stick on thermometers are junk. You want two digital thermometers with a probe; one on the cool side and the other on the warm. One of those should also have a hydrometer... Luckily Walmart and RadioShack sells combos with probes for $14 each. You will want to have your enclosure set up and ready before you buy your snake to make the process easier, leave it alone for a week then attempt a feeding. If successful wait 24-48 hours before handling for the first time. If not, you really want a first feeding at least before you mess with your snake. Wait a week and try again.

BPs are shy snakes and you will not see yours out often if you have it kept correctly. Quetzal is active between 11pm and 5am, and usually "active" means that I see him sticking his head out of his hide lol. They prefer to spend most of their time in their hides, likely the only times you'll see yours is when you take him out or when it wants to switch hides. However they are usually very sweet laidback snakes; I take Quetzal into mymom's special ed class and let her kids play with him and he takes it all in stride.

Spmething you will see a lot when researching is the great debate between live and frozen, tanks and tubs, rats and mice, and in tank vs outside feeding. Because BPs stress easily, it's best to leave them in their tank when eating. I heat my rats under a lamp so I don't have to worry about substrate sticking to his food. Cage aggression due to in tank feeding is largely a myth.

[Raichern]

I hope you'll get some good answers by Ivanlynfyre because I have

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C:

[foxxbreath]

I have a question:

My ball python is a year, 3 months old, is it okay to feed her more than one mouse per feeding time? She is about 2 1/2-3 feet long, and 3-4 inches wide at the middle of her body.

[plum]

I have a question:

My ball python is a year, 3 months old, is it okay to feed her more than one mouse per feeding time? She is about 2 1/2-3 feet long, and 3-4 inches wide at the middle of her body.

Aaaand this is why I tell people to feed their BPs rats.
Anyways, yes, you can, but if you can, make a switch to rats, because eventually you'll have to feed at least 5-6 mice to equal the size of a large rat she should be eating.