RCReptiles.com

[MuhherFuhher]

(Previous Post 6/23) I've a new BP, just got him a couple days ago at a local reptile show. When holding him, he is curious, slithers about and is alert to his surroundings but I've yet to see him flicker his tongue. Everything else seems normal, clean vent, eyes, skin and no signs of any type of RI etc. This is my 1st BP, traded a burm in for him as she was getting to big for me to tend to (was nearing the rabbit eating size and wife said NO WAY!). Haven't tried to feed the BP yet and I think I'll wait a couple weeks so he can get used to everything new to him. The breeder at the show said he was hatched in late December of 07 and was last fed on 6/18. The tank is a 30 gal. with 80-85F day temps and 75F-ish night with 59-63% humidity and a half log for basking/hiding (same setup the burm used altho she greatly outgrew the log). Thanks for any info provided.

(UPDATE 6/27) After further inspection of my new young BP, it appears as if he may be unable to flick his tongue. Looking at the area of his mouth where the tongue protrudes, it appears that there could be some damage or possibly a birth defect. His upper lip looks like it has a crease that could be partially covering where his tongue protrudes preventing this from happening. I can see him try to extend his tongue but he is only able to get the very tip of the fork to come out. I did see him yawn a couple of times and it does not look like he would have any signs of mouth rot but I am not an expert, only going by the extensive research I have read. The dealer I got him from said he was feeding him rat pups and he has defecated since I've gotten him so I believe he was fed something. Also note I have not yet attempted to feed him as I've only had him for 6 days now and I'm still letting him settle in. I was planning on attempting to feed him this weekend, could this problem affect his feeding? I think I am more stressed over this than the snake could ever be lol. Any further information on this would be greatly appreciated. I will post a pic asap if it is needed. Thanks for all your time and efforts.

[JDS3]

Little to no flicking of the tongue can be a sign of them being shy or scrared and not wanting you to see them (which is normal). Once you are holding them they pretty much give up the whole hiding thing and want to explore.

[ryancbj22]

Hey what's up man!

I'm from Columbus right at 70 and 33....
I'm sure you bought yours from the All Ohio Reptile Show? I went there Saturday and there were some pretty shady sales going on. I asked one guy some specific questions about the snakes relatives if you will and he said they were captive HATCHED. No thanks, but anyways he flat out looked at me after a couple of questions and said "i'm just making stuff up now I really don't know the answer's." This really shyed me away from even looking any further, but I did and I found someone that was pretty reputable and was very attentive to my questions and very quick to respond with answers. He was very knowledable and seemed very honest but i've been fooled before. I ended up buying a 100% het albino from him for a very reasonable price.

If you can send me a Private Message of who you purchased the snake from. Also where was the booth they had located in the building. The reason I asked is because I looked at everything about 3 times lol so I should remember the table. I also talked to about everyone in there who had bp's. One more thing how much did you purchase the bp for if you don't mind me asking.

If you have pics of your set-up it would help a lot. Also if you can answer some of the obvious questions. Such as what are you measuring temps with are you using a t-stat are there to hides what type of heat source are you using? Burms are somewhat similar to bp's but there are some very significant differences in there enviornments that can be harmfull to a bp. I would raise the temps on the warm side to about 90 80 on the cool.

Please send this info in a Private Message don't post it on here. Due to forum regulations thanks.... You can post the answers to the set up questions and things on here just don't mention the person selling the snakes or the cost of them....

[deborahbroadus]

I would advise you not to drop temps.

[PlayBall]

[MuhherFuhher]

[deborahbroadus]

You mentioned that you are concerned about what appears to be a birth defect?

A vet would probably be the best one to answer that concern and put you at ease as to whether it's a defect or simply a part of the BP's temperament.

Please do post pics of the snake and the snake set up; the pics may also shed some light on the subject. I like to know what I am working with rather than constantly shooting my mouth off in the dark hoping to hit the target.

[MuhherFuhher]

[deborahbroadus]

I am not trying to be rude...I am pressed for time. But I want to get this out there now so we can get a few modifications going.

I don't see a:

UTH
Thermostat
Digital Thermometer

You may want to check out this link: http://www.rcreptiles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1349

and for God's sake...PLEASE get that uncovered light out of there before the snake is burned. (if it's not already).

As it is, I am inclined to believe that the mark on the scales is a burn (although the pic are as sucky as mine used to be ) ..but don't worry about that..we have some pic professionals that will be happy to give tips.

Some of the others will be by soon. The pic is really too blurry for me to be able to comment much on the mouth..but given the fact that there is an uncovered lamp inside the tank, and lack of the other items..it could be a burn.

[hhmoore]

I can't tell anything from those pics - sorry

[PlayBall]

[MuhherFuhher]

[MuhherFuhher]

[a_green]

I hope you will make dealing with that bulb a priority ASAP--you *should* be worried! That is not even a question. Ball pythons are always more talented (and often less intelligent) than you would expect. It only takes one mistake to give your snake a bad injury.

And also get digital gauges (both temp and humid) as soon as you can... you'd be surprised how inaccurate those analog things are. Also anything stick-on can get stuck to your snake and cause injury.

[ryancbj22]

T-stat, t-stat, t-stat.....

I would comepletley remove the uth and just use the one on the bottom. It should cover about a 1/3 to 1/2 of the tank on the bottom. Run this with a t-stat no questions asked you can purchase them for $35 on the internet. The light you have is dangerous and comepletly useless on that tank. It's only making things worse.

You can purchase this thermometer at lowes or home depot or wal-mart for $15.00.

[img]

Here is a good t-stat for pretty cheap...Just go to the part on the left and hit on/off thermostat's.
http://www.beanfarm.com/store/agora.cgi