Hello Guys! So on Saturday Night I took home my very first Ball Python, a Super Cinnamon Ghost.
As someone who didn’t have a great deal of knowledge, but had done sufficient research beforehand, I visited the Breeder and felt pretty good about the situation - which lead to my decision of buying her.
It was his first Sale, and he had much more great looking Snakes such as an 8Ball, Cinnamon Mojave GHI Ghost etc. - Very Serious setups, does Live Feeding and Mouse Breeding. All the Snakes seemed to be very happy and calm=) Drived home with her the same Day.
So mine hatched in August 2022, has 161 grams now and was 56 cm long on Saturday Night.
She only did shed like 90-95% and had a few skin Spots left on top of her Spine.
I increased Humidity the first Night in case she was a little bit dehydrated - and now shes shed 100% 2 Days later.
Not Headshy or Whatsoever - since Minute 1
Offered her my first live meal after 40 Hours which she striked perfectly within 2 Minutes. Completely done to the Tail within 15 Minutes.
I even saw her drinking the first time right after eating her Mouse =) Hiding in her Hotspot Cave ever since^^
I hope she’s good, healthy and will thrive. Did not seem to have any Deformities to my (Beginner) Eye.
Maybe you Guys could also have a first look on her - and tell me what your Impression is.
I will attach a few Pictures (Keep in mind on one Picture theres still a little bit of Shed on her spine, which is gone now)
Welcome to the community. You will find a lot of good advice and support here.
Congratulations. Looks nice. It is hard to tell from these pictures, but looks healthy. There may be some duck bill happening, nothing to worry about and again, it could just be the picture.
What was the paring? Looks like it has a ringer for pied.
Just some info.
If stuck shed, it never hurts to soak it and just rub it off.
Even though it ate for you, it is always best to let it settle in for a week before handing or feeding. You may be good to go, but keep an eye out for any strange behavior or stop eating. If anything, then let it be for a week and it should come around.
Humidity around 50/60 when not Shedding is ok, then you can bump it up during shedding.
Just watch feeding live (I have no issues with it as I do it) but live can hurt them.
Thank you very much! Im very happy.
In person, her nose looks fine and flat.
The Female is a CInnamon Het Ghost, and the Male a Cinnamon Ghost he said.
The Proof of Origin (Document) says: Super Cinnamon Ghost (het. Pied mark, paradox)
If im reading this correctly. What does that mean exactly?
The Ring on her Back goes completely around her Body
She’s currently on her settle in break, although slightly delayed.
Because of the Live feeding and the dangerous aspect: I will try to transition to little Rat Pups asap, so that I eliminate the Chance too. Even tho I watch that she doesn’t get bitten after striking.
Im thinking about Vasuki or Shiva atm. But I give it some more time for sure =) It will turn out I guess.
Appreciate it =)
I also love her very much! She’s just awesome
Looks very nice! Everything that @d_y_python said is totally great info! Ball pythons can be picky feeders and yours might not switch to thawed prey anyway. Feel free to try, sometimes they will. I recommend when feeding live to always monitor it until it strikes and wraps the rodent. You can use hemostats to hold it while it strikes if you’d like as well. Most super cinnamon or black pastels do have some slight duckbilling, which is usually nothing to worry about. I really like the way the white ring looks, surrounded by some even darker markings, very cool! Enjoy your new snake!
Paradoxing could be pretty much anything atypical on the look of the morph. They might be referring to the ringer since there shouldn’t be het pied or anything. But really ringers can just happen, and I think super cinnamons are known to have unpredictable splotches of color.
Super Cinnamon or Super Black Pastel aren’t the best morphs to incentivize since they have a high rate of deformity. It’s a personal choice though, and I think yours looks like a pretty healthy and beautiful example.
If you are thinking of eventually going to f/t rats, I recommend switching sooner than later since they’re much more flexible with that when young.
Congrats on the new snake, looks like she’s off to a good start
So first off welcome! You are at the right place for questions and answers! This is a wonderful family so stick around!
I have 4 bps and all of them I bought as babies. I switched them all to ft as soon as I could. My girl was the most difficult as it took me several months to switch her. Now she eats ft medium rats like a champ. My 3 boys each took ft at their first feedings. I just dropped the frozen rodent in very hot water and then dried it in paper towels when thawed and served it warm, in the evening. I have found that if I hold the rodent at it’s midsection and offer it nose first, I get a quicker feeding response than if I dangle it.
Imho, feeding ft is more humane than feeding live, but I am not criticizing those who do feed live. But as suggested above, it’s very risky if the snake and the prey are left unsupervised before the prey is killed, as the prey can become the predator to a snake that’s not hungry.
Again, this is not just a typical forum, it’s a family consisting of a wealth of expertise, knowledge, and experience, but most of all these people
care about each other. Any advice you ask for will be given without insult.
Finally, congratulations on your new girl! She is a looker! Enjoy her!
Also, any contrary stuck shed can be removed by a warm soak followed by letting the snake slither through a warm semi wet wash cloth in your hands.
The Way Im thinking about Live vs. ft is that I want her to grow as best as possible and as healthy/natural as possible. And because of the unfortunate fact that our chain food supplies are probably getting maniupulated and toxicated more and more in todays times - I just don’t trust the process or suppliers anymore.
If it’s for a snake or for a Human being, doesn’t really matter.
I guess the spot in the red circle which stayed completely after shedding is just color and nothing bad ?
Second, I found a small mini “gap” under her chin , behind the chin-slit which is kinda worrying me now. What is it exactly? Can this be determined?
Thanks lads!
This is the current quarantine Setup and Data.
The Thermostat needle is sandwiched in a perfect gap between the surfaces.
I measured 31 Celsius in her cavespot when the setting was a little bit lower (-1*celsius or smth)
She’s still sleeping, was active at night tho.
I am sure that the spot where the stuck shed was is nothing to worry about. A small piece of skin could have come off with the shed. My vet has recommended applying vitamin E oil on places like these…….I am sure it will heal nicely. As far as your other concern, there are others who can help you with this as I am not sure what it could be.
I don’t have Twitter or Facebook or any other social media, only this forum, but I did see something on the news last night about crickets and such being snuck into our processed foods. lol! I would not put ANYTHING past our government! Lol!
That is warmer than I keep my balls, 30 on the hotspot and in your case there isnt enough room for proper cooling gradient. If you have to keep that size tub I would suggest pulling the heat mat back so only 6-8 cms of the heat mat is under the tub. Humidity is also high. In my opinion, you risk cook her with that setup like it is currently.
The area under the chin is normal. It’s the way the excess skin sits so that the area can more easily stretch when they are eating.
Super cinnys are prone to some mottling of colors and not a solid one. The black spot is pretty normal to see. You might even see some lighter spots show up along the spine over time as well.
This is one of my boys. A super cinny pastel. You can see the little black spots mottled into the grey. The spine lightened into some yellow tan splotches in some spots as he got older.
I would be inclined ti agree that the temps are a bit high for such a small tub. If you wanted to go for an overall ambient tub temp, I’d shoot for 28-29c (around 82-84 f).
It’s hard to tell from the pics, but if the enclosure is at that temp then you’re fine, and just the hotspot at that. I think just making sure they have somewhere to get away from the heat is definitely important. Humidity does seem a tad high, I’d shoot for around 60
@nswilkerson1 & @themorphranch both have good advice.
Definitely move the heat pad back to only 1/4 of the tub at max.
To help get the humidity and temp down (if you haven’t done so yet) put some holes on the top of the lid on the cool side.
30 would be the max I would use. If it was me, I would set it a little lower. This allows some flexibility when the temp changes.
Humidity, you could go as low as 50, 60 would be the sweet spot. Misting during Shedding will help to bring it up some.
Also, stacking thing on top could also cause it to be hotter and across the entire tub. If you can get them, “Ezy Storage” tubs have good latches on them to keep it secured.
And a smaller water dish will give more space and also help keep the humidity down. (just a thought)
I’m currently tweaking around w. the settings.
I agree that I have problems with humidity - currently ventilating the room to a reasonable value, and see how it rises/or not with the new settings.
Nighttime currently and I have lots of time for her
So she was 161 grams on Saturday - how long does she approx. need to double in weight? If I feed a bit more frequently, about 5-6 days ?
Because I think that is the size for her to move Into something bigger if I did my research about right ?
It looks healthy and weight fits her size. Feeding every week would be my suggestion. Once she is on rats, she will start packing on weight faster. I don’t like using feed weight as to what to use. I would make sure the feed is at least the same size as her thickest area. Anything bigger or feeding more often can cause her to go off food. And that is not a fun time.
