Building an enclosure

[Libby]

Dogs aren't allowed anywhere except pets stores around here. Which is sad oh well.

Looks like we are taking in those 2 ball pythons. Picking them up tomorrow. Again everything comes with them. Just like Jean-Luc

We have an entertainment center I have my eye on to turn. I'll post a picture of it when I get to a computer. I'm figuring theres room for 7 enclosures. If not more and room for storage on the side.

[Catherine]

Quote:We have an entertainment center I have my eye on to turn. I'll post a picture of it when I get to a computer. I'm figuring theres room for 7 enclosures. If not more and room for storage on the side.

That sounds impressive.  Seven enclosures, that means you have room for more ball pythons.

So what is the story behind the two new ones. Have they been living together. I find snakes usually have no problems sharing space with each other. (not king snakes of course!) They are not so much a social animals, they just don't mind having another snake around. My two ball pythons usually sleep curled around each other and they seem very comfortable.

I look forward to pictures of the new snakes. Do you need to come up with new names?

[Libby]

No picture of the entertainment center  yet. We got wrapped up in the new babies.
A regular ball python and a pastel ball python. They have names but we aren't likely to keep their names. The bigger one (regular) she called Phantom and the one little one (pastel) Pastel. I'm ok with Phantom but I'm not a fan of calling the pastel ball python, Pastel.
The woman we got them from i used to work with. She is getting a divorce and the apartment she is moving to doesn't allow anything but cats and dogs. Except the reason she got the snakes was because her 3 kids are allergic to cats and dogs. So basically they don't get to have any pets.
They are two males in the same tank. Which I thought was odd but I've been told that as long as they aren't pinning each other and there aren't any breeding females then they have no reason to fight.  Bellatrix is upstairs so she shouldn't be an issue. We will be keeping an eye on them but they do seem to like each other. She had been using wood chip bedding which we cleaned out asap and put paper towels down. Much easier and more hypo allergenic. I sneezed a bunch cleaning it all out. Which was not a fun job.


https://www.instagram.com/p/BQqyBobj109/
Left pastel, right regular.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQrc_psjPiI/
Pastel

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQrdDg1jquM/
Regular

Names we are considering:
Wash and Mal
Rhett and Link
Draco and Lucious
Frodo and Sam
I'm trying to get Kasey out of the pair names. Only ones I like are Rhett and Link but I'm not crazy about the pair naming. We will see. I may just not like the names suggested so far.

[Catherine]

If they have been together all along, two males could still be fine together. You will know if there is a problem. They look like they are still fairly young. They could still turn out to be a male and a female or two females. Look at them again when you get them.

Calling a Pastel by the name Pastel is a bit much. Phantom is actually another ball python colour. Maybe choose gender neutral names just in case.
I can't think of anything. I am drawing a complete blank tonight. Let me think about it.

They are nice looking snakes. Ball pythons are really sweet to have around. They are so relaxed about everything. I clean the ball pythons at the reptile centre and I really like doing it. They are all such nice snakes. When we were snacking later one of the girls wanted to be held for awhile and she curled up on my lap. We do a lot of that. When snakes want company, we give them company.

Wood chips can be a problem. I use fine aspen. It seems to be okay for me and the snakes. Paper towel is clean and easy to clean up. It is quite cheap to use too.

It is too bad she has to give them up. She probably could have just not mentioned them to the landlord. He would never know if she was discrete about it.

Oh well, you get two nice snakes out of it.

[Libby]

It is a shame she had to give them up. They are settling in. The only thing they didn't have was a moist box which I made for them with a wet towel and shoe box. Which they have taken to quick. The little one was sitting on it last night and the big one was exploring.
I usually use repti carpet but for the snakes we might end up switching over to paper towels. Not sure yet. I'm not at the house to clean tanks so I don't know what Kasey is or isn't doing that the carpet it's coming clean. We have a spray cleaner that works well and is safe for reptiles for between full cleanings.

I've been told that because they are from breeders at repticon that the sexes are fairly correct.

I want to spend some more time with them before too many names get thrown around. I can't wait to get to know them.

[Catherine]

Quote:I've been told that because they are from breeders at repticon that the sexes are fairly correct.

Chances are the genders are right. It is not 100% though. How long ago were they sexed. If it is done when they are young it is less reliable. Some individual snakes are hard to sex. Even if you probe them it is not clear.

They will love everything you are doing for them. I actually use dish soap and water as a cleaner, then rinse with vinegar and then rinse with clean water. I use spray bottles so it is easy and paper towels. That is for a full tank clean-up. Spot cleaning I use wet paper towel(soap if it is a real bad spot).

I have used paper towels when I need to keep a tank very clean, but I still prefer to use substrate. I like the way it looks and the reptiles sometimes like to burrow in it. It is a matter of preference although some substrates are better for some reptiles.

Barrie the Tegu needs a moist bedding. He needs a lot of regular soaking as well. The Hognose snakes would have a hissy fit if I did anything that got them wet. 

Ball pythons do need a chance to get wet. I have a big water dish that they can soak in. Your moist hide would do the same.

Good luck with the naming. You want something you can live with for many years. Ball pythons have a good life expectancy.

[Libby]

We have named the big one Uncle Iroh and the little one Prince Zuko. Two characters from the show Avatar the last Airbender. The temperaments are very similar to the characters too.  In the show Iroh is very wise and laid back and Zuko is unsure and angry.

Iroh explores and is very friendly. Zuko on day 3 pooped and smeared it all over the tank.  We took them out today to a pet store.  Zuko was scared a couple times and actually bit himself so I put him back in the bag after that.  Iroh was fine and actually tried to climb onto some dog food.

[Catherine]

They do have very different personalities don't they. It sounds like you have found the right names for them.
Iroh is your typical mellow ball python. I love holding snakes like that. Zuko is younger. Maybe he will become more mellow as he matures. He could at least become calm enough not to bite himself.

How are they liking their tank setup? It can take a few days for snakes to settle in and feel at home. They were used to living with someone else. Now they have to get used to you.  I never know what snakes think about changes like that. It is very hard to read their reactions.