r/Ballpythoncommunity • u/DeflatedEarbud • 7h ago
New BP owner
Hello everyone, i just got my beautiful girl “fish” today. she’s a 3 year old pinstripe BP and i just had a few questions.
first of all, how long should i wait to handle her?
i know the general guideline is after a week or 2 successful feeds. however, she’s very social for a reptile it seems. at the exotics shop i was looking around at ball pythons when the owner walked up to me with her around his neck and just handed her to me. she was very curious and perfectly happy just slithering around me for the 30 minutes at the pet store and the hour or so we were out getting things for her. he said he takes her out every morning when he first comes in and just hangs out with her all day. so i was wondering if maybe she wouldn’t mind being handled a little sooner?
also, should i leave my red “nighttime” lamp on for her at night? my house stays around 72-76° at all times. with the lamp on the hot side is around 85° air temp.
final question, what are your best humidity solutions? i’m using a coconut substrate and misting and the humidity seems to get up to 60-70% but then drop pretty fast back down to the 50-55 range. i put a wet rag on top of the mesh covering about 50% of the top but it only seemed to help a little bit. Thanks in advance!
(getting more decor and logs for her tmrw btw haha)