Ball Python vs. Cornsnake Question

I was going to get her some Hoppers tonight for my Cornsnake, Cider, and my pet shop dealer just got in some Baby Ball Pythons. Absolutely adorable! I have heard they are similiar in temperment to Corns. Is anyone out there familiar with them? Would love some good honest feedback from a Ball Keeper about them and what they are like...Are they similiar in temperment? When full grown, how strong are they? Are they easily handled? Thanks in advance. This site is so helpful!

My nephew has a ball which he got last spring and I often care for it when he and his parents go away on extended vacations. The ball is very easy to keep, easy to handle and much more slow moving than the corns (you won't fear it jumping out of your hands). It's a more massive snake, with considerable girth in comparison to the corns. Like corns the ball is head-shy (doesn't like its head to be touched). The color morphs in balls are very expensive, like the piebald can sell for over $20,000 (go to the breeder, leave him your Lexus and walk home with your snake). The normal phase of balls is very beautiful, and inexpensive. Balls are very popular, especially with new snake owners because of their beauty, docility and relatively small adult size (they get to 5 or so feet in length). I'd say go for it! Also, it's a nice experience to have totally different snake species. Also, balls poop less often than corns and their poop isn't runny. Easy upkeep.

Baby Ball Pythons are the cutest. I just got 2 this month. I have kept Ball Pythons before but I have never had any this young. Balls have great temperments and adults range in size from 3 to 5 feet. One of mine has an attitude problem and bites sometimes, it doesn't like me to remove the water dish LOL. I don't consider this a problem because baby snakes can be nippy even corns but they usually grow out of it. I would suggest reading up on them before you make a decision. A good book to get is The Ball Python Manual - Vosjoli, Klingenberg, Barker & Barker.

http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/index.htm
This is a good overall care guide.

Alicia

Ball pythons can be great snakes. One of the really importants things is to make sure that your ball python is captive born and bred. This will hopefully eliminate the non-feeding period that some wild-caughts and farm breds go through. Remember to keep your humidity up (higher than for a corn) and your heat will have to be higher than for a corn. So buy yourself some good humidity/heat gauges.
sue frederick

Thank You Everyone!

It was so nice to hear such positive feed back. I've been reading everything I can find, but its nice to hear from others who are famuliar with both....I think I'm going to go for her this weekend. Want to get everything set up first! Thx again!

My advice is stay away from pet stores and "captive hatched" babies. I just got a baby ball that was captive bred and born and she is the greatest. It costs a bit more and you probably will have to search around, but from what I understand it's well worth it. I've only had my ball for two weeks, but she's been problem free. She's eaten twice for me, and like Sue said, not eating can be a big hurdle for wild caught or captive hatched balls. Good luck!

Yes, I agree BloodyCats. After reading much, I have decided to go to my first Reptile Show this week end in Maryland. I'm going to look for a captive born and breed. I've heard the horror stories of petshop Ball Pythons.

I have a 6 year old 5' long male ball python and he is nice and calm, always has been. I am lucky I found a pet store where the owner is very trustworthy and he does get his animals from reputable breeders, I know one of them they are a family friend. I would never get a reptile from a big chain petstore tho, to many horror stories and most of there animals just look terrible.