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Ball python questions

B

brittbritt

New member
Since bringing home our 3 month old corn snake my daughter and I have fallen in love with her. My daughter would love to have a ball python in the future.

I went to buy some frozen pinkies for Lady Evana and I told the lady that helped me with purchasing her how much we enjoy her being our baby. I also told her my daughter would love a ball python one day. The lady said they have a real friendly ball python they have had for quite a while that is around a year old.

Are ball pythons a good snake choice for a twelve year old to be able to handle and hold like a corn snake is? With her being a year old already would the ball python possibly have trouble bonding with us?
 
Ball pythons *tend* to be less flighty, it's true. They're affectionately known as 'pet rocks'. Snakes don't bond with people however, so age doesn't matter. What they do instead is basically learn to trust that you are not going to eat them, and therefore they tolerate handling.

The thing to keep in mind is that ball python care is A LOT pickier than corn snake care. If you don't have the right humidity, they won't eat and will have major shedding problems. If they don't have enough hides, or hides that are the wrong size, they won't eat. They tend to not like the 'openness' of glass tanks... and therefore are fussy about eating. If their temperatures are off, they won't eat. And they are often difficult to switch to frozen/thawed prey.

That said, I'm quite fond of my little ball python, Whiskey, and I'm working on her becoming more tolerant of handling. I splurged on her and have bought her a nice 4ftx2ftx14" vivarium and a radiant heat panel and a new thermostat and some hide boxes and silk foliage and climbing branches to explore and clutter her cage with to provide enrichment and exercise and permeable barriers to make her feel secure. I'm definitely not a fan of the 'keep the ball python in a bin literally big enough for a hide and the water bowl and that's it' thing that seems to be pretty common. If you set their cages up *right* they do *great* in large cages.
 
Thank you so much for your advice. I'll definitely do a lot of research if we decide to bring one into our home. For now we'll just continue to love our little corn baby.
 
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