ball python

[Remmy]

Hoping to get a ball within the next 2 or 3 weeks. Need some advice on things i will need, Type of heating and lighting etc. Any info appreciated.

 

[snakewispera snr]

Best advice I can give is.....
DON'T DO IT...... LOL
I'm not a fan of Ball pythons....
There's much better choices out there....

 

[Michael823]

Good luck, I really love my Ball Python! Rather than typing all of the basic information I have, I will just post a link to a really good care sheet, this should have all of the information you'll need to get started.

http://www.newenglandreptile.com/CareBall.html

 

[Brewster320]

Good luck, I really love my Ball Python! Rather than typing all of the basic information I have, I will just post a link to a really good care sheet, this should have all of the information you'll need to get started.

http://www.newenglandreptile.com/CareBall.html

Agreed. If anybody knows about how to take care of a BP, its l
Kevin and the rest of people at NERDS! Hope you have great luck.

My girl is one of my favorite snakes and has a great feeding response and hasn't given me any trouble as of yet. In fact she'll take both mice and rats which I find odd because most ball pythons I've seen or have heard of are imprint feeders and will usually only feed on 1 food item. Because of that i suggest you start out with rats because Its better for them to imprint of rats because if they imprint on mice, by the time they are to big for mice you have to go through the process of getting them to eat rats.

 

[Calift]

Balls are a lot more work than corns....you can't mess with the temps/humidity as much. I love mine- but they are a very different snake to own. Usually nice and mellow. If I were you I would research A TON before getting one.....then choose a morph you'd like and have the set-up ready in advance. Don't buy one from a petstore.

 

[misery]

Best advice I can give is.....
DON'T DO IT...... LOL
I'm not a fan of Ball pythons....
There's much better choices out there....

I agree with this. :laugh01::laugh01:

 

[reptile_jones]

try this site for BP info,

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules/Jig/index.php

Dusty Jones
Rogue Reptiles

 

[reptile_jones]

My girl is one of my favorite snakes and has a great feeding response and hasn't given me any trouble as of yet. In fact she'll take both mice and rats which I find odd because most ball pythons I've seen or have heard of are imprint feeders and will usually only feed on 1 food item. Because of that i suggest you start out with rats because Its better for them to imprint of rats because if they imprint on mice, by the time they are to big for mice you have to go through the process of getting them to eat rats.

Very True!!! I was given a BP that only ate hamsters. I took me a 1.5 years to get it to est rat's. Not fun at all. The pet store would only sell me the mean hamster, cause "They are not pet friendly". Yes the hamster were p/k before given to the PB.

 

[Remmy]

Thanks for the advice.
Snakewispera-DON'T DO IT...... LOL I'm not a fan of Ball pythons.... There's much better choices out there
What can be a better choice than a ball.
Michael- Thanks for the link.
Brewster-what a beauty
Calift-Have looked into it but everywhere you look its different info. Wanted one for a while but got corns instead but i still got to have a ball. Got a show near me in 2 weeks so trying to get set up before that.
What would you lot recommend as a heat source, Red lamp and a dimming stat or a ceramic heater ( what stat would i need for that)

 

[Brewster320]

An UTH would be the best choice. If not a Ceramic Heater emitter would do ok. I'd try to stay away from lamps, its hard to control the temps with those and like stated earlier BP's are very picky about their temps and humidity. I would use a thermostat so you can accurately control the temps. Rheostat or a dimmer will work though if you cannot find a thermostat.

 

[snakewispera snr]

Thanks for the advice.
Snakewispera-DON'T DO IT...... LOL I'm not a fan of Ball pythons.... There's much better choices out there
What can be a better choice than a ball.

Lots of things are better...
Lets look at what you got.
Ball python. Needs the temps and humidity quite accurate, Shy snake, hides a lot, easy to stress, can go off it's food. OK, they are easy to handle and they come in some great patterns and colours..
Thats not many plus's.
ATB's need about the same amount of work, come in some great colours and patterns (cheaper that Bp morphs) and don't spend all day hiding.
Carpets require less work, same for the colours and patterns and display properties.
Lots of nice Boas out there as well...
There's three choices that are better than Bp.... LOL

 

[MinLynn]

Aww! I love my BPs! The only real difficulty we've run into is keeping their humidity right in the winter. For that I just covered the majority of the lid(they're in tanks)with aluminum foil. Also in the winter we do have to use a low wattage heat bulb just to keep the ambient up. Not a true biggee in my opinion. Mike's right, they do hide A LOT so if you want a showcase snake, a ball is not it! We have all normals,though, and you'd be amazed and all the different colors and patterns the normals come in and cost so much less. Unless you're getting into breeding right away. Then normals aren't the way to go obviously. They're my favorite snakes thus far!

 

[KachineK]

I love my bp too. Wouldn't trade her for anything, not even an old school bloodred corn...which I want very very badly! I have only had Mambo for a month or so now, but she has not been all that difficult. I do see myself having trouble in the future as the only food I can get for her is mice and she will eventually have to eat rats, but I'm willing to work on that. So far, she has never refused a meal. She is so calm and gentle that my kids can handle her, with strict supervision of course! But, of course, I love my Sweetie girl just as much, too.

For a set up, I am currently using a 29 gallon tank with a secured screen top. It is half covered with the lid to a sterilite box to keep the humidity up (and it works surprisingly well!). For heat, I am using a UTH attached to a thermostat. It is pretty much the same set up I have for my corn, except I do have a lamp with a full spectrum bulb just incase the temps dip. I had to turn it on for a while the other night when it was chilly. I also had more fake plants and pieces of wood for Mambo, but I got rid of them because I thought she had mites. Turned out to be a false alarm, but why take the chance?

Good luck with your new baby! Hope you pick up a winner.

Kachine Kolgon

 

[RobbiesCornField]

My BP's and I have a love/hate relationship. Currently, 3 out of 4 are on a feeding strike. Once you get their conditions to where they're perfect, and eating, you can't change a single thing. And then, if you can get them eating again, it's very easy for them to stress too much and go off feed again. They're beautiful snakes, but such a pain in the neck!

 

[MinLynn]

That's very very true! We just got one from Kyle that was on F/T,went on a feeding strike and will now only eat live. I've ALWAYS been able to convert first try with live feeders until I met this gal! She was scared to death of that thawed feeder! Then it even took her forever to decide to eat the live one! We were just getting ready to take it out because it was starting to act aggressive and then BAM she struck and constricted it! Sadie is going to be my problem Ball I can tell!

Ms.Sauron has gone on mini hunger strikes for what I thought was no apparent reason until I noticed her humidity had dipped by about 5%. I fixed that up and she started eating again and hasn't refused yet. They DEFINETLY like they're husbandry SPOT ON! LOL!

 

[Brewster320]

Lots of things are better...
Lets look at what you got.
Ball python. Needs the temps and humidity quite accurate, Shy snake, hides a lot, easy to stress, can go off it's food. OK, they are easy to handle and they come in some great patterns and colours..
Thats not many plus's.

To be honest you can't judge an entire species by a few animals with in the species that give them a bad rep. And usually these are the W/C and "Captive Hatched" animals that give the species a bad rep. My BP is actually one of my most active snakes and I usually seen her out crawling around at least once a day, I see her out more often then most of my other snakes. She also has a very strong feeding response. Sure some of them have those problems but as long as you keep the temps and the humidity right and the snake feels secure in its enviroment a lot of them are pretty good snakes.

 

[snakewispera snr]

Lots of things are better...
Lets look at what you got.
Ball python. Needs the temps and humidity quite accurate, Shy snake, hides a lot, easy to stress, can go off it's food. OK, they are easy to handle and they come in some great patterns and colours..
Thats not many plus's.
LOL

To be honest you can't judge an entire species by a few animals with in the species that give them a bad rep. And usually these are the W/C and "Captive Hatched" animals that give the species a bad rep. My BP is actually one of my most active snakes and I usually seen her out crawling around at least once a day, I see her out more often then most of my other snakes. She also has a very strong feeding response. Sure some of them have those problems but as long as you keep the temps and the humidity right and the snake feels secure in its enviroment a lot of them are pretty good snakes.

I'm not judging and entire species by a few animals... I'm judging them by all the ones I've ever seen...
You agree that the temps and humidity have to be accurate.
You must agree that they are shy snakes that hide a lot, which goes towards them being easily stressed.
I think that Bp have had too much publicity as good snakes, and peer pressure to get the morphs have promoted them into a league they don't deserve.
IMO There are much better snakes out there for pets.

 

[Brewster320]

I'm not judging and entire species by a few animals... I'm judging them by all the ones I've ever seen...
You agree that the temps and humidity have to be accurate.
You must agree that they are shy snakes that hide a lot, which goes towards them being easily stressed.
I think that Bp have had too much publicity as good snakes, and peer pressure to get the morphs have promoted them into a league they don't deserve.
IMO There are much better snakes out there for pets.

I agree they they need there temps an humidity accurate but if you have a thermostat and a humid hide that is easily done. And they are shy but so are a lot of other popular snakes including corn snakes! Many BPs I've seen won't role up in a ball if they are used to being handled. Mine only balls up if you do a fast movenment but usually after a minute or so she unroles herself. I agree they are not a good beginner snake though. I think someone should have experience with atleast one pet snake before moving up to a BP.

 

[snakewispera snr]

I agree they they need there temps an humidity accurate but if you have a thermostat and a humid hide that is easily done. And they are shy but so are a lot of other popular snakes including corn snakes! Many BPs I've seen won't role up in a ball if they are used to being handled. Mine only balls up if you do a fast movenment but usually after a minute or so she unroles herself. I agree they are not a good beginner snake though. I think someone should have experience with atleast one pet snake before moving up to a BP.

I think you misunderstand my stance....
Get a Bp if you want, I just think there are better more satisfying snakes to own....
I have Bp, and the only ones I see less are the milksnakes... LOL
They are both great snakes, but there are better ones to have....

 

[Remmy]

Thanks Brewster, How old is your girl in the pic? I have seen a male, about 18 months old and about 3 foot. The seller said it wont get a lot bigger is this right?