- Joined
- Aug 18, 2004
- Messages
- 2,239
Friend I met has had a ball python for a while. He was scared of holding it claiming it was vicious and askd me if perhaps I could find a home for it.
So I went over to his place and their she is in a 3 ft wooden cage with hardware cloth front. Heatlamp burnt out, and stuck shed all over(not sure what the substrate was but the cage was undoubtly cold and dry). When I reach in to pet and pick her up she did track my hand and make a few half hearted feints in my direction. Anyhoo I picked her up and had him prep a warm bowl for soaking her. As I was checking her over w my other hand she made a few more open mouths feints and then made contact once. I was kind of perplexed honestly since it didn't really look defensive-she did have some stuck shed on one eye. When my hand was right next to her face she decided to reach out casually and bite two of my fingers, and then coil around my hand/wrist and squeeze. I went ahead and dunked her in the warm bowl of water and tickled her face and eventually(right before my friends in the car who were waiting got word that this might take awhile!) she let go of my hand, finished her soak(looking quite happy in there) and was removed and dried off and put back in her cage.
I have no experience with ball pythons so some questions w how to proceed.
-told him she(dunno if she is really a girl) needs a heatpad, humid hide, and soaking to remove any additional shed. Also she was being fed one mouse per month which seems pretty slim pickings and may explain why she wanted my hand even though she was in a cage w no heat?
-He's scared of her(even tho from what I saw she seems pretty tame-just cold and hungry) and thats the main reason he wants to find a new home for her. Think it might be better to work with him to get comfy with this snake or maybe find a different-less imposing species?
So I went over to his place and their she is in a 3 ft wooden cage with hardware cloth front. Heatlamp burnt out, and stuck shed all over(not sure what the substrate was but the cage was undoubtly cold and dry). When I reach in to pet and pick her up she did track my hand and make a few half hearted feints in my direction. Anyhoo I picked her up and had him prep a warm bowl for soaking her. As I was checking her over w my other hand she made a few more open mouths feints and then made contact once. I was kind of perplexed honestly since it didn't really look defensive-she did have some stuck shed on one eye. When my hand was right next to her face she decided to reach out casually and bite two of my fingers, and then coil around my hand/wrist and squeeze. I went ahead and dunked her in the warm bowl of water and tickled her face and eventually(right before my friends in the car who were waiting got word that this might take awhile!) she let go of my hand, finished her soak(looking quite happy in there) and was removed and dried off and put back in her cage.
I have no experience with ball pythons so some questions w how to proceed.
-told him she(dunno if she is really a girl) needs a heatpad, humid hide, and soaking to remove any additional shed. Also she was being fed one mouse per month which seems pretty slim pickings and may explain why she wanted my hand even though she was in a cage w no heat?
-He's scared of her(even tho from what I saw she seems pretty tame-just cold and hungry) and thats the main reason he wants to find a new home for her. Think it might be better to work with him to get comfy with this snake or maybe find a different-less imposing species?
Last edited: