bathing ball pythons and other Q's

[ilovebugs]

ok, so I'm very to the world of Ball Pythons, just got mine last week.

my girlfriends mom gave him too me, they had him for about 6 years.
and he was on a diet of two mice about once a month, to keep him from growing too big.

I think I will stick pretty close to that diet, maybe double that feeding 4/month
he's aboput 3 feet long I guess. very docil and has no objections to being handled. does that sound like a good feeding schedule?

also, I have heard that you can fill the bath with water (after cleaning out soap residue of course) and let them swim. I think I will just use a large tupperware box or something that hasn't had soap/shampoo/sisters hygene products in it. but is there anything I can put on him? to kill any bactieria that may be on him. OR is that a bad idea, I don't know if they are like some reptiles that need bactieria to digest food...

also, if you happen to have a favorite one in your bookarks, a link to a good caresheet would be appreciated.

thanks for your time.

<3 Brandon & Julias Squeezer

 

[LPacker79]

Wow. I avoided replying to this because I just didn't know what to say about this:

my girlfriends mom gave him too me, they had him for about 6 years. and he was on a diet of two mice about once a month, to keep him from growing too big.

Your girlfriend's mom should be forced to keep the same schedule herself. Even better, she shouldn't be allowed to keep any more reptiles, ever. A 6 year old ball python should be on RATS, not mice.

 

[nomad85]

http://www.ball-pythons.net/

 

[ilovebugs]

Wow. I avoided replying to this because I just didn't know what to say about this:



Your girlfriend's mom should be forced to keep the same schedule herself. Even better, she shouldn't be allowed to keep any more reptiles, ever. A 6 year old ball python should be on RATS, not mice.

hmm, well, I dunno about that. how long should a six year old BP be?
personally I don't think he's big enough to swallow a rat. but Icould be wrong.

I know they stretch and dislocate their jaws and crap, but his head isn't much bigger than my thumb... actually, I just checked, and it doesn't even cover my thumb.

but of course, I could still be wrong, you didn't mention the size of the rat, and whenever I hear rat I automatically think of the ones I kept a few years ago that were as big as... I dunno, a bar of soap.


so yea, please explain better.
I do apreciate your help.

 

[LPacker79]

Your girlfriend's mother was intentionally underfeeding the snake so he "didn't get so big." That's what I'm talking about. And if it's six years old, and the head is no larger than your thumb, that's a problem.

Edit: Are you referring to the length of your thumb? Or circumference?

Small rats are usually not a problem for an adult Ball python.

 

[Sequin]

two a month? i dont get it?
i feed mine two jumbo mice a week, and hes still pretty skinny.

head not bigger then your thumb and it is 6 years old? are you sure its a ball python and not a corn snake or something of the sort. what you are describing does not add up and makes no sense.

 

[ilovebugs]

Your girlfriend's mother was intentionally underfeeding the snake so he "didn't get so big." That's what I'm talking about. And if it's six years old, and the head is no larger than your thumb, that's a problem.

Small rats are usually not a problem for an adult Ball python.

I don't dissagree with you about that being a problem, I kinda had my suspicions. they just did as they were told by the petstore they got it from (yea I know, you shouldn't always trust them) I think they were told they could do this as aposed to "power feeding" twice a week.

do you think his growth is stunted? or will I be able to get him any bigger now?

 

[ilovebugs]

two a month? i dont get it?
i feed mine two jumbo mice a week, and hes still pretty skinny.

head not bigger then your thumb and it is 6 years old? are you sure its a ball python and not a corn snake or something of the sort. what you are describing does not add up and makes no sense.

haha yea, I deffinately know what a ball python looks like. and what a corn snake looks like.

I think his growth is just stunted.

how old are your snakes and what size are they? length and girth

the girth of mine is prolly 4 1/2 at it's widest point.

 

[LPacker79]

Either way, I'm glad you have the snake now and can give it the care it deserves. If she didn't want it to get so big, why did she buy the snake in the first place?

 

[LPacker79]

And to answer your original question, you can soak the snake if you wish, but it's entirely not necessary. As long as the snake has a large enough water dish that it can submerge itself in, it'll be fine.
Many snakes will spend time in the water dish before a shed. However, if your snake spends an inordinate amount of time in the water dish, you might want to check it for mites.

 

[ilovebugs]

Either way, I'm glad you have the snake now and can give it the care it deserves. If she didn't want it to get so big, why did she buy the snake in the first place?

haha, who doesn't want a potentially large snake?

I'm glad I have it too. I plan on doing the best I can to make Julias happy.

he had a heat rock which he seemed to love, but I removed that about a day after I got him (when I got a red heat light which he had also been lacking for a while)

so I have learned that they are (or at least this one is) pretty hardy snakes, even when not given the best of care.

heat rock - bad
no light other than ambient room light - bad
room humidity(I assume) - bad (I'm still working on fixing that part)
not enough feeding - bad

and he seems (other than size) to be perfectly healthy.

 

[nightbreed]

Holy crap, my Royal is pretty young (don't know how old exactly) she's less than two foot long, her head is about the same length as my thumb, from the tip to the first knuckle.
She gets pretty good size weaner rats, one every seven days at the mo, I cant imagine giving her two mice a month when she's six

I agree with Leanne, why did she get a Royal if she didnt want a snake of that size? there are plenty of smaller snakes to choose from :?

Glad you have it now man, up the little buggers food intake, and enjoy
they are such great snakes

 

[ilovebugs]

Holy crap, my Royal is pretty young (don't know how old exactly) she's less than two foot long, her head is about the same length as my thumb, from the tip to the first knuckle.
She's gets pretty good size weaner rats, one every seven days at the mo, I cant imagine giving her two mice a month when she's six

I agree with Leanne, why did she get a Royal if she didnt want a snake of that size? there are plenty of smaller snakes to choose from :?

Glad you have it now man, up the little buggers food intake, and enjoy
they are such great snakes

thanks bro.

I really don't know. I guess my gf's brother wanted it, it was originally his, but pretty much all he does is play games (I.E. world of warcraft).

I have only had him a week, and I can already tell they are wonderful, I love him. He's exploring my keyboard now, haha. I love how in the day you can just hold them and they stay in a ball, and at night, they just want to explore everyting. sometimes he goes right in my pocket of my camo shorts.

I think I'll get some more mice or perhaps a suitable rat tomorrow.

 

[Herps&Inverts]

*Slams head into desk* A ball python...big? Okay, that's where the whole problem started. Having said that, I've got a 12' python in my room that eats pigs...THAT is a big snake. And she's still growing. Balls rarely max over the 5' mark and your earlier question about what length he should be....at 6 years...he should easily be 5 feet and fat. To be honest, if she didn't want a "big" snake...had she, perhaps, thought of having a worm for a pet? They don't seem to get too big (at least, not in north america...heaven forbid she'd have brought home a south american annelid, lol).

Having made those remarks, while holding my tongue against any distaste I think the prior situation had, I hope he gets the attention to husbandry that he desperately needs. You should be feeding at least 1 medium rat each week...AND TRY TO FEED FROZEN THAWED! Every good snake owner should be giving their snakes prekilled animals. I don't believe that was mentioned above. Mice aren't going to cut it...even in large amounts. Squirt needs BIG food...BIG food. Mice probably aren't even making a dent in his appetite!

Sam

P.S. Keep an eye out for anything out of the normal osteitis and stomachitis quite commonly accompany bad husbandry, even after improvements have been made. You may well have a snake on your hands that's going to cost you a pretty penny (or even a pretty $500 bill). Start saving.

 

[chris73]

A 5ft. Ball? Ok, we have some real "experts" here don't we.

A good maintance schedule for an adult ball is 1 large mouse or small rat per week. Females will grow larger than males, but RARELY will they approach the 5' mark.

Ball pythons naturally have small heads and heavy bodies. They are not designed to take large prey. It is unhealthy and poor judgement on the owners part to feed animals larger than the maximum girth of the animal in question.

Most (not all) of the posters in this thread should not be allowed to keep snakes EXCEPT the original poster who is asking valid questions to promote the animals long term health.

Ball's are alert, active and intelligent animals. They require warmth, water, and food like any other creature.

If your Ball is alert, although I agree it is a bit underfed, it is fine. Underfeeding to reduce size is wrong. Underfeeding to promote health is a good thing in my opinion. Snakes require very little food to be healthy. One properly sized meal per week is perfect.

I am appaled at the irresponsibility and innacuracy of this thread. Do some research and perhaps actually KEEP A BALL PYTHON before you claim 5' is normal size for the species and you are knowedlegable about their care.

Just because they are popular snakes dosen't make their care any less important than a rare animal. I'll take a healthy Ball over just about any animal (or human) on planet as my companion and they dexerve our respect if we are to keep them - not our ignorance.

 

[The Juice]

My Ball is about 1.5' and I feed him an 1-2 adult mice a week. He looks healthy & not obease(sp) none of the scales are spreading.

 

[nightbreed]

A 5ft. Ball? Ok, we have some real "experts" here don't we.

A good maintance schedule for an adult ball is 1 large mouse or small rat per week. Females will grow larger than males, but RARELY will they approach the 5' mark.

Ball pythons naturally have small heads and heavy bodies. They are not designed to take large prey. It is unhealthy and poor judgement on the owners part to feed animals larger than the maximum girth of the animal in question.

Most (not all) of the posters in this thread should not be allowed to keep snakes EXCEPT the original poster who is asking valid questions to promote the animals long term health.

Ball's are alert, active and intelligent animals. They require warmth, water, and food like any other creature.

If your Ball is alert, although I agree it is a bit underfed, it is fine. Underfeeding to reduce size is wrong. Underfeeding to promote health is a good thing in my opinion. Snakes require very little food to be healthy. One properly sized meal per week is perfect.

I am appaled at the irresponsibility and innacuracy of this thread. Do some research and perhaps actually KEEP A BALL PYTHON before you claim 5' is normal size for the species and you are knowedlegable about their care.

Just because they are popular snakes dosen't make their care any less important than a rare animal. I'll take a healthy Ball over just about any animal (or human) on planet as my companion and they dexerve our respect if we are to keep them - not our ignorance.

Excuse me? I hope your not including me in your sweeping statement, I do not overfeed my Royal, she has one appropriate sized food item (pre-killed) per week.

Apart from getting the adult size wrong (even though it is possible for a female Royal to max out at 5-6ft, possible, not probable ) I didn't think the advice given was that bad (could of been more specific on prey size, but hey *shrug*) I don't think it was anything that deserved your (over)reaction.

 

[Beardo]

I wouldn't take any criticism that Chris hands out too seriously.....coming from a guy who said Corn Snakes aren't good beginner snakes I doubt he has much experience with anything snake-related other than what hes seen in pet stores or read in online caresheets.

 

[chris73]

I wouldn't take any criticism that Chris hands out too seriously.....coming from a guy who said Corn Snakes aren't good beginner snakes I doubt he has much experience with anything snake-related other than what hes seen in pet stores or read in online caresheets.

That is another ignorant comment. Baby corn snakes are snappy - baby Balls are not. What beginner want's to get bitten? That's not a good way to begin as a keeper. But if YOU say I have no experience, then it must be true. It simply must!

 

[Beardo]

What planet are you from lol? I've kept more Ball Pythons that you've probably ever seen and I can attest that a baby Ball Python is MUCH more likely to bite than a Corn Snake of ANY age is. And if a snake keeper, beginner or not can't take a bite from a a baby Corn Snake, they should stick to sea monkeys.