my first snake

[halfwaynowhere]

Yesterday I finally convinced my mom to let me get a snake. I've been trying for at least seven years, lol. as soon as she said yes, I went for it. I called my sister who was going to be coming over anyways, and had her stop by the reptile store by her house, and pick out a pretty ball python (or royal python, if you prefer) for me. This is Eve:

She's already got a lot of attitude! And she's super cute. I love these snakes, with their big round heads.

I have her in a 15qt tub with a locking lid. She's on aspen shavings. She has a hide, and a water bowl, a heat mat with a dimmer switch, and a thermometer/hygrometer so I can monitor everything.

 

[crpy]

cute snake

Just a tip, make sure the snake does not ingest the aspen when eating. I would put plastic indoor/outdoor carpet ,you know the green stuff. cut it to fit, it easy and if you cut two you can just change it out and wash it with the hose.

I did that with my boas and pythons and others and it worked great.

crpy

 

[P. Novak]

As long as you don't feed the snake in that cage I wouldn't worry too much about ingestion of the substrate.

She sure is a cute little thing though. Congrats!

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I would put plastic indoor/outdoor carpet ,you know the green stuff. cut it to fit, it easy and if you cut two you can just change it out and wash it with the hose.

Eh, I used reptile carpet for a while myself, didn't like it. Having to take everything out of the tank every time my python relieved himself was a pain, and the carpet never seemed to get clean enough afterward. With aspen shavings you can just spot clean with a kitty litter scooper, and the ingesting isn't a problem if you feed in a shoebox or something.

halfwaynowhere, maybe it's the angle, but your baby looks underweight. You should *not* be able to see the spine sticking up, they're very round snakes. Hopefully with regular feedings (best prey size is 1-1.5x the girth of the fattest part of the snake, although if yours is underweight obviously that rule won't quite and your snake will need something a little bigger) she'll plump up.

But what concerns me is why she's underweight in the first place. How good is this reptile store? A lot of places sell wild-caught babies, or non-feeders in general, or animals with internal parasites. I'm *hoping* you don't have to deal with any of these problems, but I'd research that stuff just to be safe if I were you.

 

[halfwaynowhere]

it might just be the angle, she doesn't feel thin to me... her coloring is lighter right along the top, which makes it appear to be popping out. She came from a great reptile store, and had eaten for them twice. I trust the manager there, she really knows her stuff, and she helped hand pick this girl for me.

I was told to wait three days before feeding her, due to the stress from being moved around a lot. She seems active, and like she's looking for food. Would it hurt to offer food sooner?

I trust that reptile store a lot, but I do have a great vet in case I need to take her in. My vet specializes in exotics, and we've (well, my sister and her hubby) brought snakes into her before, she's been great.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I was told to wait three days before feeding her, due to the stress from being moved around a lot. She seems active, and like she's looking for food. Would it hurt to offer food sooner?

I would actually wait longer, it's rare for a ball python to accept food less than a week after a "trauma" event like moving to a new house. It won't hurt to try it in a few days if she seems to be settling down, it'll just be a waste of food if she doesn't eat.

Right now the zippy behavior is probably due to the new environment, although I did notice a lot of activity and wall-dancing from my boy when he was young and refused to actually eat prey items big enough to fill him up properly. So you might be right, she might be hungry, but if she's too stressed she might not eat anyway.

You may be right with the angle - and I don't have the best eyesight either - but I thought I'd throw the weight issue out there just in case. Basically, the closer she is to perfectly round, the better. Good luck!

 

[Stardust]

haha....i used to have a ball python too ! Love them ! but have to sell to my friend as i dun have time recently....

 

[ballpython2]

Yesterday I finally convinced my mom to let me get a snake. I've been trying for at least seven years, lol. as soon as she said yes, I went for it. I called my sister who was going to be coming over anyways, and had her stop by the reptile store by her house, and pick out a pretty ball python (or royal python, if you prefer) for me. This is Eve:

She's already got a lot of attitude! And she's super cute. I love these snakes, with their big round heads.

I have her in a 15qt tub with a locking lid. She's on aspen shavings. She has a hide, and a water bowl, a heat mat with a dimmer switch, and a thermometer/hygrometer so I can monitor everything.

I love ball pythons!!!! beautiful snake. here are some pictures of mine, wait until yours gets the size of mine lol:

 

[Beardo]

That snake is definitely underweight......get some good meals in her!

 

[bjaeger]

Nice BP! We used to have them, but my dad closed his pet store in '98. I really want to get one for myself, as they're my favorite snake.

Good luck with her!

 

[GootySapphire]

Ball python regular color phase aren't that pretty to me anymore, I like any of the ones with a color morph to them though

 

[crpy]

Ball python regular color phase aren't that pretty to me anymore, I like any of the ones with a color morph to them though

Do you think a bp is embarrassed being piebald, like the other bp says to the piebald bp, " like,what planet did you come from dude"

 

[Mina]

Your little BP is a cutie!! I love BP's, I have 2 of them. They are such a sweet gentle snake.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Do you think a bp is embarrassed being piebald, like the other bp says to the piebald bp, " like,what planet did you come from dude"

Piebalds actually kinda gross me out, the first thing I always think before I realize what I'm seeing is "oh god, ew, it's missing chunks of skin."

 

[GootySapphire]

Do you think a bp is embarrassed being piebald, like the other bp says to the piebald bp, " like,what planet did you come from dude"

Piebalds are awesome!!!

 

[GootySapphire]

Piebalds actually kinda gross me out, the first thing I always think before I realize what I'm seeing is "oh god, ew, it's missing chunks of skin."

I always think of milk.

 

[Cjacques]

I will never understand the love for Ball pythons

They are common as all get out. Timid, problematic eaters, overproduced, and frankly boring. I cant believe the prices people pay for some of those color morphs. There are so many beautiful, interesting, and easy to care for snakes out there I just dont get why people end up with BPs. ::sigh:: Differant strokes for diff' folks I guess.

After rereading this post I realized how harsh it sounded. I dont mean to cause offense. And my opinion is of course no more valid then anyone elses but I feel that people end up with Balls because no one has ever shown them anything else.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

They are common as all get out.

This is the single stupidest reason to look down on anything.

There are so many beautiful, interesting, and easy to care for snakes out there I just dont get why people end up with BPs. ::sigh::

Maybe because BPs are beautiful, interesting, and easy to care for?

Differant strokes for diff' folks I guess.

Amazingly enough.

I dont mean to cause offense.

Then don't go into other people's threads solely to insult their choice of pet and make disparaging remarks about people who choose to own that pet.

I feel that people end up with Balls because no one has ever shown them anything else.

You're wrong.

 

[Kid Dragon]

Piebald doesn't do anything for me. I know they are an expensive morph, but that is my least favorite bp morph. I like albino with high orange, albino patternless, and leucanistic.

 

[Kid Dragon]

They are common as all get out. Timid, problematic eaters, overproduced, and frankly boring. I cant believe the prices people pay for some of those color morphs. There are so many beautiful, interesting, and easy to care for snakes out there I just dont get why people end up with BPs. ::sigh:: Differant strokes for diff' folks I guess.

After rereading this post I realized how harsh it sounded. I dont mean to cause offense. And my opinion is of course no more valid then anyone elses but I feel that people end up with Balls because no one has ever shown them anything else.

The advantages of ball pythons are they are usually very docile, stay small so one person can safely handle them, and captive bred bps are usually very easy to feed. If you roll a mouse in a gerbil cage to get the scent, wc problem eaters will start eating. The pillow case trick will also work. With so many morphs, many people feel they are anything but boring. In my opinion they are the best pet python, and make way better pets than boas. Ball pythons and corn snakes make the best pets in my opinion.