What's the allure with BPs?

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

I really wanted to ask just to see how everybody felt...to provoke thinking. The first snake I ever saw was a mature normal BP and that so many years ago probably sparked my fire. Everybody has made such great points that I might just conseder one now! Personally I've always been a man of excess...the unusual and what not. I've leaned more towards carpet pythons due to their size and just got my first half dwarf burmese. I prefer more challenge, larger size, feistier tempers that require more training and work on my work. My wife, however, isn't comfortable with snakes and a cute BP may just be what she needs to work toward handling the burmese [emoji1787]

Cj

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Thanks for replying to our comments and we are surely happy that you can embrace our points. I always wanted a granite Burmese python from years ago. Just couldn’t understand how I could house and feed a giant adequately. Sometimes it saddens me when I think about it. Considering what and how much they can consume in the wild it begs the question if we can truly feed them in a way that not only is satisfying to them, but so it won’t affect their behavior. As for people who are uncomfortable with snakes I’m of the thinking to respect their feelings. Some people have very real and deep seated fears of snakes.

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Originally Posted by dakski

I have 7 snakes and one is a BP. The others are a Carpet Python, two corn snakes, and 3 boas. My first snake was a BP many, many, years ago. I have a connection to them. Shayna, my BP, is a great snake. She fairly shy, as many BP's are, but she's beautiful and calm and a good size, especially for this intimidated by larger snakes like Boas and Carpets, etc. When I was a kid, I wanted an albino BP. They were $20k in 1990 money. Not happening. 9 years ago I was able to get Shayna, an albino Spider, for about $800. She's been great, although not as interactive and curious as the boas or carpet. She's easy to take care of and I love her.

Having said that, if I got another snake, it probably would be something more interactive. However, I love my collection and cannot imagine not having a BP. BP's got me into reptile keeping and Shayna got the current bug going. I wouldn't have the collection I do if not for her.

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Very good insight! They are beautiful in coloration and a good addition for a collection. Cheers.

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Originally Posted by Wanik4

...I prefer more challenge, larger size, feistier tempers that require more training and work on my work. My wife, however, isn't comfortable with snakes and a cute BP may just be what she needs to work toward handling the burmese [emoji1787]

Cj

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:gj: There ya go! ;) BPs have drawn many people into snakes- they help open minds. :snake:

I've been thinking about this and something occurred to me - it's not just the range of morphs with BPs but the quality. In a lot of snake species, trying to find a patternless snake is either impossible or will require a waiting list and a hefty down payment. There's also a lot of lines of say, T+ albino where if your friend came over, and you said "this is my albino boa" your friend would be like "what? that's not albino. Albinos are white/cream with bright pink eyes!" If you look at an albino or leucistic ball python it looks like what you expect - a patternless or nearly-patternless, white snake with sparkling blue or bright pink eyes. If I want a pure white BP I can go down to the pet store right now, they'll have at least one in stock, and I can get it for like 300USD. In a lot of snake species a pure white animal like that is wildly expensive or simply can't be had. I think the leucistic quality is probably a big reason both BPs and rat snakes are so popular - something about a perfectly white animal is just really amazing.

Actually, I didn't really want ball pythons, but I was looking for snakes to use in educational demonstrations. I preferred colubrids. Slender, graceful snakes that aren't fussy eaters, very easy keepers. What I'd heard of ball pythons centered around how picky they are about their food, the need to 'trick' them into thinking it's still alive, how shy they are, and that they frequently have shedding problems. However, fast-moving snakes prone to abrupt motions are not reassuring to someone who is afraid of snakes, generally, and I decided to give the ball pythons a try for specific traits. Chunky, thick bodies, relatively slow moving, 'cute' faces, bright colors and patterns that don't trigger a fear reaction to 'danger'. I've met some people who can't even look at snake print clothing without getting nervous. I'm that way about spiders, myself, so I can understand it. The previously mentioned traits are all features that humans tend to react positively to, reminiscent of baby animals. Now that I've kept ball pythons for a while, I would have to say that they've replaced the colubrids in my affections.

the Ball Python’s face is one of the many reasons i love them - i also enjoy their temperament, size, wild/normal coloration and the fact that they’re from Africa as it is my own personal goal to specialize in African constrictor snakes - they’re the first stop on my path to the big boys (African rocks)

I know I’m in the minority, and I respect opposing opinions, but I’m not a fan of BPs. I don’t like their head shape or their finicky feeding fiascos. I kept a few normals in the early 90s, and I love that they were an introduction to the hobby and other snake species, but I can’t see me ever keeping BPs again. They do have some amazing morphs though. The pieds and mystic potions are especially incredible to me.