# Ball Pythons > BP Pictures >  The last python is in captivity, the forum is at peace... Zebes update thread

## Snagrio

Doing this rather lopsided as there's technically other threads where I was keeping updates, but decided it was best to move everything to a more dedicated thread where everything's more organized.

Anyway, this is Zebes, my nearly 8 month old male banana BP. He is named after the planet featured in the Metroid video game series (all snakes I have in the future will revolve around the naming scheme of fictional video game worlds). Not the first snake I've ever had as I've owned a corn snake some years ago, but it's been so long that he feels like my first. Couldn't have asked for a better start with him though, he's been a dream. Never bitten anybody, has been sporting a hearty appetite and been patient with me as I learn (or even relearn) all the ropes. Somewhere above 2 feet long and just getting started on rat pups, he's been growing steadily. To think he was able to fit in a deli cup when I got him last September.


A showcase of his length.

Gamer snake lol.

Closeup of his coloration. He's been retaining the orange well, hoping  he keeps it into adulthood to some extent (specifically picked him from  the breeder's selection because he was so vivid).

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_Alicia_ (02-12-2021),*Bogertophis* (02-12-2021),Erie_herps (12-14-2021),_Hugsplox_ (02-12-2021),_Kam_ (03-14-2021),_Luvyna_ (07-19-2021),_Mr. Misha_ (12-11-2021),_nikkubus_ (02-12-2021),ROSIEonFIRE (12-11-2021)

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## Ball_Pythons4life

He is BEAUTIFUL. I can see why you picked him specifically  :Razz: .

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_Albert Clark_ (02-12-2022),_Snagrio_ (02-12-2021)

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## Hugsplox

Love him! My orange dream pinstripe is right behind him pushing about 7 1/2 months. They look like they're about the same size!

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_Snagrio_ (02-12-2021)

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## Snagrio

Fresh out of his third shed with me (plus a MASSIVE dump...).


Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

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_Albert Clark_ (02-12-2022),*Bogertophis* (03-14-2021),_Kam_ (03-14-2021),ROSIEonFIRE (12-03-2021)

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## Kam

Well hello there! I starting to love bananas. Especially pied bananas. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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_Albert Clark_ (03-08-2022),_Snagrio_ (03-15-2021)

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## Snagrio

> Well hello there! I starting to love bananas. Especially pied bananas. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


A pied was one morph I was looking at, but they were just beyond what I was willing to spend unfortunately. I'm happy with my boy all the same though.  :Snake:

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_Kam_ (07-19-2021)

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## Snagrio

Here he is over a year old and roughly 500 grams. Genuinely surprised he's still as colorful as he is. Guessing bananas don't fade out until full adulthood if other banana morph keepers want to verify?

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*Bogertophis* (10-15-2021),_Kam_ (07-19-2021),ROSIEonFIRE (12-03-2021)

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## Luvyna

What a gorgeous baby! Those colours make him look like a dessert, such nice, soft yellows and lavenders.

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_Snagrio_ (07-19-2021)

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## Snagrio

Kind of forgot about this thread since the latest snake pic one exists, but I feel this image is special enough to revive it.

This is my almost 3 year-old niece. Over the past few weeks (my mother babysits her and my baby nephew every Friday) I've slowly been showing Zebes to her. She was clearly afraid at first, then last week she agreed to see him and very lightly touched him in a flighty way.

But this time today, she gave Zebes long, slow strokes with a big smile on her face, even outright saying "I like snakes!" while petting him. This is now the 5th younger relative that has grown to like snakes because of his ambassadorship. I couldn't be more proud of him.  :Love: 


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_Albert Clark_ (02-12-2022),*Bogertophis* (10-15-2021),_EL-Ziggy_ (10-15-2021),_Hugsplox_ (10-18-2021),_Kam_ (10-15-2021),ROSIEonFIRE (12-03-2021)

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## Bogertophis

He's a beautiful goodwill ambassador for snakes, & your niece is a cutie, too.

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_Snagrio_ (10-15-2021)

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## Hugsplox

My 2 year old is the same way. Anytime I have one of mine out her eyes light up. Still not quite comfortable letting her touch anything just yet, she's still learning what the word "gentle" means, but we'll get there. I'm a big supporter of teaching younger kids about reptiles both captive and wild. Here in Georgia we have an abundance of wildlife so learning how to be safe and respectful of their space is an important lesson for kids.

Good on you for sharing the hobby and getting someone else interested!

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_Albert Clark_ (02-12-2022),*Bogertophis* (10-18-2021),_Snagrio_ (10-18-2021)

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## Snagrio

After 7 months, Zebes is finally in his permanent home.  :Snake: 


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AutumnVanilla (11-19-2021),*Bogertophis* (12-03-2021),_Homebody_ (11-19-2021),_Kam_ (11-19-2021),KMG (11-18-2021),ROSIEonFIRE (11-22-2021)

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## ROSIEonFIRE

Gorgeous enclosure!  And that banana is looking really nice as well!

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## Snagrio

At first I didn't think there was much of a difference in his behavior, but lately he's not only grown more comfortable but I've not noticed him be this exploitative before. By all means he's still invisible at all times when the light is on for the day, but at night I keep seeing him in positions like this where he's quite a ways out of a hide and chilling on a given piece of decor (in fact this image is the first time I've seen him in the middle log tunnel I concocted).



What's more, I see objects like branches and leaves that have been rearranged significantly enough to notice, so he's undoubtedly moving around and enjoying his enriched enviroment at night. So as I had assumed, the new surroundings have brought him out of his shell, just not diurnally.  :ROFL:

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_Kam_ (12-03-2021)

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## Bogertophis

Yup, looks like he's enjoying the new scenery.   :Good Job:

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## Snagrio

> Yup, looks like he's enjoying the new scenery.


So long as he doesn't chew it.  :Wink:  :ROFL: 

Now I want to see a very hammy animated BP.

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## Snagrio

I took him to see the new angelfish (details in the fish section of this forum). They were showing genuine curiosity towards each other, I've never seen fish act this way towards him, rather fascinating.

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_Kam_ (12-11-2021),ROSIEonFIRE (12-11-2021),_WrongPython_ (12-12-2021)

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## Bogertophis

Cute!   :Very Happy:

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_Snagrio_ (12-12-2021)

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## Mr. Misha

Really gorgeous and I'm jelly! Always wanted a Banana but can't get myself to expand my zoo.

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_Snagrio_ (12-12-2021)

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## Snagrio

My nieces were making gingerbread houses last night and they decided to make one snake-themed in honor of Zebes (or Zeb/Zeb-zeb as they like to call him).

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*Bogertophis* (12-19-2021),_Kam_ (12-19-2021),ROSIEonFIRE (12-19-2021)

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## Bogertophis

I LOVE it!   :Good Job:   That's so cute!   :Very Happy:   Even Zebes seems impressed..."is that my new hide?"   :Snake:

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## Snagrio

I got a new phone with a better camera, so his colors show more appropriately now.




Also weighed him for the first time in a while. 899 grams. He'd probably be close to a 1,000 if I fed him more frequently but he was looking a tad chubby so I've since started feeding him every 2 weeks and he looks much healthier for it.  :Very Happy: 

Now if only I could just cease eating for a couple weeks at a time to lose some weight myself.  :ROFL:

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_Albert Clark_ (02-12-2022),*Bogertophis* (01-07-2022),_Kam_ (01-07-2022),ROSIEonFIRE (01-07-2022),_Trinityblood_ (01-07-2022)

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## Trinityblood

He's a pretty banana  :Good Job: 

I just noticed the fish watching picture LOL I do that too. The fish are fascinated by the snake and the snake sniffs the funny smelling tank.

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_Snagrio_ (01-08-2022)

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## Snagrio

Just a couple up-to-date pics. Have not had him out in a while due to the cold weather and the house doesn't tend to retain heat well (the thermostat says it's "70 degrees" but I sure don't shiver at 70).


Close-up shot where his iris is visible. Rather hard to see on this morph I've found.


Forgot to add a size comparison. Normally only have images of him scrunched up around my arm.

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_Albert Clark_ (02-12-2022),*Bogertophis* (02-11-2022),Daniel_Effler (02-11-2022),_Kam_ (02-12-2022),ROSIEonFIRE (03-07-2022)

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## Bogertophis

> Just a couple up-to-date pics. Have not had him out in a while due to the cold weather and the house doesn't tend to retain heat well (the thermostat says it's "70 degrees" but I sure don't shiver at 70)...


Most of our thermostats are fairly high up on the wall, so the floors can get pretty chilly by the time the heat kicks on again.   :Wink:   Zebes is looking good, as always.

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## Snagrio

Checking out the fish again. I frankly believe he's less interested in the fish and instead just sees a lot of hiding spots to crawl into.

The fish probably want to see if he's edible though.  :ROFL:

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*Bogertophis* (03-07-2022),_Kam_ (03-07-2022),ROSIEonFIRE (03-07-2022)

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## Bogertophis

I agree- he's wondering how to get into that "jungle".   :Very Happy:

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## Albert Clark

Good looking little guy. Nice work with him, keep doing what youre doing.

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## Snagrio

Fresh out of a shed.


If only he could do it without leaving the shed in a giant ball that's impossible to unfurl without ripping so I could have a nice intact shed to display.  :Taz:

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*Bogertophis* (04-19-2022),_Homebody_ (04-19-2022),_Kam_ (04-21-2022)

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## Bogertophis

> Fresh out of a shed.
> 
> 
> If only he could do it without leaving the shed in a giant ball that's impossible to unfurl without ripping so I could have a nice intact shed to display.


Your kid folds his clothes neatly & all you can do is complain!   :Razz:    And anyway, I've unrolled sheds before- you just need more practice!   :ROFL:

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## Snagrio

> Your kid folds his clothes neatly & all you can do is complain!     And anyway, I've unrolled sheds before- you just need more practice!


I can do it to an extent, but it's tricky, and the shed is never fully intact to begin with (the head in particular is always broken or otherwise indistinguishable). Not to mention it's a 50/50 if a shed is even salvageable at all as he tends to have a, shall we say, "blowout" right after a shed and it can sometimes soil the shed. Ah well, maybe Hocotate will be more forgiving.  :Snake:

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## Bogertophis

> I can do it to an extent, but it's tricky, and the shed is never fully intact to begin with (the head in particular is always broken or otherwise indistinguishable). Not to mention it's a 50/50 if a shed is even salvageable at all as he tends to have a, shall we say, "blowout" right after a shed and it can sometimes soil the shed. Ah well, maybe Hocotate will be more forgiving.


Well yeah, you don't want to be saving brown sheds...but it's awfully "tidy" when they leave it in the shed.  Someday, when you least expect it, you'll get an intact shed.   :Wink:   And I didn't say they're "easy" to un-roll...but I've been pretty motivated, like when the BCI I had got to be 7.5' long & her sheds were over 8' long!   :Surprised:   And she was a "roller" too, lol.  It was worth the effort, that shed was HUGE.

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## Snagrio

His first meal since his last shed. Struck so fast he got me to jump lol.

Still determined to never actually let me watch him eat though. Presented it to him while he was cruising around and despite not being in a hide he still dragged it halfway across the enclosure to eat in one. I swear he does it out of spite at this point.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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AutumnVanilla (04-27-2022),_Homebody_ (04-27-2022),_Kam_ (04-28-2022)

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## Bogertophis

No, it's not out of spite- it's *instinctive* that they avoid eating "in public" -out in the open is where they're easily prey for other predators, especially when their mouth is occupied with swallowing a meal- they're basically defenseless- and they're also slowed down with a meal on board- so escape is far less likely to happen.  You just have a smart snake- don't take it personal.   :Wink:

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## Snagrio

> No, it's not out of spite- it's *instinctive* that they avoid eating "in public" -out in the open is where they're easily prey for other predators, especially when their mouth is occupied with swallowing a meal- they're basically defenseless- and they're also slowed down with a meal on board- so escape is far less likely to happen.  You just have a smart snake- don't take it personal.


It was a joke, I know why he does it.  :Wink:  I just think it's funny the extreme lengths he in particular will go, while my corn ate right in front of me without a care in the world for his very first meal with me.  :ROFL:

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## Snagrio

Been a while since I've updated here. Zebes went dormant for what was close to a month. Never saw him in blue so wasn't sure what was up, and it was only today that I found out he really was in shed all that time. Goodness.


He was understandably quite hungry after the fact so I fed him his usual.

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*Bogertophis* (07-25-2022),_Homebody_ (07-01-2022),_Kam_ (12-07-2022)

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## Snagrio

Zebes has gotten so big.  :Surprised:  Still so orange too, amazing how he hasn't dulled out too much compared to a lot of bananas I've seen.



Even when his " little brother" and "baby sister" Hocotate and Mira attain adulthood size themselves and surpass him in length (in Mira's case doubly so), I'm all but certain he will nonetheless outweigh them both combined.

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*Bogertophis* (07-25-2022),_Homebody_ (07-26-2022),_Kam_ (12-07-2022)

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## Snagrio

He was in a perfect pose earlier this evening under his enclosure LEDs, so I figured I'd give a comparison of when he was a hatchling to now to showcase how well his coloration has been retained.


According to someone I've been talking to elsewhere who breeds BPs, Dynasty Reptiles is more of a reseller than a breeder with no guarantee on genetics, so who knows if there is something else going on with him than just banana...  :Confuse:

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*Bogertophis* (07-26-2022),_dakski_ (07-26-2022),_Homebody_ (07-27-2022),_Kam_ (12-07-2022)

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## Snagrio

Zebes has gotten so big. He's not my little baby boy anymore.  :Giggle: 

Still has that cute face though.

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*Bogertophis* (08-18-2022),_GoingPostal_ (09-09-2022),_Homebody_ (08-19-2022),_Kam_ (12-07-2022)

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## Snagrio

Exactly 2 years from yesterday when I first weighed him he was 95 grams. Now, _989 grams_. He's gotten so big, where has the time gone.

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*Bogertophis* (09-09-2022),_dakski_ (09-10-2022),_GoingPostal_ (09-09-2022),_Homebody_ (09-10-2022),_Kam_ (12-07-2022)

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## Bogertophis

A lot happens in 2 years of a snake's life- & he's real handsome too.   :Good Job:

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_GoingPostal_ (09-09-2022)

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## GoingPostal

The first few years is the most fun for me seeing a snake grow up into an adult from tiny to a "real" snake.  I enjoy the adults too obviously but the fast growth phase is so satisfying.  He's looking good!

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*Bogertophis* (09-09-2022)

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## Snagrio

Zebby shed. In a total mess because lord forbid I get a nice clean in-one-piece shed from him for once (wasn't for lack of humidity either, it was all off he just tends to always jumble it to a mangled pile).  :Sigh2: 




He also had a big dump so decided to weigh him. Exactly 1,000 grams. He's finally in the big leagues.  :Wink:

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*Bogertophis* (10-01-2022),_Homebody_ (10-02-2022),_Kam_ (12-07-2022)

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## Bogertophis

Very handsome snek!  But to be fair, complaining about your snake's shed being a mess...hey, how well could we undress without using hands or feet, & just by sliding against things.   :Very Happy:

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## Snagrio

> Very handsome snek!  But to be fair, complaining about your snake's shed being a mess...hey, how well could we undress without using hands or feet, & just by sliding against things.


My colubrids consistently give immaculate one piece sheds though. Maybe it's just his bulkiness and his tendency to fully shed out within a hide instead of splaying it throughout the enclosure (so it gets "run over" repeatedly as he gets it all off).

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## Bogertophis

> My colubrids consistently give immaculate one piece sheds though. Maybe it's just his bulkiness and his tendency to fully shed out within a hide instead of splaying it throughout the enclosure (so it gets "run over" repeatedly as he gets it all off).


It's due to many things.  Some snakes have thicker shed skins than others do- & like you said, their techniques vary, as does their body weight & flexibility.  There's nothing "wrong" with a shed that tears on abrasive things either, & many of them do that.  It's partly luck to get intact sheds.

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