Newbie with Snakes as pets, help a bro out.

[Kevin95]

As the title stated, I have just recently gotten into owning a Ball-Python as a pet. I have done a decent amount of research before purchasing him/her (feeding, heating/lighting, etc.) but I do require some help/advice. I purchased a baby BP from PetSmart on the 21st of this November. He/She is the sweetest little thing I've ever had the pleasure of owning. (It's the snake in my profile picture on my page, not the avatar picture.) MY FIRST QUESTION: How much is the snake supposed to weigh? I'm sure the snake isn't that old, as it fits in the palm of my hand; so it shouldn't weigh that much. I got a feeding chart that came with the snake, detailing when it had been fed, how many feeders it had been given, and the weight of the snake. The last recorded weight was 145grams. However, I bought a digital scale to weigh the snake to keep this progress written down, and now the snake is only reading at about 90grams. Is this because he/she has digested the food?

SECOND QUESTION: What morph/type of BP is it? if you can tell by the profile picture, that'd be nice lol.
THIRD: How do I tell gender? The Pet store didn't tell me. (something along the lines of "Too young for us to probe/pop test") Do I just wait it out and try to pop/probe it myself in a few months?

Thanks in advance. (ALSO, please don't bash/hate if I'm not posting this in the right spot.)

[calmolly1]

I'll try to help but I'm pretty new too. I got my first ball this past April. Let me say I used to work for Petsmart. Don't take as gospel anything they told you about that snake. I doubt he has lost that much weight so either they didn't weigh him correctly or goodness knows what. It sounds like he might be just a few months old. Does he look healthy with good tone and a round shape? It's probably a good thing that they didn't probe him for gender as it's not something a beginner should do. If you have a reptile vet I'd take him in to have his gender checked or if you have an experienced breeder in your area. I can't see your picture and I'm hopeless at identifying morphs so maybe a more experienced person will jump in.


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[michaelt]

Its a normal

[JackTar]

I dig your avatar. Did you draw that yourself?

[Karokash]

Just want to say, Lucky you for getting a feeding chart. I got Kaa from a local petsmart and they had no history whatsoever on when he last fed or what he fed or how old he was or anything...

as for the gender, from what i've read so far there's no way to tell whatsoever based on size/weight/markings/etc so you just have to wait until it's a little older and have it probed or popped. I would highly suggest against trying either of those yourself, regardless of it's age, if you aren't experienced as it could easily hurt your new baby.

Sorry I can't offer much for what morph, if any, it is. It looks like a normal to me. Did petsmart sell it as a normal? Usually if it's a known morph they will list it as such (with matching prices.) For instance Kaa is a pastel, and he was sold as a pastel and cost about $25 more. And they have a pied right now that i'm about to start selling my possessions for that is listed as a Pie Bald and has a matching price tag.

[Kevin95]

I dig your avatar. Did you draw that yourself?

No, I can't draw to save my life. It's from ifunny, credit to whoever drew it.

[Kevin95]

Just want to say, Lucky you for getting a feeding chart. I got Kaa from a local petsmart and they had no history whatsoever on when he last fed or what he fed or how old he was or anything...

as for the gender, from what i've read so far there's no way to tell whatsoever based on size/weight/markings/etc so you just have to wait until it's a little older and have it probed or popped. I would highly suggest against trying either of those yourself, regardless of it's age, if you aren't experienced as it could easily hurt your new baby.

Sorry I can't offer much for what morph, if any, it is. It looks like a normal to me. Did petsmart sell it as a normal? Usually if it's a known morph they will list it as such (with matching prices.) For instance Kaa is a pastel, and he was sold as a pastel and cost about $25 more. And they have a pied right now that i'm about to start selling my possessions for that is listed as a Pie Bald and has a matching price tag.

Its a normal

OK thanks guys

I'll try to help but I'm pretty new too. I got my first ball this past April. Let me say I used to work for Petsmart. Don't take as gospel anything they told you about that snake. I doubt he has lost that much weight so either they didn't weigh him correctly or goodness knows what. It sounds like he might be just a few months old. Does he look healthy with good tone and a round shape? It's probably a good thing that they didn't probe him for gender as it's not something a beginner should do. If you have a reptile vet I'd take him in to have his gender checked or if you have an experienced breeder in your area. I can't see your picture and I'm hopeless at identifying morphs so maybe a more experienced person will jump in.


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PetSmart said they fed him the 21st (a friday) two mice. This one was also the lighter one of the two that I held at the store, so maybe they had the charts mixed up. because they looked pretty much the same so....yeah

[Sirensong26]

Agreed about your avatar!! That is adorable!

[Aztec4mia]

It looks like a nice normal, looks healthy so just start off with what they were last feeding it and go from there, if there is a decent size lump after feeding then stick with that size and work your way up gradually. As far as the weight, make sure your scale is calibrated right and test the weight with something with a known weight(small candy bar, bag of nuts, etc....) he looks healthy so make his current weight your starting point ad go from there. like it was said earlier, take they're word with a grain of salt, a young snake is much easier to pop then an adult, but you want an experienced breeder or Vet to do it and show you first (probing is more accurate)