How'd you fall in love?

[Boarder4l154]

with snakes that is.. or more specificly ball pythons. I'm sure everyone has a story, and i'll start by sharing mine.

I was in 3rd or 4th grade when i encountered my first pet snake. I was enrolled in a after school day care program and one of the teachers had a bp. It was full grown, maybe 3 feet, and to a little 8 year old, it was a force to be recconed with. I remember its name was Posse. but for some reason i was fasinated with it and the teacher let me hold him later in the evenings when things quieted down. This went on for a few months, and after a while i was that snake kid. if the snake was out, i was holding him or i was supervising whoever was. Well, one day i was sitting on the couch just letting him climb all over me when this kid tripped. Unfortionatly he was carrying a toothpick for some reason. Even more unfortionate is that when he tripped the toothpick went straight into the snakes eye. the snake didnt' strike me however, which the teacher said was very strange. he just sort of jerked and hid under me quickly. as you may have guessed, it died a few weeks later. I guess from then on I had always wanted a snake. It took moving out from my moms house and my own money, but it finally happened and I'm excited! but thats my story, if you guys have any interesting memories or stories i'd love to hear them. I'd also like to say that joining this community has been as pleasant as actually owning my snake.

[frankykeno]

My first exposure to ball pythons was during a science center type trip with a demonstration with ball pythons, corn snakes and tarantula's with my kids. I actually was way more interested in the gorgeous colored corns back then.

This past Mother's Day we decided a snake would be a nice gift for me and the family and we went off to the pet store. I was checking out the baby corn snakes and not terribly impressed with any of them when the pet store guy said my husband had something to show me. Here was Mike with three baby ball pythons. I fell in love with one little one who was just brighter and prettier than the other two and home she came with us. She did turn out later to actually be a she lol and was the start of a pretty rapid growing snake collection.

Funny at first I thought ball pythons were nice but sort of boring snakes that just ball up and aren't that pretty in color. Wow could I have been more wrong LOL.

Rionach started my love affair with ball pythons, one I hope never ends.


~~Joanna~~

[mr~python]

ive allways been interested in reptiles since i was able to be interested. when i was little i used to go outback and catch "blue-bellies" as a 4 year old calls western fence lizzards. what got me into ball python though is when my cousin got a BP. i asked my mom if i could have oone but back then i was only in the 4th grade, and wouldn't be able to properly take care of it. that interest was always with me just sort of in the back of my mind, and one summer before last i got a hundred bucks for helping my grandpa move into his new apartment, and decided to ask my mom if i could have a BP. at first my parents said no, but after some begging, housecleaning, being responsible and what not we went out and bought vanessa. ever since then i can't get enough of reptiles and always wanna learn more about them. so much so that my old science teacher said i should be a biology teacher

[Lady Python]

For me it was love at first sight. The reptile shop was having a b-b-q to celebrate their being open for 1 year. They had several baby Royal Pythons (BPs) in mini vivs. Most of the baby Pythons were hiding. One was not. He gazed up at me, I gazed back at him and I was totally smitten by him. If it's possible to have a close relationship with a snake, then I have that with my beloved Byron. He will come up to the front of the viv for me. If my husband is handling him, he will come from my husband, climb up me and settle round my shoulders. When he's sitting round my shoulders, he will frequently lift his head and give me little snake kisses. He's so sweet and gentle it's unbelievable.

[HelicopterPilot]

My first encounter with snakes was with a 9ft burm when I was like 4 or 5 or sumtin like that. I liked how snakes look ,but I didn't get near the burm when I was supposed to take a pic with it. Man I wish I did.

I also saw alot of snakes at prehestoric pets. I used to go there every day. I even got my turtles that I gave away from there. (I personally wanted to keep the turtles)

My re intrest in snakes was when someone in my home forum posted in the other section about how he got a crested gecko. Then someone said he was getting a bp soon in reply. I forgot that people kept snakes as pets so I did a search and badabing I eventually end up here.

[khara]

I had a huge snake phobia. I was terrified of snakes but when my 7 year old daughter wanted to get a snake as a pet I didn't want to pass my irrational phobia on to her so I agreed. The first time I saw the corn and rat snake my husband brought home I nearly hyperventiliated. I was never very comfortable holding them because they are fast and rather jerky in their movements. I felt so sick and it was really hard to adjust to them. It was a month later, a day after my b-day, that we were in the pet shop and I saw the Ball Pythons. I fell in love with their colors. I held one and carried it around the store. I left the store that day with Sobe. I think normal BP's are so beautiful. I guess that goes to show that in most cases there is a snake for everybody.

[Hoomi]

Way back when I was in High School, my biology teacher had a Rosy Boa in the classroom. It was a nice, mellow snake and I thought it was really cool. Unfortunately, with both my parents having something of a phobia about snakes, having one as a pet was never an option.

For a long time, the biggest thing that stopped me from getting a pet snake was the issue of feeding rodents to one. After fighting a mouse infestation for several years, any reluctance I might have had evaporated. Too many ruined items from mouse chewing, and a developing allergy from that smell. I decided it wouldn't bother me too much at all to feed a mouse or rat to a snake. It didn't bother me to trap them in rodent traps, or to eliminate them other ways, so why should it bother me to do so in the way that nature intended to control rodent populations?

Anyway, with that mindset in place, we headed off to the Tucson Reptile show two years ago. I had in mind looking for a Rosy Boa, much as my biology teacher had, since I'd read they were a good beginner snake. The Tucson show, though, was strictly captive bred and there were only one or two CB Rosies. While looking though, I came upon a breeder that had a very nice looking baby Ball Python for a very reasonable price. I talked to him about it for a few minutes, held him for a few more, and let my wife talk me into getting him. Phil came home with us that day, along with my wife's first bearded dragon, Killroy.

A couple of months later, we went to a reptile show in Phoenix and I found a breeder down from Flagstaff that had some nice looking het albinos. I chose a nice looking male who had a couple of siblings that were albinos and brought him home. He seemed curious about exploring his enclosure, so he earned the name Magellan.

Another reptile show early the next year yielded a pretty female BP, who I figured would be a good match for Phil. Being a fan of Phil Foglio's comics (though Phil the snake was not named after Foglio, but after a creature in the game we play called a Phullaco Serpent), I figured the new addition should be called Dixie. Foglio did a comic for Dragon magazine called, "What's New with Phil and Dixie".

My final BP addition was a female rescue from a co-worker's niece. The woman was scared of the snake, so she came to live with us. She is the most aggressive feeder I have, and actually bit my wife one day apparently mistaking the temperature of her hand and the smell of the oil she'd just put on with the rodents she was used to being fed. That earned her the name of Nippy, and my wife's unending distrust (not that I blame her; I'm extremely careful about putting my hands too close to Nippy now, too).

I've had people try and tell me that BP's are problematic snakes. Maybe in their experience they have been, but in mine they've been cool. They're easy to care for, easy to feed, don't get too big, and tend to be fairly mellow (even if Nippy does think anything warm that gets near her enclosure must be a rat).

I'd love to find a reasonably priced female het albino to try breeding to Magellan. I think the albinos are cool looking, but one isn't in the budget.

[sweety314]

Growing up on the farm, we'd see garter snakes all over the place. No biggee...it was the 10' diamondback the contractors drowned that got to be freaky...but I've never really been afraid of them. (Oh...did I mention how my mom freaked after washing the snake skin I had hidden in my coat pocket???! lmbo...It was really cool, too!! I remember the button and six additional rattles on it.....my uncle found it in our canyon and I forgot it in my coat. Mom wasn't very thrilled! )


When at the community college as a freshman, I had workstudy in the biology dept. Part of my job was care and feeding of the diff. constrictors, corn, king, and poisonous snakes. One of the profs had his personal boa (I don't remember which "flavor") and I thought it was the prettiest thing. The dept. head's burm (yeah, "Monty") was a mean/hissy b*****d, but I never got attacked, so no worries. Even w/the diamondback and sidewinder in the collection, & having to clean mouse/rat cages and feed/water everyone, I got hooked and wanted my own.

When I got to OSU, one of the guys in my karate class breeds snakes as a business to zoos, has displays/demos in OMSI, etc. < Hmmmmm, I wonder if he has any new albinos???? I'll have to give him a call! > I kept his business card for over 10 years waiting to the point where I could get a snake. (My now-ex husband refused allowance for one while we were married.) I didn't get Baby from the local breeder. *sigh* His collection is sooooooo sweet, I couldn't afford one of his babies, but he did put me in touch w/a LOCAL herp vet.

My roomy worked at the local hospital. Baby & the entire tank setup was advertised for $150. The owner HAD to sell, so I was able to get it all for $100. The rest is history. I was hooked before, but now I want MORE!!! hee hee hee

[Boarder4l154]

im glad to see that some of us have had childhood memories that resulted in getting snakes when we could {makes for some good responsible parents}

i know this is a little off topic but i just wanted to give props to that diy humidifier article. I went to wal-mart, paid maybe 15 bucks and put it together in about 20 minutes. i put the tube along the side of the tank and opened up the top a little. I run it all the time. Where the air comes out, the hydrometer reads around 65%, and the ambient air is usually between 47-50%. Rorschach, {I've had him for two weeks now and I've finally decided on his name} he can usually be caught slithering his body around the tube so that his whole body can get humididized... I've found that you can adjust the humidity of the air coming out of the tube by raising and lowering the level of water in the gatorade bottle. but i and Ror would just like to give this easy to make, cheap humidifier and Smulkin the props they deserve. if you dont know what article I'm talking about its here: http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=53

[lars5277]

I always loved animals. My neighbor got a snake so a couple months later I decided to get Salina on an impulse buy. They had 5 different types of snakes. I ignored the king and corn snakes. The other three were a RTB, a Burm, and a BP. The idiot at the store told me they were virtually identical snakes. I vaguely remembered an article or something I read about BPs balling up when they were scared. I figured with 3 kids that would be the best temperment to have. There were 3 BPs in the cage and they all looked the same to me, so I told the guy to pull me one out. When I brought her home she was in a shed, so I gave her a bath and set her cage up. She finished shedding in less than 2 days, then she was fed. I am very pleased with the decision that I made. After that I decided to get into some lower maintenence reptiles, so I got my wife an Iggy and 3 Bearded Dragons. Each animal seems to have its own challenges and needs, but we really enjoy each of them. Taking care of the reptiles is a chore everyone in the family loves and can't wait to do. I did the math after our shopping trip today, and we have spent over $1000 in the past 4-6 weeks seeing to thier needs. I think it is the best money I have spent in a long time. I can't believe how much my kids are learning. They know the temps the animals need to be at, thier diets, and how each one needs to be handled differently. Plus I finally got my kids to wash thier hands several times a day. I just can't seem to picture life with out them now, they seem to have impacted our whole family.