More Balls

[mmchoppers]

Alrighty, my brother currently has a normal bp, whom we bought from a local pet store with a good reputation. Of course after doing weeks of research, research, and finally more research! Now I have something to confess!! I, in the past, was a horrible reptile owner, I feel so bad! When I was around 10 my dad bought me an iguana- Died because he froze and 1. No one in our family has ever had experience with one. 2. The petco guy was soo ignorant, like most of the pet shop people, he had no info on the care of the reptile. Back then I didn't have the luxury of the Intra-netto! But it doesn't stop there!! My brother and I bought 2 garter snakes a few years later- Died due to cannibalism. We thought it was ok to house them together, and also feed them TOGETHER! Bad mistake. Then I was convinced that I was cursed with bad reptile luck, my house killed reptiles, although now I see it was due to my lack of knowledge. Well a couple years later I met this guy who was my neighbor a couple of apartments down, who owned a Normal Ball Python.. I saw it and was like, no don't even think about buying one! But, the local Petco(a.k.a. hell) just put on a bp sale, 29 bucks! I was like, this is a sign from heaven!!! But sure enough, they both died like the rest of my poor reptiles, R.I.P. Of course I didn't know anything about them but they look cool. The local office had a computer with internet, but I didn't bother researching anything because I thought my neighbor new-it-all, and plus I thought I had a friend in the pet business- joe shmo from petco, which I should have known is a no no, who wrongly informed me on how to set up the tank! Anyway, I kept both bp's in the same tank, the cage was set up like this: no hot and cool side for thermoing body temp. On the left side: lamp-not a very sufficient source of heat, no hide. On the right side: log, uth with NO thermostat-poor things were probably burned. there was a cheapo stick-on thermometer in the middle, with a zoo-meds humidity guage, also a water bowl and repti-bark junk substrate. Well we ended up spending like $260.00 on snakes and enclosure, it was a huge tank, I don't remember how big though. I remember that my snake looked really irritated, I didn't know what to look for to determine a sick snake, but he kept striking at me. A couple days later, both snakes had mucus in their mouths and the bark was sticking to it. They were making weezing sounds, and I thought they were hissing at us because they didn't like us, even though they probably/should of disliked us anyway My brother's snake died first, and I was like, well I think I'll call a vet. By the time I got my snake to the vet it was too late, without any experience I could tell he was gonna die! The vet looked at him, gave him a shot, took a stool sample, and gave him back. He then told us how to set up a cage to care for him properly. Two humid hides, a cool and hot side, newspaper substrate, and a water dish. He didn't tell me temps/humidity, or how to properly measure them, he just said I need a hot and cool side to thermoregulate his body. Now that I look back I don't know why I needed to raise humidity, he had a RI! Who knows he probably also had parasites and other bad stuff wrong! he died like 5 hours later, and I was so mad. I just paid the vet $200.00, and my little baby died! I told myself reptiles will never again be a part of my life! I use to always catch lizards and stuff, and I loved reptiles. I remember getting home from school and watchign Jeff Corwin when he was on Disney, lol! Well, it has been about two years since then. About three months ago my brother and I were in Petco, for FOOD ONLY, and we saw some baby balls. My brother wanted to buy one and I smacked him.....well I should have, hehe, but the guy working there referred us to a pet store who specializes in snakes, finally a petco pal with enough sense to point us in the direction of intelligence. I went home and began to research thoroughly about bp's! I found this forum after we got the snake, but just in time for fine tunig the cage, thank God! Stuff like Acu-rite, and therms, and tubs and etc, etc... Well, we have had the bp for almost 2 months, we got it a checkup at the vet with stool sample. It seems to be perfectly healty in and out. I looked at it when I was buying it to look for mites, bumps, scars, clear vents and everything. I asked about its feeding habits, and if it was cb, everything was great! I'll post pics as soon as I can! Whew, hands hurt! Anyway, I had a scare cause it had an incomplete shed, I made it a humid hide which it didn't wanna stay in, I soaked it, but our tank humidity was just not high enough. I heard that bad shedding could be internal parasites so I freaked out, but it was just the tank humidity. Its eating fine, alert, moves around while I hold it! Now, even though our snake is great, the vet recommended I wait 6 months before getting any others. I am interested in buying another soon, instead of 6 months it would be three. But I still feel like I am cursed! I now know way more than I used to about these creatures, but I just don't want anything bad to happen. If you have read this whole thing or just skipped to the end, please share your opinion! Should I not get any more snakes until our current one is older, to make sure I am able to properly take care of them, or do you think I am ready? I know it is a matter of if I feel ready, but I don't know if I will ever feel completely ready due to my horrible past reptile experiences! I just want my pets to be happy and healty!

Thank You All,
God bless!!!!

[rabernet]

Wow! What a story! (small hint - it makes it easier to read if you'll put in paragraph breaks)


So, tell us more about your current set-up. Glass or plastic? I'm assuming you are using the AcuRite for measuring temps and humidity since you mentioned it in your post. In fact, a picture would be great too so that we can make suggestions for you.

Sounds to me like this little guy is doing well. Whether you're ready for a second one or not, I'm not sure. I hope that you would now house separately. If you wanted to house together, I'd say - no - you aren't ready, and will never be ready if you don't house separately.

Glad that you found us here, and it sounds like you're really trying hard to do things right with this little guy.

Another thing to consider if you get a second is that you should ideally quarantine in a different room from your current ball python.

[joepythons]

I agree with Robin .Welcome to the group .If you have any questions ask away.One thing i think you really need to do soon is find another vet,one that specializes in reptiles not one that just looks at them .Where are you located? Someone has a link that helps find vets that work with reptiles,if they read this can you post it please.

[tigerlily]

http://www.arav.org/USMembers.htm

It sounds like you understand ball pythons quite a bit better. I'd say wait at least the 3 months, so it's not an impulse buy. I know snakes can be addicting, and I know I usually have to seriously restrain myself.

I'm glad you understand the error of your ways, and I wish you the best of luck with your new bp. They are wonderful animals, but it sounds like you already figured that out.

[joepythons]

http://www.arav.org/USMembers.htm

It sounds like you understand ball pythons quite a bit better. I'd say wait at least the 3 months, so it's not an impulse buy. I know snakes can be addicting, and I know I usually have to seriously restrain myself.

I'm glad you understand the error of your ways, and I wish you the best of luck with your new bp. They are wonderful animals, but it sounds like you already figured that out.

Christie,i am going to have to remember you are the one with thayt link lol

[tmlowe5704]

http://www.arav.org/USMembers.htm

It sounds like you understand ball pythons quite a bit better. I'd say wait at least the 3 months, so it's not an impulse buy. I know snakes can be addicting, and I know I usually have to seriously restrain myself.

I'm glad you understand the error of your ways, and I wish you the best of luck with your new bp. They are wonderful animals, but it sounds like you already figured that out.

Tell me about it. I got my BP then a month later got my baby BCI then a month later I got a 6' BCI!

[rabernet]

Christie,i am going to have to remember you are the one with thayt link lol

Pssst....that link is also in the FAQ under General Herps! Question 16 if I remember correctly.

[joepythons]

Pssst....that link is also in the FAQ under General Herps! Question 16 if I remember correctly.

Psssssst, thanks lol

[mmchoppers]

Ha, sorry I didn't write it in paragraph form, but I didn't think I was going to write that much! Dang its long, lol. And to all of you wondering (rabernet), I read a ton of bp care sheets, talked to you guys, talked to vets, and looked on the internet and then compared all the info to see which stuff was most consistent like temps for example, cool side low to mid 80s(never below unless breeding) hot side low to mid 90s, stuff like that. Oh and yes, I will NEVER again put more than one snake to a cage, unless I'm breeding, They get stressed for numerous reasons, as you already know, and also they might have something wrong with them that could transfer to my healthy snake. I believe I know the basics, but like I said, I'm afraid something might go wrong, just thinking negatively is all. Thanks for your concerns and help!

[SnakieMom]

When I first bought Merlin, he had mites and ticks, so he spent about 5 months in quarantine. After I was 100% sure he was healthy and the "bugs" were gone, I slowly introduced them, and now, if I take one out of the tank for very long, the other starts roaming around!
They spend about 90% of their time together in their 60 gallon tank, usually "snuggled" together. I've always housed them together. And honestly, Loki gets downright grumpy if Merlin's out of the tank for long!

my