BP Concerns

[Reptilian]

Hey all-



I have the opportunity to welcome a new member into my family and just have a few questions/concerns.

I have a choice between a pair of rats or a snake. I like rats, but I love snakes, so I am leaning towards the snake route. Now so far all I've had are corn snakes and have been considering a BP. I am a little apprehensive about having a larger bodied snake...

One thing is with handling. How do most of you handle your snakes? Do you take them out and drape them around your neck? I am not a very strong person and am not keen on keeping even my corns around my neck and they're hatchlings....

Another is their habitat. With a bp being a bigger bodied snake are they lazy or active like corns? I want a tank big enough to keep a BP content and still have room to move about and explore.

If i go the BP route I plan on getting a 40 gallon breeder and getting a hatchling thru a breeder.

[xdeus]

Hi Layna,

Hopefully I can help being that I breed rats, have a few pet rats, have had a corn, and have lots of Balls.

Rats are a lot of fun, but they're messy, require more maintenance, and don't live very long.

Corns are fun as well... they're a lot more active than Balls, but in my opinion they're not nearly as "cute".

I suppose Balls are considered a heavy bodied snake, but even the full grown ones are easy to handle. Plus, they're the cutest snakes on the planet. They're relatively lazy, so a 40 gallon would be fine for the entire life of a Ball. Although it might be a bit too large for a baby Ball as they tend to get stressed out in too large of an environment, but you can always correct that with partitions or adding a lot of stuff for them to hide in (crumpled newspaper works great).

Getting back to handling, there's no concern of being strangled by one if that's what you're worried about. Many people drape them over their neck, or they just leave them curled up in their lap. A lot of mine will explore, so you want to make sure they can't get into anything that you're unable to get to... such as inside a couch.

I hope that answered some of your questions.

[recycling goddess]

greetings and welcome to the forum!

a full grown ball python can live in a 40 quart tub... contently.

when i hold my ball (or other snakes) i hold them in my hands... not around my neck unless i need to be hands free for some reason.

when i was first deciding to bring a ball into my home i was thinking how overwhelming the full grown size would be... well a year+ later and he's still not all that large. it take about 3 years... somethings a little more before they get any good size on them... so... you'll grow with them... and be soooo in love with them it won't be overwhelming at all.

we have a wonderful caresheet here as well.