a few questions

[hardball]

Ive never owned a snake before but i am very interested in a ball python as my first. After holding one today for the first time i think im in love. Well to the point I have read that these are shy pretty well behaved snakes. How often if ever have you been lashed out toward? Im looking at getting a baby male. I have heard that you should take him out of his tank and place him in a plastic bin of sorts for feeding to keep him from assocating opening the tank with feeding time. When I do this i assume it probably would not be safe to try to pick him up without being lashed at. So what would be the safest way for me and the snake to get him back in the tank? simply sliding him out of the bin into the tank or wat?

Also how are adult males behavior wise?

[ZEKESMOM]

I have had my bp for 9 mths now and have always fed in his enclosure and never once have I had him "lashing out" at me....no behavioral problems at all with my boy

[djets1989]

if u dont want the snake to associate the cage opening with feeding time then you should try handling him often (at right imes of course), because if u only open it for feeding then hell associate it with feeding and strike, if u also go in there often and handle it, then it should be calm!

[hardball]

i plan on handling him quite a bit as im somewhat of a couch potato, so i guess this may not be too much of a problem? Does the snake have any tendencies that shows it may be about to strike? I always kind of thought the balling and curling the head back meant that it was getting ready, but that seems to be a pretty common position with this snake.

[bigballs]

once you get more experience with handling snakes you will be able to better judge when the snake is coiled back to strike or just moving around. ball pythons are very docile snakes and the risk of getting bit is not high compared with other species.


and it doesnt hurt!

[hardball]

Thanks for the responses. I know I feel like im asking every possible question but im trying to be well informed before I make a final decision. I have checked the interent for whatver i can find and asked a lot of these questions in the store, but i want to make sure i wasnt being misinformed. What would be a good price for a regular ball python? The ones at the place i looked at today were $50 a piece and the tank+setup was going to be $60. Does that sound about right? How do I go about judging the health of a snake in a store? I know to ask for a feeding demonstration to make sure they are eating, but are there any other ways? They appeared pretty healthy to me. Since these were babies and he mentioned being in the process of breeding another pair of snakes i believe his corn snakes I would assume that these were born in captivity too.

[satanicnugz]

BPs are awesome. They are a great low maintenance pet. Just be forewarned that they are not like cats or dogs. They often are hiding and only (usually) come out late in the night (mine comes out anywhere from 11pm-4am). They are pretty calm and "friendly". Although I would not think so around feeding or when my BP exhibits hungry behavior.

Overall a BP is great if you want a unique pet with minimum maintenance and contact. Do even more reading to be sure you want one, they can live to be 20+ years old. Make sure you are stable enough to afford all the expenses (food, husbandry, and caging requirements) for much time to come.

[Purrrfect9]

Thanks for the responses. I know I feel like im asking every possible question but im trying to be well informed before I make a final decision. I have checked the interent for whatver i can find and asked a lot of these questions in the store, but i want to make sure i wasnt being misinformed. What would be a good price for a regular ball python? The ones at the place i looked at today were $50 a piece and the tank+setup was going to be $60. Does that sound about right? How do I go about judging the health of a snake in a store? I know to ask for a feeding demonstration to make sure they are eating, but are there any other ways? They appeared pretty healthy to me. Since these were babies and he mentioned being in the process of breeding another pair of snakes i believe his corn snakes I would assume that these were born in captivity too.

That seems to be a very good price for a BP. I bought my female normal for $75, and with a 20gal-long set up with heating, substrate, 2 hides, a branch, a lamp (no heat bulb though =/) a water bowl and "The Ball Python Manual" (by Philippe de Vosjoli) for $120. Really it differs from store to store.

As for the health of the snake, check the eyes and body for mites and ticks. The eyes should be clear, and if it's nearing shed, both eyes should be even opacity.
Check for lumps along the body, depressions on the spine and collapsed areas along the body (broken ribs)
Belly should be clean and clear, with no crusted, cracked looking scales, and the cloacal area should be clear.

[hardball]

That reminds me. I believe the setup was for a baby one i believe a 10 gallon tank, is this the best way to go or should i go straight to the 20 gallon to save money and hassle down the road? and what is the price jump of this?

[rabernet]

if u dont want the snake to associate the cage opening with feeding time then you should try handling him often (at right imes of course), because if u only open it for feeding then hell associate it with feeding and strike, if u also go in there often and handle it, then it should be calm!

Actually, you don't need to handle more often to keep them from associate cage opening with feeding time.

Set routines - feeding day will be the same day of the week, at the same time. Don't handle on feeding day and 48 hours after feeding. Ball pythons do very well with routine.

Overhandling can actually stress out your snake and cause them to go off-feed.

I have fifteen ball pythons. Each one "might" get handled for 15 minutes a week. None of mine are more likely to strike at me because of the limited handling.

Remember, this is a snake - any snake has the propensity to strike at you, even the most calm snake. If you're going to own a snake, the chances are that at some point, you will get bitten. And quite frankly, the anticipation of a bite is much worse than the actual bite itself.