What a delightful little man! (Funny story)

[TheaN526]

Hey everyone!
Continuing on with my research today I went visited a nearby petstore to go check out the snakes. I really wanted all the information the associates could throw at me so I spent a significant time there pestering each associate and handling my snake friends.

First one was a Ball Python who was awesome. He made me want one as of that moment but unfortunately can't own one until I move out.(Not my rules) He was chilling and just hang out. No fear of me or anyone walking by. After about 20 minutes I put him back.

The reptile guy came in and I pestered him for about 15 minutes before asking to handle another individual snake. He said Corn Snake as everyone else I talked to mentioned as a perfect starter snake. He took out a reddish colored A something rather corn snake. I forgot the name. OOps. Anywho he was very squirelly at first kind of just checking everything out. After about 10 minutes he just chilled out while I chatted with the associate(an older guy). He talked about their requirements, and told me about his business and where he got them, etc.

Funny story here: It was probably getting to be a bit of a long time with handling him so nature obviously took it's course and HE PEED ON ME!! LOL. I actually just sort of laughed at it and was like "Well that's to be expected!" I just gave the associate back the snake and he gave me some paper towels to wipe it off. This happened right as two people were walking by. They smirked and laughed a little. I really wasn't turned off. I had been handling him for a while so I guess he just needed to go!

Anwhosm my first snake will likely be a corn, but a Ball Python is 2nd on my list. I'm still researching and doing all my homework. It'll be 3-4 months before I get one.

So thats my story. LOL. Funny snake!! Had to go and just let it loose. :eek:

Thea

[iCandiBallPythons]

Buy a Ball First!

[python.princess]

All he gave you were paper towels?? Not very nice... lol

[iCandiBallPythons]

Just do your proper research and stuff first ofcourse. But I would go with a BP. Trust all of us , you wont regret it.

[TheaN526]

Lol. Yeah, the associate was like "Okay, here are some paper towels. Have fun.". I was just like "Whatever." I didn't flip out or anything.

Actually I am now leaning towards a ball python. Do they come in other colors as well? I haven't looked at photos as much. It seems the two ball pythons I've met have been chill. I like that about them. I'm kind of a calm person myself.

I was told to get males. I'd like a female but if it gets large than I don't really want them.

I'm a little wigged out about feeding live. Do you have to do that?

I'll be looking more.

[mainbutter]

I love corns I miss mine, passed away just before I went off to college I don't know if I'll ever have a corn again though..

[python.princess]

Balls are much more handleable than corns. They also have more girth so you're not so afraid of breaking them! Haha! But, they can be picky eaters. Many won't take frozen/thawed rodents. If you do your homework and talk to different breeders, I'm sure you can find one that's already started on f/t.

Otherwise, corns don't care what you put in front of them- they'll eat it! They are pretty flighty when they're young but they mellow out a lot after a few months.

I like em both but prefer balls. But you'll get other people who prefer corns. All a matter of taste!

[TheaN526]

Thanks for the info. I trust you all know what you are talking about. I'll have to check out more ball pythons. So far I absolutely love them. More handling and research though. I want to check out all the different colors and try to get as much info as possible. I'm info geek.

I guess it does come down to personal preference.

[scarface2jz]

if you think thats funny my ball was chillin on my neck and pooped on my shoulder, lol. as for first snakes, if you like to handle them i suggest a ball python, easy care, small space requirements, great personality's, and the morphs are awesome, corn snakes are cool, and fun, but ive gone to the store wearing my ball python as a bracelet, i dont think many corns will do that

[anatess]

Oh that is an awesome story! hah hah! Most pet stores have those hand sanitizers close to the display cases now. It's really handy. The one close to my house even has a paper-towel dispenser right next to the sanitizer.

Corn snakes are great starter snakes especially if you live in the US. They like the tropical American weather so they can go with 80-85 on the hot side and 70-75 on the cool side which is what your house is normally set. So, all you need is an under-tank-heater or a heat lamp on one side of the enclosure and you're good to go and you can even drop the temperatures at night a bit. They're good with whatever humidity your house provides so no humidity checks are necessary. And, they will normally eat whenever you put some rodent infront of them. They come in a lot of different colors and they are cheaper.

Ball pythons are cool. They are more "macho" than the corn snakes. What's really great about ball pythons, in my opinion, is they are great "trainer" snakes - meaning, they will train you on how to take great care of pet snakes! Because they're African, they need more heat than corns - 90 on hot, 80 on cold. This is too warm for most houses unless you're like me who keeps the house temperature at 80! So, constant monitoring of the temperature is needed (or you can use a thermostat). And, ball pythons need humidity to be around 50%. Which, in the USA, is not always the case in most houses. Like in Florida, it gets up to 80% during summer and fall and then goes down to 20% during winter. So, you'll need to monitor humidity as well. And then on top of that, ball pythons are known to stop eating for months on end. Although this does not necessarily hurt the snake, it sometimes gets stressful for the novice snake keeper. But, owning a ball python is very rewarding. Because of the extra attention that it requires, it gives you that sense of accomplishment everytime your ball python eats and even a greater sense of accomplishment when it gives a perfect, full shed! A ball python is a great step towards the more intermediate or advanced snake species like the bigger snakes or the arboreals. That's one of the reasons I got a ball python instead of a corn snake for a first snake.

Another snake to look at is the Western Hognose. We got ball pythons first, then we got a western hognose and man, I am IN LOVE with the hognose! He is sooooo very different from ball pythons that it is awesome to just observe the two. They're not as easy to take care of as corn snakes. They're probably on the same level as a ball python. Although native to the US (from Texas all the way to New Jersey) and would have the same temperature requirement as a corn snake, the hognose needs a confident keeper. Hognoses will hiss, stand up like a cobra, strike (with mouth closed) when scared/startled which can be really scary to see for a first timer. It's all just for show. We've had ours since Christmas, so he doesn't do that anymore (he's used to us now) but the first week that we had him, boy, he was such a hissy fit! Hognoses also stops eating sometimes for months on end like a ball python. Oh, and they have venom - but not lethal, of course. Probably similar to getting stung by a bee. They don't bite unless you smell like a mouse. And then it takes a lot of chewing before the venom is released. So, it's very rare that a human gets injected by western hognose venom.

Wow, I can go on and on about these snakes... I just got home from a show-and-tell at my son's school so I got snakes in my head!