Newb from the rainy NW

Hello everyone,

I'm very excited to be here. I should start by saying I have never successfully kept a ball python. I bought one about 10 years ago at an expo and it lived for all of 12 hours in my care :O and Needless to say at 14 that was a bit of a turn off. I ended up sticking with boas a leo's for the rest of the time I was herping. Then at 18 I decided to sell my collection instead of leaving them with my parents while I furthered my education. It was better for everyone trust me.

Now fast forward to today and I'm ready to step back in but at a higher level and BP's look like where I want to be. I want to state up front that my interest is not monetary but in the science/art of genetics. The draw of ball pythons for me is not only the diversity of morphs but the manageability of size and small clutches so I don't HAVE to sell any if I don't want to.

I'm currently the very proud owner of a normal het albino burm named Beans and a green cheek conure (small parrot) named Charli.

Hello and welcome to BP.net, this is a great site with lots of wonderful people that can help you with just about any question that you ever will have.

These threads are particularly useful for beginners:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Husbandry-FAQs

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Basic-Genetics

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-BP-Morph-FAQs

Those are great reads. I've been lurking the site over the last week or so and you seem to have the most knowledgeable members out there. I do have some questions about live feeders and maybe this should be posted elsewhere I'm not sure. I'm not morally against animals that eat live prey but I am against feeding domesticated animals to domestic born captives. My question is what are the chances of them not feeding on F/T? Is something like assist feeding an option without detriment to their health if all other attempts have failed? Is there actually any recorded cases of captive born bp's past the neo stage starving to death because of refusal of food? obviously if its unavoidable I'm not going to let them perish. I'm sure I will have many more questions before I make the leap into ownership.
Thank you

Welcome to BP.net! I'm sure you'll find all the info and contacts you need around here to make your breeding efforts a success. Look forward to seeing you around the Forums :gj:

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Originally Posted by Leftnut

Those are great reads. I've been lurking the site over the last week or so and you seem to have the most knowledgeable members out there. I do have some questions about live feeders and maybe this should be posted elsewhere I'm not sure. I'm not morally against animals that eat live prey but I am against feeding domesticated animals to domestic born captives. My question is what are the chances of them not feeding on F/T? Is something like assist feeding an option without detriment to their health if all other attempts have failed? Is there actually any recorded cases of captive born bp's past the neo stage starving to death because of refusal of food? obviously if its unavoidable I'm not going to let them perish. I'm sure I will have many more questions before I make the leap into ownership.
Thank you

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Your chances are pretty good hat you will be aboe to get him onto F/T, there are a few good methods out there. Assist feeding is not recommended unless it is absolutely necessary.

Welcome, welcome. All care sheets posted by serpent merchant are great sources of info. As far as feeding, bps can be picky! They can go on food strikes for months on end in some cases. Most of them can be converted to f/t. What I have noticed is that its much easier to get hatchlings switched over than adults. All the ones I got as youngsters, went no problem. They 5 year old that we rescued/adopted about a year ago, is a different story. He will not eat f/t or even p/k, not matter what I do. No zombie dance for that boy, it must actually be moving on its own accord. If the rat sits in the corner, he won't even strike until it starts running around. Makes me wonder if they are like children, where starting good eating habits young is importantant....lol. Anywhoo, this is a great forum, with lots of knowledgeable people. Ask all the questions you need, you will find they get answered pretty fast here, and have fun!

Welcome! I'm pretty new here, too. I've got two little ladies ( three years and four months ) and I'm terribly fascinated by genetics/morphology. I've only scratched the surface but the information here is amazing. I look forward to learning with you. :)

:welcome:

Regards,

B

Wow thanks for all the replies and info. I'm kinda new to forums in general and think it is awesome to see knowledgeable and passionate people all in one place. Also nice to see someone here from my neck of the woods good herpers are few and far between this far north. I'm just a bit closer to Canada myself

Welcome to the site :snake:

I can vouch for the rain, it's freakin cold and windy and of course raining...