noob from North Carolina

Hello,

I just joined the forum. I'm new to keeping ball pythons, but not snakes or reptiles. I also have had, for several years, a nice (f) Honduran milk snake, and many other assorted herps. I normally do not buy from pet shops, but there was this pretty ball python that was calling to me from the local Petsmart for over a year, and nobody wanted to buy her. Owning a BP has been something I've wanted for 25+ years now, but didn't want to get into larger snakes while my children were still small (and I'm thinking "larger" in terms of potential bite damage and trauma to a kid who sticks their hands where they don't belong). It turns out all of the kids have been naturals with the animals, anyway, so maybe the caution was unwarranted. In any case, they're old enough now so I'm starting my ball python journey.

Here's a recent photo of the one I picked up at Petsmart in September. It was alarming me that she hadn't been growing while she was there, even though she'd otherwise looked healthy. Her feeding records showed that she was being offered one medium mouse per week. After joining me, she kind of went off-feed for the most part but is adjusted and taking food again. I've gotten her up to large mice pretty consistently now, and this week she'll get her first small rat. Petsmart labeled her as a Butter, but I welcome any corrections to what morph she might be since I don't trust that Petsmart with have gotten it right.

https://i.imgur.com/edbyOZq.jpg

I'd like to have one more BP. The all white morphs like blue-eyed leucistic or "white wedding" really appeal to me. I'll be on the lookout for something nice at the next reptile show in Raleigh next weekend.

Hi there! Good to see another BP owner from the Triangle. Hopefully we can connect with each other and other folks nearby for support. What size tank do you have her in? Are you using a light for all heat or are you using a heating pad too?

Take care,

Jonah and Aaron

I've now got a second BP. This is it for the whole rest of the year, though. :D

The butter in the photo I originally posted is in a 20 gallon high. There's a heat pad underneath the right side, and she moves the bedding out of the way to smush up against it. That's a UV light above.

Below her, in a 15 gallon cage (same surface area, just not as tall) is an adult pastel yellowbelly male that I picked up at the Repticon show over the weekend. He's got a similar setup, just with a larger hide since he's about 3 feet long. If you click on my username and view my profile pic, you'll see him wrapped around my neck.

Both of them are beautiful! Best of luck, and keep in touch. Maybe we'll run into each other at the next ReptiCon.