What do you wish you knew?

Racks aren't for everyone, some people like to display their snakes and watch them; racks can really limit the fun of observing them and just peaking in on them. I would say mix it up; there are a lot of pythons and boas that stay on the smaller side that you may really enjoy keeping, like: common boas, dumeril's boas, woma pythons, carpet pythons, blood pythons, and if you can handle the size...burmese pythons are all fantastic pets. For the money you can spend on Ball morphs, you could buy any of the ones I listed and have a nice diverse collection.

Well, I have and will enjoy just one BP. She/he has an amazing personality, and we just adore this BP as a family pet. I read ALOT so made few mistakes. There are two things that I found the most valuable: One is raising the humidity to 65/70% during shed. I have never had a bad shed. In fact, it always come off in one piece. She will just push against her hide and it rolls of into what looks like a condom. (sorry but it is true :). The other is my heating system. I use Hydro Farm, which is actually made for plants but is awesome for under tank heating. (I found the advice on this site) One single probe just under the aspen regulates the surface temp perfectly and you can set it digitally to the average temp you want. I have terrariums, which I love for having a single snake.

I wish I had been a bit less impulsive with my purchase (although no regrets ultimately). :) I should have set up my enclosure and made sure that all the husbandry was correct BEFORE getting Atticus, rather than rushing to catch up. I also agree that having a tank has been a huge pain, but I think I've finally found a setup that works and is consistent.

Housing: wish I'd known about boaphile or AP tanks instead of getting a glass tank...


Molly & Steve
0.1 Normal BP. PRECIOUCESS
0.1 Normal Columbian BCI. LUNA

I wish I had researched the morphs I wanted more and picked up at minimum all 2 gene animals to cut down on rack space.... :sarcasm: (There's no such thing as cutting down on rack space) Serious about the research though...

I'm a new bp owner, and I wish I knew that they wag their tails when they are about to pee....




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Originally Posted by thejennabird

For me, I didn't realize how much you worry about them! My BP is my first "grown up" pet and I am constantly fretting. To the point that little Gloria looks at me like "Mom, I'm fat and happy! I sleep during the day and hunt for rats at night. I eat, shed, and poop. What more do you want from me?!" (Except... you know... she's a snake and can't really make expressions... or higher-level thoughts.)



While not necessarily unimportant, I've found there's a lot of misinformation and heated debate about feeding inside vs. a separate enclosure. I personally feed in the tub because it's convenient, what she was used to, and I didn't want to risk hunger strikes. I honestly feel feeding in the tub is better. BUT, above all else, people should do what works for them and their snake! If your BP only eats in a separate box, do that. Just make sure you put lots of careful thought into your husbandry decisions!

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Definitely agree! I've worried about Marshall to the point of tears! Lol, he's fine though.

Also wanted to add a piece of advice: what works for one snake will not work for another. Trial and error. I think this applies to all reptiles.


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1. The lack of sleep when you worry about them will eventually subside (Whether it takes sleeping meds or not).
2. Covering the screen on a glass tank with aluminum foil will save so many humidity headaches
3. Along with #2, creating moist hides will also save so many humidity headaches
4. It's addictive
5. Snakes have their own personality, and they can have COMPLETELY different preferences than another snake
6. It's really okay for snakes to eat live
7. If a snake won't eat, try the opposite of what they eat
8. GET A THERMOSTAT

What is the ONE thing I wish I knew from the beginning? Stay away from glass tanks.

I never thought I'd hear those words out of my mouth, but there it is. I always thought people who used "tupperware" for snakes were cruel, heartless people who had no business owning a snake. Period. Not in a million years did I think one day I would BE one of those people. And even less would I have thought I would encourage other people to use "tupperware". But after months spent fighting with humidity and temps and feeding refusals and headaches I gritted my teeth and made the switch. Then I could just beat my head into a wall I didn't do it sooner.

And "misinformation"? Don't feed your ball in it's enclosure, it will become aggressive. I've heard a lot of inaccurate statements, but that one is one of the most common and most frustrating. It makes new owners and potential owners scared of their pets and worse, scared to feed their pets.

Gale

I wish I didn't underestimate the Humidity issue with tanks. I bought a giant exo terra tank for my Bp and it cannot hold humidity at all! specially in this dry province I live in.
So to fix that I now cover most of the top mesh with tin foil to keep heat and humidity in, and also Sphagnum moss!, put it all over inside the tank, create a humid hide as well and humidity percentage are great and actually holds!.
Before I had to boil a pot of water in the room to keep humidity up in the tank, it was stressfull as hell because it heat up the room and opening the window or door killed humidity instantly. Ambient humidity where I live is 20 percent!, terrible for Bp.

Hope that helps.