a little too aggressive?

If you go the glove route be sure not to use any that have loose/piled fibers that the teeth could get snagged on (cloth/fabric). A few could get yanked out and lead to some nasty infections.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Petco sells CH imports.

-adam

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Adam,
Do you know this for sure? I guess I am lucky that Camille is such a sweet baby.

Someone told me about a site online where you can get CH babies for about $2.00 each and you can get up to 100 or more.
They come directly from Africa as eggs or their mother's come over after being captured. I was told that this would be a good way to get into breeding balls.
Adam, have you or anyone else heard of this?

Sudan was from a breeder but is very skittish although he doesn't bite. I think his retained eyecaps have alot to do with it.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

I'm wondering myself tho (experts please chime in) if some BP's are just more aggressive in nature and that's just that. I mean even given consistent excellent care some ball pythons are going to be just harder to handle then others, right?

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They are. :)
I have one now (one of those recent rescue cases) who is an absolute ball of 100% human hatred. :) He eats well and every other aspect about him is fine, but when you open the lid of his cage, he will start hissing immediately and you really have to have your wits about you to avoid getting bitten. Once he is out, nothing really changes; he is the fastest little BP I have ever seen and tries to actually get away from ya. I am holding off on handling him for awhile now because to me, he seems like a snake who just plain dislikes handling, and I see no reason to terrify him by doing so.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Linda

Adam,
Do you know this for sure?

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Yes, it's a fact. The person/company that supplies ball pythons to PetCo is pretty well known in the trade.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Linda

Someone told me about a site online where you can get CH babies for about $2.00 each and you can get up to 100 or more.
They come directly from Africa as eggs or their mother's come over after being captured. I was told that this would be a good way to get into breeding balls.
Adam, have you or anyone else heard of this?

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It's a scam shrouded in semi-truths. While it's true that in Africa ball pythons are farmed, it works differently than that. Eggs are either gathered from the wild or gravid females are captured housed on the "farms" until their eggs are laid. The eggs are then incubated in large boxes at the "farms" until they start hatching. At the first sign of a hatching the contents of the boxes are bagged up for export. The snakes usually don't even drink until they get to their destinations, BUT SOMETIMES THEY DO which is why CH babies may or may not have parasites.

It's a scam because ball pythons are a CITES regulated species and not just anyone can import them. You must be liscensed by US Fish and Wildlife and go through a ton of red tape. It's also a scam because the exporters/farm owners in Africa only deal with a select few people around the world that they know have money and that will take LARGE quantites from them. Anyone trying to sell that few (a 100 lot is TINY) CH imports for that little money is going to rip you off. There are a TON of rip off artists over there (heck, even the "farm" owners rip people off) and if you don't know the "game" you will get burnt. You can't just walk in off the street and start importing unless you have a TON of money. :)

Hope this helps.


-adam

I don't like to read that they are "farmed" when in reality, they are basically plucked from the wild. Farming implies a lot of hard work to me; I see the farmers around here working three days straight on their fields sometimes! To read about people basically harvesting BPs frrom the wild and calling them "farmed" is a shame to hard working farmers everywhere. :(
Then they try to tell people that the hatchlings were captive bred! That's definately an insult to any hardworking, productive BP breeder.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

To read about people basically harvesting BPs frrom the wild and calling them "farmed" is a shame to hard working farmers everywhere.

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In the global community, there are all sorts of different activities classified as "farming" outside of the limited scope of what we are taught farming is here in the United States ... different people may or may not be comfortable with the label, but it is what it is.

I don't think you have a clear enough picture of how the entire process works from end to end, the conservation efforts that are religiously followed, and the extreme conditions and long hours that these people work in for literally pennies a day to judge what is and isn't "hard work" for them.

In my opinion anyone that works 15 hours a day 7 days a week for a couple of hundred dollars a year and manages to feed, house, and provide clothing for a family (of sometimes 6 or more) with the money certainly works "hard".

-adam

I have a bp from Petco and he has never once strike or been aggressive unless of course your a rodent.
I have handled countless bp's from Petco and never been hissed or struck at, so I would have to say it is just that snake. Each one is different just like people or any other animal.
You are gonna just have to keep working w/ him and get him use to it and tamed down. Just remember when he strikes do not put him down or back in his cage, you have to keep handling for a while so he learns that biting doesn't make u go away.

I don't know about all Petco's but the one where I live get's there's from Gourmet Rodent as I have seen the shipment when it arrives several times.
But I would have to guess they are CH just due to pricing reason for Petco

Not all CH are mean.
Work with him and you can bring him around, but you have to set time aside everyday and do it otherwise it will only get worse

Good Luck :)

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Originally Posted by jotay

Not all CH are mean.

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I'm not sure where the CH == mean idea started, but that certainly wasn't my point when I mentioned that PetCo only sells CH animals. I was specifically responding to the statement ...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BiGBaLLiN

he is only a hatchling and i got him from Petco. i am sure that they are captive bred or i was told.

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A CH hatched animal is no more or less likely to be "mean" than a captive bred animal. I have a large variety of both in my collection and the nastiest one in the group is an adult female pastel .... she HATES me!!!! I'm 100% positive that she is captive bred, because I produced her. :D

Ball pythons are individuals. Some are "nice", some are "mean". Some are "nice" only to some people and "mean" to others. Some of my snakes really hate anyone besides me cleaning their cages (*cough*vaughn*cough*) and others could care less who man-handles them.

If you have a snake that hisses, postures, and strikes all the time even if you've tried to work with it a lot you may have to consider the fact that it just does not like you! Just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. ;)

-adam

yeah that female pastel is a little pissy! she may just want a change of address for a year or so! lol yep the are all different just like people. the meaner ones tend to feed a little better though. anyone ever have a mean one that goes on a long fast?


vaughn

When I said CH=mean I didn't take that from you Adam, I have heard alot of people say it and I have to agree with you that they are just like we are as to who they like or dislike and the breeding has nothing to do with it.
But for them to just pick out certain people to like and not like others is a new one to me :)
Just when I think I got these guys figured out they go and do something to make me realize they are more in tune than I thought.
I think that's pretty cool how one may not like you but has no problems with others. I wonder what it is about you the Pastel doesn't like :)