Your first BP (do tell!)

In January/February '05 Karl decided that he wanted to get some sort of reptile for his 20 gallon tank that was vacant. As Karl is known to do, he gets an idea in his head and doesn't let go - but doesn't really do the research necessary and promptly purchased a baby green iguana from the pet store for $25. I was livid! But we did the best we could to try to take care of little Zeus, but I believe he was sick when he got him and he never thrived in our care and passed away within a few months.

I was determined that he would NOT get another impulse pet and that I loved the ball pythons I had seen at the pet store. So I asked him if I could use the tank for a ball python and he said yes. Did a lot of research, googled for "ball python forums" and just lurked and soaked in as much information as possible, read care sheets to death and finally found a site that had a good rating on Fauna called Scales in CA (now out of business) and found Kashmire.

I've been in love ever since and they didn't warn me how addictive they are.

Then in October or November of '05 I was in AIM with Joanna, Becky and Christie, I believe and we were all looking at Will Bird's site and going Ooooh - look at #356 - she's gorgeous - and so on. And those awful enablers had me talked into getting another, which turned into getting three instead of one! It's been a great ride ever since!

Kashmire last spring (need to take updated pictures):

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9.../Kashmire2.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9.../Kashmire4.jpg

Aw, thanks for participating everyone!
I just love these snakes.

I got mine a few years ago from a pet shop we stopped at after a soccer game. We were actually getting some bird food for my sisters bird but I ended up buying my first Ball. Not until after I got him did I relize what bad shape he was in, mites, ticks, not eating for 9 months. We had to bring him back into the shop a few times for them to give him some medication for internal parasites. Ive only been back to that shop once since then and I now relize what poor conditions the animals are in.

I got Sebastian from a "snake breeder" who I found on myspace by accident who lived in Maryland. Talked to him a bit, told him what I was looking for. He sent me pictures of a few he had for sale at the time. Drove over to his house one day and picked one out. At the time I didn't think really thing of this guy, but come to find out we are like two pea's in a pod - that is how much we have in common! So now we are very good friends and both the a total love for snakes! He always ask how my guy is doing and he likes knowing that he can really watch one of the babies he produced grow up and have a good life, etc.

That is Sebastian on my user picture... *GRINS*
but here is the whole picture of him when I first got him. WOW he has grown!

http://willowdaisy.com/images/d/1811-1/sebastian.jpg

i live in a house with 10 other snakes ( mostly boas and kings) and i love them all dearly... but i knew i wanted to get one of my very own and not just love on my housemates babies... so i started to do some online research, looked at picstures, caresheets, anything i could get my hands on about different breeds of snakes... i i originally purchaseda 3 month old RTB at a show who only lived about 2 more months, she died suddenly of an unknown illness but was much loved and well cared for while i had her. It took me a while to get over that first experience and in that time i had really looked into BP's, i loved the way they were patterned and i loved thier little duck -billed faces... when my roomates asked me if i wanted to join them on a road trip to a reptile show in Maine i knew that i would probably come home with a new baby... sure enoug hafter looking around i kept coming back to the same little guy... and thats how i ended up with my Imriel!!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...-6-cropped.jpg

of course the Manchester NH show is this saturday.. anyone want to place a bet on when ill be getting my 2nd BP??? lol

My first and second aren't very impressive, they were harchlings from a petstore that didn't know what they were doing and couldn't help me with any of my questions with why they weren't feeding (over 10 years ago). My next one is my big male. I had convinced my parents to let me go into our friend's petstore and let me hold one of the balls. I held him and was reluctant to put him back in the cage. My parents knew that i still wanted another one over 2 years after the first two, so while in Stop and Shop, my mom saw how bummed i was about having to give the snake back. She said "so you really liked that snake huh??" I said yea i did, then she looked at my father (who has a deep deep hatred for snakes) and said ok, you can get him. I was so happy. I still have him today, about 8 years later, big and happy, with a gorgeous little girlfriend.


~mike

monty my first and only bp so far i seen him in a tank at a store that had just newly open and i loved him at first site so i went to the kid that worked there and asked him i i could see the bp. i put my hand in the tank and he crawled right into my hand and the condition he was in he was dehydrated and not really well cared for he had no water dish in his tank at all and no hide. so i instantle bought him and hes been eating and fine ever since then i lost him in the wall of my house but thats another post i already posted about

and thats my story

My first BP was actually my first two BP's... a friend of mine was moving out of state and asked if I could take them for her... so I did.

Mine was a bit of an impulse buy. I saw it at a pet store/garden store for $60 and decided that I had to have it. I was told all I would need for the tank was a overhead light and the tank. The next day I came home with my ~21" snake and put it in a 10 gal tank with a half log as a hide. I searched for ball python forums on yahoo and found this place. After a few hours of browsing, I realized my setup was definetly not right. I went out and bought a UTH, a dimmer, and 2 new hides that night. Since then my collection has grown a tad. Next came an 06 BCI around the same length, then came my 02 BCI, around 6.5' and now soon to be coming is cueball's het albino female and a het albino male for xmas.

My first bp actually belongs to my daughter. I had a corn snake for several years, and exposed my kids to snake via that snake. 4 years ago, my daughter let me know that she wanted a snake for her birthday. A friend of mine had a bp for sale, but I really wanted to get her a corn. This friend told me about an upcoming show, so we planned to go, and bring home a snake. We made the rounds, and Mandi was eyeing a bp, actually the same bp that had been offered to me a week or so before by my friend. We wandered through again, and I asked her which snake she wanted. It was the bp that belonged to my friend. Now, between my son, daughter, and I, we have just under 40 bps.

Here's Dutchap shortly after we got him -

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...5/Dutchap1.jpg

and a more recent picture -

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...5/Dutchap2.jpg

Steve