New here- questions on purchasing first bp

Oh wow- thanks a bunch, Vaughn! I have just emailed them after checking them out on faunaclassifieds- they come highly recommended!

-June

cool. Keep us updated...and...we shun those with out pictures. we need lots of pics :D:D:D

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Originally Posted by nathanledet

cool. Keep us updated...and...we shun those with out pictures. we need lots of pics :D:D:D

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Oh no! I can't take being shunned...I'll make sure my batteries are charged! :)

Welcome to BPNet. I think the way you are going about the process of buying your daughter's first snake is the best first lesson of responsible pet ownership any parent could teach...to research first, make good decisions and learn about it's special needs and housing requirements first....good job June!

As a parent who loves snakes and has kids with their own snakes I can tell you they are wonderful pets for kids. I've watched our children learn about responsibility, patience, empathy, etc. while dealing with the snakes. They've had to learn to understand a creature very alien to what is considered a "normal" pet, to put the snake's needs far above their own (especially when it comes to handling too much) and how nature deals with predators and prey. We raise our own feeder rats/mice so the kids get a very direct view of that. As my 5 year old said yesterday when looking at our breeder mice in one enclosure and some feeder mice in another...."these are for eating, those are not for eating" LOL I used to fret he was too young to understand....silly me...he understood it just fine and is totally okay with how the snakes eat and what they eat.

Best advice is to set up the enclosure now. Get it regulated and stable as most enclosures need some amount of tweaking and that's easier done without a baby snake in there. Find the breeder you want to work with, decide on the issue of live or f/t feeding and purchase a snake started on your preferred feeding method. Buy only from a reputable source and when the baby snake arrives let it settle in properly. That's a very very hard part of getting in a new snake....keeping hands off for a week or so or until it's eating successfully but again a good life lesson for your child about patience and respecting a snake's unique needs.

Welcome to the world of snake keeping. I'm sure you'll find it fascinating to share your lives with a ball python. :)

Oh and do involve your daughter as much as possible in all decisions. One of my daughters was about her age when we got into snakes and I'm still amazed at how much she enjoyed researching care needs and genetics. Especially the day she announced very matter of factly that she wanted a Platty Daddy (very rare BP owned by a top breeder Ralph Davis). I nearly fell over as I'd missed the fact that my child was now a morph snob and considers Ralph her BP hero LOL.

Thank you, Joanna!

Yes, the hard part, for me too, is going to be the "hands off" part... but we can do it.

-June

Don't worry hon it's the hardest for any of us even when we have lots of snakes. You still just itch to get your hands on the newest one. Well no actually the hardest part is pacing around waiting for the darned FedEx guy to show up at your door with the package that containers your new snake....now that is sheer agony! LOL That and watching the tracking page at the FedEx site while your snake is in transit.....oh the joys of a new snake!

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Originally Posted by kavmon

check out these people,


http://www.northamericanreptileconnection.com/

i've talked to matt and kim at shows, i think they might be able to help you out. they are in RI also.


vaughn

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I've bought from them twice at the White Plains, NY shows.

Highly recommended.

Hi Jun, I have only had my snake for a fortnight and I am far from an expert, but heres my 2 experiences of feeding frozen/thawed mice. Its relevant because I found out today that my snake had been on live prey for 2 years before meeting me!

The first week he wasn't interested in his food - I put that down to new environment, when I tried to feed him the next week (yesterday) he didnt want anything to do with the mouse again, infact he just looked at it, turned his nose up and went back into his hide.

So I started doing a little dance with the mouse with a paid of tongues, holding the mousey by the tail and doing a sort of puppet show, he struck and cobbled the food up like lightning!

Today I called my dealer and it appears I was misadvised about its feeding pattern, apparently my snake had been fed on live prey for two years and as far as they were aware had never accepted pre killed rodents! Aside from the fact I was fairly po'ed at the reptile shop for doing this I was relieved that now I know that he will eat thawed rodents.

Maybe you could use the same feeding technique with your snake that is used to live mice - I got really into it, even making mousey noises at one point.. my flatmate thought i was going crazy.

Regards,
Dave and Sarge

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Originally Posted by Sarge

Hi Jun, I have only had my snake for a fortnight and I am far from an expert, but heres my 2 experiences of feeding frozen/thawed mice. Its relevant because I found out today that my snake had been on live prey for 2 years before meeting me!

The first week he wasn't interested in his food - I put that down to new environment, when I tried to feed him the next week (yesterday) he didnt want anything to do with the mouse again, infact he just looked at it, turned his nose up and went back into his hide.

So I started doing a little dance with the mouse with a paid of tongues, holding the mousey by the tail and doing a sort of puppet show, he struck and cobbled the food up like lightning!

Today I called my dealer and it appears I was misadvised about its feeding pattern, apparently my snake had been fed on live prey for two years and as far as they were aware had never accepted pre killed rodents! Aside from the fact I was fairly po'ed at the reptile shop for doing this I was relieved that now I know that he will eat thawed rodents.

Maybe you could use the same feeding technique with your snake that is used to live mice - I got really into it, even making mousey noises at one point.. my flatmate thought i was going crazy.

Regards,
Dave and Sarge

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HAHAHAHAHAHA Oh Dave you are now the acknowledged King of the Dead Mouse Boogie (aka the Zombie Rat Dance). You'll find it's easier to grasp the rodent with the tongs/hemostats/long tweezers by the loose skin between it's shoulder blades (just stay well back on the mouse's body and get ready to let go fast when the snake strikes). You can then make an even more realistic paws on the ground movement. By the way I nearly choked on my morning tea laughing at the "mousey noises"! The things we will do for your snakes. http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2.../2ThumbsUp.gif

King of the Zombie Rat Dance! I like it! As I was writing that post I reminded my flatmate of the 5 minutes i spent sat there pretending to be a real mouse - his only comments were "yeah, that was quite disturbing actually"

As far as the holding the mouse by the shoulders, I shall certainly consider it for my next performance!

Regards,
Dave and Sarge