New baby BP questions

Hi
Let me start off by saying thanks for such a wonderful website! It has given me a lot of info and helped develop strong opinions in the world of BPs. My parents have agreed to buy me a male het albino BP for my birthday so of course I have some questions for the future. I have purchased a 36Lx23Dx21H vision cage and already have most of the inner things set up. The snake is supposed to be purchased from a trustworthy breeder (8 years of business) by my local reptile specialist store. My future BP is just an egg right now...but hopefully he'll hatch soon...I'm still waiting for that information. Anyway, I was wondering if putting the lil' guy into the big cage right away would make him feel insecure. If so, how long should I wait to put him into his big cage? I was also wondering if purchasing the egg and hatching it myself would be stupid. I mean it's a big ivnestment and a big risk...but to hatch my first BP seems like something very special. I've never owned a BP before but have around ten years of herp experience. I've also never bred or hatched anything so....seems like a bad idea. Still it would be awesome to share his first breath and such. Um.......I think that's it. Thanks for your advice in advance!

that is a pretty big cage for a hatchling. and i don't know of any breeder that is going to sell you just an egg. even then, the chances of it still hatching after the temp. fluctuates during the moving of the egg are very slim.

Ball pythons stress very easily and in my opinion, the smaller the cage the better when they are young. You want to make sure the snake is an established eater before giving it too much room.

Also, about the egg.....if you move them once the embryo has attached to the inner shell of the egg, you will kill the snake inside. So thats completely out of the question.

Please for the sake of all ball pythons...do not try and hatch that egg yourself. This will be your first ball, then obviously you have no experience and from what i can tell have no knowledge of incubating your egg. And the thought of even trying to move it from its place is obsurd. Let it be born and then take it. IF this person is an experienced breeder i am sure he wouldn't let oyu just take the egg anyway.

Yes your cage is is way to big for a hatchling and i would recomend something smaller to start.

Welcome to the forum and I hope we can all be a help to you.

Gotcha...egg....bad idea....

So just house it in a ten gallon?

Ten gallon would be perfect.. :D

So at what age/length should I move him into the vision?

in my opinion a ten gallon will be suitable for about a year, then you can move him/her.

you'll be able to tell when he needs a little more room.

I think we all know how I feel about glass tanks..... :D

yes, we do, rubbermaid nazi.

LOL. Up yours, Mr. Shizzle. :)

id say once your snake is an established strong eater then you can put it int he vision. as long as you provide more hides and maybe a branch so its not too "open" so the snake feels secure. people can tell you their opinions but really theres no set thing. it really all depends on the snake and the owner. id you do decide to wait for the right size to switch out of the ten gallon...i would switch it when the snake is around 20-25 inches at the most.

As I'm sure David would have suggested if he weren't so busy, you can get a Rubbermaid or Sterilite container for $5 or so and house a happy bp in it until s/he is big enough to feel comfortable in such a large enclosure as the Vision cage. That, along with a $10 heating pad, a $3 waterdish, and two hides (free to $50 or so depending on what you use), will make a more than adequate home, but you will need to ventilate it with either a drill or soldering iron (I like the soldering iron better but you need to have good ventilation in the room because of the fumes from melting plastic).

By the way, congratulations both on your anticipated new buddy and on your being able to convince your parents to shell out that kind of money. :)

lol, thanks for filling in for me, Marla. ;)

No sweat, David. Somebody had to tell him. ;) By the way, I have FINALLY gotten happy with enclosures with the Sterilite ClearView 45 Qt. drawers. They hold the heat better than the 55 quart lock-tops and don't allow for escape as easily as the multi-drawer unit setup I was using.

When i got my first ball python i had like a 30x12x12 and he seemed very nervous and would be in the corner in his ball pose so i put him in a rubber maid container which i put in the tank he loved it. Then when he got about 20" i moved him and his hides to the bigger tank and he seemed to be at home. Now i use that same container to feed him.

Thanks. It was difficult to convince them that this was in INVESTMENT and not a purchase...heh heh...but I got lucky. I'd go for the rubbermaid any day but my parents will only let me keep such animals if I make sure everything is aesthetically pleasing. I've never used newspaper or that plastic green stuff as a substrate :oops:

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Originally Posted by bojo

Thanks. It was difficult to convince them that this was in INVESTMENT and not a purchase...heh heh...but I got lucky. I'd go for the rubbermaid any day but my parents will only let me keep such animals if I make sure everything is aesthetically pleasing. I've never used newspaper or that plastic green stuff as a substrate :oops:

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Hmm, thats weird. You'd think that your parents would want whats best for the animal. Just explain to them its cheaper and better for your snake....if that doesn't work I don't know what to tell ya.

Also, if this is just a pet why buy a het albino? It won't look different, might not even be het. And since ya won't be breeding, assuming it's a pet, you won't get anything from it :)

I know a good breeder who has CB, eating, guaranteed healthy ball pythons for 35$ to 75$. Lemme know if you're interested.

Then maybe you could get away with Damien's suggestion of using a container inside the Vision cage, or just set up a divider in there somehow? I had a friend whose parents were very concerned with aesthetics and they would never have let him keep a ball python, but there ought to be someway to make a reasonable compromise between what's best for the animal and what your parents restrictions are.

Sorry, but I think its plain silly that someone would be more concerned with how the cage looks over whats best for the animals. Just doesn't make any sense to me. Kinda like people who buy expensive cars that run like sh*t.

Like my Uncle's kia SUV that's 4 cylinders.... :)

I didn't say I wasn't going to breed...after reading these posts it seems like a duty to do so. And it's not like the vision cage will be bad for the ball python. In fact I'm pretty they were made to be good for reptiles....unless there is some conspiracy I'm unaware of. I'll just set it up with some nice looking decor in a ten gallon glass tank. I'm not aware if I'm making some type of sin here...but how would a rubbermaid be better than a similar sized glass enclosure besides cost? I mean any reptile is gorgeous and should be displayed for all to see. I guess I waste some doh with pretty set ups but I really do love to share my animals. The public can ALWAYS use more education in herpetology. Thanks again for the useful advice

I realize your intentons are good, bojo...but you have to look out for the animal's best interest instead of what you want out of the animal. Rubbermaids are better cages IMO because they hold humidity better, allow for cross ventilation and are just easier to miantain and move around. You are correct that Visions are good herp cages, but you have to look at the circumstances here.....your small snake may get stressed out by having to much room and may go off feed. This of course is not the best situation for the animal. Ball Pythons do not make good display animals at all if you ask me.

But....they're so gorgeous.....I guess it's a matter of opinion when it comes to display animals. It's just difficult to see how a rubber box with holes in it can beat a vision. I've used glass enclosures my entire life and have experience working with the local reptile specialist store so I've seen the cages and rubbermaids always seemed to be best for the mice. Hhhhhmmmm......this sounds like a science experiment!

I apologize if I sound rude

You don't sound rude at all...no worries. :)

Ball Pythons do not make good display animals because it is not in their nature to be out in the open and visible. They hide underground or underneath of a tight-fitting shelter of some kind during the day and come out to forage for food at night. We need to respect the needs of our animals and place them before our wish to view them all the time.

Doy....I forgot that the animal is nocturnal. God I can't stand the little kids at the zoo or store banging on the cages screaming WHERE'S THE SNAKE??. If I ever own a exotic animal store I'm so hiring bouncers to keep little rowdy kids out. But then again there's always the youngster herpetologist.

Hhhmm. Maybe a rubbermaid would give it more privacy and make it feel better. I hate how these confusing choices pop up throughout life. Freshly killed or frozen? Rubbermaid or glass? Tell the gf about the tarantula/tarantulas now or let her discover them on her own? :( I just wanna make my BP happy :(

Its up to you what decision to make. We have given you the info....the ball is totally in your court now.

heh

You can go with a 10-gallon and then move up to the Vision cage, bojo. Just make sure you provide good hides and that you're not stressing the snake. Plastic enclosures aren't as easy to make attractive, but the most important thing should be the well-being of the animal, including proper temps, humidity, food, photo period, and security.