male or female?

Is there any way with out a vet to tell if my BP is a boy or girl?

Your snake needs to be either popped or probed by someone with experience.

The easiest way is to "pop" them. Go to YouTube and check out Justin Kobylka's video on popping and sexing with a probe. It is very clear and concise.

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Originally Posted by ballpythonluvr

Your snake needs to be either popped or probed by someone with experience.

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x2

Unless you are aware with what you are doing, I would not try to do it yourself. You can easily injure your snake.

I watched multiple videos but it's not the same as being taught. Try putting an add on your local website or get in touch with a local breeder to show you how.

Thanks everyone. No worries I wont do it myself I dont want to injure the snake in any way.

Where are you located? You may be able to find a local member on here that can help you.

I am in Willard, Utah just outside of Ogden, Ut. That would be cool if some of you lived around me its always nice to put a face with a name. Also would anyone have any advice or tips for taking my ball in public? I never take him/her in public, but my 8 yr old son has a show and teach day and he wants Max to come to his school. Im a bit nervous about this I dont want to stress the snake out, but this should only last about ten minutes. I have heard taking snakes in public can cause sensory over load for them and stress them out and they can bite in fear.

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Originally Posted by tanyawetzel

I am in Willard, Utah just outside of Ogden, Ut. That would be cool if some of you lived around me its always nice to put a face with a name. Also would anyone have any advice or tips for taking my ball in public? I never take him/her in public, but my 8 yr old son has a show and teach day and he wants Max to come to his school. Im a bit nervous about this I dont want to stress the snake out, but this should only last about ten minutes. I have heard taking snakes in public can cause sensory over load for them and stress them out and they can bite in fear.

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I would generally advise against taking your ball python out in the general public. A large part of the population has an irrational fear of snakes, and taking them in public will almost certainly trigger some intense reactions. With all the legislation going on around keeping reptiles in general, it's just not a good idea to give them any more ammo.

A show and teach day at school is entirely different. I would suggest talking to the teacher about it first to make sure they would be ok with it. You should develop guidelines for how you will be presenting. Will you allow the kids to come up and touch the snake if they want to? Make sure you think of things like hand sanitizer before and after if they're going to touch. I don't think you have so much to worry about from the snake as you do with the teachers/administration/parents...

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Originally Posted by tanyawetzel

I am in Willard, Utah just outside of Ogden, Ut. That would be cool if some of you lived around me its always nice to put a face with a name. Also would anyone have any advice or tips for taking my ball in public? I never take him/her in public, but my 8 yr old son has a show and teach day and he wants Max to come to his school. Im a bit nervous about this I dont want to stress the snake out, but this should only last about ten minutes. I have heard taking snakes in public can cause sensory over load for them and stress them out and they can bite in fear.

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I take a half dozen of my BPs to a couple of 5th-grade classes every year and do a mini genetics lesson. The kids aren't permitted to touch the snakes (which I am fine with in a class of 30+, for the snakes' safety), but they all get to see them up close and learn. Just pay attention to Max's body language. You will be able to tell if he is overly nervous, in which case you just make sure you have him out of everyone's reach. Explain to the kids that they need to be calm and move slowly, or he might be afraid that they will hurt him. This helps them understand that snakes can be scared, too, and gives them a gentler edge. Only allow one hand at a time if you allow petting, and never his head, to minimize his stress. He (you) will do just fine. ;)

Oh, and if you do allow touching, take Max to the kids while they are sitting calmly. This will help lower the energy level in the room, rather than kids jumping up all excited to run up and stick a hand out. It will also lessen the change that Max will interpret that hand as an aggressor.

Thanks guys for the tips and the show and teach went very good. The teacher already had a heads up that Max was coming and she did a good job teaching the kids some rules before I got there (she has had snakes before). My son told them about Max and answered questions with my help then I told the class that if they felt comfortable feeling him they could, but not to go near the head also they could only use fingers so knowbody squeezed him. He was very calm the whole time which he usually is, but you never know with a new place how they will act. I never take him anywhere besides my yard because I dont want to scare him and so many people hate snakes.

Does anyone worry about mites or viruses or anything for letting a lot of kids touch their snakes? My son asked could he take one of mine to school and I am overly cautious about doing it. Kids have a bad habit of carrying sickness wherever they go.

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Originally Posted by hitman3303

Does anyone worry about mites or viruses or anything for letting a lot of kids touch their snakes? My son asked could he take one of mine to school and I am overly cautious about doing it. Kids have a bad habit of carrying sickness wherever they go.

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No, because the parasites and viruses that children carry pose no risk to snakes.

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Originally Posted by hitman3303

Does anyone worry about mites or viruses or anything for letting a lot of kids touch their snakes? My son asked could he take one of mine to school and I am overly cautious about doing it. Kids have a bad habit of carrying sickness wherever they go.

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If anything it would be the other way around, any animal that lays eggs has the potential to carry Salmonella... so you could potentially infect the kids (very rare)

Now stress induced from the experience (for the snake) is a real issue that needs to be considered.

if there's a local show, take the snake with you, someone there will be able to help you.