Your First

I've been visiting a couple threads and noticed that almost everyone here has turned breeder or have a ton of snakes (to be clear, "ton" for me is more than one lol). I know BP can live for 30+ years so that made me wonder, do you still have your first? If so, how old is he/she (how long have you had em') and you don't, what's the story? Considering I'm a noob I can't contribute but I'd love to read your story :]

Ive had my first since August lol. He is 3 years old. :)

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I purchased my first going on 13 years ago

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My first pair of sub adult ball pythons were sold without my permission. I was an over-the-road trucker and my girlfriend(at the time) needed gas money. So I wasn't around to stop it. Needless to say, we aren't together anymore.

I still have the 1.0 part of the 1.1 pair I got started with. My firsts, plural, were a visual male albino and a 100% het female. I sold the female and replaced her with a completely unrelated het female, as the original pair were half brother and sister. I've still got him...only going on three years but I intend to hang on to him as long as he's around, barring any catastrophes.

of the 15.18.0, yes I do still have my original 3.
I was one of those "the only good snake is a dead one" untill a little over two years ago. :O
My wife and I were out joy riding on our anniversary and found the little hole in the wall pet shop.
She saw this little king snake that she wanted and we talked about it for a couple hours.
Well, me being me and always trying to get whatever my wife wants even when we cant afford it:oops:
Took her "grocery shopping" and we endd up at that same pet shop.
We got the king and then frantically came up with housing for her (Nibbles).
It took about 2 or 3 days after my wife went back to work and I was home alone with the snake.
I started getting brave and trying to handle her (I'm 6 foot and about 215 pounds) but still totally scared of this little 50-60 gram snake.
Within a week our son wanted a snake of his own and well you know dad cant be left out so Huggie Bear and Leo came into our lives thenext weekend.

Still have my first. Got my Cal King male back in 93-94, something like that. Can't remember that long ago.

:)

This time last year I was deathly afraid of snakes, found this site and became curious. Did my research and in last July I bought my first! Then in September I bought my second and now last Friday I bought my third :) Will not part with any of my girls I have! Till death do us all apart!

My dad got me my first BP nearly 11 years ago, it was a completely arbitrary purchase and to be honest, I was mostly just perplexed when he told me that he had just bought her. Didn't start getting more until this year!

My first to pip in Aug. 09 was a female yellowbelly
http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/a...0564Medium.jpg

4 years later she's 2500+ grams breeding our specter male
http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/PICT0565.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

My first to pip in Aug. 09 was a female yellowbelly
http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/a...0564Medium.jpg

4 years later she's 2500+ grams breeding our specter male
http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/PICT0565.jpg

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That is so adorable!

I got my first snake in 2011. It was my baby Pin XD



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This was my first girl ever. Her name was Mileena. I picked her up from NERD in 2006 as a female poss. YB As she got older she got more and more yellow and was just an amazing animal. I had her from 2006-2010 She died while out on a breeder loan due to unknown causes. She showed no signs of illness, tissue samples and autopsy both came back saying the same thing. Perfectly healthy. Her death is still a mystery. She was the snake that started it all for me and I will never forget her. Here are some Photos.

Her neat head markings
http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/...scn0906ls6.jpg

Her super yellow stomach
http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/...astummyhv2.jpg

When I was a little girl, my parents tell me I was obsessed with snakes and reptiles (not much has changed, apparently!), so when I was about 4, my dad told me that if I could save enough money for snake, he'd buy me the cage. By my 5th birthday, I had actually done it, I had saved enough to buy a baby ball python - and I did!

That was almost 21 years ago and I still have her now. :)

Sorry if anyone's already seen this pic - it's the only one I really have of her as a baby. Both of us were babies, really!
http://lllreptile.com/load-image/Sto...age/image/8878

About a year or so ago. She's about 3600 grams now.
http://lllreptile.com/load-image/Sto...age/image/9575

-Jen

LLL your story is a cute one nice to see someone in it for the long haul haha I hope I have a few I've bad for that long but guess gotta see what next twenty years have in store

I bought my firsts as a pair (male mojave and female pastel) after spending most of high school begging my mom to let me get one. No dice. When I moved out after graduation I was living at my dad's place for free college housing, and it was no pets period there (of course, step mother could have her nasty tempered shih tzu, and let it eat at it's own seat at the table. Their house, their rules). When I finally got fed up with it all I bought Monty and Ember from Garrick DeMeyer and kept them at my boyfriend-at-the-time's house. Have since moved into my own place with a herp crazy boyfriend with a total of 6 balls, 1 pine, 1 leo, 2 cresteds and a green iguana (and counting :D )

My first snake was just a normal cornsnake, but he means everything to me. I had begged my mom to let me get a snake, but she was terrified of snakes so she said NO WAY! She finally let me get one, but it had to live somewhere else. She then got me many other species of animals to try to get my interests away from snakes but nothing worked. Finally (eight years later, after many different species of animals) she let me go to a reptile expo in Ny with my grandma. I picked out a normal ball, Tori, and a boa constrictor, Four, and I milk snake which I later sold. But that normal cornsnake, Slinky, introduced me to how wonderful snakes really are. Now he lives at my house, happily eating any mouse or rat in sight.

Awh, I'm loving these pictures (must say, that one with @LLLReptile as a kid is insanely cute)!

I got my first snake... A month ago! And she's so cute :)

Car ride back home:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/9abyqeja.jpg

On the desk:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/a3a7agup.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/4una9e8a.jpg
In a blankie
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/ajy9ede8.jpg

Helping me sort junk mail:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/tusydy8a.jpg
After shedding
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/vemu5uty.jpg

Ok sorry for all those pictures but... Proud snake mom with a first baby means lots of pics right?

I got my first bp a few years back. Not sure the year. Before that i always combed the roads and woods for garter snakes and red bellies.(native snakes to MN). Just the other day my mom was laughing because she told us a story about how i used to come home hands bloody from snake bites and a 5 gallon bucket FULL of snakes. I wasnt allowed to keep them but every chance i got i combed the dirt roads looking for basking garter snakes. Ive had my first bp for years now. He is around 10 or 11 years old. He was a rescue. Got him from a stoner college kid who fed him one med mouse a month and his cage was covered in garbage. Literally. The guy had open bleach containers on the mesh top. I almost smacked the dude. But he is back up to wieght and is actually a hefty little male now. well thats my history lol.

My first was a 2010 super pastel male from outback reptiles! I know you guys probably get tired of seeing him, but here he was the day I got him (54g) to last week (1030g):)

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/vu7adydu.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/a7y8yma6.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/te4agyba.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/4uquru3u.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/dy8ugyme.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/baby2ena.jpg


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I got my first 2 years and almost 2 months ago. When I got her she was around 500-600g. She was a pet store purchase and wasn't even sold to me as female. I have no idea how old she is since at the pet store they were under feeding her.

This is Lily last month at about 1800-1900g:

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/...2/DSCN1723.jpg

Got my normal at petco the summer before i went into the 10th grade. So about 5 years ago.

Got my first ball last September(still have him). Got my first 3 snakes 12 years ago, all in the same year.

I got my first bp in 2007. I had wanted a snake since I was a kid, but my mom wouldn't have it. After high school, I had kids and got married very young, and my now ex-wife wasn't having it either. After we split up, there were other people and situations that prevented me from getting a snake until 2007 when I moved to NJ. When I got here, my now-wife was terrified of snakes. I told her that I had waited long enough, and that one way or another I was going to get one. She was reluctant, but agreed to let me get one as long as she didn't have to touch it. So, in October 2007, I brought home my first ball python from PetSmart. She started it all for me, and it was 3 years before I got another snake. Last year, I decided to start breeding, and started pairing with my original girl. She ended up gravid, but became eggbound and died without laying. I ended up having to cut her to extract the eggs, which unfortunately didn't make it either. If you want to read more of that (with graphic pics of the process), I detailed it in these threads...

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-out-right-now...

and

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...GRAPHIC-PICS**

I got my first normal in january. Today, I have 10 BP morphs and a boa. :)

Oh yeah my story on how I got the snake:
I wanted a corn snake a long time ago buy my mom said NO. and voila, got a job, made money and finally my mom said I can buy one. Drove up to Walnut Creek to Robert Seib's house, picked up te snake and about 26 rats and drive home. 3.5 hour round trip. And now the addiction begins.

First snake was a black racer back in 1985 or 86. And no I don't have him still.

Wow! Nice to see some still have their oldies!

I was getting ready to go into the 9th grade when I first got my little normal girl. My dad started my crazy love. He use to tell me stories about his when he was younger. I wanted one bad.

That was seven years back. I saved up money for months to get her. Paid 80 for her plus some small pinkies. She was so tiny that the only food she could take was mice pinkies. I have pictures on the other computer. Now at seven years old, she weighs over 2100 grams. I named her Nacho. She is the normal in my avatar.

By my junior year in high school, I had four ball pythons and two red tail boas (one was a major rescue). Senior year I sold three of my ball pythons (except Nacho) to my mom's friend. Dad kept the boas. Our rescue one passed away in 2010. This year I got two spiders, a pastel, and an albino plus a gorgeous boa. Transmission went out and had to sell everyone but Nacho and my little albino boy.

Finally have bills caught up and will be purchasing my first pied female this month. I have a few wants on my imagine list, but going to have to wait until next year.

Nichole

This is kind of a sad one...sorry guys. :rolleyes:


I got my first BP in early 2010. She was already a few years old...she had been a rescue from a family that got her for their young son...who took awful care of her. She was much too small and underweight when I got her. Within two weeks of when I got her she began to show signs of an RI - a bad one. After spending hundreds in vet bills over the course of a couple months, this picture was taken when I took her back in for a recheck after finishing her antibiotics and the vet told me she was septic and had a very small chance of surviving an aggressive treatment which may or may not work. She was put to sleep that day. Her name was Nexus...because she was the point at which my life came back together...and everything suddenly made sense.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...x/photo-63.jpg

I have never connected with another snake the same way. She was special. When he told me my best option was to put her to sleep...I started to cry. She started rubbing my hand with her nose and slithered up into my hair to rest around my neck. Sweetest snake I've ever had the chance to meet. And I still have her...and always will.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...x/photo-62.jpg


I love the ones I have now...but not like I loved her.

Wow! I am so sorry. That had to have been really hard.

My first boa was a rescue. In 2007, I paid 50 for him at an expo. He was 9 ft long. He was my second snake and he was overly sweet. I really rescued him. He had mites, ticks, internal parasites, URI, internal blockage, mouth rot, sores all over and a horrible infection by his vent (almost in his vent). He weighed 2 pounds when we got him. He was a mouse once a month.

He passed away in 2010 at almost 5 pounds. Vet said it was a miracle he lived that long. He went blind in both eyes.

For being so huge, he was the biggest sweetheart! Kids could hold him with no issues. To be honest, I took him to school a few times as an educational snake. Sure do miss him.

Nichole

My 15 yr old daughter begged me and begged me to get a snake.. I kept saying No for several months. Then I started reading a little about them and decided to give in to her request. We went to a local show and held a few different breeds and decided on a Ball Python.. we held off our urge to buy right then and there and went home with a few items to start our set-up instead.. By the time the next monthly show came to town ( Sept. 1st 2012) we had a decent running set-up, so we finally went and purchased Avalon, our first and only snake.. She is just a normal and might not even be Female, but that doesn't matter she's just our pet.. I'm quite certain we will never be breeders.. We might pick up another snake or a few more, but they'll always be our Pets...

After being terrified of snakes all my life (won't say my age:)) I bought my first BP at our local pet store 2 years ago. Named him Rocko. He is a Normal. I love that boy so much. Never thought in a million years I would call a snake "Precious" :rolleye2: I can't imagine not having him with me. My addiction has grown to 7 snakes including him. I would love to have more but hubby says no.

I got my first ball python in April or May of 2006 and named it Lai (pronounced like Lie). We had Lai for a few weeks when we noticed mites on him (not sure of the gender). The petstore we bought him from said they would treat him for free if we brought him there so we did. Three weeks went by and they kept putting it off saying they were still treating him. Finally my mom informed them that we were coming up there to get him and they finally admitted that they had lost him on like the second day due to using the wrong lid on his enclosure. I was devastated because I had begged my mom for years, since I was about four years old and I was twelve at the time. They refunded us but I refused to buy another snake from them and told them how incompetent they were, I was a mouthy twelve year old.

In June of that same year my mom had a friend tell her about a family owned petshop that had some 1yo balls for sale and that they could get me a great discount. We went up there the next day and there were four to choose from. I held every single one of them but couldn't make a decision and decided to wait for them to get some baby ones in. As I went to take the last snake off of my shoulders it wrapped itself all in my hair in a death grip and wouldn't let go! I laughed and said nevermind this one had picked me and I was taking it home. Now, six and a half years later I still have Perry, my baby girl! We have had the ups and downs of noobie owner syndrome and the poor girl has always remained a wonderful snake. She is a runt and is still getting up to weight, my mistake for keeping her on mice for so long, but she is fat and happy at 1200 grams and growing still. Since I have gotten her she has been to just about every place in Tulsa that allows animals and some that don't allow animals. She comes to work with me occasionally and has helped countless people get over their fear of snakes.

I purchased Draco, my male, this past July and he will be two in Jan. Also, I have a baby cinny male named Cecil coming home to me this Christmas Eve and I cannot wait!

Here is a picture of Perry this summer when we were driving to get her some dinner. She thought it was time for driver's ed. She has put on a lot of weight since then but this is the most recent pic of her that I have.

http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/.../Photo0396.jpg