New Here And To Reptiles!!

Hey guys new here and to reptiles I'm thinking of a ball python I have a 20 gallon long tank and want to know about how I should set up and were can I find cheap frozen rodents to feed the snake thx!!!

Welcome! Here's a good place to start- http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet

There are many good frozen rodent companies, hopefully someone else'll chime in.

Welcome to the forum and to the addiction!

This Caresheet will tell you the basics of setup and care of your new animal. Different areas of this website will contain valuable information, questions and answers from your peers in the community. If you have any particular questions, don't hesitate to ask, we have a lot of experienced breeders, keepers and hobbyists who love giving feedback!

Happy Herping, and again, if you can think of anything specific, certainly fire away, or search it on the forum searchbar!

Here's a list of feeder companies that are the base of the market value-- however, you may find them cheaper live at a local pet store, or find it's more effective for you to buy in smaller quantities. It's all personal preference, really. Just do some research as to what size feeder your potential BP would require.

Any prospective snakes in mind yet?

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

Welcome to the forum and to the addiction!

This Caresheet will tell you the basics of setup and care of your new animal. Different areas of this website will contain valuable information, questions and answers from your peers in the community. If you have any particular questions, don't hesitate to ask, we have a lot of experienced breeders, keepers and hobbyists who love giving feedback!

Happy Herping, and again, if you can think of anything specific, certainly fire away, or search it on the forum searchbar!

Here's a list of feeder companies that are the base of the market value-- however, you may find them cheaper live at a local pet store, or find it's more effective for you to buy in smaller quantities. It's all personal preference, really. Just do some research as to what size feeder your potential BP would require.

Any prospective snakes in mind yet?

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Nothing too expensive I've seen em only for like $2000 something like $50 or $75
I was wondering the different size rodents I should feed and how often from a baby to an adult and I want a male since they tend to stay smaller and way I can tell the difference or do I just buy and get lucky?

Ball pythons can be sexed pretty simply. The size difference isn't too huge usually..

As a baby, hey can eat baby rats (fuzzies) as soon as they hatch. You want to feed them an appropriate meal once a week while they grow, they reach adulthood in a couple years. As an adult they can be fed every other week as a maitnence diet, only if the snake continues to look substantial in weight (ball ythons are pretty heav bodied, naturally)

EDIT: Normal male babies are usually pretty cheap. Females are a bit more expensive. There are different patterns and colors that are more rare, so those are probably the expensive ones you're seeing.

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Originally Posted by Kavin2845

Nothing too expensive I've seen em only for like $2000 something like $50 or $75
I was wondering the different size rodents I should feed and how often from a baby to an adult and I want a male since they tend to stay smaller and way I can tell the difference or do I just buy and get lucky?

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Most of us here will always recommend buying from a breeder, as it not only supports the growth of the hobby, but produces healthier, higher-quality animals. You can find excellent normals within a 50-dollar budget, and since it sounds like you're looking for something pet-quality rather than breeder quality, you may be able to find a couple of morphs within your price range too.

There will be a rundown of prey size on the caresheet. No one feeds pinkies to their ball pythons except perhaps as a first meal out of the egg, or during a health issue. A good rule of thumb is weighing your snake, and then feeding it prey that weighs 10-15% of its body weight. For example, a 100-gram snake would get a 10-15 gram prey.

Most snakes from a good breeder will come reliably sexed, but a herp veterinarian can also determine the sex of your python, plus there are plenty of videos out there on sexing your python at home. I wouldn't recommend doing it though until you've seen someone else do it in person and can mimic their methods, there's just too much risk in hurting the snake.

Good questions so far!

Hahah Chloe, I feel like we're competing with our responses because we're the only ones up :P

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

Hahah Chloe, I feel like we're competing with our responses because we're the only ones up :P

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Who says we weren't?? :cool:

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

Most of us here will always recommend buying from a breeder, as it not only supports the growth of the hobby, but produces healthier, higher-quality animals. You can find excellent normals within a 50-dollar budget, and since it sounds like you're looking for something pet-quality rather than breeder quality, you may be able to find a couple of morphs within your price range too.

There will be a rundown of prey size on the caresheet. No one feeds pinkies to their ball pythons except perhaps as a first meal out of the egg, or during a health issue. A good rule of thumb is weighing your snake, and then feeding it prey that weighs 10-15% of its body weight. For example, a 100-gram snake would get a 10-15 gram prey.

Most snakes from a good breeder will come reliably sexed, but a herp veterinarian can also determine the sex of your python, plus there are plenty of videos out there on sexing your python at home. I wouldn't recommend doing it though until you've seen someone else do it in person and can mimic their methods, there's just too much risk in hurting the snake.

Good questions so far!

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Yeah I was looking at BHB reptiles and saw some cool looking normals for 40 bucks but the thing is the shipping to my place is $40 and I feel that I could get a cool morph for $80 that $80 for a normal, do you understand what I'm getting to? The only pet store I know are petco and petsmart also there is a pet express and I seen some cool morphs there before but not sure if I could trust them.

Well, there are breeders all over that would be willing to do local business. It's always a good idea to check the BOI (Board Of Inquiry) over on faunaclassifieds, because they have a rundown of customer reviews of all different breeders in all areas of the US and Canada, if not more widespread. Trust me, there are hundred of options, and thousands of snakes, to look at. =]

Plus, say you do find a really nice looking local morph for 80, you've just accomplished your goal without worrying about shipping charges. Really, that's what makes the hobby expensive, heh. But also more fun, because from what I hear, unboxing days are like Christmas but better. :D

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Originally Posted by Kavin2845

Yeah I was looking at BHB reptiles and saw some cool looking normals for 40 bucks but the thing is the shipping to my place is $40 and I feel that I could get a cool morph for $80 that $80 for a normal, do you understand what I'm getting to? The only pet store I know are petco and petsmart also there is a pet express and I seen some cool morphs there before but not sure if I could trust them.

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Pay the extra and get from a reputable breeder: the extra for shipping and possible extra for a nice example of a morph will be well worth it :gj: Just make sure you have everything set up (and your temps are correct) and that you have everything you need for your husbandry first before getting the snake.

(Angie makes a point as well. Moral of the story: Always, ALWAYS check the BOI and make sure they're reputable. If they don't have any reviews, don't buy from them!)

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

(Angie makes a point as well. Moral of the story: Always, ALWAYS check the BOI and make sure they're reputable. If they don't have any reviews, don't buy from them!)

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Well BHB are the guy from the Snake Bytes shows on YouTube so I'm guessing there good have read reviews probably should!!
So what do you guys do for bedding people say newspaper but I want something that looks better lol

Yes and no, but the no is not necessarily their fault. The larger you get, the harder it is to work individually with each animal. They'll generally be a bit more on the less socialized side and I have HEARD OF mite cases. That comment is backed up by the BOI reports about it, in that BHB provided treatment (PAM).

Sent from my SAMSUNG Galaxy SIII using Tapatalk 2

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

(Angie makes a point as well. Moral of the story: Always, ALWAYS check the BOI and make sure they're reputable. If they don't have any reviews, don't buy from them!)

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Im supposed to be sleeping (instead of browsing he forums on my phone) so I'll make this quick.

just because they don't have reviews does not mean they are bad and should be avoided. Some if us (like myself) are new sellers and don't have much, if any feed back.

I've got a corn snake from BHB and my friend's collection is almost entirely from BHB. They are fine to buy from. I would also suggest just paying the extra for the shipping. Another thing to look into is breeders or reptile expos in your area. If you go to an expo, you get to being the animal home with you!

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Originally Posted by Kavin2845

Hey guys new here and to reptiles I'm thinking of a ball python I have a 20 gallon long tank and want to know about how I should set up and were can I find cheap frozen rodents to feed the snake thx!!!

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Welcome to the forum, it's a great place to get answers to your questions. One of the first things I always recommend is a good book to answer a lot of the basics. There are many available - **Ball Python books at Amazon** -due to their popularity as pets. Some are better then others but most of them will at least give you a good start.

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Originally Posted by BHReptiles

Im supposed to be sleeping (instead of browsing he forums on my phone) so I'll make this quick.

just because they don't have reviews does not mean they are bad and should be avoided. Some if us (like myself) are new sellers and don't have much, if any feed back.

I've got a corn snake from BHB and my friend's collection is almost entirely from BHB. They are fine to buy from. I would also suggest just paying the extra for the shipping. Another thing to look into is breeders or reptile expos in your area. If you go to an expo, you get to being the animal home with you!

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In addition, don't be afraid to ask for references! I don't have any reviews on the BOI, but I've got a list of people I've done business with I can refer you to so you can get some positive feedback on me. Most sellers should have something similar.

Hi and welcome! I am new here too! My best advise would be start saving for a rack right away. I just got back in to reptiles about 6 weeks ago and I am up to 4 snakes with plans to buy more June 2nd and I have terrariums everywhere in my house right now. I am going to order a rack from Animal Plastics on my next paycheck. I was in the same place you were starting out and got a nice looking pastel male for my first snake. He turned out to be quite mean so I traded him to a friend who is more experienced than myself. Good luck and make sure you keep us updated on what you get.

Welcome to the forum.
If you are going to use a tank then you probably will want to use eco earth to keep the humidity up.

Now my ultimate question to help with all your questions:
Where are you located??
I am sure we have a member or couple in your area that may be willing to you out, plus it would give us an idea of what breeders you might have close by.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Welcome to the forum.
If you are going to use a tank then you probably will want to use eco earth to keep the humidity up.

Now my ultimate question to help with all your questions:
Where are you located??
I am sure we have a member or couple in your area that may be willing to you out, plus it would give us an idea of what breeders you might have close by.

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I'm in Malden Massachusetts and I was gonna use repti bark I heard Eco earth holds to much water and may cause scale rot

only if you over saturate it.

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Originally Posted by Kavin2845

I'm in Malden Massachusetts and I was gonna use repti bark I heard Eco earth holds to much water and may cause scale rot

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That depends entirely on how much water you add to the eco earth. Personally I prefer good old fashioned newspaper. It's easier to clean and you can feed in the cage without fear that some of the particulate substrates will stick to your snakes food and get swallowed along with it which in some instances, such as when using a bark substrate, can cause intestinal blockages.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

That depends entirely on how much water you add to the eco earth. Personally I prefer good old fashioned newspaper. It's easier to clean and you can feed in the cage without fear that some of the particulate substrates will stick to your snakes food and get swallowed along with it which in some instances, such as when using a bark substrate, can cause intestinal blockages.

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I was gonna feed my snake in a separate container so he doesn't associate me opening his cage with food but I can't decide on substrate many people say use newspaper but it just doesn't look good

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

only if you over saturate it.

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Can snakes get blockage from Eco earth?

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Originally Posted by Kavin2845

I was gonna feed my snake in a separate container so he doesn't associate me opening his cage with food but I can't decide on substrate many people say use newspaper but it just doesn't look good

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I would suggest feeding in the enclosure...it does not cause aggression, and its not uncommon for BPs to refuse food if you try moving them to feed. Also, moving the snake while it is in feeding mode increases your chance of being bitten.

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Originally Posted by FireStorm

I would suggest feeding in the enclosure...it does not cause aggression, and its not uncommon for BPs to refuse food if you try moving them to feed. Also, moving the snake while it is in feeding mode increases your chance of being bitten.

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Alright cool I guess Ill do that, what morph should I get for my price range?

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Originally Posted by FireStorm

I would suggest feeding in the enclosure...it does not cause aggression, and its not uncommon for BPs to refuse food if you try moving them to feed. Also, moving the snake while it is in feeding mode increases your chance of being bitten.

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Alright cool I guess Ill do that, what morph should I get for my price range?

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Originally Posted by Kavin2845

Alright cool I guess Ill do that, what morph should I get for my price range?

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It depends what you like! I know a male spider or pet quality pastels are pretty cheap. Look around on the world of ball pythons morph list and get initiated.
It's also not ike he ingest a ton of substrate when they eat. The same thing happens in the wild, they should pass everything just fine, especially if they are small peices. Really- do you think ball pythons would exist if everytime they ate some dirt, they died? Lol he'd be fine. You could even have a slab of rock in there that you could put the rat on so he didn't eat in the substrate.

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Originally Posted by Capray

It depends what you like! I know a male spider or pet quality pastels are pretty cheap. Look around on the world of ball pythons morph list and get initiated.
It's also not ike he ingest a ton of substrate when they eat. The same thing happens in the wild, they should pass everything just fine, especially if they are small peices. Really- do you think ball pythons would exist if everytime they ate some dirt, they died? Lol he'd be fine. You could even have a slab of rock in there that you could put the rat on so he didn't eat in the substrate.

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Lol I have school today perfect time to look at morphs!! The rock idea is good what if I buy one of those humid hides? Would I need to worry about the total tank humidity? How many hides do I need one on the hot side and one on cool? And what should the temperature of both sides be?

welcome, two hides works one for each side, also the temps should be around 80 on the cool and 90 on the hot, also make sure you get a thermostat for the uth so it can be regulated properly

LOL@ at the post from the new guy saying to save your money and just buy a rack. So true...

If you're in MA I would recommend checking out NHreptile.com. They're driving distance from you - I got my first morph there for a good price.

I would buy a female first if I had to do it over again. There's a good chance you're going to get hooked and try your hand at breeding and you'll be happy you had a female when you do. Honestly when you buy them you think it's going to be a big animal but then by the time it becomes an adult it's actually quite small.

Definitely feed in the enclosure - ball pythons don't get wild about feeding. It's very unlikely you'll get bit once you learn to tell when the snake isn't interested in hanging out or when it thinks it's dinner time.

As for the tank, you should be pretty much fine if you give a big water bowl and cover most of the screen top like the tutorial shows. It's pretty humid in MA most of the year so don't worry too much about the substrate. You might want to mist lightly once or twice a day in the winter when you see the snake getting ready to shed.

GL and welcome!