Finally took the plunge

Hey Everyone,

I have been reading this Forum for a while, but finally decided to sign up today, this site has been a great source of information. I have had corns my entire life growing up. My son is about to turn 5 and has been on a snake crazy for as long as he could talk, we started out with a corn last year and he has been glued to him! About a month ago we went to our local reptile store to get some feeders and he got to hold his first ball. He held him for 20 minutes just sitting there staring at him and talking to him. We ended up leaving and all he could talk about was how he wanted a python so badly and how it was "smiling" at him. We went to the SD reptile show over the weekend and came across a breeder that had a baby male that was 2 months old and my son kept asking for him, he even offered to break open his piggy bank when we got home to pay me back:) I told him we needed to think about it, and if at the end of the day he still wanted it and promised to help me take care of it, and the breeder still had it we could take him home. Turns out the breeder took him off the shelf and held him for me, so needless to say we now have our first ball! He is set up in a small 10 gallon for the time being with aspen bedding, a nice hide, UTH, and a water bowl. Hopefully in the not to far off future I will be building a dual enclosure to hold both our snakes. I will post up some pics of both snakes as soon as I figure out how to load them from my work computer!

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/09/8u6aba9e.jpg

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Now you have one you'll be hooked, I started with only wanting a normal girl a few years and a lot of money later I am up to around 40

Congrats and Welcome! I am new here too and the amount of info on here is staggering.

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Originally Posted by cmenger

Now you have one you'll be hooked, I started with only wanting a normal girl a few years and a lot of money later I am up to around 40

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I also started wanting just one in March. Now I have 7 and room for at least 8 more in my rack.

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Originally Posted by blaz

Congrats and Welcome! I am new here too and the amount of info on here is staggering. I also started wanting just one in March. Now I have 7 and room for at least 8 more in my rack.

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Pastel YB pair you have is a nice pair im just starting ti get into YB stuff this year great combos

I got my first baby girl Nagini in June... Cheddar was delivered on Saturday. It's definitely an addiction. One that my husband doesn't share so I only get two until we move and build our new house. Which will have a library/snake room for me.

How was the show?i was busy this weekend so couldn't make it.

The show was awesome! Really crowded but I was told that was to be expected. My wife is slowly warming up to the idea...she was a little iffy on the python at first but the breeder let her hold one of his adult morphs to show her how calm they are...she may be hooked soon!


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http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/09/ysususaq.jpg here is my son with our corn

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And this is the beauty my wife got to hold at the show http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/09/mypu3epy.jpg

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I LOVE how calm the snakes are. She'll warm up to it... Just takes time. Raising a baby will probably help her get more familiar and comfy with them. Beautiful pics!!! Best wishes to you and the family....

Best wishes!! Awesome pics!! I'm sure it won't be the first python!!

Does anyone know what morph it is that my wife is holding in the pic...I cant find another one like it and im already wanting one haha

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Originally Posted by jclaiborne

Does anyone know what morph it is that my wife is holding in the pic...I cant find another one like it and im already wanting one haha

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i would say thats a lesser or butter

Same, lesser or butter. I would lean toward lesser, not that it really matters
: ) genetically they do the same things

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Originally Posted by jclaiborne

Does anyone know what morph it is that my wife is holding in the pic...I cant find another one like it and im already wanting one haha

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There's enough blushing on the head to make me think pastel lesser, but at the very least a lesser/butter. Good taste! :gj:

Congrats on the pickup and welcome to the forums.

Just try to start off slow, a lot of stuff out there and most of it isn't going anywhere.

thanks for all the input everyone!

:welcome: me and you have a similar story. Except my wife got me into snakes, I was terrified of them! It's really awesome when your kids get into snakes with you. My boys are 5 and 3 and have no fears of snakes what so ever it's just like dogs to them, which I can see the same thing with your son and that's really cool.

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Originally Posted by BTennant

:welcome: me and you have a similar story. Except my wife got me into snakes, I was terrified of them! It's really awesome when your kids get into snakes with you. My boys are 5 and 3 and have no fears of snakes what so ever it's just like dogs to them, which I can see the same thing with your son and that's really cool.

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Definately! My son loves them, he spends more time with our snakes then our dogs! He even told me yesterday "I know at some point I'm going to get bit, but thats ok because it can't be worse then a dog bite" I thought that was perfect because that was the one thing I worried about was him getting turned off if he got tagged.

I just joined two seconds ago and I got my first ball only this weekend and have no idea what I'm doing! I've read care sheets and everything online, but need some advice from experienced snake owners. My terrarium doesn't seem to be able to keep to a good humid level. My snake seems to be ok, no problems that I have been able to see. I held it this morning and it was fine in my hands for a little then constricted tightly on my hand and didn't let go until I lowered it back into the terrarium. I've held it a few times before then without it doing that, should I be concerned? Thanks for any advice you can give me!

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Originally Posted by Perry_Koda

I just joined two seconds ago and I got my first ball only this weekend and have no idea what I'm doing! I've read care sheets and everything online, but need some advice from experienced snake owners. My terrarium doesn't seem to be able to keep to a good humid level. My snake seems to be ok, no problems that I have been able to see. I held it this morning and it was fine in my hands for a little then constricted tightly on my hand and didn't let go until I lowered it back into the terrarium. I've held it a few times before then without it doing that, should I be concerned? Thanks for any advice you can give me!

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How is your terrarium set up? What size, substrate, heating etc. Other may chime in, but I was told to leave my baby in the terrarium for at least a week undisturbed so they can get acclimated to their new environment. I had to do that with my corn because he was a spaz when I first got him.

My terrarium is a 20 gallon, I have a ceramic 50 watt bulb over a stone and wooden hide, I have a water dish on the cold side with a branch over one side of the dish and against the corner. I think she prefers the wood hide so I'm thinking about getting another one to put on the cold side of the terrarium. I also realized my thermometers are both on the same side so I need to move one of them to the warm side when I get home from work. So would you suggest that I try not to hold it for a week? According to her feeding schedule I need to try and feed her on Thursday. I bought a plastic tub for her feeding. Thank you so much for your advice and help!!!

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Originally Posted by Perry_Koda

My terrarium is a 20 gallon, I have a ceramic 50 watt bulb over a stone and wooden hide, I have a water dish on the cold side with a branch over one side of the dish and against the corner. I think she prefers the wood hide so I'm thinking about getting another one to put on the cold side of the terrarium. I also realized my thermometers are both on the same side so I need to move one of them to the warm side when I get home from work. So would you suggest that I try not to hold it for a week? According to her feeding schedule I need to try and feed her on Thursday. I bought a plastic tub for her feeding. Thank you so much for your advice and help!!!

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I would leave her alone until thursday then...Do you have any substrate in the tank? If you are trying to keep humidity up i would use a good substrate, mist it and put a towel over the screen top to keep up the humidity. What is it at now? Temp?

I have aspen substrate. When I checked this morning the temps were 77.8 Fahrenheit for the cold and 26-27 Celsius for the warm and humidity was at 40%.

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Originally Posted by Perry_Koda

I have aspen substrate. When I checked this morning the temps were 77.8 Fahrenheit for the cold and 26-27 Celsius for the warm and humidity was at 40%.

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Thats not a very big variance. Try an UTH with a thermostat for the warm side to get higher than 80 F. As for the substrate I have had bad luck keeping aspen moist because it tends to mold, I would put a towel over the screen to keep in the moisture: Substrate and Furnishings

In the wild, these pythons tend to inhabit savanna and grassland habitat, residing primarily underground in rodent burrows. Underground, the relative humidity is much greater than above ground, so while the savanna is not known for being particularly moist, these pythons do thrive best with a secure hide that is also packed with damp moss. The damp moss and tight quarters help these shy snakes to feel safe and secure.
Reptile bark (orchid bark), cypress mulch, pulverized coconut husk (bed-a-beast), or a mixture of both are prime choices.
Avoid any excessively drying bedding including pine shavings, sand, or paper products. And never use a cedar bedding...cedar is toxic to all snakes!
When designing a terrarium for this species, keep in mind its secretive nature. Provide ample places to hide on both the warm and cool regions of the enclosure. Half-logs, cork flats, cork rounds, and grapewood all make excellent hides for ball pythons. Additional climbing structures (sticks, rocks, plants, etc.) may be used, but avoid over-crowding the tank.
Water and Humidity

Water should always be made available to ball pythons in a sturdy dish large enough to allow for occasional soaking. Water should be checked daily, and replaced immediately if fouled.
Ball pythons require localized areas of high humidity within their cages. Once or twice daily misting of the entire enclosure with room temperature water in a hand spray bottle should be adequate in most situations. Do not allow the substrate to become saturated. A good misting schedule should result in the bedding drying out almost completely between mistings. Use of a cage fogger is another simple way to increase humidity in the cage without completely soaking the bedding. The rolling mist the fogger typically creates also makes for a natural, tropical effect within the cage!

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Originally Posted by jclaiborne

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Pretty normal. I really enjoy my ball python over my corn since my corn is crazy . He started off calm for a few years and in the past year he loves to squirm and bite. My ball python just chills on my arm and does not try to get away when I pick him up like my corn does. Well, good luck!

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Originally Posted by coleworld

Pretty normal. I really enjoy my ball python over my corn since my corn is crazy . He started off calm for a few years and in the past year he loves to squirm and bite. My ball python just chills on my arm and does not try to get away when I pick him up like my corn does. Well, good luck!

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Thank you! I enjoy both, but my corn is a mover! I can't just sit and hold him like a can a BP i have to constantly "walk" him in my hands.

Thank you so much for all of your help, I really appreciate it!!

Congrats on the new BP and welcome to the forum. BPs are a lot of fun but require a lot more patience than corns. We have several corns as well and it is nice to work with different types of snakes. Good luck with the new BP.

no problem...I am a noob to the BP world but have had corns all my life. Let me know if you come across anything else.