New Aquisition / First Ball Python

So, I got my first ball python ever today! I have named her Mandy, and she's a rescue of sorts. So, last week I went with someone to get a ball python from LLL Reptiles and this weekend she decided she no longer wanted to care for her since she had to feed her rodents (she was frustrated that we don't have a different alternative). I'm kicking myself for letting her get Mandy in the first place since I helped pick her out, I should have made sure she knew what she was getting into. Anyways, she decided she was just going to let Mandy go. Which, as we all know, is bad for like every reason you can think of. So, I took her. I had to buy her from her today. I now have my first ever ball python, which is not what I intended to get. I wasn't planning on getting one until August-November when we're having 4 reptile expos in my area and I was planning on getting a Piebald male. So, anyways, this is Mandy! She seems nice enough and she's settling in well. I named her Mandy after my cousin who just passed away on Thursday of a heart attack at the age of 24. Feeding day is Tuesday, so I assume I should skip this week or no? Tuesday is the only day I can get down to the supplier and all that, so curious. Thanks!

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Sorry for messy backgrounds, the only safe place I have to quarantine her is my walk in closet and well, it's a wee bit messy

You can try feeding her on Tuesday. Some people have a lot of success feeding new acquisitions. I prefer to wait a week, but either way is fine.

Why did you have to pay her if she was just going to let it go?

Believe me, I'd like to know why I had to pay as well. I should have just gone with her to release it, then snagged it the moment she set her down. I'm just peeved, I mean, it wasn't much considering the price of a ball python at most the local stores - $30 is what I paid, at stores here they're going for $70-$90 unless you go to LLL - but still, a little frustrating. Oh well, at least I know Mandy will get the care she needs/deserves now

Well it's definitely very admirable of you, it just sucks that your friend is like that and you got stuck but yeah that's a good deal.

I spent a total of $110 on her today from purchasing her, to buying all the supplies I didn't have yet. I think the hardest thing is I just want to hold her!!! I find her quite beautiful and I can't wait to study her pattern more since I hardly got to hold her/handle her because I didn't want to stress her out - in the space of 10 days she's gone from LLL to my friends to my house so I figure she can use some calming time. Mandy will be with me until she passes away, that's for sure. And to think, I was going to check out the spider they have for adoption at Petco to see if maybe I should take him tomorrow. They wanted $100 and he had nuerological issues. I was going to find out the extent tomorrow, but now I have my girl. The spider was beautiful, but you could tell he had issues - starting with a stuck shed and ending with being extremely wobbly

Sounds like you need a new friend...

Oh I agree, I don't imagine I'll be talking to her much anymore. I'm actually slightly more annoyed with the fact she didn't what you fed the snake, and that I didn't make sure she knew what she was getting into than the fact I had to buy Mandy. It just confuses me - what do you think a snake eats? She apparently thought there was a pelleted food out there somewhere..

Haha I'm just trying to picture a ball downing a pellet. Some people...

Mootworm, when you put it that way, it's actually very comical haha

Ulgh...some friend! She's precious btw.

Oh, and all spiders have neuro issues to some degree, don't let it frighten you off if you did want to get him. It's a good price, actually.

Thanks! I think Mandy is precious as can be, this is just going to be the longest week of my life - waiting to hold her again...

Well, in the process of getting my girl she pretty much broke the bank... But the spider they have must have some major issues seeing as they have 3 'normal' ones in the tank... He's a real beauty and very calm but, Nuerological issues kind of worries me, especially because they won't tell me to what extent - they keep telling me another associate knows and have been bouncing me around for DAYS

It's official though, my number of rescue snakes outnumbers the non-rescues 2-1

Misss I have my first ball I'm anxiously awaiting to hold again since he arrived on Thursday, I feel your pain, but we are doing what's best :)

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Originally Posted by MisssMariee

I spent a total of $110 on her today from purchasing her, to buying all the supplies I didn't have yet. I think the hardest thing is I just want to hold her!!! I find her quite beautiful and I can't wait to study her pattern more since I hardly got to hold her/handle her because I didn't want to stress her out - in the space of 10 days she's gone from LLL to my friends to my house so I figure she can use some calming time. Mandy will be with me until she passes away, that's for sure. And to think, I was going to check out the spider they have for adoption at Petco to see if maybe I should take him tomorrow. They wanted $100 and he had nuerological issues. I was going to find out the extent tomorrow, but now I have my girl. The spider was beautiful, but you could tell he had issues - starting with a stuck shed and ending with being extremely wobbly

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First off, congratulations on your new girl!

Please reconsider wanting the spider from Petco. The stuck shed just goes to show that they aren't concerned about proper conditions for their BPs, and BUYING him (this is not a rescue) only gives the company more money for more live animals to neglect. You can get a healthy spider male from a breeder for the same price.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

First off, congratulations on your new girl!

Please reconsider wanting the spider from Petco. The stuck shed just goes to show that they aren't concerned about proper conditions for their BPs, and BUYING him (this is not a rescue) only gives the company more money for more live animals to neglect. You can get a healthy spider male from a breeder for the same price.

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X2 on this one. I've been camping my local Petco the last few days waiting for them to get in some 20 longs during the $1 per gallon sale and omg, the poor snakes. They also have a spider, must have just gotten him. All of them have shed issues and are skinny and uncomfortable and *screams* I just wanna slap um. I have talked to a few of them about the conditions... The humidity is horrible and they use 1/2 logs for hides. One sounded like he knew what he was talking about in soaking them etc but I wish they would change the tank standards across the board. Petsmart keeps theirs a little better.

Oops, end rant, sorry... It's been brewing since I went in there Saturday.

I know, I try to avoid buying from Petco unless absolutely necessary. I tend to purchase from LLL, or one of the the two local pet shops. One of whom actually takes great care of their reptiles and takes in quite a few rescues to rehome and spend a lot of money on vet bills so I try to support them as much as possible. They do sell puppies however they get them from local pet breeders (which I prefer, although I'd rather have shelters but not my choice) and they actually are more than willing to educate people on Puppy Mills. So, anyways, I try to avoid Petco. He was a beauty though, so I feel bad for whoever gets him as he has a stuck shed, and his sides look kind of sunk in. Personally, spiders aren't my first choice for morphs I want. I love them, but I'd rather have a Pied or a Mahogany. I'll never be able to afford a Mahogany, but I want one quite a lot! I may still pick up a Pied Male come November.

I know I have to wait to hold Mandy since it's whats best for her, but it's hard, she's just so pretty. I've wanted a ball even before corns, but then I came across my male who was a rescue from a local pet shop. He was in a small tank with about 15 others and one was bitten in almost half it looked like and they said it was fine. So, i scrounged up money to purchase him and I now don't go near that pet shop.

I wish my local store did the $1/gallon sale, it would save me quite a bit of money. Oh well, my snakes are all happy and healthy for now.

Ya every time I go to Petco they always have stuck sheds and eye caps on their BPs.

They say their enclosures are computer controlled from corporate via a software that is uploaded to their location and they can't change it.

I said well then you guys need to grab a spray bottle and mist the cages down if corporate wont adjust things so the snakes are healthy. When I said that the two employees that were there just looked at me with a blank stare...

Like "Wait, you mean I have to do stuff?"


0.1.0 Normal Ball Python
0.1.0 Red Tail Boa

My god, I know. The minute you suggest they actually do something they act like... astounded. There is one employee at Petco who actually knows what he's doing, and I have caught him misting the pythons quite a few times but he's army reserves so he's gone now. Either way, the high share of Petco employees have no idea what in the world they are doing.

I can't wait to get to hold her, and I'll show off better photos of her, show all her markings and all that. She's gonna get a photo shoot basically!

How much do you guys think a male would run me for a: champagne, piebald, or silver streak? I'm thinking of nabbing one of them at the expo as a potential future mate for her. I have no intentions of breeding her any time soon, but maybe someday and anyways, I love their looks and I'd be happy with them as a pet. I know a piebald wouldn't make a great potential mate for her since pie is recessive but I just want one because I love them, though I prefer low white instead of high white. I have to thank TheSnakeGeek for showing their champagne because I've always loved them, but I always missed having a slight pattern on most so I kind of wrote them off. However, after seeing theirs I'm interested in them haha.

Good lordy, I can already see she's gonna make me change her water daily! I got one of those pools/water dishes you kind of sink into the substrate and she loves dragging the moss into it. Which meant I got to hold her today for like 30 seconds while I slowly moved her to the other side of the tank so I could clean her bowl again. I know you're not supposed to handle her for a week, but I needed to change the water dish so she could have something to drink so yeah. Anyways, I'll try and get a photo of her sometime tomorrow if I can do so without stressing her out. I'm going to wait the extra week and feed her next week with my corns. I'll need help figuring out what size she should be eating. Just wanted to let everyone know how she's doing

She's clearly eager to be handled with all that fussing for your attention hehe

Well, she let me handle her today. When I went to clean out her water dish, she was already there at the front watching me and when I put my hand in, she just crawled right on. So, I decided to hold her for a few minutes since she chose and I didn't feel like I was forcing her. She didn't seem scared at all really! She just wanted to walk through my hands and check me out! So, I held her for about 5 minutes or so while she walked through my hands before I replaced her. She didn't want to leave my hands though! During that time, I took her out to the grass for a quick photo shoot (she was out of her cage 5-6 minutes max). She was in the grass for just over a minute because I didn't want to stress her. I got quite a few photos but that's because I just kept snapping them nonstop without checking them out, figured I'd get a few good ones! I also took a photo of her next to a measuring tape so hopefully someone can tell me what size food to snag for her on Tuesday? Normally I never handle my snakes for the minimum of 7 days but she came to me today and I watched for any signs of stress. Yes, in two of the photos she does have an S-neck but that's her first time ever in grass and those are DIRECTLY after being set down. So, without further ado, here is Mandy's first photoshoot in the grass!

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Photo of her size:
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So, what size should I be feeding her, you think?

Note: The light makes her back looks white, it's like a caramel color

Fuzzy rats

Rat fuzzy's it is! Thanks!

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Originally Posted by MootWorm

Haha I'm just trying to picture a ball downing a pellet. Some people...

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Hahahahaha... and then zombie dance it... Oh I couldn't help but picture that and laugh to myself.....