question

Hey everyone so I got an OK deal on 4 ball pythons

1 male vanilla
1 male pastel het caramel
1 male pastel het VPI
1 male spider baby (it didn't even have its first shed until today and I got all 4 of these for $75 each.

I'm not highly experienced in the het stuff and don't really care right now but I only want to keep the spider and sell the rest for $70 each, this way it makes the spider much cheaper.

I also have a female bumble bee and a female pastel but wouldn't sell those.



My fiancee noticed one of the males was chilling out in its waterbowl and I was freaking out thinking what if it has mites, etc but once it got out I checked and didn't see anything on the water or the snake...

Is this normal for them to do once in awhile? Could it just have been dehydrated? I got these 2 days ago

It could still be mites that you just haven't seen yet (they can be underneath the scales sometimes and can be hard to see if it's a mild infestation), or he could just be soaking for the sake of soaking. Personally that's why I prefer to just treat all my new snakes for mites right away when I get them, just in case. It could just be nothing (and likely is just nothing) but if I were you I wouldn't want to wait and see.

How do you treat them properly?

Many will recommend PAM (prevent a mite)

I like Reptile Spray from Petco. Its about $8 and can be used on the animal unlike PAM.

http://m.petco.com/product/109610/Na...ile-Spray.aspx

It knocked out mites in one treatment for me. I Also like that its cheaper and easier to get than PAM.

I would keep the vanilla myself. Soaking can be normal, it depends on the snake. While they usually soak if they have mites, some soak themselves while they're in shed and some do it just because they seem to like it. Put them all on paper towels and watch for little black dots that signify mites.

If it is mites, others have already covered it.

There's also a possibility it could be too hot so he's soaking?

Gotta agree on keeping the vanilla though!!

if u live in new york i will take that vanilla off ur hands ..

I can't prove if its a vanilla and its very very dark I just think its a normal to be honest...




Here's a thread w/ pics of the 3

ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?199006-New-BPs-to-my-small-collection

Not to add to your troubles, but I wouldn't hold my breath that those two pastels are het for anything, since the previous owner falsely sold you the "vanilla". I certainly wouldn't resell them as hets, either.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Not to add to your troubles, but I wouldn't hold my breath that those two pastels are het for anything, since the previous owner falsely sold you the "vanilla". I certainly wouldn't resell them as hets, either.

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I wouldn't say falsely sold me a vanilla, I know a breeder who gas legitimate vanillas and look exactly the same as what I have.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Durhambreeder

I wouldn't say falsely sold me a vanilla, I know a breeder who gas legitimate vanillas and look exactly the same as what I have.

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Then how is that breeder differentiating between his normals and vanillas, if they all look like dark normals?