Is my ball python a normal?

I'm not so sure it's a normal. She just shed and before she was super dark. But now she's MUCH brighter and I can see some green in her. I'm sorry if a thread like this already exists, I'm using my phone and it's kind of hard to search.

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I would say normal until proven other wise. She does have a couple nice flames and fairly reduced pattern which is a good thing. Normals have so many variables in appearance that people look for and yours appears to have some decent characteristics that people look for but a classic normal non the less. My favorite snake by far is a normal. If you were a breeder and had 100 projects going on and you had that snake then it wouldn't hurt to find another one that has some of the same looks (the green coloration that you see? I cant see it in the pic) and breed them to see if you came up with something new. My point is there's nothing wrong with a normal!

Nice normal.

Nothing wrong with a normal at all, I love her color. I guess the green can't be seen in the picture, it kind of goes along the sides of her belly. I was just curious

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Nothing wrong with normals is right, they are a cornerstone and are used to enhance
pattern and color and to prove genitics.
I keep a few normals just for these reasons.
Normals have also introduced most of us to this hobby.

So I just read a thread about pythons with scale less heads. I have noticed spots on her head that I think are just remains from her shed, so I've tried getting the old shed off with warm water and it didn't seem to work. Got her humidity level up, that didn't seem to work. Is it possible that she doesn't have scales there? I'm not sure how old she is but she is rather on the smaller side (maybe they haven't grown yet?) But I'm very curious. It seems like it's a unique trait.

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Looks like a healed scar from possibly a rat bite...

Weird. Must have happened at the store I got her from. She hasn't ate since I've had her

What are you planning on feeding her? I am under the impression most pet stores use f/t.

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Originally Posted by alan12013

What are you planning on feeding her? I am under the impression most pet stores use f/t.

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Well the pet store I got her from, they feed their snakes live. I've tried feeding her a small live rat, and she wouldnt go for it. Although she was getting ready to shed, I just assumed she would be hungry after she shed. I tried feeding her a f/t small rat yesterday and she still wouldn't eat. So I bagged it up and put it back in the freezer. The small rat might honestly be too big for her liking. My male Fire ball eats medium rats like no tomorrow. So should I maybe go get a large sized mouse and try to feed it to her? Or is there a certain amount of time I should wait to feed her after sheding?

Good question but in my limited experience I've always been able to feed 2 days after a shed. In the picture where you are holding her it looks like she can handle eating a rat so if you are buying them at a pet store I think they call the mediums. The rats that my petco call small are actually larger than the medium frozen ones and do seem large but I think yours could handle it. I have one that has been fixed to associate mice with food and nothing else but I will work on that. The problem with mice is you have to offer several and then you have to wait for them to get the previous one down and you also risk over feeding and a regurge. I would just give her a medium or "small" rat a couple days after she sheds.

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Originally Posted by alan12013

Good question but in my limited experience I've always been able to feed 2 days after a shed. In the picture where you are holding her it looks like she can handle eating a rat so if you are buying them at a pet store I think they call the mediums. The rats that my petco call small are actually larger than the medium frozen ones and do seem large but I think yours could handle it. I have one that has been fixed to associate mice with food and nothing else but I will work on that. The problem with mice is you have to offer several and then you have to wait for them to get the previous one down and you also risk over feeding and a regurge. I would just give her a medium or "small" rat a couple days after she sheds.

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She finished her shed 3 days ago, and I tried feeding her a f/t medium rat and she still wouldnt go for it. I've had her for about a month now and I have yet to see her eat. My fire eats just fine. But I'm worried about this one :(

See if you can see that green color I'm talking about Alan I just posted a picture of it.

I see a greenish faded speckling but I can't tell if it's the actual color from the picture, sorry. It might be one of those things that after you see it in person and know what to look for you can see it in the picture. It would help more if I saw her in real life. I don't know what's possible with BPs and the color green or if anything has ever been attempted through line breeding but if it was something that I had the time and means to do then I wouldn't hesitate.

Are you sure she is a she? I think she could use a few extra meals but doesn't look like you should worry too much. I will tell you what I've been told... let her chill out for 5-7 days if she refuses to eat and then offer it to her. I would like some one with more experience to chime in but I personally would offer that meal as live and at first I would put a LSR in the cage with her and if she didn't strike and constrict within a minute then I would put a live adult mouse in there for an additional minute and my guess is that she would eat the mouse if she didn't pick up on the rat. From my understanding they can grow serious associations on what is their food. You could try frozen but if you're worried I'd say live. If she didn't eat the mouse or the rat then I would try it again every 5 days give or take.

What can you tell us about her living conditions? Age? Can you weigh her? I don't think you should be too worried but just in case it becomes a problem I would monitor her weight and check her after every or every other feeding attempt. Depending on what she weighs now will determine the percent drop that she can handle before it's a serious problem but I'd start checking now. I've lucked out with all good eaters except one and he's being left alone and I'm doing the trick mentioned above so I hope it works.

Also if you tried feeding her from the time she knew she was going into shed and during the process she might have got shook up and will take a bit before she eats. From the videos I've seen of people offering food to snakes in shed they basically just hold the food there and if they don't strike AND constrict withing 20 seconds they leave the animal alone again.

Damaged scales can also result from a bad shed, which I see evidence of. Next time she sheds, see what you can do about raising the humidity. If you keep her in a tank, you can try covering a majority of the screen lid with something such as foil to trap humidity. You can also use moisture inducing substrate such as cypress, and try leaving some sphagnum moss within one of her hides. Just don't make it too humid or sopping wet so as to avoid causing an RI or blistered scales.

Anyway, nice normal and just as beautiful as every other classic ball python. :gj:

Her living conditions are good. Hot side of her rank stays at about 86 degrees Fahrenheit and cool side stays at around 79-80 degrees Fahrenheit. Humidity stays between 50-60%. 3 sides of the tank are covered so she can feel more secure. She has a hide, water dish and some branches, fake plants and vines. She's very sweet and gentle.

I have no idea how old she is, the pet store couldn't tell. I'll have to get a scale to weigh her as I do not have one.