My first Ball

Hello all! My names Amanda. I picked up my first BP at the Baltimore Repticon
Here he is before I bought him
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His name is Cherry Pi
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The man that sold him to me informed me that he was about 6mo and taking live rat pups.
I don't really like doing this so I'd like to switch him over to f/t asap
Does anyone have any tips on doing this? What has worked best for you guys?

Thank you and I look forward to becoming a part of this community!!

- Amanda

Awesome first ball python welcome to the site!

Cherry, aw baby! What a nice lookin' snake!

Welcome to the forum. That's a great looking pied.

Thank you guys!! I love him to bits
He's very active and curious, but I'm trying rly hard.to leave him be for a week so he can adjust. I just got him this saturday
I'm nervous about his first feed this friday

gorgeous pied, absolutely stunning. as soon as i can afford one of these both monetarily and spacewise im all over getting a pied.
this one looks like a sweetheart. what cool animasl BPs are.

Welcome to BP.net, Amanda! Enjoy your stay and your time with Cherry Pi! He's beautiful. :)

To answer your question, I have seen this answered many times on this forum. After you've allowed him to settle in for a few days, try offering the same sized food F/T and animate it's body with the tongs. Before offering it, try to warm up the entire body with a hairdryer and then pin the neck down and heat the head even more. Once you've done that, quickly take it to the snake before it loses heat. If he doesn't accept it first time, don't worry. He will just have to wait until your next scheduled feeding date and you can try it again. I just hope you're not one of the unlucky ones that has a snake that'll only take live.

Hi Amanda, I just recently got a ball as well. At first I was nervous about whether or not he'd eat due to the stress of shipping. I let him sit for a week then offered him food and he took it right away. I'm not sure if he was feed live previously though. What has worked best for me with my snakes is to use hot water to raise the rats body temp then use long tongs and mimic movement. Most of the time the snake can't tell the difference and will strike. If this doesn't work cover the feeding tank with a towel and let him sit for 30-1hr before offering the food. If done in dim lighting the snake will mainly use their heat sensors, which increases the likelihood of a response.

Thank you guys so much!! When I got him on saturday at the show, the guy said it had already been a week since he ate, so when feeding day on friday comes along, it will have been 2 weeks since he's eaten...I'm hoping he will be super hungry by then and won't have any problems. I'm assuming after the first f/t I shouldn't have to worry about finding live rats for him?

Awesome first BP! Hopefully switching to F/T won't be too difficult. I know you must be super excited.

Hello Amanda, and :welcome: to BP.net. And, Congratulations on your new Ball Python. Some snakes will convert to f/t without any problem, some will need time and work, to convert, and there are some who just refuse f/t. Even though you may be aprehensive about feeding live prey, that is what your snake is currently established on. I would recommend feeding live prey for at least 4-5 feedings. Once you have him feeding regularly, then start working on converting him to f/t. Good luck with whichever you decide.

what a great choice for a first snake. nothing compares to a pied. you obviously have great taste :)

Thanks everyone! I'm super excited to hold him, but I'm trying to wait until Friday when he eats
My only problem right now is actually finding a place to get live rat pups. Petco and petsmart are out of the equation totally...but Petco does have live feeder mice, idk if that could be an option or not since he's been eating rats

It's your choice. You don't have to try live if he takes the f/t without issue.

Gorgeous little one :) You made a good choice and sure you both will be happy together.

I'm also getting my first ball python, which is a piebald as well. This is one of my biggest worries as well, whether or not he'll easily convert from live rats over to f/t rats. Hopefully we both are able to get them on to f/t easily.

How many grams was he when you bought him? Looks about the same size as the guy I'm getting.

Hello Everyone. My name is Andres and I am a new proud owner of a desert Python. I got him at the retile expo. He is an adult and has bred a few times. My concern is that he is aggressive. He snaps at me when I enter his field of vision. And when I hold him he will hiss for a while. I've had him a month and he just ate a few days ago. Any advice on how to get him to call him down? His name is Leo... Short for Leonidas, but my kids call him the angry snake. Advice will be greatly appreciated.


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Hi Andres, I recently got a bumblebee that does the same thing. As long as he is eating well then you can start to work with him. Buy some thick leather gloves if you're afraid of getting bit. Then handle him for about 15 min twice a day to get him to get used to handling. It's starting to work on mine, now he just huffs and puffs but doesn't bite. Just remember to get him settled in and eating before you do this.

Welcome to the forum! You've got a gorgeous first bp. Can never go wrong with a pied :)

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Originally Posted by papoluca1910

Hello Everyone. My name is Andres and I am a new proud owner of a desert Python. I got him at the retile expo. He is an adult and has bred a few times. My concern is that he is aggressive. He snaps at me when I enter his field of vision. And when I hold him he will hiss for a while. I've had him a month and he just ate a few days ago. Any advice on how to get him to call him down? His name is Leo... Short for Leonidas, but my kids call him the angry snake. Advice will be greatly appreciated.


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My guess is that he was never really handled much and was just breeding stock. Handling him as much as possible w/out stressing him out might calm him down. He might be set in his ways too though.

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Originally Posted by JMBall's

My guess is that he was never really handled much and was just breeding stock. Handling him as much as possible w/out stressing him out might calm him down. He might be set in his ways too though.

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Thanks! I will show him love and try not to stress him out. I hope he comes around.


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hey guys! its been a bit, but i was able to get him to take his first f/t rat!!
some pics of the baby
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...c4a8048c29.jpg
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That's awesome!! He's such a cutie.

How much did he cost? He is super cute