Hello!

Hey all, my name is Maggie and I'm completely new here and new to the BP world.
I've always wanted one and am now at a point in my life where I can afford one, so I got myself a book and have started my research.
Just wanted to say hey! And if you wanna show off your babies and tell me about them, I'd love to see them :)
I always wondered about wether or not they have individual personalities.
Also if this isn't allowed on the forum just let me know and I'll delete it.
Also: where do most of you buy your frozen mice / rats from? Any advice is welcome!

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Welcome to the forum Maggie. :)

All of my snakes have their own personalities. I only have one 13 year old BP and she is sweet. When I come into the room she will try to get close to me while in her cage.

Whether I'm spot cleaning or changing her water she will come right up to my hand and follow it wherever it moves. And she loves coming out to play.

There are several good places to buy frozen rodents. When my local guy can't supply me I go to Big Cheese. They have a flat rate shipping charge of $29.

Glad you joined up. Best of luck in your new acquisition! :)



Elvira
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/16/01...030dc73e58.jpg

Hi Maggie,

always good to see someone doing their homework before taking in an animal. Check out these links for some great info for BP beginners.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ll-Python-FAQs

I like Big Cheese the best for feeders. I also frequent Rodent Pro, especially for birds & rabbit as BC doesn't carry these.

EDIT: you're BP will not require birds & rabbit

Hello, and welcome to the forum! This is a great place to get a ton of advice and answers to your questions.
Most important of all, you are starting your research before getting your snake, this will save you a ton of headache in the future. I'll try and answer some of your questions.
1. Some people will say that ball pythons (or any reptile) are mostly instinct based and don't really have 'personalities' per say, but I think that they do to a degree. I've notice that my little guy is very inquisitive and calm when handled. He begs when it gets close to feeding day, most of the time he comes out of what ever hide he is in when I get up in the morning and home from work at night. He is my only snake, so maybe I'm biased, but I think he has personality
2. I get my frozen rats from Big Cheese Rodent Factory, and have been very pleased with them. I also have experience with Rodent Pro and there quality is fine, cost is about the same between the two. I would stay away from the arctic mice from petco / petsmart, they are sort of mushy and weird, plus more expensive in the long run.
3. I have a bunch of pictures of my little Mashadar on my profile page if your interested. He's a Cinnamon Mojave, which is probably one of my favorite morphs aside from a piebald
4. When you finally feel ready to get your new snake, the most important things to look for are the health of the animal, and to make sure the snake is attractive to you. They can live for 30ish years, so if you get the first one you see, but it's not the one, then you could loose interest. If you are going to get one from a pet-store, make sure that it is a healthy snake of good body condition. You'll be able to search this site for pictures of super skinny, unhealthy snakes from the big box stores as well as healthy snakes so you'll have really good examples of what to look for. I would recommend going to local reptile shows, talking to breeders, and visiting multiple stores to get a feel for things in your area. The breeder that I got my snake from was wonderful.

Sorry for the word wall :) Welcome again to the site!

Thank you all so much!

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Also was wondering if any of you have ordered a BP from "xyz repltiles"? Currently scanning places to go through and this one keeps popping up.
I can't wait for spring! (It's when I plan on getting one )

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Haven't heard of XYZ, is there a specific morph/look you're after?

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Originally Posted by FranklinMorphs

Haven't heard of XYZ, is there a specific morph/look you're after?

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I'm looking for a BEL, but I won't be bringing anyone home til spring. I just don't want to give money to anyone sketchy.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crowfingers

Hello, and welcome to the forum! This is a great place to get a ton of advice and answers to your questions.
Most important of all, you are starting your research before getting your snake, this will save you a ton of headache in the future. I'll try and answer some of your questions.
1. Some people will say that ball pythons (or any reptile) are mostly instinct based and don't really have 'personalities' per say, but I think that they do to a degree. I've notice that my little guy is very inquisitive and calm when handled. He begs when it gets close to feeding day, most of the time he comes out of what ever hide he is in when I get up in the morning and home from work at night. He is my only snake, so maybe I'm biased, but I think he has personality
2. I get my frozen rats from Big Cheese Rodent Factory, and have been very pleased with them. I also have experience with Rodent Pro and there quality is fine, cost is about the same between the two. I would stay away from the arctic mice from petco / petsmart, they are sort of mushy and weird, plus more expensive in the long run.
3. I have a bunch of pictures of my little Mashadar on my profile page if your interested. He's a Cinnamon Mojave, which is probably one of my favorite morphs aside from a piebald
4. When you finally feel ready to get your new snake, the most important things to look for are the health of the animal, and to make sure the snake is attractive to you. They can live for 30ish years, so if you get the first one you see, but it's not the one, then you could loose interest. If you are going to get one from a pet-store, make sure that it is a healthy snake of good body condition. You'll be able to search this site for pictures of super skinny, unhealthy snakes from the big box stores as well as healthy snakes so you'll have really good examples of what to look for. I would recommend going to local reptile shows, talking to breeders, and visiting multiple stores to get a feel for things in your area. The breeder that I got my snake from was wonderful.

Sorry for the word wall :) Welcome again to the site!

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Thanks for your response! I'm still getting the hang of this app and the forum so I didn't know I could reply directly to you lol
Im currently looking for a black eyed or blue eyed Lucy as my first BP. I've been toying with the idea for years so it's exciting I'm going to be able to do it!
Where'd you get your baby from?

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Welcome to the forum. :)

I have not heard of that seller either, and I have been looking a lot of them lately looknig for my #2 ball python. Are you near any areas that have reptile expos? If so, I would recommond going that direction. The prices are generally a little lower, and it gives you the chance to meet your snake in person and talk to the person who's been caring for it. I found that helpful. BEL's are very pretty, and I can say after just having my first bp for about two months now, You're going to love it. They're just so darn neat!

Have you decided on what kind of enclosure you're going to use? I learned that is just as important (if not more so) than they snake you want to get.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LittleTreeGuy

Welcome to the forum. :)

I have not heard of that seller either, and I have been looking a lot of them lately looknig for my #2 ball python. Are you near any areas that have reptile expos? If so, I would recommond going that direction. The prices are generally a little lower, and it gives you the chance to meet your snake in person and talk to the person who's been caring for it. I found that helpful. BEL's are very pretty, and I can say after just having my first bp for about two months now, You're going to love it. They're just so darn neat!

Have you decided on what kind of enclosure you're going to use? I learned that is just as important (if not more so) than they snake you want to get.

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Hey! You know im having a hard time finding info on what the best type of enclosure is bc everyone says something different and I've got a head ache from it lol
Any words of advice? What do you have for your babe?

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Hey there Maggie, welcome to the forum! Always nice to see another novice reptile enthusiast. There is tons of info here in written form for everyone to access using the search bar. Also there are so many experienced, knowledgeable people on bp.net to help you along the way. Enjoy and welcome again. :)

I currently have mine in a very thin (maybe 1/16") plastic enclosure that was made for bearded dragons. It is about 2'x2' square and about 14" tall. It is "okay"...

I have been looking long and hard at the following setup:

-T8 from Animal Plastics with sliding door, flexwatt heat, LED lighting and the snap-in divider.
- 40w radiant heat panels on both sides of the T8
-herpstat 2 thermostat to control the two sides of the T8 seperately.

This setup could be good for one or two ball pythons, but would run around $600.

I've also been thinking about this setup:

-Making my own melamine rack
-6" flexwatt heat strips
-Herpstat thermostat
-Rubbermaid/sterlite tubs 32 or 41qt

This setup would be closer to around $250 and could house 4-6 snakes, maybe more, just depending on how big I want to make it. i would start wtih 4-6 shelves, I think.


The first option is more pleasing to look at, and allows you to view the snake. It's big though... 4' wide and 2' deep, 12" tall. that's a big footprint. The rack would be closer to 4' tall, 3' deep, and 2' wide. Still not small, but each tub would slide into a shelf. You can't see the snakes as much, but really, they're in their hides most of the time so you can't see them anyways. in a 24 hour period, my snake is out of her hides, maybe 30-60 minutes that I've ever seen. I handle her almost daily, so even if I put them in tubs, I'll still see them regularly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LittleTreeGuy

I currently have mine in a very thin (maybe 1/16") plastic enclosure that was made for bearded dragons. It is about 2'x2' square and about 14" tall. It is "okay"...

I have been looking long and hard at the following setup:

-T8 from Animal Plastics with sliding door, flexwatt heat, LED lighting and the snap-in divider.
- 40w radiant heat panels on both sides of the T8
-herpstat 2 thermostat to control the two sides of the T8 seperately.

This setup could be good for one or two ball pythons, but would run around $600.

I've also been thinking about this setup:

-Making my own melamine rack
-6" flexwatt heat strips
-Herpstat thermostat
-Rubbermaid/sterlite tubs 32 or 41qt

This setup would be closer to around $250 and could house 4-6 snakes, maybe more, just depending on how big I want to make it. i would start wtih 4-6 shelves, I think.


The first option is more pleasing to look at, and allows you to view the snake. It's big though... 4' wide and 2' deep, 12" tall. that's a big footprint. The rack would be closer to 4' tall, 3' deep, and 2' wide. Still not small, but each tub would slide into a shelf. You can't see the snakes as much, but really, they're in their hides most of the time so you can't see them anyways. in a 24 hour period, my snake is out of her hides, maybe 30-60 minutes that I've ever seen. I handle her almost daily, so even if I put them in tubs, I'll still see them regularly.

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I'm going to have to look all of this up! Thank you so much for all this info!

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Sure thing!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rufuslucy

Thanks for your response! I'm still getting the hang of this app and the forum so I didn't know I could reply directly to you lol
Im currently looking for a black eyed or blue eyed Lucy as my first BP. I've been toying with the idea for years so it's exciting I'm going to be able to do it!
Where'd you get your baby from?

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I got him from American Made Exotics. I originally was looking at a butter pastel and a pewter online and emailed the breeder to see if he could send me some extra pics, instead he told me that he was going to a reptile show in my area a few weeks later and he would just bring them both so I could see them in person. Even though I bought a completely different snake, he still gave me a small price decrease since he didn't have to ship him. Later that night he emailed my snake's genetic line of both parents, his entire weight history from hatch, and meal history from hatch...I hadn't even asked for all that. So, all in all, if I ever get another python it will be from Matt Schifflet.

I haven't seen any BEL's on his site, a lot motta and mojaves, but I'm sure you could email him and see if that is something he has that just isn't on the web site. When I talked to him at the expo he said that he doesn't always list everything at once.