bad BP book?

i got this BP book from petco a couple weeks ago and i think it has some incorrect info.

it says stuff like:
-"77-88 during the day and 68-73 at night"(i thought that was way too cold!)
-"BP's are quite social animals, and several large or small specimens(though not mixed in size) can share a sufficiently large cage."(i thought they werent and would eat eachother)
-"a cage 48 inches x 30 inches x36 inches would be suitable for a pair of adult BP's"(isnt that a little big?)

i could be wrong, but what do you guys think?

what is the title and author?

I would take that book back!

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

what is the title and author?

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The Guide to Owning a Ball Python by John Coborn with Jerry G. Walls.

i think i bought that book from petco too, we were using it, but then we found this site with actual people who seem to know what they are talking about so we decided to stick with your guys advice since a lot of the stuff in there conflicts with the majority of people here say.so im sticking to the advice of people with experience with snakes rather than a book from a place which doesnt even have thermometers or hygrometers in their cages with their snakes for sale.

I have that one.....and it was definately a waste of money....horrible info IMO... Feel free to give a review in our review section :) I have a few reptile books that I need to put up on our review section....

i dont even think it tells you how often to feed a BP. im still lookin though, but ive read the whole book a couple times.

BPs are sociable. My two live happily together Bobby is older than Byron and initially they kept their distance from each other. Now where you find one, you find the other. The only thing I do is feed them separately (one in viv, one out both at the same time). I know Byron is definitely male (he was probed before I got him - he's definitely a Mummy's Boy LOL). Bobby I'm not sure on so it could be Robert or Roberta (although I refer to him as a him). We know a breeder (who we got some cornsnakes from) who is willing to come over and probe all our snakes so we know what sex they are.
Temps in that book are too low - hot side should be around 92 Deg F, cool side about 84 Deg F but that can vary depending on the size of viv you've got.

I've got a 2ft x 2ft x 15 in viv at the moment which my two BPs are rapidly outgrowing (guess what they're getting for Christmas;) ) and I find the temp in the viv doesn't tend to vary as much as it should, so mine usually sits in the high 80's. Doesn't seem to bother the snakes as they are eating and shedding fine. I don't turn them down at night unless I think they're too hot. By what I've read on the forums, turning the temps down at night is more done if you intend to breed. I don't want to breed my snakes so tend to keep a stable temperature and humidity.

I think Adam is more the person to advise on temps and definitely the one to ask on this.

A good book is the Ball Python Manual. I have that one, and although I think some of the info in it is outdated (just my own personal opinion), there is a lot of really good, valuable advice. It's not an expensive book but if you keep BPs is definitely worth having.

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Originally Posted by Lady Python

BPs are sociable.

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Not according to every leading expert in the field of herpetology. Massing together in groups the way turtles, snakes, frogs, etc do is a far cry from what is commonly known as social behavior.

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Originally Posted by Lady Python

My two live happily together Bobby is older than Byron and initially they kept their distance from each other. Now where you find one, you find the other.

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That is a classic example of one animal dominating the other. Just like many other reptiles, ball pythons express their dominance over other individuals to ensure placement for the best food, water, basking, etc sources. Some of the most flagrant examples of this type of dominance can be seen in bearded dragons with their head bobbing and "piliing on" behaviors ... in ball pythons it's much more subtle, but the same principle applies.

FWIW, the book is crap ... lots of old information about keeping bp's that has it's origins in the 70's and 80's when people didn't know a thing about ball pythons and basically kept them the same way as boas. We know much better today.

-adam

Adam, which book is crap? The BP Manual, the Petco one or both? For the record, I've learnt more off the forums than I have through books but am learning something new every day just by watching my snakes.

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Originally Posted by Lady Python

Adam, which book is crap? The BP Manual, the Petco one or both? For the record, I've learnt more off the forums than I have through books but am learning something new every day just by watching my snakes.

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Coburns book. At the moment, the Ball Python Manual is about the best available, but a lot of the information in it is very dated.

"The Complete Ball Python" by Kevin McCurley is due out very soon and once released will be the most comprehensive text on ball python care ever ... written by someone that actually works with ball pythons in numbers!

-adam

I'll look out for that when it gets published. Might have to get it off the internet as very few bookshops over here stock books on reptiles.

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

"The Complete Ball Python" by Kevin McCurley is due out very soon and once released will be the most comprehensive text on ball python care ever ... written by someone that actually works with ball pythons in numbers!

-adam

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where can i find it when it does come out? i always love reading BP books:)

I wouldn't be surprised to see NERD selling it later on....I'm hoping to get a copy at the Tinley show.

I just looked on Amazon to see if they had a pre-order type thing, and I'm not finding it. How long 'till it gets published/released?

Here check out NERDs site: www.newenglandreptile.com

Also here is a description of the book:

The Complete Ball Python is a beautiful hardcover book, with over 300 pages and more than 400 color photographs. It covers everything from caging, husbandry & care, health (and how to fix the most commonly encountered problems), repdroduction, egg incubation, hatchling care, genetics & color mutations, and a history of morphs and their origins, as well as an inner look ball python "farming" in Africa.

It will be ready for ship out in early October.

I just have to comment...

This "bad" book is the very book I relied on when I got my Duchess last February. She wound up with an URI because of the temps quoted in that book. :( Worse, the reptile shop guy who sold her to me told me those temps were *fine*. I'm really mad at that book. >:(

I was very confused at first about the temps because that book and this site, but I think I found a happy medium. I use an undertank heater 24/7 on one side and a heat lamp on the other during the day. One side stays at high temps and the other stays above 75 degrees at night so he can choose what temps he likes. That book suggest that constant high temperatures is a mistake and I would agree that in their natural habitat the temps would drop at leat a little during the night. As for feeding this book states that it is difficult to say because two similar sized snakes may require different feeding regimes.


BTW I think the copyright is 1996.

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

It will be ready for ship out in early October.

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do you think its ready to be shipped now since its early October?