Decisions...decisions!?

Went to my local Petco today, which is not actually overall that bad compared to a lot of the other Petcos that I've ever been to. Anyways, I was taking a look around just to kill some time, and I was picking up a new heat bulb and some aspen, and went to their snake enclosure. They had just gotten in new Ball Pythons...normally I would stay away from buying animals from them, but these balls appeared to be in very good shape, and one in particular caught my eye. The one that popped out at me had quite an interesting pattern, nice yellow, with a reduced pattern. While walking around I debated purchasing the snake. I mean, I have a 10 gallon cage with UTH and a screen top on it that I could easily house it in...but I left without the snake today.:weirdface

All day today however I could not stop thinking about that snake, I'm trying to decide if I should go back tomorrow and pick it up. If I do purchase it, I have the new cage setup in a different room away from my current 1.1 pair so I can prevent any illness (just in case), also I will be taking it to the vet for an exam for a clear bill of health and a probing to find out if its male or female.

I was going to wait until my herp room was done before buying any new stock, but there's something about this snake, plus I figure by the time I'm done quarantining the snake the room should be near completion.

What to do? What to do? Should I follow my gut?

Sounds meant to be to me. :)

I figure if its still there tomorrow it just may be.


Another thing, I was thinking about QTing it for about four weeks it I get it. Do you all think that quarantining for that long is necessary, or what is recommended. I just don't want to take the risk of bringing disease into my current pair.

Jason

I'm quarantining for 45 days... as per the advice I've received... Most people do it for longer though from what I've heard. 60-90 days. If you add anything before the 45 days is up, the counter resets to zero though. :)

If I were in your shoes, I'd go for it!

If you have thaT "FEELING" about a particular snake, go for it...esp since the situation is right, ie. you have a setup already, the snake is healthy, etc. I've made the mistake of not getting a certain BP I had the same "feeling" about, that perhaps I might see something better only to return to purchase and find it ..GONE!!!(this has happened numerous times at reptile shows) Let me tell you a little story........I used to work at a local petco...for six years. In the fish and reptiles dept.- no less. I saw lots and lots of BP's come and go, and two come to mind that i wished I wouldn't have passed up. Each Petco store has a number , to define its location, and our store's no. was 888. Well, wouldn't ya' know a particular shipment of young BP's yielded just that....a BP with three perfect no. 8's going longways down his back. Amazing!!!! I had only one BP at the time, and truly beleived I didn't need more than one pet snake.(how naive!) It was sold a week later on a day i had off. On the previous days I kept tossing the idea back and forth in my mind....Petco's price on BP's was $79.99!!!! Not a day goes by when I don't regret not purchasing him. When you see that many BP's, certain ones pop out a you as being "different". One time a BP came in that was a nice reduced pattern normal, but his pattern was almost like that of a spider's. I did get a photo of this fellow, but looking back and realizing just how special he was, I wished I would have got him too....I look at the photo from time to time and ponder......?? Well, anyway if you've got the cash and space(which you do) GO FOR IT!!!!

Our local PetCo is also a very nice store, but then it's only been open 6 months or so.

That's where we got Cleo, she was the first ball we looked at, and after checking out many more at other stores and locations we headed back to PetCo to try and find her again - as someone else on here has said it felt 'right'.

I can't stand that shoppers dilemma...I'm very American when it comes to stuff like that...BUY IT NOW!!! WOOHOO!

If s/he's still there today, you know it's meant to be. =) Damn ball pythons and their sweet faces!

I have to echo the "go for it"...you don't want to end up regretting it if you don't, especially since you seem to have the resources. ^__^

*Ominous Voice* JBallPython...this is your conscience, and you shall obey as I decree.....DO IT! ;) :whisper:

Went back to Petco this afternoon, and lying underneath a silk plant laid the little one (girl hopefully) that first caught my eye. I walked around in there trying to decide if I should or shouldn't buy her...finally I asked an employee if I could see her closer, the employee was afraid to pick them up, so I Purel'd my hands and picked her up. She was afraid I could tell, and snapped at the Petco lady (I wonder why?:P )

Overall visually her scales were clear from mites, ticks, and her belly was nice and white. I held her up to my ear to listen to her breathing, no whistles or crackles. Her pattern is just gorgeous, she has what I refer to as banded; they go across her back all the way down her body, and she ends with a nice little tail stripe. She was too much to resist, I filled out the paperwork, she was boxed up and is now acclimating to her new tank in a different room than my other two where she will stay for about 45 days. In about two weeks I'll be taking "her" to the vet to get probed, and just an overall exam.

The Petco employee said that they were feeding them pinkies, but "shes" definitely big enough to take fuzzie/hopper mice. They tried to send me home with food, but I'm letting the little one acclimate before I try to feed her, also resisting the urge to touch her!:petting: Got to make sure she's a fierce eater before I start to tame her down.

I would post some pics of her, but I got called in to work, so I have to get going. I'll start a new thread with her pics later tonight.

~Jason.:D

Arrrgghhhhh! Must....see......pictures.....!!!


Seriously, I'm super envious and thrilled for you! Can't wait to see "her!"

YAYAYYAYAYAYAY!!!!

Second best thing to getting a new yourself is someone else getting a new snake. =)

well...after you winning the lottery or Adam deciding that he did forget to send you the piebald for some reason...=D

i got my ball pyhton at a petco store.in the first week he was eating and perfectly healthy he was prettty young too.i have had my bp for about a year and he's nice and healthy but a couple days ago he got a RI.if i were you i would buy it best of luck

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JBallPython

I figure if its still there tomorrow it just may be.


Another thing, I was thinking about QTing it for about four weeks it I get it. Do you all think that quarantining for that long is necessary, or what is recommended. I just don't want to take the risk of bringing disease into my current pair.

Jason

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what thermostat do you use JBALLPYTHON ?

Yay, I knew it! :) Meant to be. I felt that way the first time I saw a pic of Gomez. That's our snake! I still waffled about it at first but ultimately... there's no resisting that little voice ;)

Congrats!! thats such a good and happy story!

Congrats on the new addition!
I purchased my Ozzy at Petco over two yrs ago and he is fit as a fiddle.
Just took him to the vet last Saturday and the Vet said if all his bp's were in that shape his job would be easy.
They told me also they were feeding pinkies, I waited about two weeks and the first feed he ate like 3 pinkies and thru the advice of the great folks on this board ( as he was my first bp) I started feeding regular adult mice and he took them w/ no problem. He was about 14-15" at the time.

Glad you went back as it appears meant to be :)

I know our Petco has a policy that you can take your snake to the vet and have it all checked out for $15. I would highly recommend it!! :D

I know my petco here will tkae it to the vet for free as long as its before 14 days of purchase.

I've never heard of Petco, is it only in the states?

I believe so.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amg20102006

what thermostat do you use JBALLPYTHON ?

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Right now I just use a Zoomed Rheostat on the cage...not the greatest, but better than nothing.

I'm going to go snap some pics of her quick...

Here "she" is! I was playing around with the room lighting, and where her heat lamp was placed...it does crazy things with her color. :)

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...8/6/Baby01.JPG

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...8/6/Baby02.JPG

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...8/6/Baby03.JPG

And her home for the next ~45 days.
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../6/QTviv02.JPG

The last picture of her shows the banding quite well, and the 1st picture shows the reduced pattern on her back half.

Enjoy!

congrats man, she's really cute :)
heh, well its kinda like me and my 1st BP. there were only 2 BP in chatuchak market. and it certainly caught my eyes.. lol i paid alot for it alot of people told me that i've been ripped off but i dont feel bad at all!! :D

Wow, no wonder, what a little beauty!

Thanks you two!

FYI I only paid $70 for her, so not to shabby if you take into consideration that I didn't have to pay shipping. :) Either way though, shes worth it! Very snappy little girl however, went to clean her feces out of the cage (normal looking BTW) and she lunged toward me. I'm going to try and feed her a hopper mouse tomorrow, thinking that she's just ornery and hungry. After she starts eating consistently I'll start working on handling to reduce the attitude.:aww:

Jason

she's really pretty and she has nice scales that fit her perfactly!!

Brought home a hopper mouse from work to see if the new girl would eat tonight because when I went in to change her water this morning she got really snappy. The hopper was cornered, she missed it, and then the mouse started going Matrix so I thumped it to slow him down for her.

Even after "slowing" the hopper down a bit she couldn't seem to get her aim right, so I used a feeder tongs to hold it in front of her she would strike it so I would let go of the mouse, but then she would just ignore it. I would pick it up again with the tongs, and she would strike it more, and then ignore it...so I kept the hopper mouse in the cage and hopefully she eats it tonight otherwise I'll try f/t hopper in a few days.:doh: Hopefully her aim starts to get better, unless she is scheming to tag me.;)

Jason

Wow Jason, she's really pretty! I'll keep my fingers crossed that she probes a female for you!

I'll find out for sure in about a week, and then I can give her a name. :)