» Site Navigation
1 members and 684 guests
Most users ever online was 47,180, 07-16-2025 at 05:30 PM.
» Today's Birthdays
» Stats
Members: 75,905
Threads: 249,105
Posts: 2,572,111
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
|
-
New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Hi, we are planning on purchasing a ball python for our daughter who is 11. She has been asking for one for quite a while, loves snakes, and has handled them. I love them too and had a bit of experience keeping snakes when I was younger.
We are in the process of setting up an enclosure and doing research. Today we went to a reputable dealer in the area (did some online research and found good reviews and recommendations) just to handle some bp's and see if, indeed, this is what my daughter wants.
They had captive bred normal babies, born last fall, that looked and acted healthy (though scared and clenched tightly for awhile) for a decent price. What concerned me is that they said they feed live mice rather than f/t. I'm not opposed to feeding live mice- I just want to make sure we get the easiest feeding possible bp in case we run into problems.
I haven't looked up any other reputable dealers yet- we would probably have to have one shipped in. What do you think- is this a deal breaker or something I shouldn't be concerned about? I'm just hoping we don't end up with a pet mouse if the snake should go on a hunger strike!
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Quote:
Originally Posted by junko
Hi, we are planning on purchasing a ball python for our daughter who is 11. She has been asking for one for quite a while, loves snakes, and has handled them. I love them too and had a bit of experience keeping snakes when I was younger.
We are in the process of setting up an enclosure and doing research. Today we went to a reputable dealer in the area (did some online research and found good reviews and recommendations) just to handle some bp's and see if, indeed, this is what my daughter wants.
They had captive bred normal babies, born last fall, that looked and acted healthy (though scared and clenched tightly for awhile) for a decent price. What concerned me is that they said they feed live mice rather than f/t. I'm not opposed to feeding live mice- I just want to make sure we get the easiest feeding possible bp in case we run into problems.
I haven't looked up any other reputable dealers yet- we would probably have to have one shipped in. What do you think- is this a deal breaker or something I shouldn't be concerned about? I'm just hoping we don't end up with a pet mouse if the snake should go on a hunger strike!
:welcome:
To make sure you setup your enclosure properly check this http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&id=59
If you are planning on setting a glass enclosure this is a very good post http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=32800
BP can also be housed in plastic tubs which as the advantage of offering added security for BP and is also easier to maintain.
As far as feeding the one rule about feeding live is SUPERVISION never leave your BP un-attended with a prey.
For BP being shipped it is not an issue at all, out of 8, 7 were purchased online and shipped and 2 more will arrive next month. The only thing about shipping during the winter is that shipping can be delayed due to weather conditions but that is all. You often have the choice of picking up at the airport or delivered to your door which mean you must be present.
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Hi, and thank you! We have read the glass enclosure and the bp articles- decided to start with a 10 gallon instead of a 20 gallon, and also learned that hides should be smaller than we thought (I'm a potter, going to make some cool custom made hides for the snake and will be able to graduate to larger ones quite easily as the snake grows).
My main concern is this: Should we hold out for a f/t eating snake from another, possibly unknown source, or a live eating snake from a trusted source?
-June
(I forgot to sign my name before, sorry!)
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Hey June. If this breeder is in fact reputable, then he probably won't have a problem switching them to f/t for you. I don't know where you live, but you can always visit a pet store and buy f/t, or rodentpro.com sells quality frozen food for your bp.
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Quote:
Originally Posted by junko
Hi, and thank you! We have read the glass enclosure and the bp articles- decided to start with a 10 gallon instead of a 20 gallon, and also learned that hides should be smaller than we thought (I'm a potter, going to make some cool custom made hides for the snake and will be able to graduate to larger ones quite easily as the snake grows).
My main concern is this: Should we hold out for a f/t eating snake from another, possibly unknown source, or a live eating snake from a trusted source?
-June
(I forgot to sign my name before, sorry!)
Always go with someone you can trust and that have healthy well started animalsthat are provided with proper care (Avoid pet store because often husbandary is not right, BP are not always healthy or well started)
Whether the animal feed live or F/T it is up to you and if you buy a BP that feed live you can still try to convert to F/T down the road if this is what you want.
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Thanks, everyone. This is actually a reptile dealer- I found on Faunaclassifieds that someone had inquired about them and everyone that replied had good things to say about them. They'd helped us a lot in the past when we had a bearded dragon.
I agree about buying from pet shops... what about herp shows? I think I will also write to a local herp club and see if they can recommend anyone in the area who actually breeds (I live in Rhode Island).
Thanks again!
-June
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
lots of folks buy from reptile shows. usually some pretty good deals there too. Do you mind sharing who this breeder is? Just curious :)
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Hi and welcome to BP.net! :handshake:
On the issue of feeding live vs. f/t.... Obviously, if a f/t meal is refused, you can either refreeze it or just throw it away, and not be concerned about dealing with a live animal. However, it's not usually too difficult to deal with a refused live rodent, either. Many pet stores will take them back and give you store credit towards another one (check first!). And when that happens to me, I have a nice little rodent cage set up that I put them in and feed them healthy food for a week until my next feeding day...then feed them off. I don't have to do that very often and its worked well for me.
Congrats on choosing an awesome snake for your daughter...and especially for doing all your research first and asking all the right questions! :gj:
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Hi Nathan- It's a dealer, not a breeder- Regal Reptiles in Providence, RI.
Judy, I completely forgot...I *do* have a tiny CO2 chamber (I used to breed guinea pigs and had it handy for emergencies as I cannot STAND to let an animal suffer), so I could always kill and freeze a mouse for later if it's refused. I'm going to try to get the snake to eat f/t once it's settled in. Spoke with DH, though, and he's not averse to letting a mouse hang around for a week or two till it's eaten. Whew!
Before we buy I'm still going to check with the local herp society- I'd rather buy from a breeder than a dealer to begin with.
Thanks everyone!
-June
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
check out these people,
http://www.northamericanreptileconnection.com/
i've talked to matt and kim at shows, i think they might be able to help you out. they are in RI also.
vaughn
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Oh wow- thanks a bunch, Vaughn! I have just emailed them after checking them out on faunaclassifieds- they come highly recommended!
-June
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
cool. Keep us updated...and...we shun those with out pictures. we need lots of pics :D:D:D
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Quote:
Originally Posted by nathanledet
cool. Keep us updated...and...we shun those with out pictures. we need lots of pics :D:D:D
Oh no! I can't take being shunned...I'll make sure my batteries are charged! :)
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Welcome to BPNet. I think the way you are going about the process of buying your daughter's first snake is the best first lesson of responsible pet ownership any parent could teach...to research first, make good decisions and learn about it's special needs and housing requirements first....good job June!
As a parent who loves snakes and has kids with their own snakes I can tell you they are wonderful pets for kids. I've watched our children learn about responsibility, patience, empathy, etc. while dealing with the snakes. They've had to learn to understand a creature very alien to what is considered a "normal" pet, to put the snake's needs far above their own (especially when it comes to handling too much) and how nature deals with predators and prey. We raise our own feeder rats/mice so the kids get a very direct view of that. As my 5 year old said yesterday when looking at our breeder mice in one enclosure and some feeder mice in another...."these are for eating, those are not for eating" LOL I used to fret he was too young to understand....silly me...he understood it just fine and is totally okay with how the snakes eat and what they eat.
Best advice is to set up the enclosure now. Get it regulated and stable as most enclosures need some amount of tweaking and that's easier done without a baby snake in there. Find the breeder you want to work with, decide on the issue of live or f/t feeding and purchase a snake started on your preferred feeding method. Buy only from a reputable source and when the baby snake arrives let it settle in properly. That's a very very hard part of getting in a new snake....keeping hands off for a week or so or until it's eating successfully but again a good life lesson for your child about patience and respecting a snake's unique needs.
Welcome to the world of snake keeping. I'm sure you'll find it fascinating to share your lives with a ball python. :)
Oh and do involve your daughter as much as possible in all decisions. One of my daughters was about her age when we got into snakes and I'm still amazed at how much she enjoyed researching care needs and genetics. Especially the day she announced very matter of factly that she wanted a Platty Daddy (very rare BP owned by a top breeder Ralph Davis). I nearly fell over as I'd missed the fact that my child was now a morph snob and considers Ralph her BP hero LOL.
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Thank you, Joanna!
Yes, the hard part, for me too, is going to be the "hands off" part... but we can do it.
-June
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Don't worry hon it's the hardest for any of us even when we have lots of snakes. You still just itch to get your hands on the newest one. Well no actually the hardest part is pacing around waiting for the darned FedEx guy to show up at your door with the package that containers your new snake....now that is sheer agony! LOL That and watching the tracking page at the FedEx site while your snake is in transit.....oh the joys of a new snake!
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Quote:
Originally Posted by kavmon
I've bought from them twice at the White Plains, NY shows.
Highly recommended.
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Hi Jun, I have only had my snake for a fortnight and I am far from an expert, but heres my 2 experiences of feeding frozen/thawed mice. Its relevant because I found out today that my snake had been on live prey for 2 years before meeting me!
The first week he wasn't interested in his food - I put that down to new environment, when I tried to feed him the next week (yesterday) he didnt want anything to do with the mouse again, infact he just looked at it, turned his nose up and went back into his hide.
So I started doing a little dance with the mouse with a paid of tongues, holding the mousey by the tail and doing a sort of puppet show, he struck and cobbled the food up like lightning!
Today I called my dealer and it appears I was misadvised about its feeding pattern, apparently my snake had been fed on live prey for two years and as far as they were aware had never accepted pre killed rodents! Aside from the fact I was fairly po'ed at the reptile shop for doing this I was relieved that now I know that he will eat thawed rodents.
Maybe you could use the same feeding technique with your snake that is used to live mice - I got really into it, even making mousey noises at one point.. my flatmate thought i was going crazy.
Regards,
Dave and Sarge
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarge
Hi Jun, I have only had my snake for a fortnight and I am far from an expert, but heres my 2 experiences of feeding frozen/thawed mice. Its relevant because I found out today that my snake had been on live prey for 2 years before meeting me!
The first week he wasn't interested in his food - I put that down to new environment, when I tried to feed him the next week (yesterday) he didnt want anything to do with the mouse again, infact he just looked at it, turned his nose up and went back into his hide.
So I started doing a little dance with the mouse with a paid of tongues, holding the mousey by the tail and doing a sort of puppet show, he struck and cobbled the food up like lightning!
Today I called my dealer and it appears I was misadvised about its feeding pattern, apparently my snake had been fed on live prey for two years and as far as they were aware had never accepted pre killed rodents! Aside from the fact I was fairly po'ed at the reptile shop for doing this I was relieved that now I know that he will eat thawed rodents.
Maybe you could use the same feeding technique with your snake that is used to live mice - I got really into it, even making mousey noises at one point.. my flatmate thought i was going crazy.
Regards,
Dave and Sarge
HAHAHAHAHAHA Oh Dave you are now the acknowledged King of the Dead Mouse Boogie (aka the Zombie Rat Dance). You'll find it's easier to grasp the rodent with the tongs/hemostats/long tweezers by the loose skin between it's shoulder blades (just stay well back on the mouse's body and get ready to let go fast when the snake strikes). You can then make an even more realistic paws on the ground movement. By the way I nearly choked on my morning tea laughing at the "mousey noises"! The things we will do for your snakes. http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2.../2ThumbsUp.gif
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
King of the Zombie Rat Dance! I like it! As I was writing that post I reminded my flatmate of the 5 minutes i spent sat there pretending to be a real mouse - his only comments were "yeah, that was quite disturbing actually"
As far as the holding the mouse by the shoulders, I shall certainly consider it for my next performance!
Regards,
Dave and Sarge
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Do you ever wonder Dave is perhaps Sarge is coiled there smirking to himself thinking "if I just pretend to be uninterested that large hairless monkeylike creature will do such funny things! how terribly interesting!" hehehehehehe
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Oh, my..... well, the whole family already thinks I'm insane so no loss if I have to go there...
Then again, I have to remind myself...it'll be my DAUGHTER's snake...let HER do it. :D
So anybody want to hazard a guess as to how long it'll be before I have to get my OWN bp? LOL.
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Quote:
Originally Posted by junko
Oh, my..... well, the whole family already thinks I'm insane so no loss if I have to go there...
Then again, I have to remind myself...it'll be my DAUGHTER's snake...let HER do it. :D
So anybody want to hazard a guess as to how long it'll be before I have to get my OWN bp? LOL.
Well for starters the answer to the last question is about 10 minutes after your daughter gets her snake, you'll be wanting your own (that is if you haven't already decided that really it costs next to nothing to ship two snakes in a box instead of one and another set up isn't that pricey and....lol).
As far as the dancing about with a dead rodent on a stick thing you can alway use this as a parenting tool. Think about it June, your daughter is 11...almost a teenager! What a perfect way to adjust her attitude in the future. She acts up....you offer to show all her "cool" friends the Dead Rat Boogie! Heck I have 3 teenagers and a 5 year old myself. I'll use anything it takes to keep the crew in line (they've a tendency to mutiny!).
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Quote:
Originally Posted by junko
Oh, my..... well, the whole family already thinks I'm insane so no loss if I have to go there...
Then again, I have to remind myself...it'll be my DAUGHTER's snake...let HER do it. :D
So anybody want to hazard a guess as to how long it'll be before I have to get my OWN bp? LOL.
june when i came to this forum... i was researching a snake for my son... he ended up deciding he didn't want one and i had fallen in love with ball pythons so i got one for myself anyways LOL
now i have a dozen snakes :P
my advice to you... get a female rather than a male. if for any reason you need to rehome or sell your snake (heaven forbid but it does happen) - finding a home for a female is no problem... but finding one for a male is near impossible. so... start off with a female! :sunny:
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Quote:
Originally Posted by recycling goddess
my advice to you... get a female rather than a male. if for any reason you need to rehome or sell your snake (heaven forbid but it does happen) - finding a home for a female is no problem... but finding one for a male is near impossible. so... start off with a female! :sunny:
Is this because of breeding reasons or are males undesirable for another reason?
EDIT: I should say "Hard to rehome" rather than "undesirable." :D
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Quote:
Originally Posted by junko
Is this because of breeding reasons or are males undesirable for another reason?
EDIT: I should say "Hard to rehome" rather than "undesirable." :D
Normal aka no special genetics males are not particularily needed in the breeding scheme of things dear but they make wonderful pet snakes. They tend to stay smaller than the females and sometimes that's more desirable in a pet snake (personal perference really and some males do get quite hefty).
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
I'm told sarge is big for his age, i hope my petstore havent fibbed to me again and he is actually a she - if thats the case ill have to spend the next week apologising to it for calling it Sarge!
I'm already setting up equipment to house a second snake maybe in a couple months time once I am sure I am capable of looking after sarge correctly - its a real addiction :S
-
Re: New here- questions on purchasing first bp
Just my first feeding experience:
I got my first BP last saturday and he was used to live prey; I don't know how old he is because the CITES will be sent to me in the next days, but he was born in 2006 and weighs 162 grams.
Yesterday I bought a frozen mouse (20 grams), let it defreeze, heat a little bit and offered to the BP using tongs (I tried holding him by the tail, then between the shoulders and moving him around), but he was not interested, so I left the mouse next to his warm hide.
This morning the mouse was gone :sunny:
As you all will know very well, I feel much better and relaxed knowing that he can feed on frozen preys. :2cent:
|