New Here, New to Ball Pythons

hey everyone, I'm Gib, or whatever you want to call me :) I am about to get my first ball python this evening. He is said to be captive bred, about 18 inches long, eating small mice (thawed), living in a 20L tank with a heating pad under the tank and a heat lamp (with no light) on the top which is a screen lock top. he'll be on reptibark to begin with and he mentioned some kind of humidity set up with moss in the tank too. The guy wanted $200, but went down to $150 for the whole set up.

I was referred here by someone on another board to answer some of my more in-depth snake questions... granted I'd love any suggestions on any part of snake ownership! Monte will be my first pet snake, but my sister/roommate has a red albino corn she's raised up from a hatchling that fit in the bottom of a coffee cup! Nugget (the corn) also eats dead food and is my only day to day experience with keeping a snake although I worked in pet stores and cared for snakes before back then...Nugget will at some point be moving into Monte's tank and I'll be upgrading his. Not really soon, but once the 20L is almost too small!

I was wondering about sexing and the concern for egg binding in females who are not bred... I don't know how snake sex and reproduction works, so I don't understand at what point the release an egg etc...

Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance
~Gibby

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=59

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=32800

these threads should help out alot... Welcome to BP.net :salute:

Welcome to the forum! :welcome: :colbert2:

Congratulations on the new Ball, but I must warn you that these guys tend to be addicting. Don't be surprised if you start collecting more of these cool snakes. :)

If you haven't done so already, I'd recommend that you read over our care sheet. It's chock full of good info.

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Originally Posted by gibbrishclown

I was wondering about sexing and the concern for egg binding in females who are not bred... I don't know how snake sex and reproduction works, so I don't understand at what point the release an egg etc...

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Well, snakes aren't like chickens. They won't lay eggs unless they've been adequately stimulated into ovulating by a male. Although some reptiles have been known to produce fertile eggs via parthenogenesis, I doubt if you'll have to worry about that. ;)

good to know... I only asked because my limited understanding of their plumbing was that it was all similar to birds, and a friend lost a bird recently because she was eggbound.

I hope they don't get too addictive... I already have a big family... furry kids... I've found pit bulls and cats to be rather addictive and have had ferrets in the past... they were the worst addiction LOL...like fuzzy crack LOL

I'm off to visit the links above and the care sheet!

Thank you both for the warm welcome and info!

Hello and welcome!!!! :sunny: :D :sunny:

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Originally Posted by gibbrishclown

good to know... I only asked because my limited understanding of their plumbing was that it was all similar to birds, and a friend lost a bird recently because she was eggbound.

I hope they don't get too addictive... I already have a big family... furry kids... I've found pit bulls and cats to be rather addictive and have had ferrets in the past... they were the worst addiction LOL...like fuzzy crack LOL

I'm off to visit the links above and the care sheet!

Thank you both for the warm welcome and info!

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HAHAHA they are addictive :rockon:

Well I get him tonight, if he looks ok and is able to grip my arm... some google search led me to that little tip... although I fear google searches may yield a lot of crappy info...

I'll try to post pics in the morning! I'm off work now... g'nite all!

Hey, glad to see ya made it over here. Welcome to Bp.net!!! Everyone here will be able to help you A LOT. Don't pay attention to that caresheet you found on google, its bad. Definately read the one here, you can't go wrong with it.

Look forward to seeing pics!!!
Kristy

Welcome to BPNet and congrats on your first ball python. I used to have one...we now have 13! LOL

Best advice I can give you about researching is to start a sheet by the computer, write down husbandry, breeding, whatever info you find...then look for ways to verify it as sound advice. I did that when we first got into b.p.'s. Once I found three different sources for the same advice...I circled it in red and considered it sound wisdom to follow. Eventually I had a nice "cheat sheet" of information gathered from BPNet members, breeders websites, etc. and didn't fall for a lot of crapola online that would have ended up with us being confused and our snakes likely not doing very well.

A good spot to start is the caresheet here and then expand that knowledge as you go but it will give you the right husbandry information to set up your snake's home correctly. :) Can't wait to see pics!

Welcome, BP's rock! Enjoy and best of luck. Your snake can't get eggbound if she is not breeding. I had a beardie get eggbound, very sad.

whats exactly is "eggbound"?

Its actually called Dystocia. Its when there is a blockage, or the eggs are too large to pass. Hence having females being a certain weight to be able to carry and lay eggs succesfully.

Some eggs may be bound together, or one may be too large or a weird shape to pass. In most cases the female is able to reabsorb the eggs, I know Leopard geckos do.


It can be caused by poor husbandry, insufficient laying area, poor diet, dehydration and again being too small for breeding, or not sexually mature enough to form eggs correctly.

ah i see, gracias!

Denada :D

De Nada

(no offense)

I couldn't find this thread for some reason, so I started a duplicate... sorry all... this is the OP from that... I'll catch on soon...

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...onteCoil01.jpg http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...wn/0Monte0.jpg

This is Monte, the guy I picked up last night. He came from a pet store I used to work at with mites of some sort :rolleyes: of course. The guy I bought him from played dumb and well I'm a sucker, so I bought him anyway... but before I got there I kinda figured the snake would be from that store and have parasites... gosh I hate that store! I don't know anything about mites, can they bother cats/dogs/humans? They smush easily not like fleas so that was encouraging LOL Can they get out of his enclosure through the screen top? What do I need to do to help him? (or her... I call snakes male when I don't know...besides he was named Monte when I got him) Could they just be bugs that got in the reptibark?

He was pretty chill and nice last night. I held him for a while before putting him up for the week to acclimate to his new surroundings. He finally pulled out of his ball and explored a little bit. My sister was holding him for a while and said he tried to strike at her, but I kinda doubt it the way he was with me... I think sister just gets a little more nervous, but I didn't see it, maybe he did.

I ordered PAM online just now... it is superior to the ones I could get him today otc at petsmart, right?

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Originally Posted by gibbrishclown

I ordered PAM online just now... it is superior to the ones I could get him today otc at petsmart, right?

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WAY better than the stuff you can find at petsmart. While you're waiting for it to be delivered, you can bathe your snake in luke-warm (barely luke warm) water with just a drop of dish detergent in it. That will kill off the mites that are on him.

Also, clean out his enclosure, throw away all the old bedding and put down newspaper or paper towels for now. (Don't do this while the snake is in the "bath"...never leave them unattended in the water!!)

That should help him feel better until the mites can be killed off permanently by the PAM.

(btw...welcome aboard! :handshake )

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JLC

WAY better than the stuff you can find at petsmart. While you're waiting for it to be delivered, you can bathe your snake in luke-warm (barely luke warm) water with just a drop of dish detergent in it. That will kill off the mites that are on him.

Also, clean out his enclosure, throw away all the old bedding and put down newspaper or paper towels for now. (Don't do this while the snake is in the "bath"...never leave them unattended in the water!!)

That should help him feel better until the mites can be killed off permanently by the PAM.

(btw...welcome aboard! :handshake )

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:carrot: Thank you!! I'm glad to be here

I'd never dealt with mites, but saw another thread dealing with them where PAM was discussed as THE WAY to treat and prevent (right?) mites... is it safe for the corn too? He has no sign of mites, but I feel bad because I brought them into the house.

Any kind of dish detergent? I won't kill him? I don't know how sensitive these guys are. He seems healthy though although I'm not sure I could spot a sick snake till it was almost too late...yet... let the education of Gibbrish Clown begin, :sunny:

He'll like the water?