New to the Snake thing!

Hey my name is Jessie and for the last lil while I've been looking up everything on ball pythons and talking to people and breeders, and I've finally bought one!
She's about 18 inches long and so far seems awesome. Very curious when I put her in her new cage although I'm sure a lil scared. Absolutely gorgeous.

I was just wondering.. I've been reading a few forums on reptiles canada and they said something about females being more aggressive and snapping at their owners and such. I'm never going to used her as a breeding snake although I don't see why there would be a difference in attitudes. And they said something about "that time of year" .. for aggressiveness? She's young still and not able to breed yet so I figure I don't have to worry..
But if anyone has any lil information for me that'd be great. I'm just getting into this and wanna learn as much as I can :)

Male and female snakes have identical temperament. During breeding season, if you actually cooled/cycled the snake, she may get anxious, and gravid females are not something to mess with, but for a normal pet, there's nothing to worry about.

I don't know when you got him/her, but it's best to leave a new snake alone for a week to let it settle in.

If you want to tell us about your enclosure, we can give you more pointers.

Lastly,
Welcome!

Welcome to the site! The best advice I can think of is to make sure your temps are right. 92-94 on the hot side and 82-84 on the cool side. Measured with a digital thermometer. You can get a cheap one at Walmart/or other type store in the Outdoor thermometer section. Get the one that will measure two temps and the humidity. Will run you about ten dollars, and they are so much better than those dials and strips. Oh and after a feed do not handle for 48 hours! Here's a link to the site's caresheet too! :D

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

I just got her and no I haven't handled her since she was put in there. My temps are so far so good along with my humidity. I have a rock "home" thing she can go under on one side and a log thing on the other side. Water dish in the middle and a log like thing she seems to like to sit on.
The breeder told me to feed her tomorrow night (they eat better at night?) and to take my f/t rat pup and put it in a bucket of hot water for about 10 minutes and just toss it in there. I figured not to handle them for a while either after eating.
Anything else I should know?

When defrosting a rodent I would put it in a plastic bag before tossing in the water. That's what I do anyway. Some snakes will take the prey if you just drop it in, but sometimes you have to resort to the 'zombie dance'. Use a pair of hemostats or tongs (NOT FINGERS) to dangle the pup by the tale. Just make sure it's fully defrosted before feeding. You should be able to squish the belly. Sounds like loads of fun, huh?

I'm stoked haha

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new snake!

Our routine is to feed after dark and keep the area quiet, with little movement and sound that might startle a feeding snake. Works great for some of ours that are a little shy. We have a couple though that I swear would eat with a marching band going by LOL, they just are hyper-focused, super eaters! See what works best for your particular snake as they are all very unique really and have their own habits/routines they get used to.

Best of luck on that first feeding experience!


~~Joanna~~

Indeed always glad to have a new face.

Just my $.02 - EACH snake has an INDIVIDUAL temperament - I surely haven't noticed any trends that would support females being more aggressive - heck in our collection they tend to be mellower while the meales seem shyer - again just microtrends from which it is erroneous to generalize from.

Welcome aboard - you've come to the right place!