Help! I found a ball python in the wild

[mpkeelee]

my wife was afraid of snakes at first. i bought her from a pet store and on the way home she took her from me cuz she thought i was gonna crash. she was grossed out n scared at first but now she loves her and wants her own. so im looking online for some good prices. n now she has her own pet rat. i bought it as food as a baby (eyes still closed) but my snake didnt eat it cuz two was too much. so she wanted to keep it alive until the next feeding. feeding day came and she wouldnt let me. and she used to think rats were the nastiest things ever. they call pot the "gateway" drug. BP's are the gateway to unusual pets. good job and thanks for saving the snake. hope it all works out for everyone involved!

[straydog1980]

well, he shed over the weekend. Looks like a clean shed too! I think I'm going to feed him this week...

[Danounet]

Seems to me like Robin wont get her hands in this BP after all...

[straydog1980]

Seems to me like Robin wont get her hands in this BP after all...

I think you may be right

I took him out to clean out his shed and urates today (I had a blue glove on in case he was feeling cranky), and when I tried to put him back in his terrarium he said "NO".

He squeezed around my hand, not hard or anything, and refused to go back in there for a solid 15 minutes. He just wanted to be out and about.

I'm getting addicted

[spitfireashlea]

aweeeeEEE!!! Very cute.

[straydog1980]

I fed him today!

I got a "fuzzy" from my local PetLand and thawed him out and warmed him up with water. I put my trusty glove on, and tried to dangle the thing in front of his hide, but I dropped the mouse! MAN, I've never seen this snake move so fast!! He was up and ready to eat, but couldn't sense the mouse because he wasn't moving I guess? I took my trusty tongs and just barely nudged the foot of the mouse and WHAM! That's all she wrote.

THAT WAS SO FREAKIN' COOL.

I am definitely keeping him! I got him a water dish too.... next is a heating pad!

[Vypyrz]

Congratulations, you have been officially hooked...

[Egapal]

Next week you should try a larger food item. That BP can easily take and adult mouse or larger. Its hard to tell how big the snake is with the glove and all but I would guess the BP is about the size of mine. My guess is 800 -1000 grams. If thats the case 10 to 15 percent is 80 to 150 grams. I am guessing a good meal for that snake is closer to 3 adult mice or one small rat.

Honestly if you can work up the nerve the glove is not necessary and when its time to put the snake away you can peal it off. It might resist but its really just trying not to fall. It will grow to trust you over time. I think this poor little guy just had a rough time of it. Someone obviously wasn't doing the best at caring for it as it escaped and wound up with you.

Proper heating should be your number one concern. I would also look for two good hides. If you want to get some good hides on the cheap and have access to a dremel and or a drill, pliers, and file. You can run down to walmart or target or something like that, and pick up a melamine bowl. Find on that your BP can just fit in. Then you can cut out a piece of the side for you snake to get in and out. Ideally I make sure that two snakes as big as mine could not fit in the hide with a shoe horn. If you think the hide is too small its probably just right. Search around the site though, there are lots of great posts on hides.

[redpython]

i'd offer that guy a rat, not a large one, but a small adult rat.

congrats on him eating!

[BPdude911]

This is a great thread. I think it's safe to say that this is your snake from now on. You should let your wife hold him/her. Tell her this, " I talked with people on this reptile website, they lent me information about caring for them," Show her this site, all the cool and cute pictures af ball pythons will definitely get her attention. Also, tell her it's even a good pet for kids.*nudge* *nudge* lol. It's like hitting to birds with one stone. I'm 12 and I had my snake for 1 year and love him. If she tells yo that you won't be able to handle it's death or something like that, tell her that they live for over 20 years and could reack up to 45 years with good care. You don't have to tell her about the feeding, just do it when she doesn't notice,lol.