adopted a ball python new here a bit scared

[Kaorte]

I would recommend holding off on handling until the snake is eating consistently. Remember, handling is for the owner, not for the snake. Your snake, whether you like it or not, does not enjoy or "love" handling. It simply tolerates it.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Ball pythons are very touchy about feeding. This is why folks are telling you to make sure the snake is settled into its new home, and feels secure and comfortable, and is EATING, before you handle it.
A ball python that is eating regularly is generally in good shape--they usually go off feed at the first sign of a problem.
Ball pythons are well adapted to spend the breeding season (4 to 6 months) fasting. The trouble is, they're so touchy, they can literally starve themselves to death while waiting for conditions to improve (in their perception).

Sleeping with a ball python is really a bad idea--the potential to accidentally injure the snake is a big concern--chances are that at some point, the snake will simply take off and wind up hiding somewhere in your home. They can be hard to find, and they have no sense of self-preservation when it comes to cold temperatures.

Then too, there was the rather funny story of someone's ball python that was very tame, and was lounging with them on the couch....the snake bit them in the armpit. No one is really sure why--pheromones, heat, etc, perhaps. But it shows that their instincts can be triggered by strange things sometimes, and they're really not entirely predictable.

Get your new pet settled well into his home, and respect that fact that he's a reptile--he will never love you. He will come to accept that you are part of his life, given time. He's got a personality, and he has emotions...but they are primitive emotions. He doesn't have the emotional centers for complex things like love, because pythons do not care for their offspring, and do not form any bonds with their mates. They simply have no need for that type of emotion. (I am a breeder--female snakes will coil around and guard their eggs, but the moment they are away from them, they return to normal behavior without the slightest pause--their instinct to care for the eggs also ends when the eggs hatch, if they are left with the eggs. Baby snakes are on their own).

You will have to appreciate him for what he is--a unique being with his own personality and entirely different needs and desires from yours. Don't anthropomorphize--learn to understand what ball pythons really want and need.

The population of this forum is comprised of experienced breeders and keepers, intermediate level pet keepers, and newbies like yourself. You should most certainly pay attention to advice given by breeders. Breeding reptiles is much more complex than breeding mammals. Reptiles will generally only breed when conditions are optimal.

If you want to be sure that your snake is happy, feed him. If he eats, he is probably fairly happy. If he doesn't, then something IS wrong, and it's up to you to find it, and fix it.

[exotica0095]

the probe wont fit under the tank its to thick?

[Kaorte]

the probe wont fit under the tank its to thick?

Your UTH should have come with little rubber stoppers for the corners of the tank to raise it off the table. with these, the probe should be able to fit.

[exotica0095]

ohh ok we found them originally we taped the probe under the hide under the substrate on the inside of the tank like the man at the reptile place said

[Kaorte]

ohh ok we found them originally we taped the probe under the hide under the substrate on the inside of the tank like the man at the reptile place said

Yeah inside the tank would make sense, but it really isn't the best place to put it. If the snake were to move it, the UTH would run on full blast and cook the snake.

[wispurs]

well then, i might as well have a goldfish!

[WingedWolfPsion]

You're right--keeping reptiles IS a lot like keeping fish. They're very similar animals, for all that one lives out of the water, and the other in it.
Their mental capabilities are very comparable.

Of course, goldfish are very trainable, so might be considered a bit brighter than ball pythons. I've never heard of anyone really training a ball python. But training requires a motivator, and very little really motivates a ball python, so perhaps that isn't fair, lol.

You can't take your goldfish out and hold it, of course, which is what makes ball pythons so pleasing. Just always remember that holding the snake is something you do because YOU enjoy it. The snake simply never will. It just wants a nice, dark, warm, humid place to hide.

Snakes--and other reptiles, amphibians, and fish--are pets that people keep because they enjoy looking after something and watching it thrive in their care. They enjoy watching its behavior, and investigating its personality.

These animals are not kept because they love us--a dog, cat, or even a ferret will. A bird will. But not a reptile. If you need a pet that will love you back, a reptile isn't for you. You need to look to the warm-blooded critters for that (and even then, you have be selective--only social animals 'love'. Your hamster will never love you, either, but your pet rat could).

So, reptiles don't love. That having been said, WE love THEM. It does not matter to US that they can't love us back. We love them just the way they are. That's why we keep them.

[wispurs]

so basically, everyone here is killing sweet little mice and rats (who could and do love and trust you) and putting them in the tank to be killed by something that doesnt even want you?...


does anyone want a free snake?

[Kaorte]

so basically, everyone here is killing sweet little mice and rats (who could and do love and trust you) and putting them in the tank to be killed by something that doesnt even want you?...


does anyone want a free snake?

That is the circle of life.

No one is keeping you from having a mouse as a pet instead of a snake.