Myth or factual?

[workingdawgs]

As a first time BP owner, I am encountering a number of opinions from people who all think they know best since their friend has a BP... I am looking for some clarification on these statements, from seasoned keepers... I have done a fair amount of research on my own as well, and I am pretty sure I know the answers, but I would love to hear opinions from seasoned keepers :o)

* "don't keep the snakes food items near it at all"
* "don't feed the snake until after it defecates from the last meal"
* "only feed it one mouse every 3 or 4 weeks"
* "don't give the snake a bigger enclosure because it will grow too fast"

I have only had this snake for almost 3 weeks now. The first day (a Saturday) I had "her," she ate an adult mouse with no hesitation. The following Saturday, she readily ate another adult mouse with no hesitation again. Last Saturday, I bought a 3 week old rat for her when I was on my way home in the morning. When I took her out of the "cage" I noticed her eyes had gone cloudy, but I offered the rat anyway. She wasn't interested in eating, so I put the rat in a hamster cage, and put her back in her cage. The rat has been biding it's time in the hamster cage (with some feed and water) that I kept on top of the snake cage.

When I took the snake out of her cage tonight, I noticed that her eyes were starting to clear up and she was very interested in the cage containing the rat. I removed all the decor from her cage, put the rat in her cage and then put her back in... She immediately struck and ate the rat, and I then replaced everything in her cage without disturbing her too much.

Since she is in an Exo-terra terrarium, I have an absorbant pad on the floor of the terrarium with an 8" crock for water, a moist hide, another hide over the UTH and a branch mounted on a piece of slate tile. The humidity sits around 65% and heat on the cool side is about 80C, hot side is approximately 90C, give or take... She seems to be content, spending equal time in both hides, but a little more time in the moist hide right now, I am assuming because of the impending shed.

Thanks in advance!
Michelle

[mainbutter]

* "don't keep the snakes food items near it at all"
* "don't feed the snake until after it defecates from the last meal"
* "only feed it one mouse every 3 or 4 weeks"
* "don't give the snake a bigger enclosure because it will grow too fast"

I only need one word to respond to these claims:

wut

[jbean7916]

I only need one word to respond to these claims:

wut

+ 1

None of this "advise" is helpful. My balls eat weekly. They can go along time without pooing. Some breed rats in the same room as snakes. As far as a smaller cage, it's not about then growing, it's about keeping them comfortable. Some snakes stress out when given too much open space



sent from my EVO

[Adam Chandler]

don't keep the snakes food items near it at all

Many BP breeders also breed rats in the same rooms as the BPs with no trouble, just make sure you wash your hands after handling any rats or other furry animals or you may get bit reaching in.

don't feed the snake until after it defecates from the last meal

This is just completely wrong. You should just be making sure your BP is defecating from time to time. Each BP's metabolism is different but about once of month you should see some.

only feed it one mouse every 3 or 4 weeks

Fed you BP either mice or rats. Size wise make sure that the girth of the prey item is about as thick or slightly thicker than your BP's thickest part of its body every 1-2 weeks. Your BP will not overeat, BP's will stop eating if they are not hungry.

don't give the snake a bigger enclosure because it will grow too fast

The size of enclosure makes no difference in how fast they grow. The snakes metabolism and how much you feed it is how fast they will grow.

Also I'd recommend checking out the BP.net caresheet http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

[LeviBP]

This advise is bogus!

1. Has some merit to it; It is wise to separate your BP and their live/thawed food item away from their prying noses, just so they don't get into the "killer instinct" if you try to handle or etc. But it does help ten fold in some cases if you "scent" the BP's cage and essentially turn on that killer instinct by setting the meal in their vicinity so they can smell it for 30 minutes or so to help spike their interest during feeding time.

2. WRONG - BP's don't defecate on any schedule; especially at a young age when they retain much more than they let out. They can often go months without producing stool. Feed young BP's around every 5 days, and adults every 7-10 days.

3. Double wrong, unless you want your BP to be thin, and just giving it enough energy to get by, go ahead and do this. If you want a healthy, happy BP feed as suggested.
Young (Every 5 days) - Adult (Every 7-10 days)
Each meal should be around 10-15% of their body weight, or roughly the size of their body at it's widest point.

4. False, if your BP is given a larger enclosure it will either have no effect in growth rate at all, or a negative effect. As BP's prefer smaller cages to larger ones; they feel more safe. So in a larger cage, the finicky eaters BP's are, they may feel unsafe and refuse a majority of offered meals.

Welcome to BP.net!
You will find all the information you need here - and then some!

[kitedemon]

The first has a bit of truth but they adjust like we do to familiar smells although per senting isn't really possible if the rodents are in the same room the rest is 100% myths. You will find in general that there are almost as many myths as fact when it comes to royals double check every statement and get some reputable books to back up what you read. I like Philippe de Vosjoli and D&T Barker both have very good books. The Barkers in particular is very very full and is well researched and cited. They can help separate fact from fiction. Remember that in the early days the knowledge of royals was very poor and loose some of the myths were 'fact' 30 years ago.

[llovelace]

* "don't keep the snakes food items near it at all"
I keep rats & snakes in the same room always have

* "don't feed the snake until after it defecates from the last meal"
My snakes are fed every 5-7 days

* "only feed it one mouse every 3 or 4 weeks"
I feed appropriately sized meals every 5-7 days

* "don't give the snake a bigger enclosure because it will grow too fast"
Wrong wrong Wrong

You stated that the hot side is 90C, I'm sure you meant 90F

[JLC]

Well, there you have it! I hope you find the answers helpful. There is an awful lot of disinformation out there, and we here at BP.net are doing our best to set the record straight.

There may be different paths to the same goal (glass tanks vs plastic tubs...live feeding vs pre-killed...feeding in or out of enclosure, etc) and we totally respect that and the choices that people make. But at the same time, there is plenty of pure fiction out there as well and you happened to supply a very nice example of it.

Welcome aboard! I hope you'll stick around and share your snake with us!

[angllady2]

Welcome to the wonderful addiction we call Ball Pythons!

First of all a big Congratulations on having the sense to investigate these claims in the first place, instead of just believing everything you are told.

Second, as you have learned, the only thing that brings more know-it-alls out of the woodwork than being pregnant is owning a snake.

Third, your questions have all been answered already, but don't let that stop you from searching and researching. There is a LOT of misinformation out there. What helps me is any time I hear or read something on ball python care, the first thing I do is see how many places I find the same information. If two sources say "do this" but 18 say " don't do this" I'm inclined to believe the majority.

It also helps if you can find people who are local who have owned and bred these snakes for years, but even that doesn't guarantee what they do is right or best. As in the case of an acquaintance of mine who has bred balls for years, and still believes that no male ball python should weigh over 1000 grams, otherwise they are worthless for breeding. She deliberately withholds food from her males to keep them small, and firmly believes if they reach 1000 grams, she must then get rid of them as they won't breed or become sterile.

While it IS true an overweight male is less likely to breed, there are dozens if not hundreds of breeders who have many males over 1000 grams who still produce offspring each season.

Bottom line, take what you hear and read with a grain of salt, and ask as many people as you can when you have questions.

Gale

[BuckeyeBalls]

Yea i always keep snakes and rats in same room to. They really dont sit in feeding mode 24/7 unless i got rats out cleaning them then they tend to smell em