What an AWESOME Ball Python forum this is!!!!!!

[EyeLashViper]

Well, first of all I would like to thank the moderator RPlank for inviting me to come over and see what this forum is all about.I must say that I am really stunned at the amount of information on Ball Pythons on this site :shock: This is without a doubt the best site for Ball Python husbandry that I have seen so far....Thankyou very much for steering me over here RPlank!!!

I am new to the herp field,having spent most of my life working with and dealing with invertebrates - I am very experienced with tarantulas,scorpions and centipedes.I still maintain a small collection of inverts but I have decided to rather narrowly specialize in Ball Python husbandry.I selected the Ball Python as I wanted a genuine Python but as I am living in a small apartment in Los Angeles a Reticulated or Burmese python would be out of the question.The Ball Python in my humble opinion is the perfect snake for a beginning herper like myselfThey have the mystique of a giant snake but are not enormous like a retic or burm.Granted they may be tricky at times to maintain as I am learning but so far I have had practically no problems with my pair of BPs.

Now a little about my setup.I have two pythons at this time.They are a subadult female that is 24 inches long and a subadult male that is 20 inches long.They are named Trinity and Cypher.I am maintaining them in seperate enclosures that strictly temp and humidity controlled.I am currently maintaining them with a temp gradient that is about 88-90 degrees on the warm end of the enclosures and about 78-80 degrees on the cool end.I am currently still feeding live prey but I am in the process of transitioning them to pre-killed frozen rats.Trinity, the big female has transitioned to juvie rats but Cypher the male is still taking large adult mice.So far they have been voracious feeders and have grown rapidly since I purchased them back in March at the IRBA show out here in Pomona Ca.They were little more than hatchlings at the time but have put on serious size.

As for me I am a 36 year old man living in Southern California in Los Angeles - I am a former Marine and I am now working as a Freight Forwarder.In case you were wondering my real name is John.I look forward to making friends with all of you other Ball Python keepers and I would really like any input you might have on my pythons as far as their husbandry goes since I will admit that I am a rank beginner in the herp field.If any of you are interested at all in the invertebrate hobby I would be more than willing to offer advice and information on that hobby as well.In any case I would like to say that I am really knocked out by this forum and I am feeling a lot better about things now....RPlank knows what I am talking about :wink: :wink:

Talk to you all later!!!!!!!!!

EyeLashViper

[RPlank]

Great to have you here, John! Glad you decided to check us out. I feel the same way about the site. We have some great information available, and our membership is steadily growing.
We would love to see any pics of your critters you may have. You can post them in the picture forums, or if you want a photo gallery, email or instant message one of the admins, either ballkingdom@ball-pythons.net, or jeanne@ball-pythons.net They can hook you up with a photo album, and email addy.
We look forward to hearing more from you!

[BallKingdom]

Great to have you here! Making this site the best for ball python owners has been my goal from the beggining, sorry the site has been so slow lately. I've been busy getting ready to revamp the site a little bit, which has left me with little time to keep it active. Hence the fall in rank on the topsites.

Sounds like you got some nice ball pythons, if you'd like a gallery e-mail be at admin@ball-pythons.net and I'll get it set up for you.

Yeah, ball pythons are great snakes for begginers, as well as few experienced keepers. Their small size, great attitude, and ease of care make them the best. I got a corn snake instead of a bp for my first snake, I was smackin myself in the head for years. They got to be the best python to keep. I guess thats why they are so popular.

By the by, are you a matrix fan by any chance?

Great to have you aboard.

[Pythagoras]

I am really knocked out by this forum and I am feeling a lot better about things now....RPlank knows what I am talking about :wink: :wink:

Yeah...so does everyone else on the bcforums...This is a much newer forum that doesn't really have regular a$$holes visiting yet, so people are much more receptive here. Everyone will be happy I'm sure, to be able to learn from and with you as you share your experiences....You could probably hijack this forum too and we'd all appreciate the discussion a little more than they did over there...

[BallKingdom]

Yeah, I was informed of the situation down there. I'm never going to pass off a question as just some n00b question, rather then answering it, as it is over there. I'm sure there were some people willing to lend a hand, but a few were being pretty rude about it. One person out of 100 being a jerk will leave an impression.

BPK is only at about 65 members, relatively small site for now. So each question can be answered throughly. It's been a problem that I've seen on many large herp sites, you get a lot of jerks. BC is a good place normally, but I guess some people can ruin it. I certainly would stomp out any flame type posts here, but there is it tolerated. I noticed a few mods there joining in, kind of worries me. Mods are the last people I'd expect to do anything along those lines. In fact, thats the opposite of their job. BC is a great place, I stop by every day, but just a few bad apples can ruin them all.

[EyeLashViper]

Well, yes I do like the Matrix movies quite a bit.I seem to get a better grasp of the whole concept in the movies better and better with every time I re-watch them.There are a lot of hidden facets to the movies that you would miss totally if you just watched them only once or twice.Very interesting concept that they are showing...sort of makes me look at things around me in a weird way.But yes, my two BPs are named Trinity and Cypher.I am hoping that as I eventually get the fundamentals and basics of BP husbandry down I might even want to attempt breeding them.A future project but for the time being I am concentrating on just learning basic snake biology and Ball Python Husbandry in particular.

Yes, I had a rather unpleasant experience over on the Bob Clark forums.I was simply trying to be friendly which IS my basic personality and perhaps I may have been over-enthusiastic but I do not think it was called for for them to flat out insult me and make me feel unwelcome to the point where I canned the entire forum.Even the moderator over there was nasty with me.So I figured enough of this @##@@# if you get my drift.From what I have seen already THIS forum is far superior in layout and graphics and I don't feel like some kind of inferior human being because I am a beginner in the hobby.

As for taking pictures of my two BPs I would love to post many shot and even establish a gallery but I have to wait till I can afford a digital camera.Perhaps by Christmas I may be able to get one.

Well, that is all for now...

Your Pal
EyeLashViper

[BallKingdom]

My site isn't superior to theirs, probly never will be. Bob is a famous and well known breeder who offers forums for all herps, mine is basically ball pythons. Silas, a friend, made the general design. Be expecting the look to change REAL soon.

The problem with big sites is you get a lot of knowledgeable people, who tend to run the place. They get tired of the same old questions, which they deem n00b questions. So they either pass them off, or act somewhat rudely, you got a bad case of that. I haven't seen what went on yet, but it seems pretty bad. I'll have to go see.

[Kara]

Easy Tonto...don't go knocking other forums so much...while I'll admit that the forum in question can be a rough spot for noobs sometimes, it's also easy to see why mods get frustrated by people who post the same question that was posted 2 threads before & don't take the time to actually READ through the forum archives for good info. There are a lot of talented herpers who write extremely long, detailed posts that are never referred to again, and it can be frustrating for people to show up and demand info w/o doing any research. Posting the same replies over and over gets time consuming and repetitive, especially when you have other things to do - i.e. maintaining a large collection of animals.

Just another perspective...

K

[BallKingdom]

Yeah I understand that totally, if you're at such a big forum and the only disscussions you get are the same repetitive questions, it will drive you nuts. I've become rather innactive on many forums because of the same reason. It becomes even more frustrating when you can get the same info off a basic caresheet, or by ready a few posts down. that'll drive anyone nuts.

Being a BCforum fan myself, I love the site. Sometimes it is more productive to the site as a whole if people would simply supply them with a link to the other post, and or not reply. But I suppose a flame oriented post is not always called for, especially when the intent is good, and the questions innocent. Crap happens, BC is a good place. I still love it. Certainly what I'm saying isn't intended to bash Bc, because it is a great site. I'm sorry if it came across as a bash, as I had feared it would. I chose my wording carefully as to try and make it bash proof, but sorry if it appears that way. I won't stand for up front bashing on here, thats not the kind of site I wish to run, but it's a judgements call. I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread, not sure it is headed in the right direction anymore.

[RPlank]

I think this thread is headed in the wrong direction. One member has already taken it upon himself to directly bash another forum, which will not be tolerated. This thread started out fine, but it is now locked, to avoid any more problems such as the one that surfaced yesterday. It is fine to have your personal opinion about this or any other website, but lets keep it positive on the boards.
Thanks.