Additional Questions For an Amateur

[Godzilla78]

free roam only under supervision, and if the snake is massive. A youngling ball python could squeeze through/into just about anywhere. My buddy told me, a long time ago, (he no longer has snakes thank god, lol) he used to let his ball python roam around for days. He said it would get into his subwoofer and hangout, and he could never get it out without taking the entire speaker cabinet apart!
Also, what Dr del said, they will find the most obnoxious places to hide or escape, or climb around the house and knock down fragile objects.

[Craiga 01453]

Free roaming = bad idea. As some others have mentioned, they can and will find the tiniest, most inconvenient places to hide, or possibly escape and your pet is gone.
Supervised sessions only.
Also, it wasn't mentioned, but if you have other pets you should keep your snake separated from then as well.

As for bites, chances are your BP probably won't tag you. However, if you keep snakes long enough you're bound to get tagged eventually. Hang out at the barber shop long enough, you're bound to get a haircut.
If/when the time comes, try not to pull away (easier said than done, I know) which is normal human reaction, and just take the bite. Chances are it'll be a defensive strike and the snake will let go right away. Pulling away actually makes it worse on you and possibly could pull teeth out.
Typically, yes just soap and water.

[hollowlaughter]

1/2: Given the enclosure size you're wanting to work with, the closer to an adult the animal is, the better. A hatchling will be stressed in a large open space like a 150G without a lot of concessions like covering the sides, adding a lot of plants and hides, deep substrate, etc. Remember that they're prey animals and a happy BP is a BP that feels safe and secure.

3: Check daily for feces/urates. Clean them out as you see them. If you do this and use an absorbent substrate like coir, aspen, hemp, generally once a month for a complete cleanout is enough. Paper towels/paper will be more often.

4: I use shredded hemp. Get it for $1/2LB. Similar to aspen. Add in moss and other things if needed for humidity. Yes, they can climb. They're not arboreals but they will make use of climbing opportunities if provided, just try to not go upwards too far since they're clumsy climbers and may fall a lot. My adult male regularly makes use of a dowel ladder I made him for climbing, and I have seen others adults regularly use things like branches, repti-hammocks, and so on. Enrichment like this (along with good feeding) ensure a BP who is not overweight/obese.

5: In a large enclosure, you will need a pad (for digestion hot spot) and lamp (for ambient heat) unless you heat the room the enclosure is in to around 80F. A radiant heat panel is also a good option, since these animals need high humidity. ProPanels is nice to work with and will help you size one based on the enclosure you pick, tell you where to install it to provide a hotspot AND ambient heat, etc.

6: No handling 24HR before and 48HR after feeding. Minimize handling while shedding. Minimize handling if the animal is not eating. Otherwise this is touch and go. Some are OK with handling, some will huff and hiss for years and hate it. Go into this accepting your BP may not be a handling animal, only a display animal. Better to be surprised than disappointed. My adult male accepts handling regularly and will in fact sometimes tell us when he wants out by exiting the enclosure himself (or trying to) when I'm in there doing spot cleaning and other work. Not the same with all animals.

BPs are an OK starter, but require some specific husbandry. Absolutely NOTHING wrong with "simpler" snakes with less demanding husbandry such as milks, corns, kingsnakes, garters, etc. I'd even say some like sand boas are easier, while hognoses and the like have the same finicky eating issues but trade it off with less exact needs, etc.

[Reptilius]

Welcome into the snake world firstly.
I second what everyone has basically answered on your questions.

Just a warning though.

You Get Alcohol Addiction.
You Get Drug Addiction.
And then you Get Ball Python Addiction.

Enjoy the hobby. Heed the advice given.

[c0r3yr0s3]

The bp I had about 15 years ago got out of his enclosure and I couldn't find him anywhere. I was sitting on my couch and noticed some movement in a 12" subwoofer I had sitting in a corner and sure enough, there he was, coiled up inside the speaker. I had to dangle a mouse in front of it to lure him out. From that day on, I started putting a pin in the lock holes because he figured out how to disengage the latch. My little brother was messing with him while I was at work and didn't pin the lid down and he escaped. I never seen him again

[AmyandSeverussnake]

Hi, I'm new to the snake world, I have had a lovely little ball python for about 4 months now (she was 6 months old when i got her), and she has been fine so far, but tonight during feeding the rat popped and got some substrate stuck to it, and she has eaten it. I am really worried, what should i do? Please help!

P.S I have tried feeding her outside the viv before as I heard it was the best way to do it, but she refused 2 feeds in a row when i tried it :/

Thankyou x