Vote for BP.Net for the 2013 Forum of the Year! Click here for more info.

» Site Navigation

» Home
 > FAQ

» Online Users: 515

1 members and 514 guests
Most users ever online was 6,337, 01-24-2020 at 04:30 AM.

» Today's Birthdays

Ziggy31984 (40)

» Stats

Members: 75,014
Threads: 248,474
Posts: 2,568,391
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
Welcome to our newest member, DetectiveIcarus
Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Results 21 to 22 of 22
  1. #21
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
    Join Date
    02-08-2014
    Location
    Connecticut
    Posts
    4,802
    Thanks
    8,109
    Thanked 9,691 Times in 3,863 Posts
    Images: 134

    Re: What got you started/ addicted to Ball Pythons

    Always loved animals and was especially enamored with snakes. So different and so cool.

    When I was 10 I got my first BP and fell in love with snake keeping. Sadly, there weren't sites like this, and he was wild caught, etc. He did okay, but I made mistakes with a few other reptiles and ended up rehoming everyone when I moved at 12. I vowed that if i kept reptiles again, I would do it right.

    Fast forward to college and I had a couple corn snakes and a rescue BP I saved who had an RI and wouldn't eat frozen. I fixed her RI and switched her to F/T but school got too much and I wasn't home much and most importantly, my kidneys failed I was told I couldn't keep reptiles for health reasons. I ended up rehoming them as well.

    Fast forward a few years and I did my own research. Reptiles are an added risk to someone with immune issues post transplant, but so is anything if not careful.I ended up getting a Beardie, George, at a reptile show in my area. He was awesome and I had in until he was 11 and I had to put him down with pancreatitis (RIP George). I had been keep cichlids, including breeding Frontosa, but as my health got worse, the pressure of water changes on big tanks and meticulous tank maintenance got to me. I found a good home for my breeding groups and decided that I like caring for things and love reptiles and George at the time was doing great, so I got my first BP in a while, Shayna. She was an albino spider BP and I had always wanted an albino as a kid, but $20K in 1990 money was steep.

    Over the past 8 years I've completed my collection to have 7 snakes and 5 lizards. The collection is fairly diverse and you know what, I am doing it right!

    Everyone is happy and healthy and I couldn't be happier. I find 12 snake tanks to be about as much work, or less, of 2 large fish tanks (240G and 90G), and without the pressure of having to do 90% fo the maintenance at once (big water changes - and you cannot skimp on those). With reptiles, if you don't feel well on a day, they can wait until the next day for food or cleaning, etc. That usually doesn't happen with me, but when it does, I don't sweat it like I did with fish.

    To sum all this up.

    1. Always loved reptiles

    2. Fell in love with albino BP's but not reasonable in 1990 for a 10 year old

    3. George, Beardie, got me back into the hobby in my 20's

    4. Shayna, Albino Spider BP, got me back hardcore in my 30's

    5. Resources like this site make keeping reptiles so much easier than it used to be. There is no excuse for not properly caring for reptiles now.

    6. 12 Reptiles = 2 fish tanks

  2. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to dakski For This Useful Post:

    jmcrook (08-19-2020),sp0420 (08-19-2020)

  3. #22
    Registered User ApathyAngel's Avatar
    Join Date
    06-14-2019
    Location
    Las Vegas
    Posts
    56
    Thanks
    27
    Thanked 77 Times in 30 Posts
    Images: 1

    Re: What got you started/ addicted to Ball Pythons

    For the longest time, I had pretty much zero interest in ball pythons. My first snakes were a tiger retic, jungle carpet python, and rosy boa.

    I mean, yeah, I've always thought ball pythons were cool and all, but I wasn't really interested in them. I think it was mostly just how common they are. I didn't think I'd ever own one.

    But then I rescued my first, who I named Pumpkin Python. He was a 10-ish-year-old Petco purchase with a ton of health issues due to neglect, bad temps, and no humidity (we live in the desert).

    But he was just so ungodly mellow. Even when he was sick, even when the vet was poking and prodding him, even when he was stressed. He was just so chill.

    I wasn't used to that. My retic was surprisingly chill for a retic, but he was still a retic. My rosy boa was completely nuts, always thinking I was food, even with tap training, even while holding her. She'd just be sitting in my lap, resting on my arm, then she'd tilt her head, open her mouth, and just lazily start gnawing on my arm. If I didn't spray her with my little spray bottle (which I always kept near me for exactly that reason), eventually she'd wrap around my wrist and do her darndest to kill and eat me.
    And my carpet python had exactly no chill whatsoever.

    I wasn't used to such a docile, mellow snake. And then, once he got better, he started being a little more active and showing some of his personality. He still had health issues because he'd been neglected for so long, but even with his special needs, he was by far the easiest snake I'd ever owned. And I realized it was actually way more fun to hold him.

    Granted, I LOVED my retic, he was my buddy, but as he got bigger, I couldn't exactly chill with him in my lap on the couch. And I constantly had to be on guard with my rosy and carpet girls.

    Pumpkin was different. Handling him was relaxing. He was even more mellow than Sabre was, and a fraction of the size. I started to understand why ball pythons are so popular.

    Unfortunately, Pumpkin passed away at 16. He had chronic skin and respiratory issues, we were on a first-name basis with the herp vet, and to be honest, we kind of knew he would never live to be a wrinkled old man. But he is definitely responsible for my love of ball pythons.

    So a few years back, when I found out that a family friend's teenage son was getting bored of his 2-year-old ball python, I immediately offered to take her. She's 6 now, and not nearly as mellow as Pumpkin was, but still incredibly docile and calm. And she has way more of a distinct personality than Pumpkin did (though to be fair, his health issues likely affected how he expressed his personality, while Jeffrey's neglect was far more minor and way easier to overcome).

    She's just so expressive. I mean, I learned a lot about snake body language with Sabre, that's a steep learning curve, but she's easier to read than I remember Sabre or Pumpkin being.

    She makes it so clear when she's scared, stressed, annoyed, hungry, curious, relaxed, etc. And she definitely has her things that she likes and things she doesn't like. She's got a big personality in a conveniently small package.

    And now I definitely understand why they're so common and so popular. I've absolutely been converted.

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.2.1