Your First BP

[MedusasOwl]

So many experienced folks around here with dozens of snakes, I thought it would be cool to hear everyone's first ball python story. What drew you? Where did you get him or her? Do you still have him or her today? Anything that comes to mind really. Sort of another getting to know everybody & their snakes sort of post.

As some of you probably already know, my own first ball python story is still in progress. Hopefully, Gomez will arrive Wed of next week. With many thanks to Jo and Jamie!

I'd always wanted a snake, but growing up my Mom vetoed anything without fur, and I always figured I couldn't ever feed a snake a mouse because I get so easily attached to creatures that enter my house. I grew up, moved out, fell in love etc and the whole "You can't have a snake" thought just sort of stuck in my brain. Our best friend brought over her new rough green tree snake and I just about died when I got to hold little Forevergreen. That old longing sprung right back up and twisted into obsession. And Forevergreen ate crickets! Well, I could manage not to get attatched to crickets.

So I began hunting and researching snakes and learned about f/t feeders, which was extra exciting because rodent eating snakes live much longer than rough green trees. Luckily my fiancee was real supportive of my snake longing, and she's always loved cute lil BP faces but we figured we'd start with a corn and see how that goes, as they're a bit less intimidating size and weight wise. Enter Falkor, we both fell deeply in love and fed/took care of him without trouble... So I began researching BPs more deeply after we decided we had the space and funds for a snake and landed here. A cruel pet store employee placing a sweet (but sickly) baby BP in my hands only intensified my longing. Enter Jo who directed us to Jamie and little Gomez.

So, what about you guys? When/where/how/why did you aquire your first bp?

[sweety314]

I've always been around garter snakes & diamondbacks on the farm. I've wanted a python/boa ever since college, back in 1983-4 when I had the care of feeding the mice, rats and snakes of the biology dept. prof that I worked for. As a student living at home, I didn't have the $$ and Mom said "Nyet!". As a student, and then newlywed, I didn't have money, and husband said NO!


Now I'm not a student and I'm not married. I had met a breeder in one of my classes at OSU. For over 18 yrs. I kept his business card. He wasn't the source of my first snake, but he's still in (even bigger) business, and I bought Wrigley from him last month.

My roommate saw an ad posted on the BB at work, and that's how I got Baby, almost a year ago, after 22 yrs of wanting.

I no longer have Baby but I'm thoroughly hooked!!!!! There's another herp show in Eugene in March, and I plan on having a setup ready and saving my nickles and dimes so I can pick up another family member then! I'm looking at Dums right now. Brad had a baby Dums when I went to him last month, but it wasn't thriving very well, and he wasn't comfortable selling it until it had eaten regularly 3 or more times, so I looked at the Columbians and fell in love with Wrigley.

FD got her corn for Christmas, but has already talked about when she can get another snake of some kind.

I just got my order from Matt so I'm getting everything all straightened out and ready for the next one. I can't wait!

RuLyn

[Razaiel]

Well, I never even thought about snakes as a pet (I neither liked nor disliked them) - but when my daughter started working at our local reptile place she'd been saying for almost a year that she wanted one - she wanted a BP - "OMG!" was my response "Those things are so big - they could injure you!" and also "Do you know they're constrictors? What if it got out in the night? It could strangle you in your sleep! Besides - your Dad and Gran hate them"


But she was really determined and spent her last birthday money on buying a baby BP. Before that I went into her reptile shop and held their adult female BP Emily - she was so gorgeous, smooth and satiny (plus she didn't try to strangle me ) I fell in love immediately - as I am now in love with Baby Emily (my daughter's snake). Now I'm at the stage of having resuced some corns and wondering how long it will take me to save up for a Piebald BP ...

[recycling goddess]

i never wanted a snake, but my son did... so since my eldest daughter was moving out (and we promised no spiders or snakes in the house while she lived here) i began investigating the needs of snakes for my son.

in the end... he decided he didn't want one and i feel in love with balls! (i was investigating corns for him... but the balls were calling me) so i got dexter and he enjoys my snake instead of having his own.

he kids and my hubby like telling people... the wife has a snake! heehee

[mr~python]

I was always interested in reptiles since i could walk. I was always in our backyard by the cement wall catching Fence Lizards and as i got older when we would go camping I would go catch Garter and Racer snakes.

I got into Ball Pythons when my cousin got one. Three years later I got Vanessa from petacular exotics. I was so excited to get her. It was the best day ever! Ever since then I've been learning anything I could about reptiles, then in April of 05 I got Zulu, also from petacular. I plan on breeding them this year and I think it'll be AWESOME!!! Vanessa is already 1070g empty!!

I am officially hooked

[Shelby]

Well, I've ALWAYS loved reptiles. Ever since I could move around by myself I was outside catching and keeping whatever living things I could find in the backyard. However, Mom said 'NO snakes!' She was terrified of them.

One day, on my weekly trip to the petstore with my dad to get 12 dozen crickets (for the 10 toads, pacman frog and firebelly toad) and two dozen goldfish (for the snapping turtle and the painted turtle) the pet store owner let me hold two baby cornsnakes. I fell in love.. TOTALLY! I went home crying because I was so sad I couldn't have one. (I was 8)

Well, my mom cracked, and gave in. My dad took me back that very night and my first corn snake came home! I named him Cornelius and we were a happy family until he escaped one day and was found dead in the front yard.

A few months later I got an albino corn snake (WOW albino, how cool is that! I said) and again we were a happy family for awhile.. until a 'friend' let the snake out and he was never found!

My first BP I got when I was probably 10. My mom FREAKED out when we brought it home, she actually left the house for a few hours, crying. Unfortunately we got very bad advice from the pet store, and the poor thing died not long after I got it.

NOW, finally, I have things worked out and have 21 lovely snakes with probably more coming home on Saturday! The cool thing is, my mom LOVES snakes now, and has her own snow corn snake named Chantilly that she adores.

[Sassafrass]

I've always loved all critters. But growing up, my mom wouldnt let anything other than a box turtle, or a hamster in the house. I had a few turtles, that we kept in the basement, free roaming. There was a huge field behind the house, so there was an endless supply of crickets and waterbugs and such that got in, and we also fed them greens and stuff.

My first husband was terrified of any kind of snake. So me owning one then was totally out of the question. Second husband wasnt a reptile fan either.

So after getting rid of the dumb husbands, a friend of mine IM'd me one night and asked me if I wanted a snake. I immediatly shouted YES!!! (yes, I actually yelled at the puter) He told me that he had a bp, and his wife was about to have a baby, and she wanted it gone. So a few days later, he brought the snake to me. Said it was a she, and her name was Sophia. I fell in love as soon as I picked her up.

Well, I had 'Sophia' probed, and turned out she was a he. Re-named him Atreyu, and I still have him. That was a little over 3 years ago now. He's my stubborn one, will only eat white rats, won't touch anything frozen/thawed, and goes off feed for 5 months every year. But I still love him to death.

[Diceman]

I was 13 (only 3 years ago lol) and had taken a reptile and amphibian study merit badge course at winter camp for boy scouts and in order to get the merit badge I need to keep a reptile for a period of 3 months and record its feeding and everything like that now ive been wanting a snake for literally as long as I can remember..(in school I always the kid sitting away from the others in the library reading about snakes and reptiles)... but my dad has always been against them and insisted I borrow another scout members snake but I refused so he then tries to get me to get a lizard or frog but I still refrused..he wanted me to get as many merit badges as I could and all so after he talked to a friend of his who had a female he believed was gravid and would give me one the babies he finally agreed..a few weeks later after many reads through a ball python book I had bought we get a call from the guy saying his female isent gravid but he has a friend at a pet store near by who takes very good care of their pets (River city exotics in SA, TX highly reccomend them) so we go there and I picked out little apollo he was 6 months old at the time but a good eater and everything..had him for 3 years now and as sappy as it may sound I dont know what id do if I couldent come in my room every night and see him in his tank..hopefully he will be with me till atleast my late 30's

Talk about a companion for life lol

[Schlyne]

I renewed my interest in snakes as pets after going to an outside festival, and talking to a girl that had her ball pythons with her. (not exactly the best of ideas) Anyway, I was really impressed with how her ball pythons acted and started research.

I stumbled across kingsnake.com and then found the Chiago Reptile House website. Then I found it was exactly one week before the Tinley NARBC show. I had Intend to go down and buy all the caging, and get everything setup, and then going to the show to buy the acutal snake. After getting to the reptile house, I asked to hold one of the ball pythons, since I'd know that the record for lifespan in captivity was 40 years and I wanted to be sure I still wanted one.

Jeff, I think, deposited a baby ball into my hand and then went back to working with some other customers for a while. The ball python prompty peed all over my hand, and began looking around. Sometime later, I drove home with caging and the baby ball previous mentioned.

Issa is now a whopping 1300g male and for whatever reason, is still eating like a pig for this time of year

See http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...368#post304368 for a size comparison picture

[recycling goddess]

what a great thread... how about some of you other people... tell us your story!!!