Thoughts on what to do with foster?

[kirakira]

Hi, I'm new here, looking for some advice. I'm petsitting/fostering a 5 year old female ball python while an acquaintance is out of the country. This person hasn't been taking great care of the snake; has already given away another snake (a boa) and the word is out she'd like to get rid of this one, too.

While I am enjoying petsitting/fostering this ball, I don't think I can commit to caring for it for the rest of it's life. However, to give it back to the owner would put her back into substandard care.

Any thoughts? From what I've read it's not terribly easy to rehome a ball python, is that correct? It seems like herp rescues are already overloaded enough with surrenders. Can anyone give me some ideas of where to look to rehome a snake into a good home? I live in the southeastern United States, if that helps.

Kira

[Nate]

Anywhere close to Orlando? If you want to give it away i'll see what I can do.

also, you need written permission to give this snake away. I do NOT want to deal with lawsuits when he's back in the country.

[JLC]

Welcome, Kira! :


Before you can get too deep into looking for a new home for the snake, you need to be 100% sure that her owner is truly willing to surrender her. And having written proof of that would be a really big help, too.

In the meantime, if you haven't looked at it already, take a little while to study our caresheet and see what steps you can take to give her a good home while she's in your care:

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

Thanks for being willing to foster her and for understanding the commitment involved in long-term care, rather than just taking on what some consider to be "throw away pets."

I hope things work out for her to find her way to a truly caring home!

[kirakira]

Yes, there is a chance the owner will want to keep the snake, particularly now that I've weaned her over to F/T. One of the reasons the owner didn't want to keep the snake was that in the owner's new location (they have an island home outside the country and a smaller one near me as well) there are no pet stores on the island that sell live mice or rats.

So, now that Frozen rodents could potentially be shipped to the new home, there's a possibility there. Though, like I said, the owner isn't the best at husbandry.

Thanks for the offer....I'll keep you in mind if the snake is indeed surrendered

[Nate]

Alright I sent you a PM with my contact info. Good luck

[Shaun J]

Pay them for it, then find a new home for it

Welcome to the site.

[rabernet]

I don't think you'd have any problems finding a home for a nice female ball python, especially from the folks here. I'm in Marietta, GA - and if Nate isn't able to help you out, I may be able to.


But again - be sure that the owner has given you permission to do so! Are you sure it's a female, or the owner is just calling it a girl?

[kirakira]

Oh, I'm just around the corner from Marietta, in Atlanta! Yes, I will definitely find out for sure if the owner wants to surrender it or not. I don't want any trouble, and it is her snake. However, signs point to wanting to surrender...she has already surrendered her other snake. The woman left for her other home for an indefinite amount of time (has been gone 7 weeks now) without hiring a petsitter or anything. A friend with a key to the house (who is afraid of snakes) suspected this after 3 weeks and stopped by. No water in the dish for who knows how long, cage dirty. My friend checked with owner and it was fine for me to take her home to take care of, so I did.

If she hadn't stopped by to check, that snake would have been there at least 4 weeks without water. We don't know how long she was without water before that. Not a good situation.

I believe she is a captive bred ball, and yes, she's been sexed. The owner was really into snakes in the beginning, so I strongly suspect snake was probed before bought (?).

So far you are the closest to me, so don't be surprised if you are contacted by me!