Anyone else have "The Guide to Owning a Ball Python" by John Coborn?

[Peter Williams]

I got this book several years ago, waaaay before I got my BP(http://www.arcatapet.com/fullsize/8048.jpg theres a picture of the cover). I was very interested in BPs but my parents just wouldn't let me have one. So just recently when I finally got them to crack, it was nice that I didn't have to go out and buy a book, I already have one. Anyways getting to the point, some people may have noticed I've been posting alot about temperatures. The average from what I've read all over the web is about 90-95 for the hotside and 80-85 for the cold side. And most things I've read also tell me that I need to keep the temperatures constant, or it could stress out my snake. I would consult the book for everything; until I found this website. So I've been trying for a few weeks to get my temps just perfect. Then I pick up my book and flip to the housing section. And to my shock I read this, "The air temperature in the cage should be maintained at 77 to 88F during the day, reducing to 68 to 73F at night. The day/night temperature cycle is important. It is bad for your snake to be kept permanantly at a constant high temperature; that is a mistake many budding keepers make." Upon reading this I consulted the manager of the reptile department of my local Superpet, and he told me that 93 is good for my hotside, and 75 good for my cold side. Now call me fickle but I'd be more inclined to listen to him, and the book, then trust the information on a website. Now I know theres alot of very knowledgeable people here and I'm asking you, who the hell should I listen to, and what the hell should my damn temperatures be at?!

Sorry for the length of this post.

[CeraDigital]

I keep the warm side at 90F, and the cool side at 84F for my Ball Pythons. I have a couple of John Coborns books including the Guide on Burms, and I've found them very unreliable and waaaaaay outdated

[rabernet]

When was that book published? Remember that the longer ball pythons are kept in captivity, the more we learn about them.


The two most recently published books on ball pythons with the most up to date information are:

The Complete Ball Python by Kevin McCurley (of NERD) published 2005

Ball Pythons of the World Vol II: Ball Pythons by Barker and Barker (of VPI) published 2006

If you click the titles, it will take you to where you can order both books.

I trust the experience of the members here and my own personal experience. I keep my warm side at 92-94 degrees and my cool side at 82-84 degrees.

[dr del]

Hi,


I have "ball pythons" by john coborn - lovely pictures but , as it was published in 1994, the husbandry information has moved on quite a bit. And the morph section compared to modern information will give an idea of how dated it has become.

The two books mentioned above are the best of the best but ,sadly, the prices reflect this. If you just want the correct information for the moment I can highly recomend this book;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...379992-8362024

By the way you really do want the other two as well - drop a few hints for Christmas and birthdays.


dr del

[rabernet]

Hi,


I have "ball pythons" by john coborn - lovely pictures but , as it was published in 1994, the husbandry information has moved on quite a bit. And the morph section compared to modern information will give an idea of how dated it has become.



dr del

Yup, as I suspected - the information in that book is outdated by 13 years, at least.