The smallest brags are sometimes the best :)

[cinderbird]

So, i have a "project" ball python that i've been working with while she's in quarantine (almost out, but i'll probably wait another week or so).

I picked up an unstarted hatchling at the beginning of May. She weighed 54 grams when i got her. I had an old enclosure from my honduran milk (who has now been rehomed for various reasons) that was the right size (possibly a little large) for a small bp.

I purposely picked up an unstarted hatchling because at some point I want to breed ball pythons on a very small scale, and thought it would be well worth my while to pick up a baby that I could start on my own and devote a ton of time and attention to if necessary to begin learning the process and acquiring the patience that is needed when dealing with (slightly stubborn) baby animals.

She had a week settling period where i only did basic cage matinence and a very brief handling session to make sure she moved alright and was okay physically. After that, i tried to start her eating, i offered her a live sm. adult mouse which she took after a half an hour of trying to figure it out. The next time she was fed, she took another live sm. adult in about 15 minutes.

A week ago, i tried to convert her to F/T. she didn't take and I wasn't surprised. TONIGHT i offered her another F/T sm. adult and she NAILED it and successfully consumed it.

Its been such an interesting process figuring out her likes and dislikes, she's much shyer than my other female was when i got her. She's gorgeous even if she's a normal. She has a broken stripe that goes all the way down from her head to the tip of her tail and just a few alien heads.

Hopefully this marks the end of the starting process for her, i'll count my luck when she takes F/T another 3-4 times in a row for me, but now that she's got whats going on i think she'll be a fantastic eater and grow up to be an amazing pet and breeder for me.

I've been wanting to tell everyone about her since I picked her up, but i wanted to be able to tell the story too.

[pavlovk1025]

Congrats! Its always a good feeling to watch your pets grow and thrive because of what you do for your snakes.

[LGL]

That's exciting! Congrats on not only getting her eating, but switching her over to F/T as well! I can't wait to see pictures!

[cinderbird]

That's exciting! Congrats on not only getting her eating, but switching her over to F/T as well! I can't wait to see pictures!

just edited the post to add some of the day i brought her home (they're super bad). real photo shoot coming soon!

[LGL]

just edited the post to add some of the day i brought her home (they're super bad). real photo shoot coming soon!

Thanks for putting those up! I like how she has a lot of elongated pattern and striping going on. I also like how she has the yellow/tan color (sorry, I'm partially color blind so it can be hard for me to tell) on her underside past her vent. That's one thing that has always interested me for whatever reason - the pattern/coloring of the vental scales between the vent and the tip of the tail. I have animals that have the clear belly (because that's a trait of their morph), but after the vent, they have a ton of belly pattern. I also have others that are the other way around; they have pattern all over their belly but not a speck of belly pattern past their vent. I don't remember ever seeing one like yours that has that yellow/tan coloring on their ventral scales like that. I may have seen it before, but I don't remember ever specifically thinking about it. Very cool and very interesting! Thanks again for posting those pictures of her!

[cinderbird]

Thanks for putting those up! I like how she has a lot of elongated pattern and striping going on. I also like how she has the yellow/tan color (sorry, I'm partially color blind so it can be hard for me to tell) on her underside past her vent. That's one thing that has always interested me for whatever reason - the pattern/coloring of the vental scales between the vent and the tip of the tail. I have animals that have the clear belly (because that's a trait of their morph), but after the vent, they have a ton of belly pattern. I also have others that are the other way around; they have pattern all over their belly but not a speck of belly pattern past their vent. I don't remember ever seeing one like yours that has that yellow/tan coloring on their ventral scales like that. I may have seen it before, but I don't remember ever specifically thinking about it. Very cool and very interesting! Thanks again for posting those pictures of her!

her pattern (especially belly) is much different from my other girl but i dont doubt that she's anything other than a nice looking normal. I'm waiting for her to go into shed again once she eats a little more to see how she colors up. She's had her first shed (not with me) so i think she'll continue to change a little bit, which is another thing i'm looking forward to. She actually has a lot of very light scales (circled in red). I dont know if its congential, if its because she shed poorly the first time, etc. Time will tell!



Shes very quiet and still when she's handled. Im also waiting to see if that changes once she figures out that i'm not going to eat her.

[SoundUnsleep]

Goodness, she's adorable.
I love the story behind her, but it does make them gears click: I got my first spider and my first pastel, because I sooooo wanted a bumblebee. I love both of them to pieces. When Charlotte tipped the scale at 1500g I came up with all sorts of excuses for why I could not put Flea with her. I had gotten so used to being protective ...
As much passion as you are showing, I'm just wondering, if that "mother hen" instinct is going to kick in, when your little baby is a big baby.
As far as "normal" is concerned: All ball pythons are "special" to their keeper!
Congrats on this beautiful little girl!

[LGL]

Either way, she is a very nice looking snake!

Shes very quiet and still when she's handled. Im also waiting to see if that changes once she figures out that i'm not going to eat her.

Yeah, my hatchlings so far this year are acting the same way - shy and timid. Last year we had a group of biters, and strangely enough I miss having miniature "finger-biters" around. They definitely made cage maitainence interesting!

[cinderbird]

Goodness, she's adorable.
I love the story behind her, but it does make them gears click: I got my first spider and my first pastel, because I sooooo wanted a bumblebee. I love both of them to pieces. When Charlotte tipped the scale at 1500g I came up with all sorts of excuses for why I could not put Flea with her. I had gotten so used to being protective ...
As much passion as you are showing, I'm just wondering, if that "mother hen" instinct is going to kick in, when your little baby is a big baby.
As far as "normal" is concerned: All ball pythons are "special" to their keeper!
Congrats on this beautiful little girl!

I actually have my first morph arriving thursday morning if all goes well, an 08 female spider and on tuesday of next week a gorgeous 08 male pastel. Bees are one of my favorite morphs, killer bees toping them. ANYTHING BEE does it for me.

This is the pastel thats coming to me (i didn't take this picture, his current owner did). but hey the more pics i can shove in a thread the better!


My boyfriend thinks i'm a little nuts for loving snakes, and reptiles as much as i do, thats why i come here to gush over all the adorableness going on on bp.net I can tell the little ones story and get a worth while response instead of "baby, i love you but i don't get it". haha.

[cinderbird]

Either way, she is a very nice looking snake!



Yeah, my hatchlings so far this year are acting the same way - shy and timid. Last year we had a group of biters, and strangely enough I miss having miniature "finger-biters" around. They definitely made cage maitainence interesting!

i keep forgetting i can quote multiple things in one post. lol.

When i was at Adam Wysocki's (8ball pythons) taking pictures for my senior project//book//thing he had a few of those. Babies are SO funny when they're trying to act all tough and mighty. A few of them got me but its not a big deal. Their little hisses are so cute. Neither of mine are hissers or biters so i don't experience that, and even if i get one eventually thats a little fiesty, well thats what they invented snake hooks and gloves for isnt it?