First ball python 😃

[Yh88]

Hey guys ! Need some advice , I'm intending to get a BP next weekend from the pet expo in JB Malaysia .
For a newbie getting my first snake , would it be better to get a hatchling ? Or a slightly more matured snake ?

Thanks in advance for your help 😄.

[carlson]

Get one that's still young but is an established feeder, then they can tell you what the snakes eatting and all that just so you don't have to worry about getting a young snake started eating. Otherwise I think watching an animal grow up from baby to adult is one of the best things of owning the animal an since its your first you might as well get something that will let you experience all or most of those changes specially if you get a morph that gets nicer as it ages

[glk832]

I would do hatchling.. I rarely by bigger snakes I like to grow them up myself carlson is right taken a 100 gram snake to 1500-2000 grams is nice... Hatchlings can sometimes be bitey but with handling will calm down over time.

[TheSnakeGuy]

Both great points made above. Another consideration should be price. For the most part older snakes cost much more. Also at reptile shows there is a much greater variety of hatchlings to choose from.

[martin82531]

A couple threads to read before you bring you ball home as well:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

[SlitherinSisters]

My advice is to get an older snake. A juvenile or adult would be your best option in my opinion. You know they are eating well if they have made it that far, just make sure you don't get a skinny one, bps should never look skinny. An older snake will give you more time to figure out what you are doing wrong with the enclosure if they won't eat. With a hatchling you may only have a month to get it figured out and get the snake eating again.

If you are worried about temperament, don't. They are simple creatures, and very few are aggressive. If you ask the breeder they should tell you if they have a bad attitude or not. Out of 32 snakes I only have a few that have a bad attitude.

[Yh88]

Thanks for your Infos guys ! I'll read up on the husbandry , temp , etc ..
I'm more concern about temperature . I'm from Malaysia , which is very hot all year . In this case , should I put the cage/rack in a cooler part of my home ?

[Yh88]

@slitherinsisters , yeah that was what I was worried about too . Since I have no experience with snakes , if I cannot get the hatchling to feed it will prolly die in one or two weeks . A slightly older individual can go longer w/o feeding , at least until I managed to find a solution to feed it .

[yellowbelly76]

Sorry to piggy-back off of this thread, but I am having problems starting a new one. I am a new BP owner, and new to this forum. I picked up my male yellow belly at a reptile expo last Saturday, and am currently housing him in a 20 gallon tall glass tank. I am attempting to work though some temp/humidity issues, and wondered how good/bad things are currently.

I have a digital themo between the glass and the carpet (currently using reptile carpet for substrate) on the hot side, and getting a reading of 89.4. Have a combo thermo/hygro on the cool side, which is currently reading 77.5, and 53%. I am struggling to keep the humidity up, and currently have a damp towel draped over half of the screen top, over the cool side. I do not have a UTH at this time, so the heat is generated by 2 lamps, one with a 75 watt bulb, and the other is 60watts. I ordered a UTH, but ending up with one that was too big for my tank. Now I'm debating whether to get one made for a 20 gal tank, or get 2 mini's that I can put side-by-side, having the power cables go toward the center of the tank, which would avoid them getting pinched between the tank, and the stand it sits on (the tank sits within a lip, so the little spacers that come with the UTH wouldn't prevent the cable from pinching on the sides).

I purchased a 1/4 inch thick acrylic, that I had cut to size, but covers the entire top of the tank. I used a hole saw to cut a couple of holes for the probe wires, and ventilation. However, it got pretty hot, and I was concerned that it would melt into the tank, so I removed it. Also, with it in place, after having prayed the tank, the humidity jumped to 83% (that's when I removed the acrylic, and noticed it was pretty hot to the touch)

I'm not sure what else I can tell you. If you have any questions, please let me know, and I will answer them ASAP. What I need to know is, is that cool side too cool? Is the temp I'm getting between the glass and carpet ok for belly heat, without the UTH? What can you recommend to increase the humidity, as it seems spraying is only a short-term solution, unless I want to spray every few hours? Thanks for any help you can provide. Really excited to have a BP, and I want to make sure he is well cared for.

Aaron