The adventures of Dad and Daughter snake keeping

[DandD]

Recently my 5 year old stumbled across some bhb videos on YouTube and brought up wanting a snake. For me no problem, but for mom......well that was a different story. Surprise to me though after mom and daughter made some trips to a pet store(I kno my bad) a few temper tantrums later. we are now the proud owners of Mike Thythin the Ball Pythin.
The temps are good the humidity is good and he eats like a savage. This brings up question number 1-he is eating fuzzies two about an hour apart, should I bump him up to the next size mouse? And the last one- we have decided on a new cage for Christmas astetically I like the exo terra large wide but I also like the t10( I think) because it stacks and will be nice for when I inevitably add another snake( I'm really pushing for a Bel) thanks for any info anyone puts out. This is a super exciting time for me and my little one and we r doing the best we can for our first little snake.

p.s sorry about the horrendous grammar and sentence formats

[OneEyedFox]

Recently my 5 year old stumbled across some bhb videos on YouTube and brought up wanting a snake. For me no problem, but for mom......well that was a different story. Surprise to me though after mom and daughter made some trips to a pet store(I kno my bad) a few temper tantrums later. we are now the proud owners of Mike Thythin the Ball Pythin.
The temps are good the humidity is good and he eats like a savage. This brings up question number 1-he is eating fuzzies two about an hour apart, should I bump him up to the next size mouse? And the last one- we have decided on a new cage for Christmas astetically I like the exo terra large wide but I also like the t10( I think) because it stacks and will be nice for when I inevitably add another snake( I'm really pushing for a Bel) thanks for any info anyone puts out. This is a super exciting time for me and my little one and we r doing the best we can for our first little snake.

p.s sorry about the horrendous grammar and sentence formats

Hi! Man I wish my dad was still alive when I got into snake keeping but I think it's great you and your daughter are getting into a hobby together like this. For the new cage, I would definitely recommend a T8 for a ball python just make sure there's enough hiding room and it should be great. That's what I'm getting my BP for Christmas too lol. I have an exoterra for my bp rn, and while it is a great display tank and looks cool, keeping humidity in is such a vassal, I have to put foil over he top, keep moss in his tank, and spray once or twice a day. PVC is great because it helps with humidity, it's stackable and it looks pretty good too!!! One word of warning though, when it comes to stacking tanks, I recommend only stacking the same size tanks on top of each other as AP has said so themselves in an email that bowing may occur when stacking enclosures that are different sizes, so you should watch out for that cause you wouldn't want your snake's enclosure to collapse while they are in there lol.

As for the feeding, there's a pretty common feeding chart a lot of people on here (myself included) follow Now you don't really HAVE TO use this, so if you don't want to, a good rule of thumb would be to go for a prey with the same thickness as the thickest part of the snake's body.

Now I'm going to assume that since you are a new snake owner, you are feeding store bought mice, if the snake is on live, I recommend switching to f/t immediately, it's more cost efficient, it's practically the same thing, and you don't run the risk of the mouse hurting your animal. If your snake is already on f/t, then I would recommend buying your snake food from Big Cheese or Perfect Prey online. Most pet stores over price mice CAZY and the most expensive part about ordering online is just the shipping but if you only have one snake, you get enough snake food to last about a year with just one order in most cases.

One last thing. When I first got into reptiles, I loved BHB and while Brian is a super nice guy, I wouldn't take his word on everything. The tubs he keeps his animals in are way to small in my opinion and he just has way too many animals for them to all be kept in good healthy condition. I've also heard of people buying from him and being sent animals that have mites or other issues. A great family friendly YouTube channel with beautiful animals is Josser'sJungle, I think your daughter would love that channel. Not to say watching BHB is bad, just might not want to use him as a role model per se. He is extremely kid friend and interesting to watch though so I can't blame anyone for being interested in his videos. He's had some amazingly beautiful animals on his show as well which is what drew me in at first, but you should definitely broaden your horizons and find more people that also like helping like AriAwesomeness of IG (he has a YouTube but I can't remember the name, it might be the same) I know him personally and he's pretty cool, takes excellent care of his animals and love to show off his anacondas.

Best of luck with this new hobby, I'm sure you and your daughter will love it, feel free to ask anymore questions if you have any, and sorry about the stupid long message!!!


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[Tonald Drump]

What size is he? Feeding depends on the size, a good rule to follow is to weigh your BP, then get feeders that are 10%-15% his weight. Also, feeding hourly? That's way too quick unless you're feeding multiple undersized feeders (no offense), try feeding him every 5-7 days. Here's a caresheet that I use for my ball python: http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Care...s/Ball-Python/

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[Codil7]

I laughed historically when I read the name you chose for him . So great. Welcome to the world of snake ownership!


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[DandD]

What size is he? Feeding depends on the size, a good rule to follow is to weigh your BP, then get feeders that are 10%-15% his weight. Also, feeding hourly? That's way too quick unless you're feeding multiple undersized feeders (no offense), try feeding him every 5-7 days. Here's a caresheet that I use for my ball python: http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Care...s/Ball-Python/

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I ment that he eats ever Wednesday but he eats 2 fuzzies about an hour apart. He just seemed so damn hungry going after the first one I thought the pet store might have underfed him.

[Tonald Drump]

I ment that he eats ever Wednesday but he eats 2 fuzzies about an hour apart. He just seemed so damn hungry going after the first one I thought the pet store might have underfed him.

Oooooh lol, I thought you were feeding him every hour. Alright then, good job!

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[DandD]

Hi! Man I wish my dad was still alive when I got into snake keeping but I think it's great you and your daughter are getting into a hobby together like this. For the new cage, I would definitely recommend a T8 for a ball python just make sure there's enough hiding room and it should be great. That's what I'm getting my BP for Christmas too lol. I have an exoterra for my bp rn, and while it is a great display tank and looks cool, keeping humidity in is such a vassal, I have to put foil over he top, keep moss in his tank, and spray once or twice a day. PVC is great because it helps with humidity, it's stackable and it looks pretty good too!!! One word of warning though, when it comes to stacking tanks, I recommend only stacking the same size tanks on top of each other as AP has said so themselves in an email that bowing may occur when stacking enclosures that are different sizes, so you should watch out for that cause you wouldn't want your snake's enclosure to collapse while they are in there lol.

As for the feeding, there's a pretty common feeding chart a lot of people on here (myself included) follow Now you don't really HAVE TO use this, so if you don't want to, a good rule of thumb would be to go for a prey with the same thickness as the thickest part of the snake's body.

Now I'm going to assume that since you are a new snake owner, you are feeding store bought mice, if the snake is on live, I recommend switching to f/t immediately, it's more cost efficient, it's practically the same thing, and you don't run the risk of the mouse hurting your animal. If your snake is already on f/t, then I would recommend buying your snake food from Big Cheese or Perfect Prey online. Most pet stores over price mice CAZY and the most expensive part about ordering online is just the shipping but if you only have one snake, you get enough snake food to last about a year with just one order in most cases.

One last thing. When I first got into reptiles, I loved BHB and while Brian is a super nice guy, I wouldn't take his word on everything. The tubs he keeps his animals in are way to small in my opinion and he just has way too many animals for them to all be kept in good healthy condition. I've also heard of people buying from him and being sent animals that have mites or other issues. A great family friendly YouTube channel with beautiful animals is Josser'sJungle, I think your daughter would love that channel. Not to say watching BHB is bad, just might not want to use him as a role model per se. He is extremely kid friend and interesting to watch though so I can't blame anyone for being interested in his videos. He's had some amazingly beautiful animals on his show as well which is what drew me in at first, but you should definitely broaden your horizons and find more people that also like helping like AriAwesomeness of IG (he has a YouTube but I can't remember the name, it might be the same) I know him personally and he's pretty cool, takes excellent care of his animals and love to show off his anacondas.

Best of luck with this new hobby, I'm sure you and your daughter will love it, feel free to ask anymore questions if you have any, and sorry about the stupid long message!!!


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This is is all great information thank you so much. I did notice Brian keeps snakes in some small enclosures,seems his passion is right but just a few too many pets. We will definitely be checking out the other channel you suggested. We are having so much fun I have to calm her down she just wants to hold him all the time, so we go back over the rules we set lol. The animal plastics cages seem daunting to new owners because it is all do it yourself but I thinks that's what we are gonna go with. I'll just hit the forums up with advice and get it established before we move him. Once again thank you all for this info what a great resource this is.


also codi. My family is a big fan of boxing and mma and it was so fitting no disrespect to mike though if he somehow reads these forums lol

[larryd23]

Out of the blue, my 14 year old daughter asked for a snake for her birthday this year. I kept snakes in my younger days, so I was all for it. Like you, mom was less than enthusiastic but nonetheless acceded to her request. Our pastel banana boi is now 230 grams with a great feeding response and a great demeanor. It's a wonderful thing when fathers and daughters can share a hobby. Enjoy. They grow up way too fast.

[DandD]

Out of the blue, my 14 year old daughter asked for a snake for her birthday this year. I kept snakes in my younger days, so I was all for it. Like you, mom was less than enthusiastic but nonetheless acceded to her request. Our pastel banana boi is now 230 grams with a great feeding response and a great demeanor. It's a wonderful thing when fathers and daughters can share a hobby. Enjoy. They grow up way too fast.

I agree whole heartedly. I lost my father at a young age and I was in Iraq when my son was born. So between football and snakes quality time comes in boatloads at my house.

[OneEyedFox]

Out of the blue, my 14 year old daughter asked for a snake for her birthday this year. I kept snakes in my younger days, so I was all for it. Like you, mom was less than enthusiastic but nonetheless acceded to her request. Our pastel banana boi is now 230 grams with a great feeding response and a great demeanor. It's a wonderful thing when fathers and daughters can share a hobby. Enjoy. They grow up way too fast.

After having a ball python, while they are beautiful animals, I'm into bigger, more active snakes so I feel like I might not ever get a bp again unless it's one of two morphs, banana Pastel or banana pies. Banana Pastel really is beautiful. I just have a normal but he's also beautiful in his own way.


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