Hello New here..

[itsazoohere]

Hello, We don't have a BP yet however we have our own little zoo going and my husband has wanted snake for a while now. So when my oldest daughter started hanging out at her friends house who has two BP's I knew she'd get hooked as well. The day came last week when she came running in asking if she can have a BP. After reading up a bit online, I'll admit I know very little still but plan to learn. The hubby and I talked it over the answer was yes with one condition. She has to study BP's first, and answer a "test" correctly that my husband and I will make based on the books / sites we have her read. We always go to the Daytona Reptile Expo for Tort's so this year we'll add a BP onto our shopping list if my daughter can learn enough about them. I wanted this to be something she actually has to learn about and help care for unlike all our Tort's. She's almost 12, but yes we will be helping her in every aspect of care for the snake never would we just leave it up to her to do.

So my question is this as I've looked it up in a few places but can't find an answer nor is there an answer in the book she got already.

Is one sex better for a pet (no breeding ever)? I know with some animals males can be meaner but others it's females so I just want to make sure we get the best pet for her when the time comes.

I'm sure as we get furhter into the research and she's asking questions based on what she reads I'll be back here to try to get answers that we can't find.

Thanks to who ever repsonds to this. Michele

[JLC]

Hi and welcome to BP.net! I'm glad you found your way over here!


I just want to say how pleased I am to see how you guys are going about the choice of bringing a new animal into the house. It's a refreshing change from those who impluse buy and then afterwards wonder why their animal is sick or won't eat.

To answer your question....with BP's, either sex is fine. The males tend to stay smaller....usually around 3'-4' in length and modestly girthy....while the females tend to grow larger, usually around 4'-5' in length and a bit heavier bodied than males. There are, of course, exceptions to those generalities.

Either sex can have the typical ball python temperment, which is usually very laid back and docile...and when stressed or frightened, a tendency to ball up or hide, rather than get aggressive. That said...any snake can have an aggressive moment, and some individual ball pythons can have aggressive tendencies. ("Aggressive" being definied as a willingness to strike in defense rather than hide....I don't believe snakes are ever "mean.")

I know I'm probably talking too much. Basically, when choosing between one sex or other other for a pet, you just want to consider if size makes any difference to you. I chose a female because I wanted a bigger, heavier snake.

[Freakie_frog]

Looks like Judy has covered the other stuff so I'll just say...

HELLO AND WELCOME

[darkangel]

I just want to say I think your "test" for your child is a great idea.

[Freakie_frog]

I just want to say I think your "test" for your child is a great idea.

Bingo wonder if she would be willing to let us hep make up the test with her.

[AkivaSmith]

test:


1) How does a snake regulate it temperature? (Remember it is a cold blooded animal.)

2) What is the ideal humidity range for a BP? Is there a different need when the BP is in shed? Why?

OH, there are a whole bunch that I just thought of...

[MeMe]

Bingo wonder if she would be willing to let us hep make up the test with her.

oooo FF that's a good idea!





Hi and Welcome btw!

[hardball]

Ya welcome, I think JLC pretty much covered everything, but ill just throw out another compliment on how your going about it. Coming from an ex snake hater and now im obsessed with them i believe there are a lot of misconceptions out there about them and doing plenty of research and knowing more about them will definately familiarize yourself with your new pet. Hanging around here will also teach you a lot of things picking the brains of experienced owners that can answer most any question quickly and accurately. Dont go off of everything your local store tells you because there is a possibility that the person there does not specialize in this particular species and you can get faulty information. SO welcome and best of luck finding your new pet!

[itsazoohere]

Thank You all for the nice comments on our idea to "test" her knowledge it will help my husband and I to be sure we have a good base to start with as well.

JLC Thank you for your great answer. Yes maybe "mean" wasn't the right word I was looking for but you got what the meaning of what I was asking.
We will have to do some soul searching and decide what might be best for us male / female or if it will even matter in the long run to us. We said yes knowing that they are large animals my husband had to laugh and say at least he wouldn't be clearing land outside to make outdoor habitats like he has to do for our tort's.

Regarding the test I think we'd be willing to throw some in there from the board. She'd might have to research them online in case they aren't in her reading or if they are stated a different way in the reading so she can make the connection. We want her to be the care taker with us there helping her and keeping her from doing the wrong thing. I've never done this with our other pets because it was mostly me(or my hubby) wanting them. This was something she's asking for there for needs to prove she can "handle" with our help.


Hardball I know too well to not really trust our local pet shops the only thing I even go in for is dog food,cat food, hay and well that's about it. Everything else is bought online or at the reptile shows. It's sad that I can walk into a pet store and see their turtle or tort's for sale and pick out what they have mislabeled and miscared for. I've tried the inform them method with no use so now I try not to even look at the animals at pet stores it makes me too sad.



Thank you again to everyone.. and I look forward to learning alot then showing off pictures in August!

Michele