Hello All!
Although I've been lurking on this great board for the last few months, I now would like to introduce myself. My name is Kerig and my new pet as of December 2007 is Monty, a normal male (495 grams), although the breeder who sold him to me claimed he was a 50% Het. Clown, but I have no paperwork to back that up.

Last December I found myself taking my kids to a local (Illinois) reptile swap, and it was there that I was first introduced to Ball Pythons. I had snakes as pets in my teen's, but mostly Boas. That was 30 years ago, and Ball Pythons were not well known as pets, but Boas were. I hadn't had snakes as pets since then, but this swap opened my eyes to these wonderful pets, their ease of care, small size, and gentle manner. So after the swap I went home and did my homework on the web and read as much as I could absorb about Balls and their care, and decided to buy one for myself as a pet after getting permission from my wife, of course. But she had no problem with it! In fact she encouraged me to get one since she thought it may be good 'therapy' for me since I am a disabled chronic pain sufferer and have been unable to work for the last 2 years.

After I set up a proper cage, and with all this new knowledge in my head, I returned to the swap a few weeks later to find myself a new pet! Sure, if my budget was ample I could have gotten any number of beautiful morphs, but I had a limit and was more concerned about finding a healthy Ball with personality (yes, I believe each snake does have an individual personality). When I found Monty I just knew he was the right pet, as did my 11 year-old son. Monty had that nice, thick shape, nice coloring (for a normal), and he seemed gentle but curious and didn't shy away from being held. Just what I was looking for!

Now I had already named him Monty before I found him, and I thought I was clever with the name (at the time...I know better now). But when I brought him home I thought maybe I should name him something else. That was, until my son noticed that he had a natural 'M' in his patterning that I hadn't seen before (see photo below). So I decide he'll remain 'Monty'...unless I finally learn how to sex him (I'm trying) and find that HE is actually a SHE.

So that's my story in a nutshell, and Monty has indeed become great therapy for me...caring for him has helped me keep my mind off my pain. He's also an easy eater (f/t), easy to handle (which I do daily, except for 2 days after eating...of course ), and he definitely knows me...or at least knows me by smell. And although I have only been pooped on once (hey, I'm still learning...aren't we all?), I'm enjoying my new pet tremendously! I'm now considering to get more Balls in the near future and possibly breed them, but not until I'm comfortably educated with all that entails. So I'll be here on this board often to learn more from you all, and to share more myself!

-Kerig