Help! I found a ball python in the wild

[rabernet]

well unfortunately my wife is not keen on having a snake in the house, and I can't keep him/her in my office for long. Luckily I have already found a home for him, at least temporarily! A member here has offered to take him off my hands!

It's really odd, because I've always been afraid of snakes, but for some reason I am getting attached to this one! Too bad the wife is nearly phobic

Yup - Kismet will be joining my crew, at the very least temporarily (if a male) until a very nice permanent home can be found for him/her.

Of course....if you find yourself super attached to him/her, I COULD just foster him/her for you until you can talk the wife into letting you have him!

[Quiet Tempest]

Kudos to saving this ball!

[WingedWolfPsion]

You should have her hold him, when he's all balled up. Ball pythons are probably the least threatening snakes out there, and have cured many people of their fears.
Don't be afraid of being bitten. His natural reaction when you put your hand in will be to jerk back and hide his head. A strike occurs from a position where the neck is drawn back in an S, and the head is held elevated at high tension--you can actually see their little jaw muscles clench with the tension, lol. Ball pythons often jerk back with their neck in a low S defensively, and that shouldn't be confused for a strike position. He doesn't look very tense in your photos, so I doubt he's aggressive.

[Patricia]

This whole story brings such a smile to my face, both from your having it rescued in the first place and to Robin fostering it until your wife becomes OK with having it in the house (thinking positive thoughts here).

[trott]

Nice rescue and lucky snake.Most probably dont have a happy ending.
Until you get your heat mat and more suitable suplies , you can pick up a cheap maintenance lamp at home depot for like 5 bucks and a 40w red bulb at a pet store for some heat. You can use your room lighting for your day/night cycle for now. The big thing is getting your enclosure temps at least into the 80s til you get properly set up.
I would leve it alone for awhile and a fresh water bowl is a must.

[Covington]

This thread is great. It's like reading a book about a little lost snake just when do I get to read the part about the happy new life away from the soda machine (Translated: wife has been convinced to let you keep your new awesome, courageous, strong willed snake). Good luck and kudos to you for saving it

[dc4teg]

any up dates!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!??!?!?!?!?

[straydog1980]

he/she is still doing great! I gave him some fresh water as soon as I got in this morning and he went right over there and started lapping it up. Still very calm, cute snake! My wife visited this morning and checked him out, said he was cute but definitely could not come home with me!

[ballmom]

It was my idea (the wife) to get a snake for our oldest son. Husband was not really into it but now that Chrissy has been in the house for about a month he is now ready to build me a rack so that I can keep getting snakes. This from a man who decided 4 animals ago that we had enough.

She may come around. Good Luck.

[Patricia]

said he was cute but definitely could not come home with me!

Ask her what her exact reasons are. Does she think it will get out of its enclosure? Does she think it will be set up in a visible part of the house? BPs need to be away from heavy traffic in the first place, so the lesser used parts of the home are better. Ideally, it'll be almost out-of-sight-out-of-mind.

Is she so terrified of snakes that she can't fathom even having one in the house, even if it is out of sight? BPs aren't only nocturnal, but during the day when they're asleep they do so completely hidden away in their hides. This is not a display snake. They're hardly ever visible! They don't need exercise either, and so don't need to do laps around the livingroom.

Is she grossed out by the notion of having to feed it rodents? Me too, but I can handle frozen ones, so that's what we feed. She won't need to be around when it's feeding time.

Does she think it'll grow to be 15 ft. long and eat the dog? Her? They grow to about 5-6 ft. long, but look much shorter since they're always curled up. Mine is nearly 3 ft. long but looks more like 2 ft.

Does she think it'll bite? All animals can bite, but BPs are amongs the most docile of snakes, if not THE most docile outright. Like the first picture you posted on this thread, they don't fight back or even run, they just curl up. Sitting ducks.

What other reasons could there be? I'm sure the others here can think of other possible reasons with answers for them. Let's nail down the facts first, then work on any fears there might be.