Should there be a debate about captive bread vs. Wild caught?

[WingedWolfPsion]

Yeah, there are desperate problems with this entire story.

As has been pointed out, Captive Hatched is NOT the same as Wild Caught.

Your captive-hatched ball python was born in a pit. Hundreds of clutches of eggs were found in the wild and taken from their mothers, then they were placed in a big pit together to incubate. Once the babies emerged, they were promptly sorted, bagged up, and shipped to the US. Once here, an importer opened up the bags, discarded the dead ones, and put the live ones into large enclosures with water to rehydrate.
Here, they were further sorted--anything interesting was weeded out to be sold separately. In some facilities, they were sexed, while others did not bother.

At this point, most of the babies had shed out. They were then shipped off to retailers (such as the pet store you got yours from). Many of them were never offered a meal, or never accepted a meal, before they arrived at the pet store. (Some importers/distributers feed hatchlings, some don't--often it depends on how long they're there before they are sold).

So you see, from day one, your little CH baby was subjected to overcrowding and tremendous stress. It is a testament to the hardiness of ball pythons that it has done so well for you.

The little CBB baby, on the other hand, was lovingly nursed along from the moment it hatched, and given the best of anything. If it didn't feed on its own, it was assist-fed until it did. No reputable breeder houses hatchling snakes in groups, so it's likely that its care wasn't top notch beyond that, however. It certainly doesn't sound like it was handled.

Some CBB baby ball pythons are finicky eaters, and perhaps not as strong as an established CH. This is because any weak CH hatchlings died in the bags on the way from Africa...not because CH babies are stronger in general.
What's more, a higher proportion of CH babies fail to eat, and most will perish in the hands of inexperienced keepers. You got the cream of the CH crop, and you got a CBB that most would consider undesirable (which is why it was sold at over a year old). Hardly a fair comparison.

You should be comparing a great CH with a great CBB. I think you will find that if any difference exists, it is in favor of the CBB, not the CH.

I do hope you had your snakes checked for parasites before you decided to house them together.