Considering Buying a Ball Python.

[Munizfire]

I forgot to add...they fart too...loudly

nice...

[Munizfire]

Young bps are thin, adults if thin, are NOT healthy. Bps are thick snakes, it is how they are built and if you underfeed to keep them thin, you are starving them and will not live a healthy happy life. Also you can handle for than 20 mins twice a week. I handle mine every single day usually. Please don't get a bp if you're going to try and keep it skinny....

as I posted earlier, It was a question
I'm not planning on starving her/him, thats cruel
I just thought that most were simply fat, I didn't know that was their regular size, sorry for any misunderstandings here

[loonunit]

Bites: i have NEVER heard of a BP biting, but im pretty sure it happens quite often... BPs wouldn't bite unless extremely uncomfortable or pissed off, right? How bad are their bites?

Some babies (30%? 20%?) are just biters. I swear my first bp even thought it was funny--he'd stalk my toes like a cat. Most of them are just nervous because they're small. And really little ones will bite everything because they're HUNGRY. But baby bites are a joke. My pastel would basically gum me. Really serious defensive biters get better at with with age. Iit can start to hurt a bit when they're 500 grams and up... but it's still basically a pin prick.

And generally even the meanest babies grow out of it as they get larger and the hormones turn on. Snapping at things all the time doesn't get you a mate.

The only "serious" bites are feeding-related, when they mistake your finger for food. That's when they really bring out their tiny little teeth. Search on bites on this site--it's rare for bp bites to really bleed, so people show them off when they do.

I really recommend feeding in cardboard box rather than the tank to avoid feeding aggression.

Oh! And they have really clean bites. They never seem to get infected the way, say, a cat scratch does. They only hurt for a couple minutes, and I have a hard time finding the bites the next day. Even the "bad" bites disappear quickly.

[BigByrd47119]

So I know everyone always says that snakes cant "hear" other than through vibration. However this link was posted up on another forum and it was a bit debated. Any thoughts on this article?

Shhh! The snake may hear you

Very interested in any feedback.

[SpiffyYoshi]

I have a crazy BP who's always snapping at me. He's 8 months old. I'm not sure if he can still grow out of it. From a large scale breeder who never handles them.

[Inknsteel]

I really recommend feeding in cardboard box rather than the tank to avoid feeding aggression.

This is a common myth that a ball python will become cage-aggressive when fed in their enclosure. This is NOT the case. I will recommend exactly the opposite, that you feed in the snake's normal enclosure. Removing them from the enclosure to feed starts off by stressing the snake to move them, which will make them far less likely to eat. Not to mention that if they DO eat, then you have to move them AGAIN after feeding to move them back to their enclosure, which is highly stressful and can cause regurgitation. (remember the 24-48 hour no handling after feeding rule?)

[SpiffyYoshi]

I agree that it's not necessary to feed snakes in a different container just to avoid this so-called feeding/cage aggression. I'd do it with hatchlings to avoid impactions but that's it.

First of all, if it's hungry enough to strike at a hand with intentions to feed then it is starving or your hand smells like food or you made the mistake of sticking your hand in it's face and startling it (defensive bite). All 3 are your fault if it happens.

[Munizfire]

thanks everyone

as soon as I buy it, I'll be posting pics, but it depends on whether I transfer colleges or not (I cant have pets where I live right now, and dont want to be hiding my tank everytime the landlord comes)

[Annarose15]

Everyone is welcome to correct me if I'm off base, but you should possibly consider a male if you want to avoid a "fat" looking snake. They tend to keep a leaner profile than females. It goes without saying that you should still feed appropriately, of course.

[SpiffyYoshi]

Everyone is welcome to correct me if I'm off base, but you should possibly consider a male if you want to avoid a "fat" looking snake. They tend to keep a leaner profile than females. It goes without saying that you should still feed appropriately, of course.

If you want to avoid a "fat" looking snake then get a colubrid.