Are ball pythons even [I]slightly[/I] arboreal?

[Egapal]

Ball pythons don't live in a greatly varied habitat - they live in fairly geographic similar locations throughout their natural range. Optimum thermoregulation temperatures and prey vary little throughout the range.

That's why we try not to apply cookie-cutter approaches across species lines. Montane species from Africa (afromontane) have completely different needs from those, let's say, on the savannas.

What I am sure of is that ball pythons aren't found in tupper ware boxes in the wild either. They also aren't obligate rodent feeders.

Very few people on this board can claim that they have kept their snakes into old age. That's not a knock, just an observation of the age of many of the posters and the transient nature of the hobby.

This comes into play because there are some of us who have kept different species well into the limits of their lifespans. What we are learning is that sometimes an attempt to dumb down husbandry to the lowest common denominator can have unintended long term affects.

Example: for well over 11 years, I have kept my original group of thrasops on an all rodent diet. What has occurred as a result is an almost across the board issue with fatty tumors and cholesterol deposits on the corneas. My one captive dispholidus died riddled with tumors and blind in both eyes. My oldest thrasops female has had several surgeries to remove tumors and is completely blind.

These are sister species which in the wild, are mainly reptile and bird eaters. My vet is 100% convinced that the diet I have provided them out of convenience has resulted in these issues. As a result, the next generation is being fed a more natural prey model.

Likewise any attempts to keep select other species confined in boxes, in the manner balls are kept, can results in egg binding and other health issues.

So to respectfully disagree with your stance as to how an animal lives in the wild, I would argue that oftentimes it is of critical importance.

You fail at science. Basically what you are doing is a,b,c therefore z. Lets look at your thrasops example. Have you compared how your thrasops died to how the average wild thrasops dies? How about average life spans? You and your vet concluded that rodents caused the thrasops tumors. Have you compared the health of your snake to a group that is fed the same rodents but less often? Even if you raise a group of thrasops on a more natural diet and have them turn out much healthier toward the end of their life, you have not proven your case. There is a big difference between incidental and causal relationships. I am not making a case for keeping BP or any other species in boxes, tubs, or tanks by the way.

I work as an IT/IS director and have worked at all levels of IT/IS. One thing that I have learned is that people do not ask the correct questions. They ask leading questions. Are BP semi arboreal? Why do you want to know? Are you just curious? If so then no they are not but they will climb in the wild and have been observed hunting in trees when young. If you plan on making any decisions based on the information then you are asking the wrong question. What people want to ask is "Should I provide an opportunity for my BP to climb?" Or "I want to build a more vertical enclosure, is that a good idea?" When people ask what do BP eat in the wild you should be very afraid that either they or someone who is listening is asking the question "Should I feed my BP a bird?" Again I am not saying that you should never give your BP a bird. I am saying that knowledge is power. A little is often dangerous and people often stop before getting all the knowledge they need to have a chance at gaining wisdom.