a few observations

[3skulls]

You would have to be a pretty damn good shot. :p

[MisterKyte]

You would have to be a pretty damn good shot. :p

That or you just spend a couple hours outside running around with a net.

[Valentine Pirate]

You would have to be a pretty damn good shot. :p

No kidding! I thought I was hot stuff nailing starlings out of our cherry trees

To the OP

I don't condemn alternate ways of keeping animals (lord knows, we've heard the whole discussion a hundred times over, and I'm in no position to condemn anybody ). I do think it's odd that ALL ball pythons are semi arboreal because you have a few pictures of yours to prove it, or that it's an accepted practice to have pets you can't pay to feed/care for.

Racks provide an environment where BPs can be healthy and content, and so do display enclosures when set up correctly. I'm so frustrated that people get worked up over those points and start nit picking. Racks can be incorrectly used, as well as display cages, it's all a matter of the animal's needs being met.

[mr~python]

to the guy interested in how i got the hummingbird, it was with a bb gun and i thought it was a common finch from where i was. i was bummed to see i had shot a hummingbird but was relieved when it didnt go to waste.

to all these nay sayers: first of all the only aspect of established bp husbandry im challenging is these 6 inch sweater boxes. they dont allow the snakes to climb and flex their muscle like they normally would. these "expert" breeders you speak of are interested in how many snakes they can have in a given area and pumping at hatchlings. kind of like commercial chicken houses but slightly more difficult.

Take Kevin McCurleys book "the complete ball python". the chapter on ball pythons in nature was 3 pages long; half of which was pictures! i understand these guys know how to keep ball pythons but so have i since i was 11. its not hard to keep and breed them and im interested in their natural history just as much as their captive requirements.

[mr~python]

and what happened to my reputation points? you people are funny.

[youbeyouibei]

to the guy interested in how i got the hummingbird, it was with a bb gun and i thought it was a common finch from where i was. i was bummed to see i had shot a hummingbird but was relieved when it didnt go to waste.

to all these nay sayers: first of all the only aspect of established bp husbandry im challenging is these 6 inch sweater boxes. they dont allow the snakes to climb and flex their muscle like they normally would. these "expert" breeders you speak of are interested in how many snakes they can have in a given area and pumping at hatchlings. kind of like commercial chicken houses but slightly more difficult.

Take Kevin McCurleys book "the complete ball python". the chapter on ball pythons in nature was 3 pages long; half of which was pictures! i understand these guys know how to keep ball pythons but so have i since i was 11. its not hard to keep and breed them and im interested in their natural history just as much as their captive requirements.

I'm all for a live and let live attitude, within reason and that extends to your animals as well and how you choose to house/keep them, so long as their needs are met and they remain healthy. I take it from your statements that you've conducted extensive and exhaustive field research concerning python regius in their natural locales and current geographic ranges? How many subspecies have you conclusively identified, if any? How many, if any, "naturally" occurring morphs have you encounted during your field expeditions? How extensive is the geographic range of these animals? Did you do radio collaring or GPS sensors or how is it you managed to track them? What was your population sample size versus your "control" group from which you derived your findings? I'd love to hear your dissertations and read your peer-reviewed publications, as I'm always up for expanding my knowledge of topics that interest me, especially ball pythons and if there is anything I could do to better replicate the natural habitations of the animals I so dearly love, I would greatly appreciate your learned and valued guidance in steering me toward the path of enlightenment of all things python regius. Thaaaaaaaaaanks!

[hypnotixdmp]

Mr python...you are so right about all of what you say!!! Because there are poisons and lots of chemicals found out in the African wilderness....so that must mean its safe to give then anything in the city where these poisons and chemicals are also found....

Also, just because you see them climb doesn't mean they do that in the wild, at least not like you are trying to say. They are very clumsy animals and can hurt themselves when they fall. I can also say before my husbandry was spot on, my little girl would climb, seems to be that she only felt comfortable up their. Once I got it right, she than went into her hides and only came out for 4 reasons, poop, shed, eat, and switch from cool - warm and the other way around.

So just because you have assumptions about something because you fed a snake a hummingbird you shot or saw it climb up a branch, doesn't mean you are right. Sure, you can happily keep one in a tank 12+" tall, and give them limbs, but that doesn't mean criticize the rest of us for keeping our just as happy, if not more so, and housing them in a rack system.

I am going to go ahead and ignore any post from you in the future, please sell your animals to someone whom can keep them happy too!!


Ball Pythons
0.3 Normals (Coilette, Athena and Mary Jane)
1.0 Pastel (De Sol)
1.0 Spider (Zeus)
1.0 Mojave (Prometheus)

Boa Constrictors
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Stella)
0.1 BCI (Kiyoko)
0.1 Dumerils Boa (Gloria)

[mohawk]

So none of you feed your snakes Hummingbirds ?? Remember, there are 4 food groups that ball pythons
require for a balanced diet..............
1. Rats/Mice
2. Hummingbirds (with beaks cut off)
3. Krinkle cut fries (lightly salted)
4. Baby Unicorns (with horn removed)



My Ball Python has a tendancy to fall, when he climbs on a branch.

[mr~python]

ok, if the only time your snake is out and about is to poop shed eat feed or switch hides then something is wrong. a bp should regularly come out and roam the cage at night, especially when its getting closer to feeding day but i too noticed this lack of activity when i kept mine in a rack system for a couple of years. my guess is they didnt have anything else to do!

if your python has a tendency to fall when it climbs a branch there is also something wrong. when i kept mine in an oversized enclosure with a large branch i had one snake that would coil on a branch like a tree python and bask under the che. a healthy, fit ball python can climb with ease.

to the dude who thinks im some kind of field scientist in Africa, i never said that. i said im just as interested in bp's natural history as much as there captive husbandry which is why i find the shelf and shoebox method to be quite lame.

[jschwe]

Disregarding some of the obvious claims I would question...it's presumptuous to assume that the actions of ONE ball python determine the natural order. Case studies with large sample groups take large groups for a reason, and it isn't convenience. Saying all ball pythons are arboreal because yours can climb is like saying all dogs can open doors because mine can.

I would also suggest that, if your snake was in the tree to bask, this may have been because it was the only spot warm enough...