Quote Originally Posted by Juan89 View Post
Ok, nother question haha so when selecting my new friend, what are the things i should look for/ask to make sure its healthy depending on what age/state of life its in?
Pretty much the same things you would look for in any other pet. You want a healthy-looking animal. Ball pythons are heavy-bodied and should be more round than triangular. If you listen to them breathe, you shouldn't be hearing any wheezing or be seeing bubbles outside of the mouth. If possible, have the owner open the mouth. If you see lots and lots of bubbles (a few are fine) or a lot of mucus, run away. A ball python shouldn't have a lot of loose skin and should be rather firm and muscular (the lower third or so of females who have just laid eggs will feel kind of mushy, but that's normal). One of the best ways to check for mites is to look at the bottom of the snake's head, where there's a crease. Mites and ticks will tuck up under there but if you see them crawling anywhere (little black specks, about the size of a period on this page) then run away.

I would ask questions about what it's eating, when it last ate, how often the owner is feeding it, as well as when it last shed. These are all things you'll want to know if/when you own the snake. If you're purchasing a supposed het, ask who the breeder of the animal was and if it has any paperwork. The paperwork on its own means nothing, but you can track down the breeder at that point and ask them if the animal is actually a het or not.

Look for active tongue flickering. If the Ball python seems sluggish or unresponsive, I would be a bit wary, especially if the snake feels warm. A snake that's been on its cold side for a while will be slower to get moving, but after you've held them for a while, they should get more active.

Defensive striking in babies is fine. I've gotten tagged more than once by a baby because they're scared out of their tiny little minds of me. I would be more wary about "aggressive" behavior in adults. I have yet to have an adult snake try to grab me (but then I also don't have any female I need to pull off eggs) but I have had them hiss and bluster at me.

Just use your common sense. If you get the feeling that anything is off, if any red flags pop up at all, I would pass. Your gut instinct is usually (almost always) correct. If you've been lurking on here for a while reading threads and stuff, you'll do just fine.