Is a ball python right for me?

[thejennabird]

Here are my thoughts on this, and hopefully others will chime in as well.
The "picky ball python" stereotype exists because Ball Pythons tend to not eat when they're stressed. Stress could be caused by changes in their environment, improper husbandry, feelings of insecurity, etc. Which means that IF you give a ball python a 100% great home, perfect your husbandry, and minimize sources of stress, your likelihood of a feeding strike is seriously reduced.

However, your snake still might have occasional hunger strikes associated with seasonal changes (BPs tend to eat less or not at all in the winter). But, that sort of hunger strike is perfectly natural and will resolve itself in time. As long as you continue to provide proper husbandry and monitor your snakes' health/weight, you don't have to worry about changing food. (Side note: Are you ok with throwing away a frozen rat because your snake refused to eat for a meal?)

PLUS, there are plenty of alternatives to feeding live. Hypothetically, IF your BP was to go off rats and was beginning to lose weight/become malnourished to the point that you needed to take alternate measures, you could:
- Try braining, soaking in broth, etc.
- Feed live or frozen mice
- Feed frozen African Soft Fur rats (which are closer to a BPs natural food source)
- Buy freshly and humanely killed rats from a local rodent breeder

Plenty of options without having to resort to more extreme measures. SO, that means you MAY never have to worry about feeding live if you can give your BP great husbandry and you are patient enough to wait out the occasional natural hunger strike.

BUT, and here's where I play devil's advocate: vet trips, force feeding, and/or rehoming because the snake refuses to eat what you want it to eat, are in of themselves disrespectful to the natural needs of a snake. I would hope every pet owner who takes on a pet is willing to give that pet a loving life-long home regardless of feeding circumstances.

Do you have any sort of "Plan B"? Could you give it to a local breeder or fellow snake owner, allow them to feed your snake live, and then return it to you after feeding? Are you willing to spend the money to take your snake to the vet so the vet can feed it live for you?

If you are unwilling to let your potential snake eat live under any circumstances, and your only response to a snake eating live (even for just one or two feedings), is rehoming or force feeding, you probably should not get a ball python. Because, in the end, there is no guarantee the snake you get will eat f/t it's entire life for every meal without fail. And you'd need to accept that if you get something long-lived like a BP.