Quote Originally Posted by anemicshoe View Post
Hey all!

For all you pros and addicts out there I pose you this question. Is a ball python right for me?
I got into snake keeping with my corn and while I love her dearly I have the repti-bug and am looking to get at least one other pet snake at some point.
I considered getting a ball as my first snake but was put off by their picky feeding reputation. However I would love to have a docile, thick bodied snake that will just hang out with me while I watch TV,
rather than dedicated ADVENTURECORN time which is fun and active.

My issue is: I love rats... I have owned rats all through my childhood until I started developing a nasty skin rash from their urine (even the teeny tiniest traces of it on their claws makes me flare up) and could no longer handle them. I am very pragmatic about death (into taxidermy and whatnot) so I could handle feeding ethically farmed f/t rats... but never EVER live. I could never compromise on this, it is animal abuse to me and I would vet trip/force feed/rehome a snake rather than feed live ever. (Please don't start a live feeding debate in here, im not gonna jump on you for doing it, I just wont personally, respect that).
Of course I never have this issue with my corn because they take mice and rarely go off feed.

Are ball pythons going off frozen and needing to be fed live a statistic that has been blown out of proportion or should I give up now on the idea of having one?
My BP is 11 months old and has only ever had f/t so I would never try to feed him live prey, I"d be too worried he'd get hurt.
As for ethics: I've been vegetarian for over a decade so the only meat in my freezer is rat LOL. I think you just have to accept and budget to feed 1 f/t rat per week, and leave it up to the snake to eat or not (although he's still young and I actually offer every 5 - 6 days).

As for hanging out and watching tv: I've tried this a few times but BPs are nocturnal and not really fond of the brightness of the 40" display. Although he does watch and track movement on the screen for a few minutes he'll then start trying to move around, either down off the couch onto the floor or into any dark crevasse between the cushions. So I end up turning off the tv and getting far more entertainment from observing and interacting with the snake.