wow!!?? (graphic?)

[jasonmcgilvrey83]

I know it's nature and all but u shouldent put a burm with a ball. That's just asking for trouble and poor care.

[jfaria1891]

in my opinion this is just a half way decent photoshop, and i don't have anything to prove that i just agree with others when they say there's no way the ball didn't fight back. granted it out have lost but clearly its alive in the pictures and would still be fighting for its life. just my opinion, i'm aware snakes do eat other snakes but i imagine it would be a much more violent ordeal between the 2 snakes.

[pantiedpython]

whaa who would do such a thing

[ECechoHO]

Photoshop is a nice program..

[dr del]

Photoshop is a nice program..

Don't be so distrustful - it happens though thankfully it is rare.

There are pictures of ball python cannibalism that predate photoshop for a start.

[MarkS]

I think it's real, but I also think it's a staged photo intentionally set up by some sicko. You can pretty much get a burm to swallow anything that smells like food. It's interesting that the ball python wasn't constricted.

[Running Elk]

From what I heard when I first saw this pic, these two snakes were apparently housed together.. It's definite really sad and a good example of why not to house a burm and a ball together

I'm not sure I believe that.

The problem is that statement is that the snakes are uncaged, in a place where people have taken then both out, and taken pictures of the process; meaning they took out the snakes and instead of doing anything they say there and took pics instead. I feel like the situation you described would instead be pictures of the berm after it ate the Python, I thier cage.

I feel like in the first picture, pulling that ball python out could have been an option.

I found the original post these are from one time, on someone's blog, and they had little explanation.

[Running Elk]

The ball doesn't look alive imo. They don't just open their mouths like that whether they're scared, hurt, or wanting to get away. However I've seen dead BPs with that expression. Not to mention the absence of the balling up defense mechanism?

I personally don't mind snakes being used as feeders. Most are f/t anyway. Its no different from us feeding off rats. And some species of snakes, like King Cobras, have to eat other snakes to thrive. Though I do acknowledge that Burms aren't snake eaters.

However, this picture, whether real or fake, was clearly done out of spite. I don't know how many of you are outside the ball community, but not very many people who keep other species like ball pythons. And whenever I do see a feeder ball picture, tons of people seem to be 'happy' and say dumb stuff like 'finally a purpose for a useless ball'.
No respect what so ever. I appreciate and respect my feeder rats for keeping my snakes healthy and alive. I think feeder snakes should be given the same respect.



Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

I guess it could be dead. The mouth opening could be a result of the way it's being squeezed.

But my question...I've noticed what you said to be true. Why do many other python keepers hate balls?

[200xth]

I don't have snakes that eat other snakes, but I've seen it, and the snake being eaten, if it's alive, does not normally just straighten himself out so the bigger snake can consume him easily, especially if the bigger snake is starting from the tail (which is odd from what little I've seen).

But my experience with that is limited so maybe it's more normal than I've seen.

[Lizardlicks]

I guess it could be dead. The mouth opening could be a result of the way it's being squeezed.

But my question...I've noticed what you said to be true. Why do many other python keepers hate balls?

Probably a derail of the original topic but... honestly I've noticed this as well and I'm pretty new to the hobby. I first fell in love with balls YEARS ago, back when all you could find in petco were normal for $80 - $100 bucks... no one seemed to hate them much then. I honestly feel like these are what I've come to term Herpsters: Herp Hipsters. Some of these people who used to keep balls are mad they got popular and that the market got flooded with new keepers and breeders in what used to be a pretty lucrative and exclusive market. Others picked up on their new snobby attitude and just parroted it.