getting back into snakes need some advice,please???

[robert7107]

hello everyone,.

i use to own an breed a small collection of pythons an boas for about 12 years but went thru a divorce an sold entire collection. 8 + years later my 9 year old daughter has been showing major interest in owning snakes. i think the ball pythons are a perfect start!!!

i use too keep my snakes in tubs tell they reached around a year or so then moved them too custom built cages and had great success looking too repeat wondering on

bedding ? what do you recommend? i use too use newspaper i see aspen an also some sort of bark like material being used...
cb/ch or a sub-adult?
what morph ? looking to eventually get back into some sort of project with a couple of different morphs but want too start with one or two balls at first?

[LanceM]

Myself I use a coconut fiber bedding called eco-earth.I have no problems with humidity at all.

[dries]

Every type of bedding has it's pros and cons. Newspaper, aspen and eco earth/reptibark seems to be the most popular.

Newspaper: most hygienic option, very affordable. Worst con is that it looks bad but that is my opinion.

Aspen: pretty cheap, holds humidity ok and doesn't mold, looks nice. I use shredded aspen for my BPs. Worst con is that i have to vacuum the floor a lot because it's messy.

Bark: pretty expensive compared to other options but looks really good and holds humidity excellent . I use this for my boas and i love it!

There are other minor reasons why people choose one above the other, like bedding being swallowed or getting stuck in cloaca during breeding, snake can create own hide with paper etc. Again, personal preferences.

I find woodchips the worst because it molds when humid. Sand is also a poor choice.

Whatever morph you want to work with os completely up to your preferences and budget. If you want to breed i suggest you get some young CH girls and raise them up. You can buy a boy later.

Good luck, this is an awesome hobby!

[bcr229]

IMO king/corn/milk snakes are a better first pet snake as their husbandry is a bit easier and handling isn't as likely to stress them or throw them off food as much. Plus they do ok in tanks and as display snakes; BP's are called "pet rocks" for a reason.

I use newspaper as substrate but most of my collection is in tubs where maintaining humidity is not a problem.

[JoshSloane]

IMO king/corn/milk snakes are a better first pet snake as their husbandry is a bit easier and handling isn't as likely to stress them or throw them off food as much. Plus they do ok in tanks and as display snakes; BP's are called "pet rocks" for a reason.

I use newspaper as substrate but most of my collection is in tubs where maintaining humidity is not a problem.

I second this. Contrary to popular thought BPs are not at all beginner snakes. I believe that if it wasn't for their popularity and selection of color morphs they would probably be considered more of an intermediate-advanced reptile to own.

[dkatz4]

I second this. Contrary to popular thought BPs are not at all beginner snakes. I believe that if it wasn't for their popularity and selection of color morphs they would probably be considered more of an intermediate-advanced reptile to own.

I also do not feel BPs are as beginner friendly as often purported. I am a beginner myself, and did a ton of research into what snake would make the most sense for me and my family. I didn't go with a colubrid because I wanted my young son to be able to handle him easily, so something bit slower was better, I ended up going with a dwarf boa because their husbandry requirements are similar to a BP, though arguably their heat and humidity requirements are a little less stringent, they do very well with handling, and when it comes to food – forget about it! They only need to eat half as often and they almost never say no! I think the only caveat would be the size of a regular BC or BI, so I found a solid breeder of dwarfs and I am as pleased as punch. Although I should mention that I am enjoying him so much that now I am pining for a full-sized boa as well

[Soord]

I also do not feel BPs are as beginner friendly as often purported. I am a beginner myself, and did a ton of research into what snake would make the most sense for me and my family. I didn't go with a colubrid because I wanted my young son to be able to handle him easily, so something bit slower was better, I ended up going with a dwarf boa because their husbandry requirements are similar to a BP, though arguably their heat and humidity requirements are a little less stringent, they do very well with handling, and when it comes to food – forget about it! They only need to eat half as often and they almost never say no! I think the only caveat would be the size of a regular BC or BI, so I found a solid breeder of dwarfs and I am as pleased as punch. Although I should mention that I am enjoying him so much that now I am pining for a full-sized boa as well

Tell that to my Dwarf -_- She is a firecracker and hits like a train. I guess she is a rescue but ive been having a heck of a time taming her down. By far my easiest snake to handle is my Sand Boa. He isnt very interesting to watch, though, because he is hiding 95% of the time. I've never really had any problem with balls and if a newbie would just read a caresheet and gets the tank set up right they are fine for a first snake imo. I wouldnt classify them as advanced reptiles in any way, especially when tokays, monitors, retics/burms/rocks, and even BCCs exist. I would say that are intermediate at worst and "higher beginner" at best. All for CB's of course.

As for bedding I use Aspen because it looks good, is easy to spot clean, is fairly cheap, and it smells fine. There is usually humidity problems associated with it but I only have problems sometimes in the winter and then a mist or two usually clears it up. Ive been meaning to try coconut husk because so many people on here use it but ive never gotten around to it.

[bcr229]

Tell that to my Dwarf -_- She is a firecracker and hits like a train. I guess she is a rescue but ive been having a heck of a time taming her down. By far my easiest snake to handle is my Sand Boa. He isnt very interesting to watch, though, because he is hiding 95% of the time. I've never really had any problem with balls and if a newbie would just read a caresheet and gets the tank set up right they are fine for a first snake imo. I wouldnt classify them as advanced reptiles in any way, especially when tokays, monitors, retics/burms/rocks, and even BCCs exist. I would say that are intermediate at worst and "higher beginner" at best. All for CB's of course.

IMO my dwarf boas are easier to "keep" than my ball pythons are. They're more tolerant of lower temps and humidity, and while they were nippy as youngsters they've mellowed out as adults. My male is only 4' and the females just under 5' so they're easy enough to handle, only eat a small/medium rat monthly, only poop monthly, etc. The male is shy but the females both pop right out of the tub to say hi when I check on them (though I think they're just hoping for food).

[Soord]

IMO my dwarf boas are easier to "keep" than my ball pythons are. They're more tolerant of lower temps and humidity, and while they were nippy as youngsters they've mellowed out as adults. My male is only 4' and the females just under 5' so they're easy enough to handle, only eat a small/medium rat monthly, only poop monthly, etc. The male is shy but the females both pop right out of the tub to say hi when I check on them (though I think they're just hoping for food).

Seems a little low for feeding. My female at about 5' eats voraciously every two weeks. I throw her a medium then and she still seems a bit thin to me. I guess we are both lucky in our own respects because my young ball and older ball aren't nippy at all. Which is why I would recommend them more. Also my balls still had full shed and ate through all my stages as a new owner from accidental high to winter ambient and they are doing just fine. I guess I'm just biased because of my snakes but maybe I'll pick up another dwarf because you guys are giving me confidence that they can be some well behaved snakes

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[dkatz4]

Admittedly, when I first started talking to the breeder she told me that a lot of her young stock were very feisty but that she had one male who was particularly mellow and he is the one I got. Maybe I've been spoiled with an unusually relaxed dwarf, but he was happy to be handled from the very first day – and believe it or not, he was in blue at the time. I certainly wouldn't consider BP's to be advanced snakes, but for a kid who's attention to husbandry might wander occasionally (like all kids) it just seems like there are other species who are more tolerant of minor fluctuations in environment. although didn't OP say that they used to breed, etc.? If someone with that kind of experience is overseeing the situation, I can't imagine there would be any issue with a ball python