First-Time Snake Owner, Considering A Ball Python

[Craiga 01453]

Just to touch on a few things you mentioned...

I've never handled wild Kings, unfortunately. Yet to see one in MA. CB Kings are awesome for handling. As you know, the juveniles are very quick and flighty, even CB. They do mellow pretty easily with handling. My adult is super chill and super easy to handle. Still more on-the-go than BPs though.

BPs are super easy to handle.

Kings generally are garbage disposals. Mine gets the leftovers my BP doesn't eat and has never refused a scheduled meal or leftovers.
However, I've had good luck with my BP too. He refused for 3 weeks and has since been back to eating every 5-7 days.

Once you've got temps and humidity dialed in it's pretty simple regular maintenance, either way you choose.

So my thoughts are: which do you like better for what you want? Chances are you'll end up like most of us and have multiple snakes anyway, but if you're looking for a thicker bodied, more chill snake, go BP. If you're looking for more slender and more active, go King. Or, just get one now and one later

[Craiga 01453]

Each snake prefers it a different way, mine (since it's a baby) struggled to get his food in his tank. He would get his mouse in the substrate and then when it got dirty refuse to eat it! You may have to experiment the first couple weeks to see what is the most effective method.

Yes, feed in the snake's regular enclosure. Nobody cleans the snakes food for them in the wild. A little substrate won't hurt them.
This will help to avoid refusals and regurges from handling the snake before/after a meal.

[ringorock]

Sent you another pm. I don't know why it isn't showing new notifications for me.

[Bmocken]

So far I'm still undecided.

BPs IMO look cooler than Calis (especially if you're comparing the normal ones without special morphs), but I love the black kingsnakes.

BPs are also easier to handle, or maybe that's because I've only ever handled wild (And therefore stressed by human contact) kings.

BPs also get a lot bigger as far as weight goes, but they're not as energetic as kings (Again, may just be because I've never handled a CB King, and wild ones are just hyper), so they're probably still a little bit easier to handle, despite the added girth.

Kingsnakes are easier to set a tank up for, since humidity in my state is a non-issue for them. It wouldn't be overly difficult to get a BP tank going either though, so this isn't really a massive consideration.

I've heard kings are better eaters, but I've never tried to feed a snake, so I wouldn't know.

They're both very long-lived, so no matter which one I get, it's going to be a commitment well into my 40's at least. I've considered this several times (especially the fact that I'll not be living in this house for all of those 20+ years, so It'll have to move with me), and I'm willing to take care of it for that long.



You feed them in their cage? I was told to put them in a different one, because substrate can cause impaction and they could associate opening their cage with feeding time. I thought that was weird though, because if you feed it, then handle it, you could make it regurgitate the food back up.

Yep I feed him in his enclosure. It makes no sense to take him out of it to feed him. For BP's it's a myth that feeding them in their enclosure will cause them to bite you.

[KingNoFace]

Corn snakes/king snakes are the #1 beginner snake in my opinion, no special humidity, and can be kept around 85-87 which is only slightly above room temp. Ive heard countless stories of people getting a ball python as their first snake and not being able to keep humidity up enough (mostly from using lights). But! If a ball python is what you want, And you are prepared. (You seem educated enough) then go for it!

[KingNoFace]

Feeding outside of the enclosure is a myth. Infact it actually stresses the snake out more to feed it outside its enclosure because of the access handling after eating. Also, the "associating the enclosure with food" idea makes no sense. Because you are "associating" taking the snake out of its cage with eating when you remove it from its enclosure to feed it.

My snakes will know within the first 10 seconds I stick my hand into the cage if there is food or not, they usually will smell my hand, and once I touch them they know im not food.

[Dagger311]

Just to touch on a few things you mentioned...

I've never handled wild Kings, unfortunately. Yet to see one in MA. CB Kings are awesome for handling. As you know, the juveniles are very quick and flighty, even CB. They do mellow pretty easily with handling. My adult is super chill and super easy to handle. Still more on-the-go than BPs though.

BPs are super easy to handle.

Kings generally are garbage disposals. Mine gets the leftovers my BP doesn't eat and has never refused a scheduled meal or leftovers.
However, I've had good luck with my BP too. He refused for 3 weeks and has since been back to eating every 5-7 days.

Once you've got temps and humidity dialed in it's pretty simple regular maintenance, either way you choose.

So my thoughts are: which do you like better for what you want? Chances are you'll end up like most of us and have multiple snakes anyway, but if you're looking for a thicker bodied, more chill snake, go BP. If you're looking for more slender and more active, go King. Or, just get one now and one later

Wild Kings are a treat. I would just keep one of them, but I've been told caught snakes require a lot more attention to things like mites and parasites than CBs.

I really do want a MBK, but they're just so hard to find (Hatchlings sell out quickly, I guess everyone wants them), but ball pythons are really cool, too. I love how calm they are, but I also love how active kings are compared to them.

[Lizardlicks]

Probably your best bet is to go to Repticon and see if there's anything there you just can go home without. Seeing them up close can really make your mind up fast!

[Dagger311]

Corn snakes/king snakes are the #1 beginner snake in my opinion, no special humidity, and can be kept around 85-87 which is only slightly above room temp. Ive heard countless stories of people getting a ball python as their first snake and not being able to keep humidity up enough (mostly from using lights). But! If a ball python is what you want, And you are prepared. (You seem educated enough) then go for it!

A MBK would do very well in my room, I know that much. The only reason I haven't got one of those is I can't find one, except for a site called Bigappleherp which has mixed reviews, and I don't want to buy from a place that can't reliably deliver healthy, active snakes. I also love reverse stripe kingsnakes, and the tiger pattern ones.

A Ball Python would be slightly harder to keep in my room (Kind of cold downstairs, especially in winter), but definitely not impossible, just more monitoring. They're easier to find, and the different morphs are really cool (There's more morphs of BPs I like than kings, but the kings I like, I like better than BPs).

Feeding outside of the enclosure is a myth. Infact it actually stresses the snake out more to feed it outside its enclosure because of the access handling after eating. Also, the "associating the enclosure with food" idea makes no sense. Because you are "associating" taking the snake out of its cage with eating when you remove it from its enclosure to feed it.

My snakes will know within the first 10 seconds I stick my hand into the cage if there is food or not, they usually will smell my hand, and once I touch them they know im not food.

Good to know, because I was definitely going to feed outside the tank before I read this and the other posts saying they feed inside.

Probably your best bet is to go to Repticon and see if there's anything there you just can go home without. Seeing them up close can really make your mind up fast!

July's a little longer than I wanted to wait to pick one up, but if I can't find a nice MBK or a BP morph I want by then, I'll go there and look.

[Craiga 01453]

Probably your best bet is to go to Repticon and see if there's anything there you just can go home without. Seeing them up close can really make your mind up fast!

Agreed.

I completely understand you not wanting to wait that long, I'm the same way. But, since it's easier said than done, my two cents is wait it out. A few weeks will go by pretty quickly and once you're there you'll find a snake that you fall in love with and you'll have for years to come.