I have officially been bitten by the snake bug!

[Apiratenamedjohn]

At this point I have about 60 resident ball pythons all in racks. That number will triple in the next two months when the eggs begin a hatching. Out of all the animals that have come and gone, I have only had one that I would classify as not a happy camper. He has issues that I have not gotten to the bottom of yet. For the most part, a ball python that is super active is uncomfortable, hungry, or looking for love. Snake musculature is different than a humans. They do not require exercise to maintain muscle definition. Most pythons if not all have the ability to actually "suspend" the digestive tract to the point of the organs involved actually shrinking. They are designed to chill. During fasting periods my adults very rarely do anything other than mimic rocks. Even if they are out, they will often continue to do nothing if they "feel" safe.

There is nothing wrong with providing a ball with space as long as they have a place they can hide and the environment is controllable. The boys are likely to get very entertaining for a month or so out of the year. There is also nothing wrong with racking them. They do just fine. Eat well, shed well, procreate well and knock on wood, don't get sick. Stressed out animals, including humans have the tendency to get sick. Hmmm. Most of the issues I have heard concerning balls start out with, I am keeping my animal in some giant fish aquarium and he must be happy because he is out playing all the time.

I have a single bearded dragon. He is kept totally different from my snakes. He seems to thrive on interaction and utilizes the space he has for something other than sleeping. Still not a bright animal but he is alert and appears to be able to tell people apart. He knows my wife feeds him and I don't. I would say proportionately he requires far more space than my snakes.

I don't know squat about chameleons other than I know they cannot be kept like ball pythons.

I have kept enough balls to know I wouldn't want to try bioactive with them. The poop is dog sized and when they pee, which is not often, there is a flood. Urate is no big deal.

My point is different species require different things. Some animals make good pets because their needs can be met easily. Some others cannot. My personal pet people is people that buy hunting dogs and try to turn them into house pets, but that is another story.

I take it you breed them?
Yes, huge dog turds and usually in a tough spot. But it is no more difficult than spot cleaning aspen or newspaper. I agree and said there was nothing wrong with racks.