Prospective Ball Python owner with ???'s

[jphealy]

I've never had a snake before. I'm thinking very seriously about getting a Ball Python and I have a few questions.

I've found a petshop that specializes in reptiles. The guy there tells me that the easiest time to get a Ball is around April, but he says he is expecting to get some in in the next week or so. Am I to assume that these will just be snakes which hatched last spring and just haven't been sold yet? Or do they sometimes breed and hatch much later in the year? I'm interested in getting as healthy and as young a snake as possible. Would I be best off waiting until next April or would I be ok with one of the snakes he has coming in now?

Also, the snakes he gets in he says are farmed. Is this the same thing as captive-bred?

Am I likely to be able to choose between a male and female in the shop, or are they too difficult to sex?

Any answers would be greatly appreciated!

[Jeanne]

Welcome!

Baby bp's are hatched all year around in captivity, I cannot tell you if they are in the wild for sure, cause it is not something I have thought about enough to read about. So really there is no need to wait till April.

However, seeing as though he (pet shop personel) admits to getting farmed babies. I give kudos to him cause most do not admit to that. But, I personally would not buy a farmed animal. Farmed comes from a Mom who is wild caught, kept till she lays her eggs and then let go or sold in the pet trade, the eggs are then incubated till they hatch and then the young are distributed. They have to suffer the deed of shipping in harsh conditions and you never know how healthy they really are, just too many problems can crop up IMO and you could find yourself in a problem with expensive medical bills on top of the purchase price and supplies to care for it. Also, unless the pet shop is able to accuritely sex the snake, no you will not be able to choose what sex you want. There are 2 ways to sex a snake, popping and probing. If popping is not done by someone experienced enough, it could cause injury to the snake, so can probing, so I would not count on picking out any sex if you choose to buy from there. If you want to know the sex of your snake thats bought at a pet store, go to a vet who works with reptiles.

Now, if you want to solve the whole dilema. Buy from a breeder. That is the best way to go. When you buy from a breeder, the snake you get may cost you just a bit more but it is well worth it. At least what you get would be healthy and most likely have a health gaurantee the breeder backs up, just in case there is some issue that comes up. Also, a breeder can tell you the sex of the snake you are choosing or help you narrow your choice down by sex if thats what you choose. Hope this helps you in your decisions.

[Adam_Wysocki]

The hatchling season in Africa starts in late feb/early march. The babies that come in to the country around April are usually the strongest healthiest farmed babies that you'll see all year. As you get later and later into the year the pickings get slimmer and the quality of the babies goes way down. Farmed babies being delivered this time of year are often the runts, slow feeders, or just lower quality than the stuff delivered in the spring and were held for a while to give them the chance to become better established before being sent out.

Farmed is not the same thing as captive bred. In Africa, pregnant female ball pythons are collected over the winter and allowed to lay their eggs in captivity in "farms". The eggs are then incubated and hatched and the babies are shipped out to the US, Canada, Europe, etc. The process of shipping over seas can be very stressful on the babies and if they are given the chance to drink water while on the "farms" they could have parasites. Farmed babies also sometimes change hands many times before winding up in pet stores, so you never really know the conditions they encountered along the way. Many farmed ball pythons will do fine and make great pets, but there is definitely a higher risk factor than with a captive bred animal, especially for a ball python that is being brought in this time of the year.

Ball pythons can be sexed the second that they leave the egg.

Hope this helps.

-adam