Lola and the jumpy Khan

[4Khan]

As some of you know there was a reptile show in Monona WI this weekend.
It was very small with only about a handfull of venders. Although it took us an hour and half to get there I didnt regret the short time we were there (about 20minutes).

I was expecting to get myself a very small female normal there ( I abandoned my hopes of a albino after my car starting have problems again) and maybe find myself a breeder close to home who I could go through in the future.

I did see some fat females as well as some handsome looking males. I found a large female ( gosh i wish my home PC worked so I could post some pics.) for $65. I held her and fell in love. She is darker in color than our male and looks like she could eat him for dinner!

We welcomed Lola with a nice toasty plastic set up and two hides to help her settle in. So far she is doing alright. The nice man who sold her to use says she is a live eater on either mice or rats. Thats no big deal to us since Khan is eating live and we havent switched him over to F/T ( or shall I say "tried" to switch).

Here is the name of the place we bought Lola from
www.swreptile.com.

As for our lil man Khan, things havent been looking to good as far as his interactions with us. He is eating well and has gotten on a night/day schedule. He is most active at around 11pm and thats usually when we take him out for some interaction. We only take him out wed-sat since we feed him on Sundays (or a monday) and we like him to really get some good digestion time in.
Lately he has been very jumpy when we take him out and he will jerk around quickly if we come close to the cage when hes out. We belive he is a lot younger than we originally thought and he was possible under fed.

Does anyone know what could be causing his jumpyness?
We have had him since March.

[jknudson]

Too bad I didn't meet you there...I was around from about 11-3pm. I actually picked up a male ball python 100% het hypo from Jim at the SW Reptile table. Great quality animals, and he's definitely a great guy to have done business with.

Can't wait to see some pictures!

[4Khan]

Too bad I didn't meet you there...I was around from about 11-3pm. I actually picked up a male ball python 100% het hypo from Jim at the SW Reptile table. Great quality animals, and he's definitely a great guy to have done business with.

Can't wait to see some pictures!

aww crap! I was hoping to find someone from here...maybe someone would walk up and say "hey do you post on ball-pythons.net?" hahaha

Now what are you gonna do with that 100% het hypo, any breeding plans?

Did you see the piebald? AHHHH I was going to devise a plan to mug Jim on his way out but had a change of mind after I bought Lola and found out what a nice guy he was.

[jknudson]

The plan is to pick up a 05 100% het hypo female for him for next year if I can bring her up to size in time.

Otherwise I may be using one of my two adult normal females to produce some possible hets to raise up and prove out in a few years with some nice hypo babies.

I have a lot of possibilities planned, too bad someone cut down that money tree from my backyard. LOL

[jglass38]

Does anyone know what could be causing his jumpyness?
We have had him since March.

I'll take being a Ball Python for $1000, Alex? Seriously though it takes time. Short (15 min) handling sessions a couple times a week but never within 24 hours after eating are the way to go. He will calm down. Balls are generally fairly timid and shy...

[4Khan]

I'll take being a Ball Python for $1000, Alex? Seriously though it takes time. Short (15 min) handling sessions a couple times a week but never within 24 hours after eating are the way to go. He will calm down. Balls are generally fairly timid and shy...

hahaha good one! Im hoping thats all it takes!

"I have a lot of possibilities planned, too bad someone cut down that money tree from my backyard. LOL"
your telling me! I've tried everything to get some money...from pimping out my friends...selling organs, robbing little old ladies on the bus...Ive even gone so far as to put in over time at work, sheesh now thats CRAZY!
just kidding!

[jknudson]

hahaha good one! Im hoping thats all it takes!
your telling me! I've tried everything to get some money...from pimping out my friends...selling organs, robbing little old ladies on the bus...Ive even gone so far as to put in over time at work, sheesh now thats CRAZY!
just kidding!

I do still have two kidneys...I may be hitting up Ebay for that one. LOL

I hear a lot of talk about cash cows, I wonder where I can find one?

I wish I could put in overtime at work, the bossman doesn't allow it. I guess I'll have to resort to the payment plans. LOL

[Ninjapython]

how can i find out when and where a reptile expo near me will be ps im in thecharlottesville area of virginia thanks

[jknudson]

Check out kingsnake, they have all of the upcoming reptile shows listed. The soonest I found one in VA was May 14th. Here's the link for it:
http://www.mdreptilefarm.com/shows/va/nva.asp

[frankykeno]

Congrats on the new female, sounds like you found yourself a nice deal at that show!

As far as Khan and handling, as has been said just take your time, slow and easy with him. You've got upwards of 20 years of time with him so a few months now of steady, calm handling is a small investment really in the greater scheme of things. As well, it has to be said that some snakes just won't take to much handling...they are afterall snakes and not mammals that need much interaction with humans. Overtime I think you'll find Khan's tolerances and what triggers him to be a bit more jumpy.

Couple of examples....Kyna our 2 year old female BP doesn't seem to mind being handled however after about 5 minutes or so she likes to be put down and allowed to just meander around the carpet (under supervision of course). If you force Kyna to stay in your hands instead of being free to roam, she'd react poorly. Rionach our yearling female BP on the other hand, seems to consider me a large, warm living hide. If she is down on the carpet and anything startles her she immediately slithers back to me so for her I need to be nearby all the time.

I think in the end it all comes down to knowing your snake well, being sensitive to it's subtle and not so subtle cues and respecting that when it's all said and done handling is a gift and a privilege for the keeper. It's not a necessity for the snake but rather a pure joy for us humans.