A few Ball Python Q's

[JEFFREH]

Ok, bare with me here guys. I'm a lizard guy and no almost nothing about snakes. Well, I went to see my uncle and his friend was over. Of course he happens to bring his 2 foot ball python. So I was holding it and asking about it and stuff. Well, Now I want a snake! I know I can't get one, cause my sister wanted a california kingsnake and my parents said no, and they didnt want to feed it mice or even have a snake in the house. Plus they said 3 lizards was enough, and no more reptiles!

Ok, I'm just going on and on, sorry but this may be long and take awhile, so like I said bare with me here. I really like ball pythons; Unfortunatley, I know very little about them, so I came here to ask some Q's.So here they are...

1. Is it a good beginer? What's the difficulty level?

2. What does it eat, how much, and when will it eat?

3. Is it Diurnal or Nocturnal?

4. What are the cage requirements?

5. What should be in the cage? (substrate, cage decor, etc.)

6. How much does it eat? What does it eat? And how many times a week should it eat?

7. How often does it shed?

8. What are the heating requirements and what do you recommend using?

9. what is the humidity needs?

10. Does it need special lighting?

11. Does it need supplementation? (EX. Calcium, multi vitamin)

12. Will it bite? Are they snappy?

13 Big importance to me, Can it be Handled?

14. Do I feed frozen food, or live prey? How do you thaw out frozen food if that is best?

15. What's the best place to buy one from? What's the average price of the species?

16. How much will it cost per week to feed?

17. Are they stubborn? I heard ball pythons may stop eating for no reason so you must resort to hand feeding. Is this true?

18. Every snak I see onlin costs like over $1,000! Does that apply to norma phases too? What's the average price I will see?

19. Ummm, any tips or hints for the species? What should I know about them before buying that I should no?


Hmmm, I feel like I'm forgetting something but I beleive thats it! I'll be sure to do LOADS more research. Oh, and any good sites with good caresheets? Thanks in advance! If I have any more Q's I'll add them here!
P.S. I kinda laready posted this at Reptilerooms, so if its repeat to you, just ermm pay no attention I guess. I like to get varrying opinions.

[pandora1985]

you need to do some research. plenty of these answers can be found online. also, look in the care sheet section on this site.

[kerri4776]

1. Is it a good beginer? What's the difficulty level? moderate difficultty level because of humidity and such. though they are hardy. i don't recommend them for beginners.

2. What does it eat, how much, and when will it eat? appropriately sized mouse or rat (preferably). weekly while young.

3. Is it Diurnal or Nocturnal? nocturnal i believe

4. What are the cage requirements? what do you wanna know?

5. What should be in the cage? (substrate, cage decor, etc.) a couple of hides, water bowl, warm and cool side, substrate (i use cypress mulch)

6. How much does it eat? What does it eat? And how many times a week should it eat? an appropriately sized rat or mouse when young once a week. bigger and less often when older

7. How often does it shed? appr. once a month, but no set schedule

8. What are the heating requirements and what do you recommend using? under tank heater or human heating pad

9. what is the humidity needs? 60%

10. Does it need special lighting? no... just a day/night period

11. Does it need supplementation? (EX. Calcium, multi vitamin) rodents provide all it needs

12. Will it bite? Are they snappy? maybe

13 Big importance to me, Can it be Handled? yeah, but not a whole lot til it gets adjusted, but many aren't as human friendly as many other snakes

14. Do I feed frozen food, or live prey? How do you thaw out frozen food if that is best? frozen is by far better... thaw it in warm water

15. What's the best place to buy one from? What's the average price of the species? for normals... 50 bucks or so. make sure it is captive bred, though.

16. How much will it cost per week to feed? a dollar or so a week while young

17. Are they stubborn? I heard ball pythons may stop eating for no reason so you must resort to hand feeding. Is this true? yeah

18. Every snak I see onlin costs like over $1,000! Does that apply to norma phases too? What's the average price I will see? 50 bucks or so

19. Ummm, any tips or hints for the species? What should I know about them before buying that I should no? they can be picky eaters, and shy about people.

[haroldo359]

whoops. kerri's post was supposed to be me.

[JEFFREH]

Thanks!

Oh adn pandora, I know I need to do more research. I don't plan on buying one anytime soon, but just collecting info. I wanted to get an idea on varrying opinions and info from the pros first. Plus many of the caresheets I come across have different info then another and I don't know which is right! And all those caresheets that are bad... grr

[pathfinder36]

-Very finicky eaters
-They stress easy
-Sometimes a BP will go off feed for months at a time. From what I understand, it is not grounds to freak out, and force feeding should be avoided like the plague.

**** not a good beginner snake

I think Hogg Island boas would be good for beginners. They are a SMALL (3.5-5' average) sub-species of BCI with some outstanding coloration. They tend to be very aggressive feeders while maintaining a very docile, people friendly attitude (with proper care of course).

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[bpkid]

Originally Posted by JEFFREH

1. Is it a good beginer? What's the difficulty level?

2. What does it eat, how much, and when will it eat?

3. Is it Diurnal or Nocturnal?

4. What are the cage requirements?

5. What should be in the cage? (substrate, cage decor, etc.)

6. How much does it eat? What does it eat? And how many times a week should it eat?

7. How often does it shed?

8. What are the heating requirements and what do you recommend using?

9. what is the humidity needs?

10. Does it need special lighting?

11. Does it need supplementation? (EX. Calcium, multi vitamin)

12. Will it bite? Are they snappy?

13 Big importance to me, Can it be Handled?

14. Do I feed frozen food, or live prey? How do you thaw out frozen food if that is best?

15. What's the best place to buy one from? What's the average price of the species?

16. How much will it cost per week to feed?

17. Are they stubborn? I heard ball pythons may stop eating for no reason so you must resort to hand feeding. Is this true?

18. Every snak I see onlin costs like over $1,000! Does that apply to norma phases too? What's the average price I will see?

19. Ummm, any tips or hints for the species? What should I know about them before buying that I should no?

1.Great beginner

2.They eat mice and rats once a week for babies,once every 2 weeks for
juvis?and once every three for adults

3.nocturnal

4.see 5

5.Substrateaper towel,Cage Decor:water bowl,hide,digital thermometer/hydrometer(around ten bucks at wal mart)

6.see 2

7.I really dont know,sorry,mine shed once for me the entire time i had it.

8.i use heat pads,If you use reptile heat pads,u should hook them up to a thermostat,but human heat pads work great

9.50% to 70% though,65 is preferred

10.No special lighting

11.No supplementation needs

12.I think they are more docile than corns,i have never seen an agressive Bp.They arent snappy

13.Definatly,but not tooo much,such as all snakes,to avoid stress.

14.Frozen food wont hurt your snake,i highly recommend you use frozen,to thaw it out,put it in a cup of warm water and wait for 10 minutes.

15.Buy one from don hamper at www.pythons.com/hamper ,he is very good.The average price would be around 50 dollars.

16.u can buy food from the reptile shows,they sell them very cheap for many mice or rats

17.They can go off feed for 6-8 months,they dont need to be handfed unless they are losing much weight.

18.No no no no,some morphs cost around 10,000 dollars and normal phases would be 50 dollars(around$50)

19.Make sure the snake that you are buying is healthy.By this,you check for mites,ticks and make sure the snake is feeding.If you get a true well raised CB bp,you should be fine

	Morph A morph is a color or pattern variation that is proven to be genetic. Common morphs include albino, anerythristic, gentically striped, Hypomelanistic, and many others. Morphs also include combinations of simple traits such as "Sunglow" which is Albino and Hypomelanistic. These traits may be recessive traits, co-dominant traits, dominant traits, or created through selective breeding (ie Pastel).

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[joker_212003]

Hey...good luck with your new ball python! I bought one ball python and then it was like a bad habit cause I had to get another, then I ended up buying a redtail boa. Anyways it looks as though you have got all the facts. Hope you enjoy your new friend.

[haroldo359]

make sure if you get one it is captive bred. but in my opinion, they aren't good beginner snakes.

[pandora1985]

im surprised people feel they are bad beginner snakes. i think they make great beginner snakes. yes, there are ones that are finicky eaters but this is usually avoided if you buy captive bred from a good breeder.

[ChicagoCubs22]

good begginer? well my BP was my begginer snake

Finicky eaters? DEPENDS. Mines never rejected an offering

HAndling? Very very calm snakes, great for handling. Im handling mine now, i havent in a few weeks, its still very docile.

Activity Nocturnal, you wont see them very active in there enclosures once they are settled in.

Humidity 50% is fine

I use newspaper

Have fed him at least 1 RAT item every week of his life. (go for small rat pups instead of adult mice. Rats are better nutrition)

supplements NOT REQUIRED but the occasional dust helps. I dusted my snakes rats alot.

Start out as live, then when he gets to live small rats, u kill the live rats, for about 3 feeds, then offer frozen thawed. Worked for me PERFECTLY

	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.