My New Friend Quicksilver the Purple Passion Ball Python

[SerpentineDream]

Quicksilver arrived yesterday. He wasn't too sure about all this at first, but he quickly unballed and set about exploring his new home. He is exceptionally friendly and curious. He is named for his amazing mercury eyes. Our biggest challenge will be convincing him to eat F/T. He is a stubborn live feeder. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, but if anyone else has any I'm all ears.

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_120500_zps3s4wna7k.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_120500_zps3s4wna7k.jpg.html)

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_120722_zps58myqa27.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_120722_zps58myqa27.jpg.html)

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_125010_zpsonrferan.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_125010_zpsonrferan.jpg.html)

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_134151_007_01_zpscqflmzki.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_134151_007_01_zpscqflmzki.jpg.html)

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_125854_006_01_zpslm0oxr98.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_125854_006_01_zpslm0oxr98.jpg.html)

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_122234_006_01_zpsbm7dedbr.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_122234_006_01_zpsbm7dedbr.jpg.html)

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_125040_005_01_zpsi2xiywhi.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_125040_005_01_zpsi2xiywhi.jpg.html)

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_122217_009_01-1_zps5uz46ujk.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_122217_009_01-1_zps5uz46ujk.jpg.html)

[Minkness]

Wow! Total beauty! Congrats!

[Herpo]

He is very, very nice! And a beautiful enclosure to boot! Lucky little guy, isn't he?

[EL Ziggy]

Very pretty snake. What morph is he?

[SerpentineDream]

Purple Passion. My favorite morph ever, though I have also have a soft spot for Blue Eyed Lucy and Firebee. :)

[Minkness]

What genetics make up a purple passion?

[SerpentineDream]

Mojave and Phantom are co-dominant. Not surprisingly, Purple Passions are also called Mojave Phantoms.

If I was to breed him to a Super Phantom I should get 1/2 Purple Passion and 1/2 Super Phantom, or so says the morph wizard at World of Ball Pythons (I'm no expert and he's a pet, though I think his breeder was a bit disappointed that I wasn't planning to breed him because he is a very nice snake).

[EL Ziggy]

My bad for not reading the full title! Duh!

[Herpo]

Whether or not you choose to breed him, he is gorgeous!

[SerpentineDream]

Quicksilver has grown comfortable enough that when he wakes up in the late afternoon he peeks out of his hidey hole to watch me. Eventually he slithers out to get a better look, then proceeds to cruise around his cage.

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160225_110256_zpsdxswsqe7_edit_1456543113871_zps dw2n6prx.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160225_110256_zpsdxswsqe7_edit_1456543113871_zps dw2n6prx.jpg.html)

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160226_163509_023_01_zpsfx1qbw5g.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160226_163509_023_01_zpsfx1qbw5g.jpg.html)

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160223_204421_zpsxqmesahn_edit_1456541716977_zps znjyewf7.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160223_204421_zpsxqmesahn_edit_1456541716977_zps znjyewf7.jpg.html)

But he's not very brave yet. If you pick him up you still get a ball.

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160222_082745-2_zpsvzcgb3io_edit_1456540991225_zpsqebfuaux.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160222_082745-2_zpsvzcgb3io_edit_1456540991225_zpsqebfuaux.jpg.h tml)

I still can't believe how beautiful his mercury eyes are....

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_122404_002_01_zps5gr555xf.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_122404_002_01_zps5gr555xf.jpg.html)

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_122358_004_01_zpsvunxzpqg.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160219_122358_004_01_zpsvunxzpqg.jpg.html)

[Sylphie]

He's sooo stunning! <3

[jpsteele80]

WOW he is absolutely beautiful

[mysticmoon]

He is stunning, congratulations.

[Albert Clark]

WOW! Great pickup! As far as the frozen thawed transition is concerned, its all in your presentation and your vigilance. Younger bps are more apt to switch over than adults. Actually more in the presentation.

[SerpentineDream]

WOW! Great pickup! As far as the frozen thawed transition is concerned, its all in your presentation and your vigilance. Younger bps are more apt to switch over than adults. Actually more in the presentation.

I'm going to attempt his first feeding tonight. He is still a juvenile and is eating medium adult mice. His breeder attempted to feed him a mouse that another snake had killed but not eaten and he refused it, but I'm not sure how it was presented. I think he then went back to feeding him live until it was warm enough to ship him.

My game plan is to thaw the mouse in warm water and dry it off. Right before I offer it I'll hold its face up to a heat lamp for just a few seconds so that the end I'm offering is nice and warm, then open its mouth so he can smell its saliva. Then I'll hold its rear end in the tongs and make it do a little frantic mouse scurrying away puppet show if he doesn't seem interested. Hopefully he'll strike. If he does I'll offer a few gentle tugs to simulate struggling and seal the deal.... Does that sound like a good plan?

He's going to be moving from mice to rats pretty soon and if it can be helped I do NOT want to be feeding him live rats, for the sake of all involved.

[SerpentineDream]

My "tricks" worked. I got him to eat a F/T mouse. :)

[Herpo]

Congratulations! I'd love to see a progression thread on him!

[Albert Clark]

My "tricks" worked. I got him to eat a F/T mouse. :)

Yep, sounds fantastic! You got it. Just offer them the same way each time and he will get more comfortable with that. Once you decide to switch to rats, I would utilize the same procedure as with the mice unless a problem develops. Good luck and congrats. Remember a lot of your success with this will be the heat signature in the prey item.

[macandchz]

what a beauty! i never knew there were purple snakes.

[SerpentineDream]

He took another thawed mouse. I still.have to hold its face up to the lamp and do the elaborate puppet show to get a response, but I'll make that mouse tap dance in a top hat and twirl a cane if it means I don't have to feed live.

Once he strikes he's very aggressive. He squeezes it so hard that its insides don't always stay completely inside. Once he's sure it's dead (i.e., I've stopped tugging on it and managed to extricate the tongs from his grip) he chows down. It's just convincing him to strike in the first place.

BTW, while I was begging him to eat, my adult female corn snake Bridget was banging against the glass of her cage trying to get me to toss a mouse her way. It reminded me of this....

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/12392056_10100389777332013_3740216940716674059_n_z psgxkxdxxo.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/12392056_10100389777332013_3740216940716674059_n_z psgxkxdxxo.jpg.html)

[SerpentineDream]

He does enjoy Dead Mouse Theatre, to borrow from the morbidly funny Tomcat mouse trap commercials. I'm still able to get him to take F/T but I have to put in the full effort every time. In the next couple of weeks I'll start offering rat pups instead. Should be interesting. Looking at these pictures I can't help but think that if this mouse had been alive he would likely have taken a big chomp from it before it expired.

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160322_095127_zpspe1h9ead.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160322_095127_zpspe1h9ead.jpg.html)

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s520/SerpentineDream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160322_095111_zpszjb1oyiy.jpg (http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/SerpentineDream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160322_095111_zpszjb1oyiy.jpg.html)

[Sylphie]

Hahaha, he'll get better! My little guy was that "good" at "killing" at first too. And he needed mice theatre too. He even bite himself in the proccess a few times! Now all I need to do is to offer a mice with tongs, after few seconds he has it in perfect coils :) Just give him time!

And I love the eyes of your guy! <3

[SerpentineDream]

Quicksilver is now chowing down on F/T rat pups. He takes them right away, with barely a jiggle needed. He has decided he needs to drown them in his water bowl after he constricts them though. I am perplexed, but I guess as long as he's eating them....

I have caved and am now looking for a girlfriend for him. I love Purple Passions and Blue Eyed Lucys, and both are marketable. Quicksilver is a very nice example of his morph and has a great personality, so I'm looking for an equally nice Super Mojave female for him. Should get 50 / 50 Purple Passions and Super Mojave BEL babies when they are done growing up. :) I don't expect I'll ever be a big-time breeder or make huge bucks, but I can contribute some good genes to the pool, enjoy my favorite morphs (and few other favorite species) and hopefully at least partially fund the snake addiction.

[SerpentineDream]

Snake spill in Aisle 5....

http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r669/Serpentine_Dream/Mobile%20Uploads/20160301_155217_zps44lgxrlf.jpg (http://s1361.photobucket.com/user/Serpentine_Dream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160301_155217_zps44lgxrlf.jpg.html)

[Petsnakes]

That is one beautiful snake!

Bye for now,

Jim

[Albert Clark]

Quicksilver is now chowing down on F/T rat pups. He takes them right away, with barely a jiggle needed. He has decided he needs to drown them in his water bowl after he constricts them though. I am perplexed, but I guess as long as he's eating them....

I have caved and am now looking for a girlfriend for him. I love Purple Passions and Blue Eyed Lucys, and both are marketable. Quicksilver is a very nice example of his morph and has a great personality, so I'm looking for an equally nice Super Mojave female for him. Should get 50 / 50 Purple Passions and Super Mojave BEL babies when they are done growing up. :) I don't expect I'll ever be a big-time breeder or make huge bucks, but I can contribute some good genes to the pool, enjoy my favorite morphs (and few other favorite species) and hopefully at least partially fund the snake addiction.
Hey, you know most breeders have a story on how they got started. Trust me, alot of them started as closet breeders only with a pair or a trio. Big time breeders had small beginnings and it took awhile before they got big. Don't think you won't grow that collection and become big. Good luck.

[macandchz]

what a beautiful snake and great pictures!

[SerpentineDream]

OK, so I might have gone a liiiiitle overboard. I am getting 2 Super Mojave females. Was going to get only 1 to breed with Quicksilver. Fell in love with a little male Banana Spider who was totally not in my breeding plans, or any plans at all. Found that he too should produce some cool offspring when paired with a Super Mojave (25% chances each for Mojave, Banana Mojave, Spider Mojave... and holy cow, Banana Spider Mojave, which looks like it's made of gold. Yowza!) Hmm, 2 males, 1 female. What to do? Get another Super Mojave female.

And this is how you become a breeder. The little boogers just keep sneaking into your house.

[macandchz]

beautiful snake! i loved the pix of him peeking out of the hide.