Yet another rescue...

[Mark Jones]

Once again we've found ourselves involved in rescuing an animal. To date that makes 5 dogs, 2 cats, a bearded dragon (disabled), and now - two Ball Pythons. We got homes for two of the dogs, and kept the rest.

The good news is that this latest BP is in good overall health, though it had a bad shed that left both eyecaps in place. The folks were moving back to California and could not take the snake with them and were planning on turning it loose in the wild down here. We heard and took the snake in.

Like I said, "Nosey" seems to be in good shape save for the eyecap thing. We will schedule a vet trip very soon in order to have a float done and have it sexed. (For that matter, we've still got to have "Sneaky" sexed, too...) There are no "apparent" mites or ticks, and no scars, (unlike our first BP...). S/he is 32 inches long and weighs 434 grams by our postal scale. (Our other BP is 44inches long and weighs 1656 grams.) No pics yet, but she is pretty. Great disposition too!

We are NOT taking chances, however, and have "Nosey" on a total quarantine. We figure on keeping s/he isolated for a month and a vet visit in that time span. Does that sound kosher?

MY other questions are thus:
1) If both BP's check out clean and healthy at the vet we would like to house them together, if possible.

2) Exactly what are the chances of them not getting along? Is this possible?

3) When sexing is complete, and we have a male and female, When would we expect the female to ovulate? We're considering giving the breeding of normals a try...

[lostwithin]

Housing them together is not a good idea at all. Ball pythons are solitary animals and very shy. housing the 2 together will only stress both animals out.

As for ovulation, this will occur after cycling and introducing the male . I suggest doing some research on the subject there is lots to learn.

As for total quarantine. That is always a very good idea especially with a rescue. You never know what it might be carrying.

Good luck with the rescue

Devon

[nita]

Like Devon said it is best to house separately. Also easier to monitor who is having bowel movements, feeding is way easier too. THere are some great book and care sheets out there just do a google search on Ball Python Care and you should get tons of info.

[zero&stich]

The folks were moving back to California and could not take the snake with them and were planning on turning it loose in the wild down here. We heard and took the snake in.


Noble of you to take in the animal. Your story reminds me of when I took in Second Chance. A family found a ball outdoors in 50 degrees, on a dirt road. It was towards March. After giving them the low-down on basic husbantry on the phone, I believe. They decided to try and keep it as a "pet". But the following week after that, I received a call at my house and a co-worker told me they're back and were going to drop off the snake to the humane society because the mother couldn't handle the snake eating frozen mice.

I told my co-worker to tell them I'd come and pick of the snake as soon as possiable. When I brought the ball home, it looked to be in good condition, despite its rough start in life. It was about 3 feet and a little on the thin side. In the end after a 2 month quartine period, it was eating frozen rats on a regular basis and was the most calmest ball I've had the pleasure to work with, thus far. Very gentle and never pulled the "ball" routine. During that time frame, I decided to name it Second Chance, because it was gettin a second chance at life, from a rough start early on.

People are stupid to think that boas and pythons, or any animal that has lived in captivity is capable to survive on its own outdoors, much less when these animals hail from different continets. It's sheer idiocy.

[Mark Jones]

Our first ball was abused horribly. When we got him he was a mass of scars and open wounds, completely dehydrated and very thin. Owners thought it was venomous...

Now we've got a healthy, clean, clear-skinned beast with a heck of an hunger for rats!