I'm new lol

[Lilyeyes]

Hey everyone! I'm new to the site today! I have 3 big beautiful female bps. I love them they are soo sweet. I would like to hear peoples thoughts on ball pythons as pets. I think they are wonderful. I am also quite fond of the rainbow boa (beautiful creature) if anyone has pics of their rainbow I would love to see them

[Squisher]

Hello and welcome! I think BPs are great as pets as they generally have a great temperament and will put up with alot of human interaction and that they don't get out of hand size wise. Plus if your into morphs their are TONS of them with this breed. I currently have 7.

[infernalis]

I have a nice "normal" Royal Python that I took away from a lady who was neglecting him.

My kids just love how calm he is, and we got really lucky with his eating habbits too.

http://www.thamfriends.com/mat.jpg

[Lilyeyes]

I find the morphs are absolutely beautiful as well I would love to see pics of them. All 3 of my bps came from different forms of neglectful situations and they have turned into real sweeties with alot of patience and time. I justdont get how people can be so cruel

[Will0W783]

I have 4 BPS: a normal male, a 66% het albino female, and a pair of yellowbellies. You gotta love balls: they are so calm, so docile,and get to a good size without being huge. Whenever anyone tells me they want to get a snake, I recommend a ball as a first.

[Hillsberry]

I have never had a BPS. But I have heard they are amazing pets. Would love to see some pictures of them. Welcome!!

[marvelfreak]

Hello! I have a ball their great, but carpets pythons are addictive. You ever want a snake that's get a little bigger but, a lot more active an just as friendly get a carpet. Brazilian rainbow is going to be my next snake. As soon as it's warm enough to get one shipped.

[Will0W783]

Yes!! Carpets rule!! By far my favorite snake overall. I have a male IJ, a female jungle, a male jungle/jag sib, and an 8-foot coastal mutt male. They are all incredibly docile, curious, impressive snakes. Their faces are also very similar to the GTP, and I love that dragon-faced look!

[Hillsberry]

Okay well I just got my first carpet and I am deathly in love with her. Lol. Even though I have only headle her once.:P

[mykee]

I have 104 adult ball pythons, and over 300 during hatchling season.

"and will put up with alot of human interaction"
Put up with. Not a lot though.

[Squisher]

I have 104 adult ball pythons, and over 300 during hatchling season.

"and will put up with alot of human interaction"
Put up with. Not a lot though.


I understand your expertise in breeding BPS although I wonder (and this isn't a jab) how much experience one has with them as pets vs business partners?

Excluding the "undue stress" reasoning for not wanting to interact with them frequently.. I can pull them out 7 times a day and still get the same dispostion. Reason being.. they are my pets. I'm not just a caretaker. I interact with them. Let them experience the world around me.. and on me. It's not just a feed/mist/clean relationship. Maybe in that respect they would not put up with "a lot of human interaction".

[infernalis]

I have never had a BPS. But I have heard they are amazing pets. Would love to see some pictures of them. Welcome!!

Happy to oblige you.....

http://www.thamfriends.com/photos/moustail.jpg

http://www.dekayi.info/cain_files/lawncane.jpg

[Squisher]

Happy to oblige you.....

Ditto...

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm37/matlica/DSC01367.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm37/matlica/DSC01372.jpg



http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm37/matlica/DSC01380.jpg

By the time he gets in there the hide is slightly off the ground but he loves it.

[Squisher]

I understand your expertise in breeding BPS although I wonder (and this isn't a jab) how much experience one has with them as pets vs business partners?

Excluding the "undue stress" reasoning for not wanting to interact with them frequently.. I can pull them out 7 times a day and still get the same dispostion. Reason being.. they are my pets. I'm not just a caretaker. I interact with them. Let them experience the world around me.. and on me. It's not just a feed/mist/clean relationship. Maybe in that respect they would not put up with "a lot of human interaction".

i just wanted to say that my email notification has slightly different wording than the post i replied to yet i do not see that the post has been edited. The wording is enough to illicit two different responses. No harm was intended as i may have misinterpreted

[Will0W783]

Squisher, I'm the same way with my snakes. I have around 40, and fully intend to breed them in a few years, but they are also my pets. I worry when one is sick, I handle them frequently, I care for them every day, and I take joy in their presence in my life. I love snakes, and keeping them is first and foremost a hobby and source of joy, and second a possible source of supplemental income. I have sold animals that could be great breeding stock simply because they were too aggressive for my taste. All my snakes, except for my fiance's Nicaraguan boa, are handleable. My GTPs and ETB are just as tame as my ball pythons. I doubt I will ever have significantly more snakes than I do now, because I want them all to be fairly tame and handleable.

IMO, the people who love their animals and see them as more than just "goods" in a business produce much better, well-adjusted, stock. Whenever you deal with live animals as a business product, you can't just view them as goods, you have to realize that they are living, breathing, sentient creatures. They feel fear, and pain, and contentment.

[mykee]

When I first got into this, I told myself that once I had so many and I didn't have names for them any longer, (i.e. PastelGirlSeven, LemonBlastGirlFour) that I would scale back. With over 100 adults, I not only have a name for every single one of them, but I have learned each and every one of their temperments for eating, handling, hides vs. no hides, etc.
Some like live, some like to be dangle fed from hemos, some like for me to just toss in the rat overnight, some can handle being handled, some DON'T.

Having done this for over ten years with ball pythons now, I can certainly turn the tables of you and tell you for a fact that a ball python is not a "handlers" pet.
If you really knew your snakes and ball pythons, you would know that ball pythons PREFER to live a very solitary life and PREFER not to be handled at all. They want a warm, dark tight place to live, and to be red and watered regularly.
If you wanted a pet that would tolerate "excessive" handling (which is exactly what seven times a day is BTW) you should have gotten a guinea pig, hamster or rabbit.
Corn snakes will also put up with more handling than a ball python ever would.

[Squisher]

I do not doubt that you know a thing or two about BP. And it would be logical for you to know who likes to be fed how.. all the things you pick up on while taking care of an animal. However in your eagerness to show that you must know alot because you have up to 300 during hatchling season (that's stated in multiple threads btw so you must be proud of that) you missed not only the point but how a keeper (not a big time breeder) sees things with their animals. No one is doubting that they prodominately would choose to hide and be left alone. But for someone who is curious to the breed, saying that they are very docile and put up with a lot of human interaction isn't bad advice. All snakes would rather be left alone. But my experience as a keeper.. no matter how long who has done what, Ball Pythons are not only a good choice for someone who not only likes to handle their animals.. but are all around easy to care for. Knowledge is a gift gained from experience. It is clear you have that (no sarcasm intended).

[Squisher]

And yes 7 times is excessive. In the interest of making a point i threw a random number out there. However i didn't think getting the jist of what i was trying to convey would taken that literal

[Squisher]

I mean no disrespect to the individual who started this thread as i'm sure Mykee doesn't either. Hijacking was never my intention so this conversation has ended on my end.

[Will0W783]

I have to agree with you Mykee. I didn't mean my above post as a slight against anyone- I value your opinions and from reading your posts over the time I've been on here, I feel you know your stuff and are a good, kind-to-your-animals keeper. You are one of the "good guys". I was simply stating my opinion and my philosophy. I do not handle any one of my snakes more than once a week or less, as I really don't have that much time and more so, they prefer to be looked at and not picked up for the most part. I simply make sure as well as I can that they are tame enough not to bite me when I reach in to clean their water or move them to a feeding container for ones that do not eat in their cages.
I find that my original BP is one of the less-"friendly"snakes in that he does not seem to really enjoy being bothered at all. He spends 99% of his time in his hide, sometimes with his head peeking out. My carpet pythons, however, are always pushing on the doors when I come in or cruising back and forth at the front of the cages to come out. I know they don't so much like affection as they like being allowed out to move about bigger spaces. And my superdwarf retic is very curious and seems to enjoy interaction (although I know they can't really think like that).
But I know if I got many more snakes, it would get crazy and I would not be able to tame them all.
I admire you, Mykee- that many snakes and you still name them all and interact with them as much as they enjoy/tolerate!

[Aaron_S]

...But for someone who is curious to the breed, saying that they are very docile and put up with a lot of human interaction isn't bad advice....

That certainly is bad advice. Ball pythons shouldn't be listed as the number one to keep beginner snake. If handling that python stresses it out so it stops eating, what do you think a new keeper will do?

This species can be very finicky with it's environment and it's feeding regime.

[Squisher]

I was gonna stay away from this but i feel the need to straighten out a few things. First, i make no claim to know as much as half as a lot of you on here. I can only speak from my own experiences. However, it is apparent to me that there are still things to experience. Therefore before i do there are bound to be things that cloud my judgement. My initial comment was wondering the difference between how a keeper experiences his animals vs a breeder who has more than he could shake a stick at. I meant no harm by the question but apparently offended anyway. Such is life as I didn't think things thru in responding while preoccupied with other aggravations. So i took offense. I feel they are great first time pets. Your opinions may be different. One of my hatchlings clamps on to me any chance he has. Yet my other 7 BPS stretch themselves out and move comfortably in my hands. Compare that to some of the unpredictable and nippy Corns i've had i'd still recommend BPS over them or anything else.

[Aaron_S]

I didn't make mention about how docile a ball python is over a cornsnake. I made mention to the fact that ball pythons aren't as easy for new keepers as people seem to think.

[Hillsberry]

I got to get myself a ball python sometime. They are so cool. And come in so many colors. Really cool snakes guys! :)

[Squisher]

I didn't make mention about how docile a ball python is over a cornsnake. I made mention to the fact that ball pythons aren't as easy for new keepers as people seem to think.
I don't remember quoting you!

I got to get myself a ball python sometime. They are so cool. And come in so many colors. Really cool snakes guys! :)

Yes.. I find them "cool" as well. But apparently as I've been corrected time and time again.. they are not for the beginner. Not saying you are Hills.. just trying to correct myself.

[Aaron_S]

I don't remember you admitting your wrong or defending your position.

Also, it's an open forum. I can reply to what I choose to. This is for discussion. I was trying to make one. You decided to go the other route and run from discussion.

[mykee]

I don't take offense from anyone on forums anymore because, quite frankly, I don't care enough about the forum community to take anything personal. I have a real life,a real job, a real family and real responsibilites. I enjoy coming on here to either share my knowledge, keep in touch with some old friends BTW Aaron, how goes the classified ad animals? Any bites?), or have some spirited debate (this thread falls into the latter).
No harm, no foul. I also mean no disrespect to anyone on here, and I as well, apologize for having hijacked this thread from it's original intention.

"One of my hatchlings clamps on to me any chance he has."

Doesn't mean he likes you and wants to be close:
(Look up anthropomorphize in the dictionary while you're a t it.
1. He wants your body heat as he cannot produce his own, and you decided to remove him from his.
2. He's afraid you'll drop him.

[Aaron_S]

I will apologize for taking this thread off the original topic. I was trying to get some decent discussion going but I seemed to have failed.

Mykee, maybe you if you respond to my last e-mail you would know :p Actually, very little action on them. Some people just fail to respond after their first inquiry.

Aaron