My 2 Baby Pythons & Me Are New Here! + General Question

Mckiinzie · 10-22-16, 12:35 PM

Hello Everyone, I thought Id introduce myself. This is my first post and The First time trying to interact in a forum, I own 1 spider ball python (ziggy/Female) and I just purchased a baby lemon blast ball python(male). Im super new to snakes, seeing I only got ziggy 2 months ago. My baby lemon blast will be here on tuesday Ill post my pictures then. I plan to breed them in the future but got the lemon blast as a companion for the spider. Has anyone jumped into purchasing more snakes in a short amount of time if so what was your outcome?, More experienced snake owners what are some tips to making a snake as friendly as possible? I handle my snake(s) as much as possible without exceeding whats "recommended".
Id love to hear back from you guysss!

The first picture attached is ziggy
The second is the Lemon Blast I ordered. My pics of him soon to come.

**Minkness** · 10-22-16, 02:11 PM

Welcome!

Those are some really lretty BPs! I myself recently got a lesser pinstripe lady. Great little buddies!

As for the lemonblast being Ziggy's 'companion', not the best idea. Snakes should be kept 1 snake per enclosure for many reasons. Potential canabalism, health, stress, ect. So please look into getting your new buddy his own separately enclosure.

I went from 1 snake to 16 in just one year. I now have many many more. It is doable, but keep in mind the needs and even personalities of each animal. Some will be ok being held iften. Others will stress out quite easily and not be the best couch buddies.

So long as you keep that in mind, you will do fine. =)

Albert Clark · 10-22-16, 05:00 PM

Hello and welcome! Amazing ball pythons you have there. Grats. Everything Minkness said. The best way to help a snake be less stressed is to keep your husbandry on point, and keep the animal well fed. Handling is ok but they only tolerate it. Some more than others. They also have their own temperaments and personalities so you will have to become accustomed to them and be able to read them most of the time.

macandchz · 10-24-16, 06:47 PM

welcome! your snakes are great! i think handling them is a good way to encourage them to be friendly, but they all have their own individual personalities. have fun being a snake owner!

sirtalis · 10-24-16, 08:45 PM

Welcome aboard! While you can keep your snakes in the same enclosure they will generally be happiest living alone. If they are both well fed and have adequate room they should be fine however

PatrickV · 10-24-16, 08:51 PM

As the others said, proper husbandry and handling, but not too much, should make them friendly as their personality allows. snakes dont really enjoyed being handled, although some may seem to. My Bp is pretty quiet, doesnt move a lot, likes to remain still and tightly wrapped around my hand/wrist. my boa's are very curious and dont stop moving, thus they seem to "enjoy" being handled but they really just want to explore and get free i think.
I too kept my snakes together at first which i later found out was a bad idea for the reasons already mentioned. also i was keeping a boa and a python together which is worse than two snakes of the same kind. I was misinformed on the subject and short on cash and space. however, separate enclosures is a must, and they dont have to be super elaborate, as long as they meet the minimum requirements.

PatrickV · 10-24-16, 08:54 PM

sorry, just to be clear, it wouldnt be the end of the world if they shared for a while, but its not hard to get them separate enclosures which would be optimal.

PatrickV · 10-24-16, 08:56 PM

oh and of course, congratulations on your beautiful snakes. nice choice!

dave himself · 10-25-16, 09:21 AM

Hi and welcome

JellyBean · 10-27-16, 12:53 AM

Welcome! Nice looking snakes

Jack4193 · 11-09-16, 08:59 AM

I have been a snake keeper for almost 6 years now, I'm 14 so its a fun hobby to take up some free time. My first snake I shared with my brother and sister. It was a granite corn, I didn't know the sex because I was 8 and inexperienced. After we went on a week-long family vacation and came back to it not in its cage (we didn't have cage clips because we didn't know what we where doing) I went about 2 years without a snake. So when I was about 10-11 my grandma bought another corn for me for Christmas, Christmas eve she told me it died and she would get me a knew one, so the next day (Christmas) we order a new one from Texas (I live in Minnesota) overnight shipping, 2-3 weeks passed and the snake finally showed up, we open the box and see it motionless and cold (it was January in Minnesota, so very cold weather), we leave it in the box after taking pics to send to the person we bought it from for a refund, he didnt get back to us for awhile, when he did he gave us a refund, we still had a "dead" snake", a few days later we were going to throw it away, we open the box and it lifts up its head, it was alive! I assume it was just in a cold coma. In between when we had the "dead" snake and when it woke up we went to Minneapolis for some shopping, we pass by a pet store and decide since I had one lost snake and one "dead" one I would go in and get a new one. My grandma and I go in and see they had 2 corns in stock, I picked one, an okeete, there also was a butter snow, so my grandma says to get both. So by the time I was 11 I had kept 4 snakes. What I have learned about handling and their attitude is that handle them very sparingly when you first get them and when they are hatchlings, they are very insecure during this time and might set a stress mood associated with handling, this doesnt mean dont hold them, 1-2 times a week is good. After having them for 1-2 months you can handle then 3-5 times a week, but never ever 12 hours before feeding and 36-48 hours after feeding, if you handle before and after feeding they may associate your hand with n=more food, they might feel sluggish and vulnerable because they just ate and might strike defectively, they might also poop on you if you handle to soon after feeding, you should let all food pass before you handle, for corns about 1 1/2 days to 2 days, because they have a very fast metabolism. I also keep a BP, for these you shouldn't handle for the day of handling and for 2-2 1/2 days after, and be cautious after feeding when moving back to its enclosure, when they are in feeding mode they strike at anything.
0.1 BP, 1.1 corns and many more to come.

MartinD · 11-09-16, 09:15 AM

Welcome Jack, super looking snakes, the lemon blast looks awesome.