Trying to get into snakes...

[foman]

If you like the balls go with it they are not that hard to look after.
Make sure your Temps are good and you raise the humidity around shed time your laughin. As for eating some do go off eating for awhile but most are pretty good after they are settled in. I have had mine eat everytime they have been offered food, never have I had a prob, but some do. Bottom line is if you do your research and buy from a good source you should have no problems. As for the cage start with a rubbermaid and go from there.

[mark129er]

I couldn't agree more foman, do the research and then get whatever you want. My female bci probably wouldn't be considered a good starter snake due to potenential size at adulthood but I knew that going in and it didn't bother me. I have my setup just the way she likes it and I adjust depending on her needs. No matter what you start with there will always be tinkering depending on what the snake needs/wants from the environment eg after a meal I raise the temps, in shed I raise the humidity it goes on and on...
The way I look at it she lives there I just stop by to change water etc.

[JonD]

Originally posted by AshleyL
I have a ball as my first snake and I couldn't be happier with her! As soon as I got used to her schedule, everything was fine. As for handling, she lets me take her out whenever I want to and has only hissed at me once while I was cleaning. They can be active when you're holding them, or they just sit wrapped up in their ball...it vaires on their temperment, time of day....If you know you can take care of it, get what you want, not what is considered to be the easiest snake to care for. IMHO You shouldn't buy an animal just because you want to use it as a stepping stone to get the more difficult one you really want later.

I agree, there is no point in getting a snake you don't want just to get experience with snakes. Either way you'll gain knowledge, you just won't be stuck with a snake you never really wanted in the first place. I had a Red-Tail boa for my first snake and it is doing exceptionally well.....

[Invictus]

I can't say that I saw a single post that I agree with 100% in this thread, so I'll just throw in my $0.02.

First off, I most certainly do not recommend a ball as a first snake. When you get a snake, the temptation is there to handle it a lot. If this is what you want, get a corn or a king. If you want a snake that you leave the hell alone for all but maybe 15 minutes PER WEEK of handling, get a ball python. Otherwise, prepare to have a snake that will go on a hunger strike. As Linds mentioned, they stress VERY easily.

Now I would like to suspend some of the garbage that has been posted.

If you want to use a tank, use a tank. BPs are from wide-ranging areas of Africa that are anywhere from bone dry to extremely humid, so they don't require humidity. If you can keep them at 50-60%, great. If you can't get the humidity up that high, they won't keel over and die. Put a large water dish close to a heat source, and block off about 1/3 of the top, preferably the middle of the screen top if that's what you use. This way, the heat gradient can drive the air flow between the hot and cool sides, but you're not losing too much humidity.

Even with a completely open top, if you cause evaporation with the water source, you'll only lose about half the moisture out the top - the other half will sink, and this is what will give you the ideal humidity range of around 50%.

However, one thing that is not a myth is that a BP that is handled too often will get stressed out, and will most likely refuse food. I strongly recommend another choice for a starter snake, but in the end, the choice is yours. BPs are gorgeous snakes, and are very rewarding to have in any herper's collection.

[snakehunter]

if you go the bp route DO NOT USE A WOOD SUBTRATE! likerepti bark, or lizard litter, aspen is cool, but keep an eye on the humidity. the wood substrates suck up any moisture, and dehydrate your animal, this happened to me.
i would suggest indoor outdoor carpet, its clean, easy to use, and when it gets dirty throw it in with the wash.
be sure to buy your anke from a breeder too.
NO WILD CAUGHTS

[Slannesh]

Snakehunter,

Did you just suggest that throwing carpet with fecal matter, urates and possibly parasites in with your regular clothes washing was a good idea?

I think that's a very bad idea.

First off, you don't want any of that in with your clothing.

Second laundry detergent doesn't disinfect nor sterilize. If you're reusing substrate you need to do both. I would reccomend cleaning reuseable substrate in a strongish bleach solution with very hot water and then rinsing THROUROUGHLY with clean, hot water to make sure no bleach is left behind. If you don't want to do that, use newspaper or something you can just discard when it becomes soiled.

[RepTylE]

Like a few of the previous posters, I got a BP as first snake and in the past 5 months I have had no problems with him, He eats well (so far) and is as docile as a kitten. I would say that a BP is a good choice for a first snake .It is always good to know that here are alot of helpful people on this forum to help if you hit any problems.

[maiden_canada]

Originally posted by snakehunter
if you go the bp route DO NOT USE A WOOD SUBTRATE! likerepti bark, or lizard litter, aspen is cool, but keep an eye on the humidity. the wood substrates suck up any moisture, and dehydrate your animal, this happened to me.
i would suggest indoor outdoor carpet, its clean, easy to use, and when it gets dirty throw it in with the wash.

what are you talking about? reptibark, cypress mulch etc are great for humidity, and repticarpet really doesn't benefit your snake at all it just looks nice and is easy to clean. cypress mulch imo is the best substrate, very easy to clean, attractive and HOLDS humidity well which = more humidity in your cage = hydrated snake. im sure almost every educated person on this site would back me up on this one