>>I ended up getting it at Petco, which was very reasonably price and has bi-weekly checkups on their reptiles by a local vet.



How do you know about the bi-weekly checkups? Did a sales associate tell you? They were probably lying. Unless Petco modified thier procedures, it's not in their policy to have reptiles checked twice a week. If it's the vet that comes to the store to do the shot clinic, unless that vet is outstanding and goes above and beyond his/her job, they are not likely to know much about reptiles, and they are not there to check anything up, they are there to do shots.



>>My BP is slithering all over his cage and doesn;t seem to be aftraid of me at all. Did I just get super lucky or do they sometimes acclimate very quickly?



It's not acclimated; it's exploring the cage to determine where it has landed. It will probably decide on a 'secure' place to hide and then you will hardly ever see it again. That's what ball pythons do.

Ball pythons are such great pets because they rarely exhibit real fear responses to people, and if they do, that response is to hide in a ball.

However, just because the snake doesn't act like its scared, doesn't mean its not stressed. Leave it alone and in the cage until it's eaten a couple times for you, so that you can be sure it has settled in and will continue to eat.



>>I have held him a few times abd he's never snapped at me, yet, which I hope he never does. It's just odd! He hatched a little over a month ago and he's about 13 inches.



Did the sales person at Petco say that? And did the sticker say "Captive Bred Baby Ball Python"? If the stickers don't say captive bred, assume the animal is imported. There is no guarantee of how old that baby is, regardless of how long or big it is. They grow at different rates, even when well fed and well cared for.

Like I said before, leave him alone the first couple weeks so he can get settled in. With ball pythons, security is everything, so you want him to feel safe and secure at your house before you start handling him. If he doesn't feel secure, he won't eat, and then you have a problem!



>>Hes's in a 30 gallon Critter cage, have a heat pad under the cage and a heating lamp. Have temp ad humidity gauge and 2 hides climbing sticks and branches.



Watch his next shed carefully - if he doesn't shed well you may have to ditch the heat lamp. The lamps just tend to dry out the air, and the humidity gauges usually found at petco aren't very accurate (at ALL).



The biggest 'secret' tip is...what I've said already - leave the snake alone until it's eating regularly. The thing with ball pythons seems to be that if something goes wrong in their enclosure, they'll do one (or both) of two things: shed poorly, or stop eating. If it eats and sheds well, and is a nice fat little snake, then whatever you're doing is working.



Good luck! We look forward to pictures.



~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)



"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

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