Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What are the great lessons that you've learned from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE in the whole bp world...owning and/or breeding? (Let's keep these to things you PERSONALLY have learned from)
Here are 3 of mine:

1 - Wild Caught Sucks! Don't ever touch them!

2 - Research, research, research...Read a lot and look a lot before you make any decisions. Don't jump into any decisions...you've got time!

3 - find someone established whom you trust and become their best customer...well, you know what I mean. Learn from them and work through them. (Thanks, Jeff!)
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Jeremy Conrad
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...Can't...stop...must...get...more...balls...

haven't owned ball pythons very long myself and only have one. but since i hve had no troubles with her in the year i have owned her...here are a few t hings i could say.

1-research. this is so very important. understanding the nature and care of the animal you want to own, is very important. it also makes you very much aware of the species common trends. like with ball pythons. they don't always eat every meal. that not eating for a few months is ok. it's normal. expecially in the winter months. ball pythons are finiky eaters...like royality [can you see the queen of england having a big mac]. research will let you see all the ways you can get a stubborn, picky and just plain uncooperative ball to eat.

2-feed using tongs. this is a good thing, even if your tongs are long handled pliers. your hand will always look hotter than a thawed mouse. also, watch the angle of the snakes head. if it looks like it's aiming for your hand, it probably is lol

3-ball python yearlings poop like beagals, looking forward to the germaon shepard sized adult ball python poop...

4-my rainbow boa forms itself into a ball much more often than my ball python.
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PHLdyPayne

Still on the learning curve myself, I always will be! Here are something that I can think of:

1.) Write everything down, get a sprial notebook, or something like that, and note when snakes poo, eat, dont eat, shed, etc. etc... This has helped me so much. You can see who is gaining weight, who has been off feed and for how long. Even if you only have one snake, I would still try to write stuff down. My buddy said that I dont pay nearly as much attention to doing my taxes as I do with my snakes "paperwork"...

2.) Everyone has their own meathod for doing everything, find yours. Some people like aspen, some like paper, some like frozen, some like freshkilled, and the list goes on. Try different things, find what works for you, there are no right or wrong answers here. And then write it down after your done, haha.

3.) Dont get frustrated and think logically

~Johnny

patience
patience
patience
patience
patience
patience

did i mention....patience

that is hands down the most important thing i've learned from dealing with ball pythons. you can't speed up anything they do, it all happens in "snake time".

second most important thing....(and i think someone else touched on this in another reply) find a good reputable breeder / hobbyist to learn from....don't rely on some random website for info. on the internet any dipstick with a keyboard can pretend to be an expert.

this one is morbid but.....if its alive, it can die. the pied that just croaked doesn't know its worth 5k and you were relying on its babies to pay your car off.
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Stu
www.2amCreations.com
Not even remotely close to the most extensive collection of ball python morphs in captivity!

"second most important thing....(and i think someone else touched on this in another reply) find a good reputable breeder / hobbyist to learn from..."

Yeah,and be persistent about it.
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Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.

hehehe

how's your critters doing? eggs yet?
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Stu
www.2amCreations.com
Not even remotely close to the most extensive collection of ball python morphs in captivity!

Doing good,no eggs yet...and i don't think the constant peeking is helping speed up the process any either.
...but there are a few here that look too big for their skin.

Is your incubator carrying yet?
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Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.

i hear ya....i can't not peek....its even worse when its eggs in the incubator

looks like i'm about 3 weeks out from ball eggs....spider x normal will be the first clutch

you remember that big jcp female rich had that i finally got? looks like she's going to lay in about 3 weeks as well....can't wait to see those babies...

good luck....your looking to prove that big girl this year right?? still curious to see if anything funny comes from that
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Stu
www.2amCreations.com
Not even remotely close to the most extensive collection of ball python morphs in captivity!

hehe ...i need a window in my fridge-u-bator!

I dunno wth is going on with that big girl this year...least not yet... her largest son(#6m)"didn't wanna"...so i pulled a stupid and gave my het albino male a shot at her(yeah he took it,and she shed right after.)So now i am going to see if #4m wants to try.(I'm probably keeping everything from her anyway.)

Good luck on the ratio to spiders...like you need it(remembering your 5 for 5 last year!),and send me pics of those JCPs when they poke out too!
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Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.

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g...

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np
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0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Leopard Gecko