Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've read around 50 caresheets for the blood pythons, and I've gotten quite a variety.

Some say they are the nastiest things ever. and some say they just as good as ball pythons.

They also say that they require SUPER strict set-up. and proper humidity, and temps.

I'm just wondering if its really as bad as they say it is.

Ive kept a cornsnake, and my brother has a cornsnake, a ball python (captive hatched...pretty mean) and a red-tail. so im not new to snakes.

Thanks

You have a MEAN Ball!?! That’s rare! Well it just goes to show you snakes very from one to the next. I had a mean jungle carpet python (I worked with her and she’s dog tame now) that bit the hell out of me and an Irian Jaya carpet python that was nicer than my corn. So, I believe that it’s one part natural disposition and one part keeper that equal how your blood is going to turn out. Good luck!

PS: If you look down a bit you will see the problems I’m having with my new purchas!

Blood pythons are great snakes to keep. Alot of the the hype about them being agressive orignates from the days when they werent being captive bred. And most cases thats true, and probably applies to many species of wild caught snakes. To be honest ive been bitten more by boas and balls then i have bloods. There is alittle difference when it comes to handling and reading there body language though, which just takes some getting used too. For example babies can be snappy, but for the most part its really a bluff. They huff and puff, hiss, make quick movements, thrash there tail occasionally but once i gently scoop him up its all over. My older animals have grown out of this, its basically a juvenille defensive behavior. How ever there are some that will strike and never grow out it, but again this goes with every species.
As far as husbandry goes, I probably have read every care sheet out there on bloods. I personally use the most basic set up possible. I keep all my bloods in sterilite shoe or sweater boxes(they are all fairly young) on news paper with a water dish, maybe a hide spot depending on the paticular snake, in a rack system with indirect heat. I also have alot of other species in theses racks that utilzed the exact same set up, such as womas and albino balls. So as you can see its really not as hard as you may have been lead to believe.

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1.1 Suri Redtails
2.1 Chondros
1.1 Womas
1.0 Blood
1.1 Albino Bloods
1.0 Marble Borneo
0.0.1 Southern White Lip
0.1 Albino Ball
1.0 Het Albino Ball

i am not sure where are you reading about super strict set ups...i keep mine pretty simple...mine don't have dimpled scales or eyes, and they usually shed off all of their skin in one piece.

from my experience the improtant things are to make sure that the temps never drop to low...and the hummidity is high enough...but i have found it really isn't that hard to keep these animals...
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www.redpython.net

Awesome. I think this will be my next snake!

Just a quick question. Would Eco-Earth(coconut fiber) be an O.K. substrate for a Blood?

personally, i'd go w/ newspaper.
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www.redpython.net

If you aren’t going to feed the snake in it’s enclosure and you spot clean and change the bark regularly, then what’s the big deal. Most of us don’t have our snakes in sweater boxes in a rack system in a snake room. We usually have 1 to a couple in an attractive display in our family rooms. Newspaper is not very attractive and bark helps with humidity. I get compliments all the time about my arboreal enclosure for my carpets that is in between my entry and my living room.

That being said, and my rant being over, there are some very good reasons to using newspaper:
It’s cheep!
It’s easy to clean up (pull out the dirty sheet and put in a new one)
Hard to ingest

So if you are a breeder (or not as vain as I) go for the newsprint, god only knows it’s the best use for our local rag!

PS. You have some beautiful snakes in your collection!

I'm not sure if this post was directed towards me, but I'll reply anyways. Contrary to what you may believe, Alot of people(on this board included) keep there animals in some sort of platic containers. It doesnt have to be in a fancy rack system in a snake room(for the record I dont have a snake room, my rack and cages are in a 2 bedroom apartment). For example, Many people keep neo and juvi chondros in one tub w/ a lid and heat tape underneath on a book shelf. Is it attractive? certainly not, but it is the best way to house that paticular species at that age, its about what suits the animals best, breeder or not.
My original post was simply an example to someone who was questioning the difficulty of maintaining and housing a blood, on just how EASY it could be. Ive got nothing against having display cages, hell, I keep all my adult GTP's in display cages and it works. Bottom line is anyone can make there setups as hard or as easy to mainatain as they choose, as long as you meet the animals requirements.
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1.1 Suri Redtails
2.1 Chondros
1.1 Womas
1.0 Blood
1.1 Albino Bloods
1.0 Marble Borneo
0.0.1 Southern White Lip
0.1 Albino Ball
1.0 Het Albino Ball

Sorry Dude, I didn’t mean to offend anyone with the whole newspaper/plastic container/ rack thing. I have just been slammed by others on different forums for being “one of those showy display guys”, and told that the only professional way to keep reptiles was that way. Ignore me, it was an innocent rant.

I have to say maintenance it getting difficult with my current setups so I will probably maintain two or three displays and rack the rest of them. I can’t imagine tiring to keep as many as you any other way.

Someday, in the not to distant future, I would like a snake room that I can heat into the 80’s and tweak the temps with heat tape for the different types of snakes I will have.

1.1 Jungle Carpet python
0.1 Irian Jaya Carpet python
1.1 Ball python
1.0 Corn
1.0 Bearded Dragon
1.0 Baby Blood

agreed with your points snake shack.

i just have found it much easier to feed my snakes in their own cages instead of having an alternate source to feed them. my collection is no where near the size of some of my other fellow herp friends, so i could only imigine!

but if you only had a few snakes and wanted a more naturalistic setup, then why not try different types of bedding? who knows, maybe there is some sort of naturalistic bedding out there this is more efficient than newspaper.

only way to find out is to try.

thanks for the constructive critisism, i think it helps keep our message boards thriving!
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www.redpython.net

Why not Coconut Fiber?
I would be planning on feeding in a separate container. Is that OK?

- what do you mean by news paper?
shredded, whole sheet, even with the ink on it?

Thanks

Use sheet of newspaper, not shredded, so you can fold it up all in one piece and lift it out. It only takes a minute to change the paper and wipe the container. When I change my “show tank” it’s a project!
News print (black ink) is made from vegetable oil so is completely safe. Some old fish shops still wrap fish in it for your consumption. It’s very safe but it can come off on the snake but I haven’t had that problem.