Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, All.

After much research into good beginner snakes I decided to pick up a ball python. I found a couple of nice snakes at the Reptile Show in Hamburg, PA on Saturday. One is a normal male and the other is a 100% het albino male. Of course, I took them home and placed them in their new home with the plan of letting them be for a week. I couldn't help myself so the next day I bought a couple of live "hopper" mice. I killed one of them and left the other alive to see if the snakes would eat. The smaller, normal, male has started shedding and he showed no interest in either PK mouse or the live one. No big surprise there. However, when I placed them in the tank with the het albino he showed no interest in the dead mouse and pounced on the live one! I was astounded, as I assumed that they wouldn't eat after being in their new home for only a day. Also, the breeder who sold me the het albino said that he was feeding him PK rat pups so I was surprised when he immediately struck at the live hopper. One strange thing though, the snake didn't bother to constrict the hopper, he just swallowed it. I was a little worried that the mouse might be able to hurt the snake but I don't think it bothered him too much because he then proceeded to devour the PK mouse! That snake is a machine! I'm pretty happy since I seem to have one snake that is an excellent eater.

How long after the shed should I wait to fee the normal ball?

Thanks for all the info you guys provided during the research phase of my snake search!

Dave

Cograts on your new Animals!

Every animal is different... I usually wait 2-3 days after shed to feed my animals. But if I have a voracious eater, and it happens to be feeding night the day after, I'll throw one in.

Best Of Luck!!!
-----
"There is a fine line between a hobby and mental illness"
COLD BLOOD.........WARM HEART

How big are the snakes? The reason the het probably didn't constrict the hopper is because of how small the hopper must have seemed to it. If the snake was eating rat pups for the breeder, at the very least you should be feeding adult mice, not hoppers.

Wait a few days after the shed to offer food, and I know its hard but try to keep from messing with the snakes for a while. "I know I should leave them alone for a week but I just couldn't help myself" is no excuse! Give them both a week and then offer food, and don't start to worry for a couple weeks if they still haven't started eating. DON'T MESS WITH THEM UNTIL THEY HAVE EATEN AT LEAST TWICE FOR YOU. Moving is stressful, as I'm sure your research has told you. It's hard now not to mess with them these first few weeks, but just think - you have about 30 YEARS ahead of you to play with them. Two weeks isn't too long to wait.

Good luck with your snakes!

~jenny
-----
1.2.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, Periscope, and dah bebbies)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Lizard (Freckles)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org

you may want to give them rats instead of mice. I have a mouse eater and she cost me $6-8 for mice each week. M/Large rat is only $3 per week.
-----
2.1 Albino BP
0.4 100% Het Albino
2.1 100% het Caramel Albino BP
1.0 100% Het Clown
1.0 50% het clown
2.12 Normal BP
0.0.2 Western Hognose
alot of cornsnakes
0.1.0 Dumeril Boa
3.6 Bearded Dragons
1.0.2 Sulcatta tortoise
3.3 Russian Tortoise
1.0 Cockatiel
0.1 Rottweiler
0.2 Boston Terriers
0.1 White Boxer
0.1 Paint Mare
bunch of geckos
0.1 Cat
0.1 Teenage daughter
1.0 Husband who puts up with all my critters.

The larger of the two definitely will get rats. All the store had was hoppers and frankly, I didn't think the snakes would give them the time of day.

Thanks for all the replies!