Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok. My husband and I are thinking about getting a ball python. We already have a Bearded Dragon and love it but he wants a pet of his own ( I have the beardie and my puppy ) We want advice on what to get and maybe advice on picking one out. I know that each experience is different but I know that there are more experienced people out there than us, and we would love some help

Thanks!!

If going with a baby, get a ten gallon tank with a lid and a good pair of locks. Get a under the tank heater mat. And a thermastat to regulate the temps. As far as buying one make sure it is not skinny looking, get what looks good to you. There are many reputable breeders on the classifieds and I am sure you could find someone local. Do your homework first. Good luck and let us know with pics what you end up getting.

Welcome, If you look to the upper right of this page you will see an event tab. If you look there you may find a reptile expo near you. They will be far more helpful and less expensive than any pet store. If you are going for a normal colored Ball Python. Get a female, in three years you my want to bred them or if you ever want to find her a new home. Female adults are in demand. Good luck and happy herping. Claude

thanks the next one nearest to me is in september.

could end up with many snakes, a snake rack system, a rodent rack system, and an incubator. LOL No, really, I agree with the last posters statment.
Casey

So so true.. They are an addiction. I went from one pet for my daughter to 20, eggs on the way and rodents breeding in my basement.

soo breeding rodents? whats your take on frozen or live? whats the difference? and does it effect the python becoming aggressive?

Only time balls are " aggressive" is when feeding. I have some that eat live, I switch all the ones I can over to pre kill. Babies I start live and switch over to Pre kill also. I am not a big fan of frozen thaw. But many use it and like it.

i would agree with what you said to a point, but we have some bp's that want to eat your face and I call that aggression, lol. Also, I feed almost everything live until they start taking large rats (i never feed bp's large rats though). frozen is more work and time and I'd rather spend that with animals (i guess the 4 hours a week with the rodents is alot of time to but they are living animals and I have some I actually like).
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Josh & Krysty Hutto
J&K Reptiles

Various Ball Pythons:::

1.0 striped vanilla
1.0 spider
1.2 Citrus Ghost and hets
1.2 Albino and hets
2.3 het Pied
0.6 50% poss het pied
1.1 Pastel (male has additional gene going on with him)
a bunch of normal female breeders
a bunch of normal female holdbacks and several rescued normal males

0.1 columbian boa, she's a feeding monster, controls my
over production of rats, lol
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa, another rat eating monster
1.1 corns

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrier as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

ok so what is pre kill? do you kill it yourself before you feed? and if so how?

and after they start taking adult rats what do you do?

sorry if i'm asking too many questions just want to make sure we take care of the baby we get

all i have to say is do as much reasearch as you can, and make sure to buy captive bred from a good breeder or the classifieds and not buy from a big chain petstore.

petstores may seem nice but they are only out to make a profit and will sell you an unhealthy snake and con you into buying unneccesary products like bark substrate, half logs and other stuff that is hard to clean. a reputable breeder will sell you a better quality snake for cheaper.
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jake

my addiction:
0.2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
0.1 amelenistic corn snake (maizy)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)
1.0 albino cal king (zeus)
0.0.1 wc garter (zim)
hybrid breeders association
hybrid haven

then what do you use instead of bark? and half logs for them to hide in?