Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well, its been a few years since i've had a ball python...

and yesterday i bought a pair of 07's...

the female is a Cinnamon & the male is a Pastel Jungle...

the guy said i'll get Pastels, Cinnamons, and possibly Pewters...

he also said something about silver bullets and chromes?

what are the chances i'll produce pewters? how do you produce bullets & chromes? what do they look like?

i know i have a few years before they'll be producing, but i'm just curious

i've been thinking about getting another ball for a while now, but just hadn't seen the right one in a reasonalbe price range....i've always been more of a boa person, but i'm excited about the new additions

also...

can anyone give me advice on switching them from live to F/T...

the guy i bought them from said the male may take F/T right off the bat, but he's not so sure about the female...

any tricks of the trade?

thanks!
jessica
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0.1.0 Hogg Island Boa
0.1.0 Albino Columbian Boa
1.0.0 Carpet Python
0.0.1 Red Albino Cornsnake
0.0.1 Aberrant California Kingsnake
1.0.0 Greek Tortoise
1.0.0 Normal Leopard Gecko
1.0.0 Hypo Leopard Gecko
1.0.0 Leopard Toad
2.2.0 Dogs
1.2.0 Cats
1.0.0 Rabbit
1.0.0 Gerbil
....................................

Shed Your Fears!
http://www.freewebs.com/ShedYourFears

I have switched a few to F/T (I do rescues for unwanted BPs) and have not failed yet. Let them get good and hungry. First off I let them go a little longer with no food. The main thing I find though, is getting the temp right. Thawed tend to be warmer than body temp, because you use hot water. If they don't go for it with a couple of jiggles, I let it cool away from them instead of persisting. DON'T assist feed until absolutely nescessary. Patience is a virtue, and once they are a little more used to F/T, they won't be so picky about the temp. Also splitting the skull has worked for me with a couple stubborn snakes. Its gross, but that brain matter really seems to trigger the feeding response! Also try to avoid moving the food around TOO much. Shaking it around right in front of the snake will just scare it.

Hope this helps. Trying to contribute, since I have been getting lots of answers to questions I have!

thanks for the response

i will definately try those things!

i'm hoping it will go off without a hitch (hope for the best prepare for the worst!)

heres some pics of them:

thanks,
jessica

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0.1.0 Hogg Island Boa
0.1.0 Albino Columbian Boa
1.0.0 Carpet Python
0.0.1 Red Albino Cornsnake
0.0.1 Aberrant California Kingsnake
1.0.0 Greek Tortoise
1.0.0 Normal Leopard Gecko
1.0.0 Hypo Leopard Gecko
1.0.0 Leopard Toad
2.2.0 Dogs
1.2.0 Cats
1.0.0 Rabbit
1.0.0 Gerbil
....................................

Shed Your Fears!
http://www.freewebs.com/ShedYourFears

Nice looking cinny and pastel. best of luck : )

Nice - I love the blushing on the Cinny! As for switching to F/T, most of my hatchlings switched really easily. The most important thing is to get the prey item warm enough. It should probably 98-100F.

All three of my rescues came in on live, so we've switched them all over... One of the males was the most difficult. We've basically figured out that he absolutely needs to have his rat brained and put right in front of his face - at that point he can't resist. Also, he didn't eat for us for quite a bit, but we just didn't give in to him as he wasn't losing any weight.
My other male will only eat if you put the rat in his cage, right in front of his warm hide, then cover up the cage with a blanket (make it dark), and leave him alone for a few hours. I think it helps if everyone in the house pretends that they don't exist while we wait for him to eat haha...
I guess my best advice would be not to give in, or they'll "learn" that if they hold off they'll get live, and then it'll be that much harder to switch.
By the way, all of my experience is with adult rescues... I've never had a hatchling, so there could be some differences.

Best of luck, gorgeous lookin' snakes!

-Jaime
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2.1 Normal Ball Pythons ('04-Captain Jack; '05-BoBo; '05-Queen Latifa)
0.1 Buckskin Corn Snake ('06-Little Prince)
0.1 Bloodred Corn Snake ('07-Severin)
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake ('07-Sophia)
1.0 Anery Corn Snake ('07-Ceth)
0.1 Albino Gopher Snake ('07-B***h)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Blondie &&Louis)
2.0 Fancy Rats (Ho0dz, Donnie)