Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,
I have been looking for breeders with 'normal' Balls, but have only been able to find the Balls who are a specila gene, or carry that gene (for sale for more than I can afford *G*) and am just looking for a plain old pet- whome I never plan on breeding.

Does anyone in the Oregon area have any available, know of any local rescues, or can anyone refer me to a breeder or rescue?

This will be my first snake (other than fosters), my husband and I just bought our own home and I feel ready to bring home my new companion. We currently own a Mali Uromastyx, a bird and 'many' mammals, and volunteer with some animal rescues.

I have done years of research on owning a Ball (I was a 'Ball person' before I was a rat person and have owned rats for about 10 years). I would prefer a Ball already eating, who's an 'easy keeper' for a first time owner. I plan on feeding prekilled Gerbils, and down the line young rabbits. (I cannot feed rats... it would be to me like feeding puppies... I just CANNOT do it!)

Any help would be appreciated. We are in Salem area Oregon but I'm willing to drive a resonable distance. If I cannot find a local snake then I will concider shipping- but would prefer to not put an animal though that stress, and would like a local person to be there as 'moral support' if I ever have questions about my snake.

Thank you for taking the time to read this,

Emily~
EaglesEye Rattery

I know Twin Cities Reptiles has normal balls at a fair price they are in MN 651.647.4479

if your not going to feed it rats dont even bother getting one. Rats are the best and easiest food item to get, and meet their needs. Gerbils will just screw that all up , and they are expensive. And forget about feeding them rabbits, they wont be able to down it, they probably wont even strike at it.

In my research gerbils are the best food for Balls, and for me are not problem to raise them, and cost in feeding isn't an issue in feeding the best foods. (In my calulations feeding a Ball gerbils is no more expensive than feeding my dog in a month- but then again in my area Gerbils are readily available in pet stores for cheaper than I've seen in other states)

I also know many people who feed larger Balls infant rabbits, and they have been reccemonded to me.

Emily~

You need to do a lot more research, as the information that you've acquired so far, is wrong.

If I'm so wrong then PLEASE show me scientific information that rattus norvegicus (the Norway rat) is the natural food of Ball Pythons. I would like to do whatever possible to make sure that each of my animals receives the best nutrition and care possible.

If you have scientific research contradicting that Gerbils are not the natural prey of Balls I would love to see it. As an animal science major at OSU, and having done quite a bit of studying on the proper care and nutrition of Ball Pythons I found that Gerbils were a more appropriate food for the snakes.

If I am wrong feel free to give me an accurate, scientific correction, and not just personal finances, and biased. As I said in doing my calculations feeding a Ball a proper amount of Gerbils would not even cost as much as it does to properly feed my show dog.

Any help you can give educating me would be wonderful!

Emily~

It is true, gerbils and guinea pigs are a ball pythons natural prey, I have no clue about rabbits, I have never heard of someone feeding a ball python rabbits.

As for finding a pet ball, there are plenty online if you want to get one shipped, most pet stores are wayyy over priced, but it's completely up to you. Check out the classifieds.

Take Care,
Joel
-----
- Joel Smith

Email Me!

Can you reccemond a breeder who has healthy, resonably priced normal Balls? All I was able to find were the fancy kind, and ones who carried fancy genes.

Emily~

from what i have seen, even if they do not redily advertize it, that most if not all breeders have normal ball pythons. just write or call, and they'll tell you what they have, or at least for right now, what they might be able to line up for you once the 04 babies hatch, if they don't have any 03's sitting around that they want to sell.

also you can go to the breeder/dealers/stores link at the top of these pages and that will lead you to many breeders. also there is a link for events and that will have a list of shows that you can look and see if there are any coming up in the near future by you.

hope this helps
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~dana~

0.2 ball pythons (roxy and haileigh)
0.1 albino cornsnake (avery)
1.0 cat (whiskers)
1.1 russian hamsters (peanut and tj)

Emily,

First, let me offer a contingent welcome to the ball python world.

Second, immediately refuting the advice of people who have years of experience in keeping this python does not bode well for your future posting on this board. Thanking them for the suggestion and asking questions about their response will get you farther than voicing that your "animal science" degree taught you that pythons from the plains of africa feeds primarily on east asian gerbils. Yes, they are morphologically similar, does this mean they are ultimately better for the health of the animal? You bring science in to the mix and offer no data, hypothesis, or anything else to support your premise.

Finally, I can't help but laugh thinking about a 4000g ball python attacking a 20g gerbil and swallowing it down like an cocktail weenie.

So I guess you have rats as pets, breed gerbils and want a place to put the babies, or have some serious aversion dealing with icky norway rats.

I apologize for being a little blunt. Rats are the simply the right size prey item for captive ball pythons, thats a simple fact. I just hate seeing people start off on the wrong foot, either on a forum or keeping pythons. I wish you the best of luck with your snake if you do end up getting it.

Bentham

Well, so I actually read the whole thread and see you think the rats are like puppies. I guess you should look for another species. One small enough that it wont need 8 gerbils a week or be searching for a constant supply of pricey bunny babies. I guess rat people and ball python people have some confilcting interests...lol.

Best of luck in whatever you decide,
Bentham

I already raise rabbits, and know the sizes of rabbits as infants is about the size of rats etc.

Raising pricy animals isn't an issue for me, and neither is buying them.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

“I just hate seeing people start off on the wrong foot, either on a forum or keeping pythons….”

LOL. Me, too, “igr.” And I’m sure you’ve shared your store of experience and wisdom in a similarly non-judgmental manner here in the past. It’s just that I’ve searched in vain for your previous helpful posts. Perhaps it’s been a while? Or perhaps under another name?

At any rate, thanks for sharing. I look forward to more husbandry hints in the future, especially those which recognize that there we were all beginners once, and that there is more than one way to raise up healthy ball pythons. Don’t be a stranger now, you hear?

-Joan

I am usually just lurking around the forum every few days to see what's going on here. I sense a hint of ill will in your post but I just had to respond to this one...Thinking about a small army of gerbils lining up to get the squeeze from a big girl. Anyways, hope I didn't offend anyone with my not so regular posting.

Bentham

I've only offered a rabbit to a ball once (a large breed pinky rabbit that fell out of the nest and was very recently expired to a hatchling ball). However it was eaten very quickly (even though it was a very large meal for her) so perhaps if proper sized rabbits could be found they would work well for balls.

Not to nit pick but I'm thinking Guinea Pigs are from South America so not in the natural diet of African pythons. Actually, I don't think the gerbils we raise are either (central Asian?); they are just the most similar common domestic rodent to their natural prey.

As far as reasonably priced ball pythons, if you are willing to wait a few months the imports should start coming in sometime in April and then most reptile specialty pet stores will have sales. I’ve actually heard and seen some reasonable prices even yet this time of year so I think some have gotten so good at holding the imports to the off season that they are actually dumping the last of last years babies now and there hasn’t been as much seasonal upswing as usual. It will be interesting to see if there is a backlash and they hold less this year as it doesn’t look like they where able to convert all the $3 April imports into $50 winter balls like in years past.

In a kind and respectful manner. I was misinformed by someone else and took thier word for it. But thank you for the correction.

Thanks,
Joel

>>I've only offered a rabbit to a ball once (a large breed pinky rabbit that fell out of the nest and was very recently expired to a hatchling ball). However it was eaten very quickly (even though it was a very large meal for her) so
perhaps if proper sized rabbits could be found they would work well for balls.
>>
>>Not to nit pick but I'm thinking Guinea Pigs are from South America so not in the natural diet of African pythons. Actually, I don't think the gerbils we raise are either (central Asian?); they are just the most similar common domestic rodent to their natural prey.
>>
>>As far as reasonably priced ball pythons, if you are willing to wait a few months the imports should start coming in sometime in April and then most reptile specialty pet stores will have sales. I’ve actually heard and seen some reasonable prices even yet this time of year so I think some have gotten so good at holding the imports to the off season that they are actually dumping the last of last years babies now and there hasn’t been as much seasonal upswing as usual. It will be interesting to see if there is a backlash and they hold less this year as it doesn’t look like they where able to convert all the $3 April imports into $50 winter balls like in years past.
-----
- Joel Smith

Email Me!

Sorry Joel, but neither gerbils or guinea pigs are the 'natural' prey of ball pythons. The gerbils that are most commonly seen on sale are Mongolian Gerbils and guinea pigs come from Mexico! The natural prey of ball pythons ARE rats! African Soft Furred Rats; most commonly known as Multimammate Rats. Gerbils are still an excellent food for ball pythons though, being low in water content, but as rats are the most frequently available source of nutrition for ball pythons, they are the most commonly used prey item. Ball pythons WILL also take rabbits, and can thrive on them.

Does anyone know where you can get Multimammate Rats in the US?

Somewhere I read a discussion on them and got the idea that they actually come from a different part of Africa and might not overlap with the ball python range. Still, they sounded interesting due to the claim that they don't stink much.

I've heard that ball pythons often eat something called a gerboa which seems to be some sort of kangaroo rat like critter so probably rather gerbil like.

I also saw an article where they followed a ball python hunter while he dug out a ball python in the wild and it included a picture of some sort of large rat that he caught and was going to cook for dinner.

Randy, the latin name for multimammate rats is Praomys natalensis. The Praomys species is reputed to be the carrier of the Ebola virus in Africa, but the P.natalensis is fortunately not the subspecies associated with being the carrier.Natalensis, as the name suggests, originate in the Natal region of Africa, but are the same in all respects to the Praomys subspecies found in and around Ghana.The rat referred to above, found at the same time as the wild BP, was probably a common bush rat. Eric

tell me Joel, how exactly are gerbils (which are rodents from mongolia) and guinea pigs (which are cavies from South America) considered to be natural prey for a snake that comes from equitorial Africa? At least Rats have become established world wide and are far more likely to be considered a 'natural' prey source. The answer I have found, is feed it whatever it will eat and it should do well for you.

Mark

>>It is true, gerbils and guinea pigs are a ball pythons natural prey, I have no clue about rabbits, I have never heard of someone feeding a ball python rabbits.
>>
>>As for finding a pet ball, there are plenty online if you want to get one shipped, most pet stores are wayyy over priced, but it's completely up to you. Check out the classifieds.
>>
>>Take Care,
>>Joel
>>-----
>>- Joel Smith
>>
>>
>>Email Me!

She's in Oregon. I'm sure she could find much closer places. BTw, I'm in MN and like to check them out once in a while too...

My Box Turtle is from Twin Cities Reptiles. She was healthy then and has never had problems. Also went to them for questions about my BP and a red-tail boa I had for a while. They are WONDERFUL (even if you didn't buy the critter from them)! Very knowledgable and gave lots of support. They take good care of their reptiles and provide appropriate space, feeding, etc. They are ALWAYS my first source for information -often I call them for their opinion and then the vet.

Twin Cities Reptiles
2363 University Ave W
St Paul, MN 55114 - 1603
(651) 647-4479

Thought you might want a reference from someone who has actually been in there/purchased from them.

Hi Emily -

Do an online search for a regional herpetological society near you. Many of these societies by necessity end up doing adoption/rescue work, and ball pythons are right up there with Burmese pythons and iguanas as reptiles commonly gotten rid of. As well, members of these groups usually have a wealth of knowledge to impart regarding proper husbandry.

Don't worry too much about the food debate. As long as you are able to provide a consistent supply of appropriately-sized small mammals that your particular animal will eat, then you'll be fine.

-Joan

>>Hello,
>>I have been looking for breeders with 'normal' Balls, but have only been able to find the Balls who are a specila gene, or carry that gene (for sale for more than I can afford *G*) and am just looking for a plain old pet- whome I never plan on breeding.
>>
>>Does anyone in the Oregon area have any available, know of any local rescues, or can anyone refer me to a breeder or rescue?
>>
>>This will be my first snake (other than fosters), my husband and I just bought our own home and I feel ready to bring home my new companion. We currently own a Mali Uromastyx, a bird and 'many' mammals, and volunteer with some animal rescues.
>>
>>I have done years of research on owning a Ball (I was a 'Ball person' before I was a rat person and have owned rats for about 10 years). I would prefer a Ball already eating, who's an 'easy keeper' for a first time owner. I plan on feeding prekilled Gerbils, and down the line young rabbits. (I cannot feed rats... it would be to me like feeding puppies... I just CANNOT do it!)
>>
>>Any help would be appreciated. We are in Salem area Oregon but I'm willing to drive a resonable distance. If I cannot find a local snake then I will concider shipping- but would prefer to not put an animal though that stress, and would like a local person to be there as 'moral support' if I ever have questions about my snake.
>>
>>Thank you for taking the time to read this,
>>
>> Emily~
>>EaglesEye Rattery

www.uniqueanimalexpo.com/

Even if you're not ready to buy then at least you can get contact information from breeders you like.
-----
My Album

1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"

1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

-----
My Album

1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"

1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

www.ballpython.com Dan and Colette are one of the best when it comes to bp's and they have nine(9) available normals.