Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Folks,

I was wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction regarding imports? I am an experienced BP owner but am curious about the fact of obtaining some female imports (including gravid girls). I am hoping someone may have some information regarding treatment of parasites, introducing into the existing collection, care, etc.

Thanks!
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0.2 Normal Adult ball pythons
0.2 Normal Adult ball pythons (on breeding loan)
0.1 Sub-adult
1.0 Normal ball python
1.1 Bell Line Pastel Ball pythons
1.0 Adult Het Albino Ball Python
1.0 Het Pied Ball Python
1.0 Het Carmel Ball Python
1.0 66% Het pied Ball python
0.2 50% Het albino Ball Pythons

Interested in a breeding loan? Email me....

If you are looking for new bloodlines, I believe that there are plenty of diverse bloodlines amongst captive bred and born populations. Having worked with MANY imported ball pythons, the road is long and tedious in terms of acclimation (far, far more challenging than even the most stubborn of captive bred animals). One of our bp's that came in as a result of a confiscation was an imported male that didn't eat for nearly 22 months (and the previous owner, who had the snake for 6 months, said that it never ate during that time). You also run the great risk of introducing various pathogens and ectoparasites into your collection (most w/c bp's have ticks not to mention all of the other stress related ailments).

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation (IL)

A few more snipits for you:

My vet did a survey of 100 wild caught ball pythons and 100% had parasites. He also said something about Flagyl possibly having a bad effect on gravid females (or rather their eggs) but he felt that Panacur and Droncit where safe.

A vet student once told me that there are several SDT in snakes. I wish I knew more about this but it’s enough to make me consider generational quarantine (i.e. not breeding my first generation snakes to my second generation snakes). If anyone knows more about SDT’s in snakes and what symptoms to look for and what treatments to use please let me know.

If I remember correctly a large breeder reported bringing in a large group of gravid females (I think this was before they started holding them and hatching the eggs in Africa) and not getting a single hatchable egg. Presumably the stress of being plucked from the wild and shipped half way around the world isn't good for the eggs. I know there are also cases where imported gravid females produce fine but the point is that you are rolling dice on how well they where treated (temps etc.) since being caught.

I've heard it said that it often takes longer to acclimate a wild caught adult female ball python to breed in captivity than to grow up and breed a captive hatched baby. I don't have personal experience in this area and again I'm sure there are exceptions but the shortcut of purchasing wild caught adult females may not be a good shortcut.

From all reports I have read, people I have spoken with, and personal experiences starting 15 years ago with my first bp, it is tough acclimated the imported adults. Also, it seems non of the gravid females produced viable offspring. I do not think the shipping has changed much from the days of 500 animals to a burlap bag sitting in a holding facility for 6-8 weeks. Yes, this did actually go on. I hope that has changed although this was only a couple of years ago.

Truth be told, if someone is trying to take a short-cut and get adult animals, there are many people who give them away willingly to rescue organizations/shelters/animal control. They take a bit of work in some cases, but they are there. Of course, I am old school, I prefer to raise mine from babies.

It is very satisfying to raise a baby up and produce grandchildren of your original snakes.

I think the lavender albino that Bob Clark brought in last year was wild caught gravid and laid good eggs. Good thing that one was the exception and if anyone can get her acclimated enough to breed in captivity this year I suppose those guys can. However I bet if you where to start with 10 imported adult females and 10 hatchling captive bred females you would produce more babies in the next 3 years with the captive hatched but just a guess on my part. I have worked with a few imports and gotten them eating but didn’t stay with them long enough to breed them.

It's the rare import BP (besides farm-hatched babies) that isn't parasitized.

Flagyl can be both teratogenic (toxic to the growing embryo) and carcinogenic. Panacur and related imidazole products are safe in gravid BP, Droncit seems to be, ivermectin as well.

Best example of STD would be IBD (not proven yet but it will be, no doubt). Various protozoans (ie, trichomonads) can be causes, and some bacteria and other viruses (ie, Herpes sp.). Treatment varies with the cause, from no treatment (other than depopulation, ie IBD) to flagyl (ie, trichomonads) or antibiotics.

Back in the early 90's when gravid females were commonly imported, I did hatch a clutch of 5. At our local Lee Watson's Reptile Swap during the winter some of the jobbers would have 10-15 gravid females. $25 each! So I picked out 1 nice-looking girl, brought her home, got 5 good eggs which subsequently hatched. Now it's possible this girl ovulated after reaching the states, but I'm sure she was kept at sub-optimum temps at least briefly in the day(s) before this particular swap. BUT, this female did not feed after laying and didn't for at least a year. I gave away the girl after about a month or so and lost tract of it after about a year. Not many import adults, particularly gravid females, adapt well to captivity.

Scott J. Michaels DVM