Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just wondering how do people manage having more than one ball python? How much time do you spend on feeding them and cost? I'm thinking of getting another ball python but I do not want to breed mice in my house. I did this previously and the smell and work put in, was too much. I used to have two Ball pythons and ended giving up one of them to my friend because it took to long as far as feeding them, one would eat while the other would not. How do people go about their day with having more than one animal? Im just trying to get some comments from peoples own experiences, Thanks, Dave.

I have 6 right now soon to be 10 ball pythons. I just have them set-up in a rack system and every morning when I wake up I just check through each drawer for a mess to clean and change the water if it needs done. I only clean the cages when they are dirty. I would say I spend about 10 min a day if that cleaning up after them. I feed them every 4 days, spend about $15 a week on rodents.

Well, I keep only 10 adult ball pythons. It's not very much work (perhaps 5-10 hours each week and less than 50 dollars a month to feed them). I keep them in a single vertical rack system wherein I only need to pull out each enclosure (like a drawer) to access the animals. I offer them food once each week. A few only eat live food, so I keep a cage with live feeders, but of them take frozen-thawed rats. Balls are generally more work than a lot of snakes due to the fact that many can be problem feeders - and some of mine are. I also have 2 black milk snakes - total of 12 snakes. If all 12 of my snakes were black milks, then my total time with my snakes would cut down to a third of what it is now - trying to coax the few problem feeders to eat does take some time- and black milks don't care (generally) if the food is live or frozen-thawed.

If you go with a good rack system and have a reliable supply of live feeder animals, then keeping a large number of snakes does not take much time.

I have three BPs and one boa constrictor imperator. I really don't have to spend much time working on their care; I clean the cages as needed, tearing them down once a month for a thorough bleaching. Daily maintenance involves merely cleaning and changing water bowls, and checking for any little presents that they've left behind for me to clean up. I handle each snake every few days, but never the day of or after a feeding. And I don;t consider that work; it is more an enjoyable thing to do while we are watching TV.
I breed rats at home for feeders. It is really easy, and they do not smell half as much as mice. I currently have one female, and she had a litter a few days ago. I have a goot rapport with a local pet store; the owner hooks me up with pregnant females every month or so, and has a bunch of males from different lines to prevent inbreeding.
In my opinion, if you have one BP and do not find it a nuisance, then having two will not be a problem. As for nonfeeding, males commonly do that during the breeding season, and my Goblin ahsnt eaten since feb. 14 but is as fat as ever. I'd never get rid of a snake because it was not feeding.
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And humans are supposed to be the world's most intelligent, civilized, and refined species, eh? Have you ever been in a crowded discount store?

I don't have a life.

Monday~ check racks for snake poop and fill water dishes (last time I counted 75 snakes, but less now, I sold some, I *think around 55 to 60 snakes right now)
Then clean mouse and Rat tubs About 3 hours for both jobs
Tuesday~ Easy day~ check racks for snake poop and fill water dishes
About 45 min
Wednesday~ check racks for snake poop and fill water dishes
Feed all the snakes
Anywhere from 3 to 5 hours
Thursday~ check racks for snake poop and fill water dishes
and clean Rat tubs (Amonia builds up if I don't claen rats twice a week)
About an hour to 1 1/2 hours
Friday-Saturday and Sunday~ all Easy days~ check racks for snake poop and fill water dishes. About 45 min each

So~ I enjoy my snakes, but I have no life!
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Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
Check out my website at:
The Red Dragons Den

Just counted cards~ I have 65 right now
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Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
Check out my website at:
The Red Dragons Den

Thanks for replying to my post, I might just go about building a rack system like most people have. When you feed, do you actually put the food into the snakes container? Or do you take each snake out and feed it in a seperate container? I guess this is what my previous problem was, I would feed them in a seperate container becasue this is something that was recomended to me when I first got them. I was told that they wont strike at you when you try to take them out, because they won't associate you opening their container as feeding time.

Dave.

this seems to have many different answers. I feed my ball pythons and my BCI in the cages. I have never had any of my snakes strike at me. I reach into their cages every day to change water and check for any cleaning that needs to be done. the snakes are feed in their enclosures on friday and I clean my tanks on sunday to make sure that they dont leave behind any bits of mice to clean up. I keep my snakes on the astroturf stuff with two layers of paper towels under the grass to soak anything that gets on the fake grass up. I also have a garter snake, but, she eats live fish out of her water bowl and so that is just changing the water every other day.
in other words unless you are ignoring the needs of your pets they should not assosiate you opening the tank with food.

sorry for the long post...
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1.1 ball pythons (Draco and Naga)
1.0 red tail boa (Malichi)
coming soon (well not that soon...)
?.?.? eyelash Gecko(my g/f fell in love with them)
0.0.1 schneiders skink
1.0 blood python (lestat)

Feed in cage, no need to separate. Just a hassle, and you'll have better feeding ball pythons if you do not handle them before offering food.