Reptile & Amphibian Forums

She's "just" a normal... but I love her to pieces. =) Just about a year old, no, I have no clue as to the genetics, I got her from a Petco... she was very, very sick when I obtained her... would have died in the pet store if I hadn't brought her home... they know nothing about holding snakes for sale... keep them too hot and too dry, the bp's they had were all in mid-shed, and were not shedding well... most of them were underweight at best, and dehydrated...

this snake was starving when I brought her home ... had mites... dehydrated... mildly infected bite from a 'live' mouse that they had put in with her and then walked away from her ... she did not eat it.. and it bit her ... I did not expect her to live... but fell for her in the store, and decided to try and save her ... knew when I brought her home I was taking a chance of bringing her out only to lose her ... husband thought i was crazy... lol ...

But... she's a year old now... growing well.. eating well.. I've been lucky with her... she only did the 'i won't eat' routine with me once as a 'healthy' BP ... I don't count the initial bout of it because she was weak enough that I had to assist feed her in the beginning ...

Named her si'Haya. ^.^

Question... the blushings... they're lighter areas spread all throughout the black areas of her patterns... what are these, exactly? Will they develop into more of the brown/tan markings as she ages, or ...?

Second question... she won't take anything but live food... anyone know of a way to convince these little darlings to take frozen or thawed or fresh-killed...? Should I just resort to stunning her food when I feed her ...?

Anyway... links to the photographs... too many for me to post in a single message like this...

www.childeoffyre.com/Photos/1yearling.jpg

www.childeoffyre.com/Photos/2yearling.jpg

www.childeoffyre.com/Photos/3yearling.jpg

www.childeoffyre.com/Photos/5yearling.jpg

www.childeoffyre.com/Photos/6yearling.jpg

www.childeoffyre.com/Photos/7yearling.jpg
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1 Ball Python
1 Rock Python
1 Bullsnake
5 Cats

Love 'em all ...

Well, you did a great job, cuz she looks perfect now.
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CB

"I'm a truckin bassmole, and proud of it"

Great looking Ball Python! It's nice that you saved her from that petstore. As far as blushing, it is almost impossible to predict how it will look in the future. The color of the blushing also varies, from shades of red, yellow and even white.
As far as feeding frozen/thawed, try a blow dryer next time. Just blow it on the rat/mouse for about 10 seconds and it will get the fur fluffed up and hot.

Paul Snyder
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Home

Congrats on the rescue. She's gorgeous now.

I second the blow-dryer idea. You might also want to use a pair of tongs to wiggle the mouse around a little. That, or give her a thawed mouse immediately after she eats a live one; if she's a fairly eager eater, she should take it without any problems. This seems to get mine used to thawed, and they take it more readily the next time around, sometimes on the first try.
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~Samila

3.2 ball pythons
1.0 green iguana
2.0 leopard geckoes
1.0 Savannah monitor
1.0 bearded dragon (Orange German Giant)

"Order some golf shoes. Otherwise, we'll never get out of this place alive." -- Hunter S. Thompson

You've done great with her. I've had success transitioning from live to F/T by first feeding fresh-killed or stunned from tongs. After the snake gets used to taking prey from the tongs for awhile (at least a month), try the warming methods previously mentioned for F/T. It's got to be warm or they won't take it. It'll take awhile, but the price, convenience, and safety of feeding F/T rather than live will be worth it.
Paul

Thanks for the suggestion. I've been trying to get her off of the live stuff for a while now... don't like the risk of the rat bite. >.< At all.

I appreciate the suggestions everybody.. thanks !
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1 Ball Python
1 Rock Python
1 Bullsnake
5 Cats

Love 'em all ...