Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I wanted a Ball Python since I thought it would be a good snake to take with me on public demos, including the Kid's Club meetings held by my local Herp Club. I took my new BP, Slytherin, to a Cub Scout demo a couple weeks ago. He was shy and stayed balled up the whole time. I let some of the kids pet him but did not let any of them handle him. Yesterday I took him along to our Kid's Club and he was a hit. He got over his stage fright and was calm and gentle, tolerating quite a bit of handling from several children. Here are some photos from yesterday...

Hmmmmm, not so sure...

Hey, this is fun !!!

See, nothin to it !!!

Say Cheeeeese

Perfect size for the kids (for now at least)

Now if I could just get Slytherin to eat for me, I'll be very happy too!!!

Hope you like the photos. I enjoy working with the public trying to spread the word that snakes and other reptiles are not gross or scary or slimy, that they cannot 'poison' you by touching you with their tongues, and that they are beautiful, amazing animals worthy of our admiration and appreciation.

On a non BP note, meet the newest member of my animal family, I adopted this baby Horned Mountain Dragon yesterday. He was hatched last Wednesday so is 4 days old today. Isn't he precious? He's active, alert, and eating great already.

Here is a photo of his mom

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Lyns Lair
Frogwatch USA
WNY Herpetological Society

0.1 Cat (Mia)
4.2 Ferrets (Wolf, Shadow, Verdell, Sullivan, Boo, Peach)
1.0 Carpet Python (Bear)
1.0 Malagasy Blonde Hognose Snake (Wilbur)
1.0 Yellow / Everglades Rat Snake (Pumpkin)
1.0 Russian Sand Boa (Fang)
0.1 Normal Corn Snake (Mysty)
1.0 Anery Corn Snake (Suezo)
0.0.3 Eastern Milk Snakes (Uno, Dos, Tres)
1.0 Ball Python (Slytherin)
2.0 Smooth Green Snakes (no names yet)
0.1 Golden Greek Tortoise (Sunshine)
0.2 Mississippi Mud Turtles (Squirt & Shyanne)
1.0 Green Iguana (Norbert)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Tank)
1.0 Whites Tree Frog (Trevor)
2.0 Solomon Island Eyelash Frogs (Chompy & Gimli)
0.1 American Toad (Bump)
1.0 AFT Gecko (Cocoa)
5.5 Leopard Geckos (Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Teddy, Mystique, Freckles, Dotty, Zipper, Twister)

If you want the ball to eat for you try leaving him alone. Bringing a non feeding ball to two different public events and having him handled by multiple children doesn't exactly sound like the work of a responsible pet owner. Put the ball in a cage for awhile and leave him alone and maybe he would eat. JMO
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Jeff West

Thanks, I did get him to eat finally. I've actually found that sometimes a change of scenery or adding some excitement to a reptiles life helps with their appetite. Just laying around curled up in an enclosure doesn't seem to make them hungry. He'll have a nice long break now just the same, no demos scheduled at the moment. He ate great this week - struck, wrapped, and ate the mice right down! Just took the kids to help work up his appetite Thanks for your concern, but if you met me you would realize I am very responsible with my animals. They are my life. I am married (football widow at the moment) with no kids. Take a visit to my website to see how much my animals mean to me.
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Lyns Lair
Frogwatch USA
WNY Herpetological Society

0.1 Cat (Mia)
4.2 Ferrets (Wolf, Shadow, Verdell, Sullivan, Boo, Peach)
1.0 Carpet Python (Bear)
1.0 Malagasy Blonde Hognose Snake (Wilbur)
1.0 Yellow / Everglades Rat Snake (Pumpkin)
1.0 Russian Sand Boa (Fang)
0.1 Normal Corn Snake (Mysty)
1.0 Anery Corn Snake (Suezo)
0.0.3 Eastern Milk Snakes (Uno, Dos, Tres)
1.0 Ball Python (Slytherin)
2.0 Smooth Green Snakes (no names yet)
0.1 Golden Greek Tortoise (Sunshine)
0.2 Mississippi Mud Turtles (Squirt & Shyanne)
1.0 Green Iguana (Norbert)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Tank)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Dragon (working on a name)
1.0 Whites Tree Frog (Trevor)
2.0 Solomon Island Eyelash Frogs (Chompy & Gimli)
0.1 American Toad (Bump)
1.0 AFT Gecko (Cocoa)
5.5 Leopard Geckos (Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Teddy, Mystique, Freckles, Dotty, Zipper, Twister)

Guess it came out wrong. Didn't mean you were bad to your animals, just that "excitement" usually isn't good for a Ball's appetite. And remember the Ball is a snake not a person trust me he would much prefer to be left alone, so I doubt the "kids" had anything to do with him eating.
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Jeff West