Reptile & Amphibian Forums

gimme the low down..

Never had a snake before. Though I do have geckos and a beardie.

Would a ball be a bad choise for a beginner snake? I read they can be good but my friend said they dont like to eat and ive read a couple sites that say the same.

How often/common is it to have a feeding problem?

thanks

Ball pythons make great 1st snakes. Read up on them and be considerate of their husbandry issues and you'll do just fine. Buy a captive born animal, preferably a hatchling.

With respect to not eating, yes, they do fast. Don't look at it as a problem, look at it as a good thing! Why do I say this? Well, if they go on a fast, that's money you're saving on food.

Good luck!

Ron Crawford

Balls can be great beginner snakes. Most captive born and bred balls don't have issues with eating and will eat year round unless they are being cooled for breeding or are just really tuned into the weather changes. You are most likely to find piky eaters in wild caught balls, mostly because they don't recognise mice/rats as food. Best get a captive born and bred snake, one thats young but established. Be sure you read up on them and ask questions if you are not sure. Also be aware that balls spend most of their time in their hide,if you don't find that entertaining enough then it's probably not the snake for you.
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Tosha

2.5.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.1.0 Siberian Husky (Kita)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
5.4.2 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

Hello Tasha,

thanks for your reply. Now, about the CBB balls, do you know of a honest breeder with decent prices in the North East US? Petco has them for about 80 but somethings telling me they might not be CBB. Im not looking for anything fancy, just a normal. (But, wow Im loving the piebalds)

Hello Ron,
thanks for your reply as well. One question.. Why do you recommend a hatchling? I know with other herps, alot of people tend to avoid them.

thanks for your time,

One reason to buy as a hatchling is that you'll get a chance to raise it up yourself. Some people might be slightly intimidated by larger serpents if they've never kept one before. The food costs is cheaper for hatchlings as well

Ron

Trust your instincts about that chain pet store.

They deal in mass selling CH snakes, so you have a hit or miss chance on a problem feeder, as well as ticks, mites or internal parasites.

I am basing my info on the store in my area. I used to get mice there years ago, and have seen several infested new shipments.
Once I even took a free male, they brought it to the vet, and then they couldn't sell it per their policy.

He's going on five years old, and he eats about 3 months out of the year on mice only. Very friendly, but I wouldn't want another animal from them.

JMO
TomChambers

I agree that getting one that is very young and raising it is the best way to go. But for the first few months those little guys can sometimes be a bit nippy, high strung and hard to feed. I would recommend buying one from a breeder that has already gotten it into a good eating schedule. By two months they are usually still quite small but have an established eating pattern. Which IMO is much better for a beginner (less headaches and discouragement).
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Tosha

2.5.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.1.0 Siberian Husky (Kita)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
5.4.2 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer