Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys,
Just inherited some young male balls from someone who's kids got bored of them....They are brothers and one is larger than the other. The smallest one gets so freaked out when I take him out to hold him that he immediatly gets in position to strike! I bit me the other day, and struck at my boyfriend last night while he was holding him. Is this something that isnt going to be fixed with a lot of handling, or should all the handling make him less likely to freak out?
Also, they are both poss. 50% het for amelanistic....what exactly does that mean in terms of breeding. I understand the het part, and the poss. part, but what does the 50% mean?
Rachel

If you just got them, give them a week or two to settle in before handling them. Also, try wearing a T-shirt for a couple of days underneath a sweatshirt, when it's good and stinky (J/K) put it in thier cage(s) for them to use as a hide, it will help them associate your smell with security. But give them some time to settle in. Balls in general aren't really aggressive unless they are hungry or scared. Give them a week, try to feed, a couple days after their fed, see if you can handle them for a short time.

The 50% means that there is a 50/50 chance that it carries the gene for albino. You'll need to breed it to another ball that you know carries the same gene to find out whether yours does or not.
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Tosha

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

The 50% het would mean that one of the parents was 100% het amelanistic and the other was regular, or het for nothing. If you were to breed one of them and the one you bred was a true 50% het for amelanistic you might produce some amelanistics.

Hope this helped ya.

>> If you were to breed one of them and the one you bred was a true 50% het for amelanistic you might produce some amelanistics.

You need to breed this snake to a snake that you know carries the albino gene if you get albinos then you know it's het for albino, if you don't then it's a normal. If you just breed it to a normal you'll just get nothing but normal looking snakes.
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Tosha

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

"You need to breed this snake to a snake that you know carries the albino gene if you get albinos then you know it's het for albino, if you don't then it's a normal."

Precisely.
Remember though,it does take a bit of good luck as well.
You could get zero albinos for several years from het to het pairings (75% chance)...and then get a nice surprise the next.
Or you could hatch 2 your first year.One never knows...
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Charles Glaspie

and she outgrew it in about 6mnths..She was also a rescue and very underfed..She hasnt bitten anyone in the last 6mnths though she is still headshy and a bit nervous.
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Just let the snake chill...once he gets used to his surroundings, all should be well...make sure the temperature is good and perhaps mist him with some warm water...SOSA loves that! I would feed this one outside of the tank...so he doesn't get accustomed to being aggressive when you open the top of the cage...sounds like he doesn't need to be any more aggressive!
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1.0 Corn Snake (Snakey)
0.0.1 Ball Python (Sosa)
0.0.1 Pine Snake (no name yet)

I would give the snakes a good month to settle in to their new enclosure, if you handle them too soon aftrer putting them into a new home, they can get very stressed out, also make sure they have proper hide spots. Give it time and see how it goes.

Good luck