Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 3 corn snakes and 1 rat snake. My 10 year old son wants to get a ball python. He does great with the care and handling of my corns. Is a ball a similar type of snake? He is great at handling snakes, but I thought balls might be a little shy and not enjoy being handled. Do they spend most of their time in their hides or will they come out on their branches, shelves, etc..

I just don't want him to be expecting a corn like behavior and then be disappointed. I was trying to interest him in a Woma, but he really wants a ball.

I appreciate your input.

A baby ball will make a great pet for a responsible 10 year old........and yes balls will come out and explore their cages......they do need their hide boxes.

Very easy to keep and easy to handle.
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Rock On!!!

When i read the subject header i was thinking "Depends on the 10 year old".Then after reading your actual question,i thought "Depends on the Ball Python".

Some are more active than others...

I have some that do not eat if i handled them that day (some wait alot longer than that too).Yet one of mine eats within seconds of being put back into her enclosure,and is friendly the whole time.
While yet another is always nice,unless she is hungry( then she thinks she injured?..or somthing,and wants to fight about it!).I should have named her "Bi-Polar".However,she was an adult at the time i got her.So this is probably some sort of induced behavior for all i know.

I say buy a captive born and bred baby and go for it.

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Charles Glaspie

Here is my take - yes and no. Tho I don't have any first hand knowledge of corn snakes my son tells me that his friends corn is much more active than any of our balls. With that being said, yes ball can make good pets, and most are fairly friendly, easy to care for etc. As babies they are pretty active, but as adults the spend a great deal of time going from hide to water dish back to hide. And most of their activity is done at night (yep right around bedtime). My boys prefer the Angolan as it's more active than the balls. Balls are great, but the active little boys I know find them amusing for about 10 minutes and get bored with them. Oh and my oldest son is 9 so he's about in the same range as yours.
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Tosha

"Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed." Don Wood

"Of course, that's only my opinion...and I believe I am God." =) Chris Bianco

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope John Paul)
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 Pool skimmer rescues for this season

Exellent point on the possible loss of interest. My kids are 13 and 10, while they enjoy pets and are very good at taking care of them, the hide box to water dish to hide box aspect does make them lose interest in the ball python as opposed to the cats that are bouncing off the walls, furniture, people, dog, and anything else they can find. As far as other snakes, I can't say, but with our ball he does become active, but it is about 2 hours after bed time.
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Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
1-1-0 Rats... no wait... ROTTEN Little Cats - Ra, Bastet
0-1-0 Little Angelic Kitten - Isis
1-0-0 Horse... whoops... BIG Golden Retriever - Jake
0-1-0 Wife
2-0-0 Kids