Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ball Python ownership is arguably one of the largest groups in the herp scene. And it just keeps growing. What has caused this? Why do we love this species so much? Thoughts? Opinions?
-----
Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

It's those cute little faces!

Personally, I just love the build and look of the BP's. Throw in a good temperment and that pretty much seals the deal for me. Definitely my fav. type of snake. Of course the colors and pattern variations are a big allure as well, but that could go for a lot of other types of snakes too. BP's just have the entire "package" as far as I'm concerned.

-----
-----
Amber

3.19.0 Ball Pythons - Tucker, Taylor, Tyler & gang
1.0.0 Snow Corn - Aiden
0.1.0 Pueblan Milk Snake - Marishka

2.1.0 Dachshunds - Dakota, Montana, & Cheyenne
5.0.0 Ferrets - Tigger, Bailey, Cody, Keyta, & Bandit

Liann,I think I missed that day in carpentry class.
-----
Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
0-1-0 Mountain Horned Dragon - Ki
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

>>Liann,I think I missed that day in carpentry class.
>>-----
>>Bryan, Atlanta GA
>>
>>1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
>>0-1-0 Mountain Horned Dragon - Ki
>>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

LOL - I love "THE" build not "TO" build.
-----
-----
Amber

3.19.0 Ball Pythons - Tucker, Taylor, Tyler & gang
1.0.0 Snow Corn - Aiden
0.1.0 Pueblan Milk Snake - Marishka

2.1.0 Dachshunds - Dakota, Montana, & Cheyenne
5.0.0 Ferrets - Tigger, Bailey, Cody, Keyta, & Bandit

I'm not awake yet this morning... That makes much more sense!
-----
Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
0-1-0 Mountain Horned Dragon - Ki
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

It is the perfect "gateway snake" (similar to gateway drugs, same addictiveness). Ease of care for beginners (like me). Relatively easy to obtain. Docile temperment. Did I mention ease of care? Much more compact than a boa, anaconda, or burm, but still provides the viewing pleasure that only a constrictor coiling prey can provide. And some even say that there is a possiblity of creating morphs through careful breeding, though I have seen no evidence to directly support that claim (joke). Oh, and most importantly for me, it provides a perfect way to keep the snake-a-phobic mother-in-law from EVER coming over again!
-----
Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
0-1-0 Mountain Horned Dragon - Ki
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

Very, very true. Forgot to mention how convenient they are in cutting down on the "unwanted" house guest. Currently to stay at my house, you have to sleep in a bed that directly faces a large six foot tall, 5 level enclosure with 7 adult BP's staring at you. I think the bed is actually gathering dust...
-----
-----
Amber

3.19.0 Ball Pythons - Tucker, Taylor, Tyler & gang
1.0.0 Snow Corn - Aiden
0.1.0 Pueblan Milk Snake - Marishka

2.1.0 Dachshunds - Dakota, Montana, & Cheyenne
5.0.0 Ferrets - Tigger, Bailey, Cody, Keyta, & Bandit

You still have a guest room?

I have an inflatable bed in the closet of the snake room. If we get company~ we roll a couple snake racks closer together so there is JUST enough room for the bed to inflate. Guests have to crawl from the door directly onto the bed~ and there are SEVERAL BPs within inches of either side of the bed~ company as you fall asleep!

Thats IF we get company. Conversations with people who want to stay over at our house usually go something like this:

"what? You want to come visit? Sure, no problem~ I have a room we can put you up in. uuuuummmmmm Just for conversations sake~ how big is your youngest child now? OH good~ no problem! I don't think that 30 foot burmese Ball PYTHON BOA that escaped last week could swollow something that big. Besides~ I'm sure we'll find her before she has all those babies.........(mumbling under breath) ~ gotta find those babies before they invenomate someone~ What? Your staying in a hotel? Oh, yes~ your right~ a hotel might just be closer to Disneyland than we are"
-----
Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
Check out my website at:
The Red Dragons Den

np
-----
Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
0-1-0 Mountain Horned Dragon - Ki
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

I think the latest craze is due to the new morphs that have popped up. I know a few that went from diverse collections to mainly or all balls. I like them because you can keep them in a cereal bowl most the time. Four, five years ago I had all the available morphs at that time. I got rid of most of them because I got tired of finding them in the same spot day after day like they were glued down, lol. The reason I got back into balls is because of their size and ease to breed. Amber, unfortunately that guest bed would be like a kid in a candy store for those of us here Ron
-----
The Crawl Space

The range of morphs and possible combinations seem to be endless.
The intensity of the colors and patterns are breathe taking.
Since the ball morph scene has taken off it has made other snake prices increase.
Watch out for the Central american dwarf boa projects kick in and possibly be an alternative to balls.
I personally think that the ball scene will keep increasing, both finacialy and genetic.
All the doom and gloomers, that think the ball market will crash are people who want to earn money now.
Play your cards right,selective breeding and patience will pay off.
Morphs do not crash, they just level off.
Spiders are here to stay,just look at the combos.
Like a lot of guys here i paid good money for spiders,but i have no regets as they are mature now and the combo world is my oyster.
I feel that in some way the balls have saved the reptile industry from slowly fading away.
Here in the UK,some people are still trying to come to terms with the prices.
We all know that in every walk of life'you must speculate to accumuilate'
Balls will be great long after a lot of us here are gone.
If you multiply the morphs out now, breeding one to the other to create double hets,triple hets with a pinch of co-dom (pastel albino pied clown)the years just melt away.
As RD said 'so many morphs,so little time

Small size in a proper snake, great colour morphs, good temprement, $$$........................an hatching cool looking babies.

Goody! A question I've researched for weeks!

There are two distinct markets for the Ball Python -- the general public (average pet store goer) and the breeder (us).

The general public market is based on four (4) main factors -- color/pattern variety (wide selection), managebale size (small to medium), temperament (docile), and ease of care (easy). These four criteria are the factors used to select which animals enter the pet store trade, and therefore which animals reach the general public. The five most popular snake species in the general public market are the Cornsnake, Kingsnake, Milksnake, Ball Python, and Boa Constrictor. If we give each species one point for each of the criteria met, we see the Cornsnake and the Ball Python scoring above the rest. (Kingsnakes and Milksnakes can be quite skittish and sometimes musking which takes a point from the docile category, and Boas do not usually fall into the small to medium size category.) That leaves us with the Cornsnake and the Ball Python as the two top contenders.

The breeder market is also based on four (4) main factors -- demand or potential demand, market price (ROI), clutch size (large is money, small is market stability), and space requirements (small to medium). These four criteria are the factors used by breeders to select which snake species is the best long-term investment. The five most popular snake species in the breeder market are the Cornsnake, Ball Python, Boa Constrictor, Honduran Milksnake, and the California Kingsnake. If we give each species one point for each of the criteria met, we see the Ball Python and the Boa Constrictor scoring above the rest. (Each of these animals has already reached the general public market which is good, but the Cornsnake, Milksnake, and Kingsnake morphs lack the higher market prices that lure potential investors.) That leaves us with the Ball Python and the Boa Constrictor as the top two contenders.

Since even the most rare and high-end snake species has the potential to drop in price until it hits a general public affordability, we must always consider the general public market as an eventual main market with any snake species. (That is, as long as it meets the criteria mentioned above.) This being the case, we should cross-referrence those animals that scored highest in both the general public market (eventual market) and the breeder market (immediate market). Only one animal scored highest in both areas -- the Ball Python.

This means that the Ball Python is the BEST investment right now. Not only is the Ball Python king of the breeder market, but its color/pattern variety, small to medium size, docile nature, and ease of care mean that once this animal with all its splendid variations hits the general public market...it will be king there, too. (Or at least it has the potential to be king.)

What does all of this REALLY mean? Simple. The Ball Python is the BEST pet store snake, and it is the BEST investment snake.

Ball Pythons ROCK!

Whew!

Chris
-----
mean people suck

>
-----
Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Chris, I hope you didn't blow a lung sayin' all that? Oh wait a minute, you typed it. Fingers hurt? Eccellent theory though.

Quig

...here's your cookie. ☻
ohh your allergic to chocolate...then here's a vanilla. ☺

...my 2¢.
From the pet shop consumers perspective...
It used to be if you wanted any kind of colorful snake...it was either a corn...a king..or something venemous.If not that then it was something harder to maintain(be it either due to the nature of the species being unknown etc,or even just of immense size).The ball now fits nicely in a once empty market.imho

...that is when ever they actually trickle down to that level.
-----
Charles Glaspie

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke

I'm new to BPs (only 4 months), and I love them.
I've seen them in the shops for many years, but they never did anything for me - (Until I made my first purchase) Now I'm hooked, I've got a new respect for these guys, they are awesome in everyway. I can't wait to pick up my next one.
Ken
-----
0.5 Normal Ball Pythons (Norma, Nova, Nala, Nimeesha, Nyoka)
1.1 Argentine B/W Tegus (Draco and Drucilla)
0.1 Columbian B/W Tegu (Diablo)
1.0 Black Throat Monitor (Razor)
1.0 Desert Tortoise (Tubbs) from Tortoise Rescue
1.0 Boxer (Shadow)
0.1 Feline (CK)
1.0 Memory of my Redtail Boa (Mo) which passed away after 28 years

Be careful. Ball Pythons are a lot like tattoos...

Chris
-----
mean people suck

When I got my first ball - they weren't all that common - pet stores were more into selling dogs, cats and fish not reptiles - which may have something to do with it - since most major petstores no longer sell dogs and cats reptiles have gotten more exposure. But anyway - they didn't have them back then - when I wanted to get a snake - my dad took me to this seedly little shop and the heavily tatooed guy showed me all the snakes he had. He had an awesome pair of burms (Huge) but at the time I was a mere 80 lb weakling so a snake twice my size seemed a bit impractical (not to mention my mother would never have let me keep something like that). I didn't much care for those little snakes (milks and kings) they just seemed like big worms to me - almost settled with a columbian red tail but realized through most of the trip around the store I had this one ball just hangin out around my neck - so I decided he was the one that I would take home.

Twenty some odd years later I still love balls (obviously) - I think they are a great snakes - good size , excellent demeanor and a great beginner snake and its always amazing to see the new morphs! Admittedly they aren't my favorite snake anymore - seems odd to say considering I have so many of them and I'm breeding now but it's true - I don't think you have any problems guessing what is - IMO Angolans are hands down much better snakes than balls - so far there is not a bunch of different Angolan Morphs but they have all the excellent qualities of a ball but with more personality and more activity and they eat a lot better too (LOL). But balls will always have a place in my heart and home - maybe when my first clutch hatches next week I'll change my mind again. We'll see

I guess I kinda rambled. Sorry.
-----
Tosha

"One of these days i am going to wake up..look around...and realize my place looks more like "Ace Venturas"s than my own." Coldthumb

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 "JP"
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 lizard rescued from vicious feline

"...my dad took me to this seedly little shop and the heavily tatooed guy showed me all the snakes he had."

See what I mean? Ball Pythons are a lot like tattoos.

Chris
-----
mean people suck

I only have 6 tats, lol
-----
The Crawl Space

Four if you count the "I (heart) NERD" tattoo on my left butt cheek.

Chris
-----
mean people suck

... that is a good one...
-----
The Crawl Space

Yeah, but it hurt like heck! I'll post a photo soon...

Chris
-----
mean people suck

np
-----
Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
0-1-0 Mountain Horned Dragon - Ki
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

No money yet...Kevin is probably still working on the legal paperwork.

Chris
-----
mean people suck

"Kevin is probably still working on the legal paperwork"

You better hope Kevin is a benovelant guy~
If it were me I'd be working on the legal copy right paperwork to see if I now owned your @$$! LOL!!
-----
Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
Check out my website at:
The Red Dragons Den

"7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python "

- gateway snake...
-----
Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
0-1-0 Mountain Horned Dragon - Ki
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

I love the idea of calling the Ball Python the "gateway snake". That's too funny!

(Of course, I've heard that Cornsnakes are the usual first snake. Phooey!)

Chris
-----
mean people suck

I may be reaching here but after listening to Denis Leary's take on drugs leading to carpentry (No Cure for Cancer CD)... suddenly you find yourself thinking of how you can make things into a bong... I got very concerned when my wife started looking at one of our dressers and began planning how it could be turned into a boa enclosure. Is this a normal thing or should I be concerned about her?
-----
Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
0-1-0 Mountain Horned Dragon - Ki
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

LMAO - I did that with one of those old console TVs the minute that thing stopped working I was trying to figure out how to pull the tube and turn it into an enclosure!
-----
Tosha

"One of these days i am going to wake up..look around...and realize my place looks more like "Ace Venturas"s than my own." Coldthumb

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 "JP"
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 lizard rescued from vicious feline

you change the channel, the light color changes. Looked good on those old 52" refer-sized TVs of the "old days".
-----
Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

np
-----
Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
0-1-0 Mountain Horned Dragon - Ki
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

These animals can be such sweethearts. Today, for instance, I took my female out of her cage for some play time... she promptly curled up between my body and my arm and went to sleep. She's like my cat... only colder.
-----
1.1.1 Ball pythons (Diablo, Mercedes, and Ciqala)
0.2.0 Cats (Kate and Clarice)
1.0.0 Rabbits (Milosh)

Well first off look at them,A normal Ball..not a morph...Has quite nice looking patterns,I'd like to say my Ball but it's really my 8 year old's,but she has never even thought of being agressive,nothing like having a kinda unpredicatble pet decide she wants to bite you ..or a mouse?
And from experience..sit by your Ball's tank when she's active,kinda amazing,relaxing,and some times funny the things they do..ok with the funny part mine isn't the most gracefull..but at the same time I feel bad 'cause mostly she'll try climbing the wall of the tank and get a little too far and fall over.
But overall,we've had ours 2-3 months and she's family..we love her,and my 8 year old is actually the only "real" snake friendly one in the family.