One of my friends is into reptiles like crazy. Now i am hooked, i found a Ball Python for 40 bux at a reptile place near my LHS. I have a tank and a heat pad. Now i just need to get enought for the snake, and bedding. so that will be about, 45 bux, im only 25 bux away.......does anyone else have snakes, lizards or any other exotic pets?
I wanted to get a spotted python but they are 140 bux so a ball python will be just fine.

I don't really care for them, they can't be raced! And what do you do with them really? Look?

Haha ya you look at them, but they mine will be tame because im going to have it out everyday. and they are just soooo cool.my friend lives so close to the reptile place that he put his around his neck and ride over there and hangs out. i mainly want one cause thy are awseome. IMO of course.

I use to have one, it got a real sick and it passed, but i did breed it
a few times, there's some money in breading, if you can get a successful
clutch of eggs.

For the bedding, what do you use, or gonna use.

Aspen is what i use, the stuff for like guinea pigs or anything like
that it will hurt the snake.

the heat pad i would watch cause it will get to hot sometimes, i went
thru 3of them and they all went wat over 210 which is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay
to hot for the snake, I use a work lamp with either a 40watt or 60watt
bulb, u can grab a light for 5-6bucks, and a pack of bulbs for like
nothing that works much better, and u can control the temp, At night if
you like to keep your room cold, and u want the light off, just put a
big towel or blanket to keep the warmth in.

What type of tank do u have or getting? a 20gallon long is all the snake
needs for its entire life. But there is a rule of thumb, the smaller the
tank the shorter and fatter the snake will be, the bigger and longer the
tank the snake will be thin and long. After about 4-5 yeas in the 20, i
moved up to a 60gallon breeder tank. which worked good.

Water bowl, they like to soak in the water, and they also when the shed
they like to soak so pick a good size one.

For plant life, good fake plants work good, and a few fish tank rocks
are good, cause it give something for the skin to grab on when shedding.

Feeding, once its full grown, mine ate 2-3 large mice every 2-4 weeks,
but if u want a every week feed 1 large mouse will do, but if its a baby
start like this, pinker, fuzzy, hopper, small mouse, large mouse.

feeding time: when its feeding time take most of the stuff out, so the
snake don't strike and get hurt if it misses, plus it give the snake
room to hunt, and the mice to move so its instincts kick in and goes
hunting for it. Never feed rats, the rats can harm the snake. Also when
feeding u can watch but don't touch when there in feeding mood they see
body heat, fingers they will strike no matter what. And the 100+ razor
sharp teeth don't tickle.

And make sure you give PLENTY OF LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I read it all and thats the best part.

i have a leapord gecko.... shes fat. lol i use a heat pad and a heat lamp for it, th heat pad and lap are on one side so there is a warm and a cold side

Good choice! If you dont mind, lemme give ya some tips. Ball pythons are one of the most commonly imported snakes in the pet trade. Always try to buy a "captive born" animal. Ball pythons are also notoriously picky feeders. If its a wild caught animal, it can be a very frustrating experience. Be sure to use a heat controller, or a thermostat with that heat pad. If you are referring to the under tank heaters, they get very hot. A ball python needs 80-90 degree temps. 80 ambient, 90 degree basking spot. The ambient temps are for the snake to cool off, and are just as important as the hot spot. Ball pythons are also primarily nocturnal. They wont like any light. So make sure to use a hide box if you are planning on any form of heat lamp for a heat supply. I'd reccomend a red bulb, or a ceramic heat emitter. Again, emphasis on the heat controller. Never let that snake see temps under 75 degrees. I could type a novel here, but i'll spare ya. lol. I've been into exotics for a loooong time. I had snakes back in grade school, and the addiction only got worse. After a few years away from them, i got back in recently. I bought an albino boa constrictor a few months ago, and recently bought 3 albino ball pythons.

Heres my albino boa.


Here are a couple not soo great pics of my albino ball pythons. They are still settling in, so im not doing much picture taking right now. I'll get better pics in another week or so.

The male.


The two females.


Those are the only 4 snakes i have right now. In the past i've had anacondas, retics, burms, bloods, guyanas, surinams, peruvians, hogg islands, and a mean corn snake. Im sure i've forgot some too. lol. I hope to add a burmese to my collection in the future.

You gonna make that male a stud and breed them?

I have my lamp to one side and the temp gage on each it was about 81-83f on the far end and about 90-92 on the hot side, i make a Lego house for her, u tried once where it had a floor did not work to well when it came to bathroom time, i then took off the floor, so the bedding was the floor, it got warm ,and stayed warm at night, u can here her at night when she is active, all the moving and clunking around, and the few thumps on her trying to get out. I loved her so much. A few help facts, get this hanging mite can, its for birds, its like fleas but for snakes and they can make the snake real ill, i had mine tied to tied thru the lid screen, and it worked good. also i had the might spray spray the cage after you put new bedding down, it will help prevent any bugs. My uncle who got me into rc got me in to snakes, i started out with a corn snake then a king snake, then he let me take care of his albino anaconda, then he left me his 13foot burmese, and it got lose one day, came home saw the gage door broke and 2 of my 3 guinea pigs were gone, and its was in the middle of the living room. mom was not so happy about that. and then i got a ball python of my own and was hooked since.

Yup, that group of ball pythons is gonna be a breeding group some day. Mites can be a nasty problem in reptiles. Fortunately, these days we have Provent a mite. Very good product made by the Pro-products company. So your burmese ate your guinea pigs eh? lol. Sorry, i find that funny. I love burmese pythons. I miss mine dearly. I had this large beautiful albino labrynth burm. She was awesome...

Well we kept them in a clear tub, plastic tub, and it was my uncles, but he was in the hospital at the time and could not take care of it. i was up set, mom wasn't cause she hated the little thing, they never bit me, but for some reason always her.

she sounds like a masterpiece.

Plastic tubs are common homes for snakes. I dont like doing it, but many people do. Who is your uncle, that had the albino anaconda? To my knowledge those have never been successfully bred in captivity. Any pics of that snake?

I'll see if i can find pics, he only lasted about 3-4years, got about 8feet or so, but he was trying to breed it with a nrom anna, and they fought it lost one of its eyes, it lived but not longer then a few months, The tub is where i kept the guinea pigs, the snake was in a 10'Lx7'Wx4'H it was a massive tank he made.

He did not get the albino from a lab or anything, he know a guy who was trying to breed them to make them real, but he only got a clutch of eggs, and only 2were albino, shortly after that he got in trouble with the law, and my uncle got one of the baby's, the rest were all released back to the wild, the other one tho they tried to keep it alive did not make it one 1week. It was a sight to bee seen, the only reason he did not want to tell anyone, cause you know, they would come take it from him and make it a lab rat to see how it was born, he did not want that, he had a 4bedroom house, me joined to bed rooms together and made a life like gage for him even a small pool, i was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay young when this was going on, but he brings it up now and again.

I kept my snakes in the large reptile tanks, once my girl was moved into the that 60gallon, it was like Paradise for her, but shortly after laying one clutch, she got sick and about 2-3months after she did not make it, and what kills me, is it was the day i got her from the exotic pet store 2 1/2 hours away, i went out to get her a spice food treat, and a some new bedding, came home and was shocked, she was ice cold, and still. It broke my heart, i want another one but mom does not want me to have another one. The eggs made it i kept one but it got lose somehow and have not seen it since, but the rest went to the pet shop in town, got 75 a piece for each. But it did not bring her back tho. I forget what the doctor said she had, but its common for ball's.

I want to get an albino ball, but have you seen the price, it would kill me but there so beautiful tho.

Yes, i've seen the price on albino balls. LOL. I've got 3 of them. And not to be a jerk or anything, but that albino your uncle had, was likely a common albino burmese python. Just a little education here, an anaconda is not a python. Its a boa constrictor. Boas give birth to live young, pythons lay eggs...

i know the difference, i called him up to see if he could send some pics, i was wrong about the albino part, it was a yellow naa, i thought it was albino. he did have an albino Burmese tho, he has it from a baby till it dies i think it was 20+ years or so, it was a bu teeee.

Again take a peak here...you said Eggs, anacondas are a live birth breed. Pythons are all egg hatched. Like ThermalRD said the Burmese python is large and though shouldn't be confused with an anaconda it may have been.

BT! Where ya been? Been vacant on the Global forum for a while now.
Seems like we've all left it.

Albino ball pythons are awseome....my friend has two ball pythons and a spotted python. They are awseome. I cant wait until i get mine. And as for the heat pad it is a Zoo Med and my friend has about 5 and all of them work great. so i will keep an eye out just in case....but thanx for the warning....

Aaron

ive got a ball python. great animals to have as pets. very easy to take care of once you get a system down. and if you go on vacation you dont need someone to come out and feed them or take care of them (maybe change the water a few times). but they can go months without eating (NOT RECOMMENDED). and since you only feed them 1 or 2 times a week, they only "go" once or twice a week, so you dont have to clean the tank every week. the biggest things with snakes, atleast for me, is making sure they shed cleanly. in other words they shed in one piece and everything comes off. if you look closely at the second pic you can see he has his eye caps on, NOT GOOD. heres a few pics of my guy. his name is hunter.


sry, cant get the second pic to get larger. ill try and post a pic of my set up later tonight.

Nice pics, i want to get mine this weekend but might not have enought to get it but will put half the money domn and then pay the other half as soo as i get it. My best friend works at the reptile shop so he will let me do that cause he knows how much i want it....

Nice pics Pyro, and a good lookin snake. If your snake has retained eyecaps, or an uneven shed, you should make a shed box. Real easy to do. Take an appropriate sized rubbermade container with a lid on it. Make a nice hole in the side for the snake to enter. Put some moss from a pet shop in there, and wet it down. Set that right over the heat source, and it will be perfect for the snake to shed every time. Having owned blood pythons, its a required practice for a high humidity species.

Socal basher, i know the zoomed heat pads are good, i use them myself. Since you are into the RC hobby, you probably have some sort of temp checker. Take a temp on the hot spot without a heat controller sometime. Tell us what ya find. I can prety much guarantee you'll find that temp waaaaay over 100 degrees. If your snake developes brown scales, or thickened belly scales, that will be the reason... Just a tip. And post pics when you get the snake!

Ok thanx, ya i have a temp guage, An i wll definately get pics when i get the snake. Als o my friend that works ther has put the one i want on lay away till i get the rest of the money. I cant thank him enough.

Well i put a down payment on it and its mine now. i just gotta chocke up 20 more bux. Im ready to get it already

congrats on the new snake.

heres a few pics of my setup, its a little open still so im hoping this weekend ill get some more plants and tree limbs/stumps, and a new water bowl. my dad and i made the terrarium, it is 36''x20''x20''.

This is cool people like reptiles on this site to. I have a few 2 jungle carpet pythons, 2 red tail boa's, two very red corn snakes, 1 ball the male died, 1 gray band king, 2 king's I did have some awsome bearded dragon's but my female boa got out and eat them[:@]. broke the cage and eat them both the female was full of eggs. I have my large female in a vision cage and she got the glass open. I'll dig and get some photos. I also had leopard's but sold them as the dragon's were a lot of work. The first year breeding her I got 3 good clutchs 1st was 18 second 14 3rd 18 hatched only a few from the first but all from the others and sold them. I'm going to go a little more deep into reptiles and hope to get some high end stuff soon. The best reptile site is kingsnake.com check it out.

Awesome stuff comerford. You hang out on kingsnake too eh? Its cool to see a bunch of you guys into reptiles too. I love snakes. Especially the high end stuff.

Nice setup ya got there Pyro. Is that cypress mulch i see for bedding? lol. Im such a reptile nerd.