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Takin' Care of your Ball Python |  |
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**NOTE** |
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Ball Pythons (Also called Royal Pythons) come from Western Africa. Their coloration is tan and brown splotches on a black colored background. Some breeders experiment with genetics to produce some awesome colored, striped and spotted offspring. It has a very good, docile attitude and makes for a great snake for first time owners. Ball Pythons lay eggs, where Boa Constrictors give live birth. Hatchlings are about 9 inches long, and as adults range from 3 1/2 to 6 feet long. Baby BPs will do well in a 10 gallon aquarium tank. There are several sizes you can choose from. Some owners get custom made tanks built for their snakes. Adults can be housed comfortably in a 20 long or even a 30 gallon tank. You can use various substrates such as wood chips (NEVER cedar as it is VERY toxic to snakes), astro turf carpet, paper towels or newspaper. Newspaper is very easy to clean up, but I prefer the astro turf. I get the tan colored since it makes the snake look even more attractive. The tank needs to have a warm side and a cool side so the snake can regulate its body temperature. A heat pad underneath the tank is good. I also use a heap lamp on top. Never use a heat rock as the snake can rest against it and burn itself. Make sure you have a water bowl. It'll help with the humidity and they soak and drink the water as well. A hide box is essential. Some people have 2 hide boxes, one on either side of the tank, but mine seem fine with just one hide box. Your choice. You can find several types of hide boxes. I use the half logs, but you can make your own out of rocks, or tupperware, even upside down terra cotta pots. BPs are nocturnal will spend a lot of time inside the hide box. They will be less stressed if they can hide. I keep climbing branches in there as well, for decoration and they do like to climb. Make sure you clean out the tank on a regular basis. I clean the astro turf with hot water and bleach, rinse well and let air dry. I wipe down the tank with the same bleach water solution, rinsing well. Your BP will be more healthier if he doesn't have a smelly, wet, dirty tank to live in. Add a thermometer inside the tank to monitor the temperatures. Temperatures should be kept at about 86-88 degrees on the warm side during the day and about 75-80 degrees at night. Don't let the temperature get below 70 degrees. |
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Offer your baby balls a pinkie mouse or a fuzzy every few days. Babies are growing so they will eat more at first. Older BP's should get mice, then eventually rats. My adults are currently feeding on small rats.. I had read that BPs can digest several smaller rodents easier than one big one. Again, the choice is yours. Most times a medium rat is a good meal for a full grown BP. Try to get them on a schedule. DO NOT put your hands inside the tank when your BP is eating, or is about to feed. You may get bit if your snake sees your hand first and thinks it's his dinner. Wash your hands before and after feeding. If you still smell like a rodent, he will treat you like a rodent!! There is always debate on whether to feed live mice and rats, or pre-killed frozen. If you choose to feed live, please monitor the feeding carefully. Invest in a pair of hemostats just in case you need to separate the rodent from the snake if it is biting. All 4 of my BPs get live and so far they are fine with it. You can also stun the rodent before dropping it into the tank. A rat could bite your snake defensively as it is getting squeezed. If you think that happened, check the BPs skin for red, open marks and make sure they are cleaned. Infection could set in. I have seen damage to a snakes skin from untreated bite wounds and it isn't pretty. Usually neosporin on the bite will help and after a few sheds, the scar won't be that noticable IF treated immediately. After your BP eats, leave it alone. Often if you try to handle the snake, there's a chance it could regurgitate its food. It usually will take a few days if the temperatures are right for it to digest. I don't handle mine until after it defecates. That way I know they are digested, and I can handle them for a few days until the feeding begins again. When the BPs eyes turn a milky blue, that means they are getting ready to shed their old skin. They will dull and will not take offered food. In a few days, the eyes will clear up and after a few more days he will rub its nose against things to break the skin. Then it will crawl out of the old skin and you have a shiny, smooth beautiful snake. Offer it food after it sheds. If they do not shed in one piece, check the humidity levels, mist the tank and the snake. Soaking it in warm water helps too. BPs can be picky eaters and will often go off feed for months sometimes, especially during the winter months. Usually they are ok and will eventually eat when they are ready, if in doubt, ease your mind and go to a vet. When handling your snake, make sure you support the thickest part of his body, and don't squeeze too tight. Your BP will be curious and will want to explore. My older BP likes to crawl into my clothing and hide. They like warm dark places. She also enjoys hanging out around my neck or exploring my keyboard when I am trying to type!! Avoid any sudden, jerky movements around their head. Ball Pythons are normally head shy and don't like being touched there. Many BP owners have broken their snakes of being head shy. If your BP recoils and tries to pull his body into a tight ball, then you have startled him. Make any movements around him slow and careful. Some owners will not let too many people handle their snakes, where other owners won't mind passing their BP around. I tend to make sure a few people who have handles snakes before and who are not frightened of them, hold mine. It won't stress your snake out that way. I handle mine a few times a week, mostly before their next feeding, for about a half hour at a time. As long as your BP seems to enjoy being handled by you, both you and he should be fine. If you do ever get bitten by your BP, make sure there is no teeth embedded in your skin and clean well with peroxcide and neosporin. Most times a BP will bite if hungry and mistakes you for food or out of fear. Don't be afraid to handle him after a bite. You need to make sure he didn't lose any teeth which can happen if you jerk your hand when you are bitten. It can get infected and might lead to mouth rot. BPs don't hold grudges so you should be fine handling him. BPs and other snakes can get sick. If the cage is dirty, too cold,or if the humidity levels are off. They can get mouth rot, respitory infections,internal parasites, mites, ticks and inclusion body disease (IBD) which is very serious and deadly. If you think your snake is sick, the first thing to do is raise the temperature in the cage to almost 90 degrees. This will alleviate some of the symptoms and your best bet is a trip to the vet. It's been known that elevated temperatures help the snake. Mites are tiny little parasites that feed off of the snakes blood. It is a huge pain to get rid of them, as it entails treating the snake, the tank, the branches, water bowls, hide boxes. Another treatment or two after that will kill the eggs. Left untreated, mites can cause plenty of damage and sometimes death. If your BP starts soaking in his water more than normal, check the water when he gets out. You will see little black dots, like pepper, floating in the water. Good sign that mites have infected his happy little home. Good page on mite prevention by Melissa Kaplan on my links page. I have never bred BPs. I have some great sites at my link page where you can get any information about breeding. (Hey, least I fessed up to not knowing much about it. ha ha =]) |
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