ok my boyfriend just got a pet snake and we’ve never had a snake before. its a ball python. can it be held a lot? plus it feels cold and we have a heat rock in there but it doesn’t lay on it alot. and we can use any other help info.
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Get the heat rock out IMMEDIATELY (itll lay on it and cook)
Heat the tank from underneath with a heating pad
Give it some place to hide
Handle it as often as you can
But stop touching it when its starts to shed
Keep it moist in the tank
After all that……….
Go to kingsnake.com and read a care sheet
If you need any other help……….. message me
Yes, you can hold ball pythons alot, they are very tame. And it definitely shouldn’t feel cold. A heat rock by itself isn’t enough…you should get a 150 watt basking bulb and set it close to the cage so it can raise the ambient air temperature. Also, a screen top for you snake’s cage is not good…it lets out all the heat and humidity.
put a heating light in and yes you can hold it but make sure it is not hungry if you just fed it wait atleast 24 hours. i know alot about the ballpython becaus i have one
don’t use a heat rock. use a heat lamp or a heating pad under the tank (not in the tank)
handle it often so it becomes social. try not to handle it right before, during, or after feeding. be sure so wash the scent of the food off after you feed it.
make sure it has a hide box or log but not just anything out of the yard. it could have mites. be sure to boil anything you put in it’s cage before it goes in there. mites will eat at your snakes skin and make it sick.
also have a large kind of shallow bowl of water for it so that it can submerge itself in it with out the water over flowing over the edges.
keep the cage clean and tidy. monitor and clean out poop ever week.
feed her probably one medium-large mouse a week or 2 every other week.
i recently learned that over feeding can lead to obesity and sickness and possably death.
snakes aren’t hard to care for once you get the hang of it. even my boyfriend can do it. ^_^
well ball pythons are generaly calm. You will need more then a heat rock you need a like 55 gal. tank heat lamb, UV lamp, bedding, shelter, water dish (that is big enough for him to eat), a food dish (that way after time he will know his food comes from a dish not your hand), and things to climb and cage decore.
Feeding- If the snake is baby size you need a pinkie (baby mice). But FROZEN I can not stress that enough frozen mice dont move so there for the mice dose not fight and inju the snake.
Do me and your self a favore and do all your research!!!!!!
All right…so heat rock huh? Your snake could get killed by that. So unless you wanna eat your snake (by frying him/her), i suggest you take that heat rock out immediately and get a basking lamp for reptile instead.
Snakes aren’t used to get heat from the ground. They sometimes bask under the sun so they get their heats from their backs which play the most sensitive part/receptor of heat. If you use heat rocks, they won’t know if the heat is already enough for them because the rocks will give heat right from the belly (not the back). So whenever the snake feels the heat is enough, it actually will burn the snake because the heat itself already is too much.
Hope this helps
Hello, first off, PLEASE get rid of the hot rock immediately and instead purchase a heating pad and/or a heat lamp. Hot rocks are notorious for causing severe burns on reptiles.
I don’t mean to sound harsh, but may I ask why your boyfriend didn’t research all of this before purchasing the snake?
Ball pythons can be held quite a bit as long as they are eating well and showing no signs of stress. However if the snake doesn’t seem to be eating well or is acting nervous when being handled; you may want to reduce the amount of handling to only one or two times per week.
Here are several care sheets on them that should give you a good place to start in regards to learning about Ball python care, maintenance, and general information.
http://www.anapsid.org/ball.html
http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/pythons/a/ballpythons_2.htm
http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/
I hope this helps, and if you have any further questions at all on the subject; please feel free to message me and I will be more than happy to assist you.
Good luck!
Firstly, your boyfriend should have RESEARCHED about the snake before purchasing it. A lot of people walk into a pet store thinking "They’ll tell me all I need top know", but that is not the case. When it comes to exotic animals, petstore employees know NOTHING in most cases.
Yes, your snake can be handled fairly often. Daily handling might stress it out too much, but once every few days shouldn’t hurt.
As others have said, get the heat rock out of there. They’re dangerous and known to burn snakes. I have seen some horrific incidents.
The enclosure should be about 30 gallons. I believe that’s 30 something inches. you can use newspaper as substrate (bedding) for the bottom. It’s cheaper than other things, easy to replace, and it won’t harm the snake. Many beddings recommended be pet stores can be harmful. Calcium sand, cocoa fibre, and many kinds of wood chips can be harmful if ingested. Pine shavings can cause respiratory issues. You will also want to place some hiding spots for your snake – You can purchase these from a pet store. Snakes and lizards feel safer when they have somewhere to hide. Empty cereal boxes placed on their sides can also work, although they don’t look very nice. Always have a bowl of water available to the snake – they often sit in there, so the water should be replaced daily.
Because your ball python is cold blooded, it needs a source of heat. Most pet stores sell heating bulbs for reptiles, along with metal ‘domes’ to screw them into. Place this over one half of the enclosure (on top of the cover) so that the snake has a spot it can go to thermoregulate (warm up). Again, place it only on one half of the enclosure – the snake needs a cool spot, too. The hot spot should be somewhere between 88-92f, and the rest of the enclosure should be in the 80′s. The temperature shouldn’t go below 70f at night. The temperature regulation sounds daunting to many people, but it’s actually rather simple. You can buy thermometres from pet stores that measure temperature. Once you’ve got everything set up right, the temperature will take care of itself for the most part. Oh, and always turn the light off at night.
Feeding is where a lot of people get caught out. DO NOT FEED LIVE FOOD UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY HAVE TO. This is for two reasons:
1: IF the snake is not hungry, the mouse can run around for hours. During this time, the mouse may nibble on the snake, causing injury. Also, when your snake constricts (strangles) the mouse, it may be scratched or bitten,
2: It is terribly inhumane. Many people will argue that it’s natrual for a mouse to be suffocated, which it is. However, in the wild, the mouse has a chance of escape. It doesn’t in a cage.
You should be able to buy frozen mice from your pet store. If not, you can order them online. You simply put one in a cup of hot (not boiling) water for 10-15 minutes and then jiggle it in front of the snake using something long to avoid being bitten. Tongs work well. The snake should bite it, strangle it and then eat it. Feeding should happen once a week.
Well, I think that about covers the basics. If there’s anything I’ve missed, a google search should help.
All of those requirements might make it seem difficult to keep Ball pythons, but once the enclosure is finished, it’s rather easy. Remove soiled bedding, check temperatures daily, give fresh water daily, feed weekly and that’s about it.
I hope I’ve helped a little, and good luck with your new snake!
set it into the wild…lol