So I got another pet....A ball python!!!

From what I can see in the pics, your beauty has a short tail, which means you have yourself a female, males also have smaller heads, hers looks large, hard to be certain though without a comparison, I'm willing to bet though that you have a female.

Originally Posted by Arlyn

From what I can see in the pics, your beauty has a short tail, which means you have yourself a female, males also have smaller heads, hers looks large, hard to be certain though without a comparison, I'm willing to bet though that you have a female.

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That's good, because Isis is a pretty girly name! Are snakes brighter in color when they are warm? I'm wondering, because she was a lot more colorful yesterday when she was lounging in the sun most of the day. I've tried to get her to eat twice now, but I think she is still too stressed.

It can be really hard to get young Balls to eat.
As far as I know, snakes get lighter or darker depending on warmth and stress levels.
It could just be that you were seeing her in full sunlight too.
Did you get a care sheet?

I can get you a link to a good care sheet and a troubleshooting guide to get them to eat.


Here you go, great care sheet and info on getting a Ball out of it's fasting, other articles as well, good info.

http://www.pkreptiles.com/informationterms/

Congrats! She is beautiful!!

Originally Posted by Renovia

I don't know how much I'd like a snake in the house with my babies.......

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LOL, its not like the snake is going to go after the cats! thats funny though. They usually don't eat much more then a mouse! I used to have a bunch of ball pythons. I was into them but I just had too many pets in one small apartment and I wasn't handling them very much so I found them a really nice home.

My biggest one used to escape out of his tank all the time and I would find him up on the windowsill all stretched out in the sun, with his little head lifted up looking out the window. It was so cute.

Here are a couple more pictures of Isis. I'm not going to put any in the pictures forum yet.

I can't really see the Enchi morph in her, but who cares? $45 is still a great price for a Ball and she's beautifully marked.
Nice close up showing how Balls got their common name, you can even see the pits along the top of her mouth.

I have two bits of advice: Handle her often, get her accustomed to many people, situations.
Don't handle her for 48 hours after she's eaten.

I raised one from a hatchling and I purchased one as an adult.
The one I raised was bold and outgoing, the adult I purchased was very shy.

Originally Posted by Arlyn

I can't really see the Enchi morph in her, but who cares? $45 is still a great price for a Ball and she's beautifully marked.
Nice close up showing how Balls got their common name, you can even see the pits along the top of her mouth.

I have two bits of advice: Handle her often, get her accustomed to many people, situations.
Don't handle her for 48 hours after she's eaten.

I raised one from a hatchling and I purchased one as an adult.
The one I raised was bold and outgoing, the adult I purchased was very shy.

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Thank for the info!!! I was hoping you couldn't handle them too much! I want her to be really friendly!

I got some more pictures today. Now that it's sunny you can see her colors better without the flash! You can see the pinkish color in this photo.

I'd love to own snakes again but DH has also said no. I had to re-home my last snake and he's probably right. Of course, that doesn't mean I can't try and convince him of some other reptile... especially once we have kids.

Originally Posted by EnzoLeya

I was reading about that! Everything I found on the subject said that the cats are much more of a danger to the snake than the snake is to the cat. Thank goodness!

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This really depends on the size of both. With a BP you don't have much to worry about but it is a good idea to teach the cats that snakes aren't toys or playmates. I used to have a rather hefty Burmese python (apx.10-12' and 75+ lbs.) and one afternoon Frankie got into the snakes room as a kitten. She would have been a small snack for this snake. We both learned a valuable lesson that day and even now she is very cautious around reptiles.

Originally Posted by EnzoLeya

I have a question about the ball python. When they get into a ball does that mean they are mad?! Stuart came up and smacked him during the photoshoot and he got in a ball for a minute. I was little scared, but thank goodness he unballed himself!

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Balling up is their defense mechanism. They would rather hide than fight/strike.

Originally Posted by EnzoLeya

Thanks everyone! I went looking at ball python spurs and think maybe the snake could be a girl. The spurs are a lot harder to see than the spurs I saw in some pictures. Either way I named her Isis.

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She's beautiful! I had a baby burmese named Isis once. I'm so jealous.

Originally Posted by EnzoLeya

I've tried to get her to eat twice now, but I think she is still too stressed.

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Fortunatly she looks good and healthy so you don't need to worry... yet. But if she doesn't eat on her own you'll eventually have to find a way to make her... possibly by force feeding.

Originally Posted by Arlyn

I can't really see the Enchi morph in her, but who cares? $45 is still a great price for a Ball and she's beautifully marked.
Nice close up showing how Balls got their common name, you can even see the pits along the top of her mouth.

I have two bits of advice: Handle her often, get her accustomed to many people, situations.
Don't handle her for 48 hours after she's eaten.

I raised one from a hatchling and I purchased one as an adult.
The one I raised was bold and outgoing, the adult I purchased was very shy.

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I don't really see any extraordinary color either but she has lovely markings. Great tips too! I gave up my red-tail because I didn't have the time to handle him enough and he was getting aggressive. Something you don't want in a 6' snake. You might also consider feeding her in a different tank than the one she lives in. This will help her disassociate your hand or handling with food. It's ok to handle her a little after feeding but too much and she'll regurgitate her food.

I hope you'll continue to post pics as she grows up... what did your SO think of her?

Congrats on the new snake! A friend of mine has a baby ball python and he's really sweet and friendly...
Personally I don't want a snake that I have to feed adult mice too because I've had pet mice in the past, so I have only had "ribbon snakes" and I am planning to get a garter snake soon.

Very pretty snake! When I got my BP, I was told they are known for refusing to eat when they are stressed. When I first brought our girl home, I put her in the cage and left her alone for a solid week before I tried to feed her. (It was veeeery difficult to hold out for that whole week, believe me!) She has eaten every week like clockwork since then. We've followed the same procedure with all our other newly acquired snakes, and never had feeding problems with them either. Good luck, and have fun with her!

Originally Posted by twstychik

Balling up is their defense mechanism. They would rather hide than fight/strike.

She's beautiful! I had a baby burmese named Isis once. I'm so jealous.

Fortunatly she looks good and healthy so you don't need to worry... yet. But if she doesn't eat on her own you'll eventually have to find a way to make her... possibly by force feeding.

I don't really see any extraordinary color either but she has lovely markings. Great tips too! I gave up my red-tail because I didn't have the time to handle him enough and he was getting aggressive. Something you don't want in a 6' snake. You might also consider feeding her in a different tank than the one she lives in. This will help her disassociate your hand or handling with food. It's ok to handle her a little after feeding but too much and she'll regurgitate her food.

I hope you'll continue to post pics as she grows up... what did your SO think of her?

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Thanks for all the information! I posted some pictures on another site and they agree that she is a bright colored normal. That's wild you had a snake named Isis as well!!!

Originally Posted by NinaCaliente

Very pretty snake! When I got my BP, I was told they are known for refusing to eat when they are stressed. When I first brought our girl home, I put her in the cage and left her alone for a solid week before I tried to feed her. (It was veeeery difficult to hold out for that whole week, believe me!) She has eaten every week like clockwork since then. We've followed the same procedure with all our other newly acquired snakes, and never had feeding problems with them either. Good luck, and have fun with her!

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Should I not try to feed her for the first week then?

Originally Posted by EnzoLeya

Thanks for all the information! I posted some pictures on another site and they agree that she is a bright colored normal. That's wild you had a snake named Isis as well!!!



Should I not try to feed her for the first week then?

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All the advice I've gotten from experienced snake keepers was to leave them be while they settle in for at least the first few days to a week, then try to feed. If she refuses, wait a couple days before you try again. My snakes eat once a week (maybe every 5 days for babies), and they've all been healthy.

If she didn't eat right before you got her, it's still okay to wait to feed her. A few extra days of waiting to feed will not hurt her.

Congrats again on your pretty girl! Mine is a normal too. Honestly, I have a tough time telling the difference between some of the BP color morphs. Albinos, pieds, and spiders are pretty easy to recognize, but I get lost when people start talking about pastels, cinnys, etc.

Originally Posted by NinaCaliente

All the advice I've gotten from experienced snake keepers was to leave them be while they settle in for at least the first few days to a week, then try to feed. If she refuses, wait a couple days before you try again. My snakes eat once a week (maybe every 5 days for babies), and they've all been healthy.

If she didn't eat right before you got her, it's still okay to wait to feed her. A few extra days of waiting to feed will not hurt her.

Congrats again on your pretty girl! Mine is a normal too. Honestly, I have a tough time telling the difference between some of the BP color morphs.

Albinos, pieds, and spiders are pretty easy to recognize, but I get lost when people start talking about pastels, cinnys, etc.

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I totally agree!!! The breeder I know also told me she was a bright normal and gave me a link to his snake website. I thought she looked exactly like some of his color morphs!

Ball pythons can be incredibly finnicky eaters, especially when young. If I were you I would cease handling until the snake has fed without fuss at least two, preferably four or more times. Yes, you want to handle them to get them used to human contact, but NOT at the expense of their health.

Keep in mind that snakes and other reptiles are not cats or dogs or even hamsters. When you handle them, you stress them out. Period. Some reptiles, like corns and bearded dragons, are better at dealing with that than others. Some don't tolerate it well at all. In my opinion, Ball python's are somewhere in the middle.