Finally Got One..

[Lena]

Well, up until the Hamburg show I haven't held let alone owned a snake. Well, I finally broke down and bought one!

I know it's cliche.. But his name is Monty. He's so fun. Curious, alert, active.. Got a quick photo shoot in before I gave him the week to adjust to his new home.

From what I've read.. I'm supposed to leave him alone for a week before offering any food.. And when I do, the prey item should be no larger than the girth of the snake.. Right? So in his case, he'll be getting a fuzzy or a hopper?

 

[Gregg M]

Lena, I would offer food as soon as its heated up... That size ball can easily take a small adult mouse... Remember, rodents have soft bones and become very compact when in the digestive tract... If you want to feed it fuzzies or hoppers, I would offer 2 or 3 of them... One fuzzy or hopper would not give that animal what it needs to grow at a steady rate...

 

[rawson5084]

Very pretty...... congrats....... I would give him a fuzzy or weaned rats (stunned or prekilled in my option to make sure the pray will not bite him and cause injury to him)

 

[Lena]

Thanks for all the advice, guys, I'm totally new to the world of snakes!

Gregg, are you sure an adult wouldn't be too large for him? He's about 105 grams and 1-1.5 inches at his thickest..

If that's the case, I can run down the street and pick up a mouse for him and try offering it.

What do I do with it if he doesn't show interest?

 

[JordanAng420]

When my ball was that size he was definatly eating small mice. You'd be surprised what they can eat, it's truly amazing...

I wouldn't worry if he doesn't show intrest right away. Mine didn't. They're picky little creatures. Wait a few days and try it again.

Congrats!

 

[Lena]

Hehe.. I meant more along the lines of.. What do I do with the mouse?

 

[JordanAng420]

Oh...LOL. My pet store is right down the street. I bring it back. When he's not hungry, they always have use for it.

 

[Next Level Geckos]

:main_laugh:Everyone is getting a snake...that means its my turn

 

[Gregg M]

I would just kill it and freeze it...
You should be offering frozen thawed anyway...

Your Ball will EASILY take down a small adult mouse...

 

[Halley]

This should be a great online source for you: http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/index.php

 

[Lena]

I would just kill it and freeze it...
You should be offering frozen thawed anyway...

Your Ball will EASILY take down a small adult mouse...

My concern is that the person I bought him from was feeding live, so I figured for his first feeding I'd just do live.

So a small adult it is, then.

 

[nevinm]

get your self a pair of 12" tweezers. dangle the live mouse infront of the snake, when he starts to go for it nock out the mouse real quick and put it back infront of the snake. this will get it used to feeding off tongs, than fresh killed, and then frozen. feed that thing an adult mouse every 4 or 5 days, and you should be fine.

 

[nevinm]

.... and the sooner you get it switched over to rats the better, so if you can get a rat pup the size of a mouse just throw it in live cause its not going to hurt the snake. once it takes a rat dont give it mice any more

 

[Lena]

Thanks for the advice, Nevin!

By the way.. I'm not bored of him yet.. Want to take bets?

 

[nevinm]

im telling you ill give you 2 months till you want a diff snake cause you got board of the ball!!!! your boyfriend marked it on his calender, right?

 

[Halley]

im telling you ill give you 2 months till you want a diff snake cause you got board of the ball!!!! your boyfriend marked it on his calender, right?

:main_laugh:

Go with a Carpet

 

[JordanAng420]

im telling you ill give you 2 months till you want a diff snake cause you got board of the ball!!!! your boyfriend marked it on his calender, right?

LOL....I wanted a blood python 6 weeks after we got Rex... :main_rolleyes:

 

[nevinm]

nick, any kind of python or boa would have been a better choice.

maia, bloods are just like balls. no personality. unless your talking about the sumatrian short tail, those are cool i have them too. i love them to death

 

[Halley]

nick, any kind of python or boa would have been a better choice.

I guess only a few thousand people like them... :main_laugh:

To each his own I guess.

 

[nevinm]

the most amazing part is even some of the biggest ball breeders will say the same as me..... "i dont know why everyone like thems, theyre the dumbest of all the snakes... no personality, no curiosety... nothing" i just give everyone a heads up when they get them. lmao