|
#146272
Pelota
View Profile
|
Message To: Scott14 In reference to Message Id: 145973
QUESTIONS???? 
Ball Pythons are the best choice for a first snake/childs snake, next to corn snakes of course. And the only reason BP’s are usually frowned upon compared to a corn snake for beginners is BP’s are notoriously known for going off food for long periods of time randomly. Of course, this is easy to avoid if you buy from a reputable breeder and make sure it’s a well established eater before you buy(atleast eaten successfully 3 times). They are the most docile snake I can think of, next to a red tail boa(the puppy dogs of the snake world), and would rather curl in a ball or hiss rather than bite at all. Usually if you have a biter/problem eater, it’s a wild caught ball python. That’s why I recommend finding a good breeder so much. Try to avoid pet shops. They’ll sell you wild caughts, and tell you they’re captive bred right to your face. That, and 90% of pet shop people have 0 knowledge of snakes generally.
They stay pretty small. Males range between 3-5 feet full grown, and females can be 4-6...with 6 feet being rare. They’ll never get big enough where you risk your children getting injured severely. The worst a bp bite can do is draw blood, and if you don’t clean the wound of course, an infection. But adults are rarely known to bite at all, unless it’s a human error. Remember, if a snake ever bites you, it’s your fault, not theirs. They bite only for defense or if they smell rodent on you, so if you don’t give them a reason to defend themselves, you’ll be fine. And if you handle rodents, just wash your hands good. So yeah.....as long as you know what you’re doing, care wise, a ball python should be a good choice for a family. Before you jump in and get one though, might I suggest you make sure you get a digital thermometer. Seems 90% of snake keepers use stick on thermometers, not knowing how inaccurate they are. They’re known to be 20 DEGREES OFF the actual temperatures. So yeah, check out Walmart and grab an Acurite Digital Thermometer/Hygrometer. Runs 15 dollars, and worth every buck. Also, if you’re new to ball pythons, or snakes in general, read alllll the caresheets on them you can find. I researched for 4 months before even considering buying mine. And I benefitted from it tremendously. Before I even got my bp, I was giving advice on forums like this. Knowledge is the best way to avoid problems and errors. 
|
