Small collection of balls.

[valkea]

Ended up picking up a few ball pythons over the last month or so. Started with a big normal who was fed live and kept in a way too big enclosure. They wanted 300$ for all of it (it was a crazy tall exo terra) and I offered to take just the snake and give him a good home. Poor guy has some scarring on his belly. He took frozen / thawed for me immediately with no hesitation.



Next I picked up a proven breeder pastel calico male at an expo.



And a special pastel lesser from an individual who was moving. Stuck shed is now gone.



Then a pair of double het pied and orange ghost 2016s I won through an auction on another forum.



I reached out to the breeder who produced the lucy and we ended up chatting a bunch. I explained I was really new to balls and slowly (ha) growing up a small collection. He ended up giving me a pair of het clown hatchlings.

Pastel het clown


Lesser het clown


Finally, a person nearby was looking to find a good home for his Mystic Potion male and Lesser female pair. We chatted a bit, I explained I had a rack set up and didn't need enclosures and he agreed to give them to me. I've promised to give him a couple babies once he's ready to have snakes again.





And those are my balls haha. Most of the photos were as I unpacked so they're not great. Pretty excited about all of them!

[sattva]

Nice additions! Fun,Fun,Fun...

[dannybgoode]

Nothing wrong with a big viv for a ball - height is good too. They are semi-arboreal in the wild, particularly males.

Of course a big viv needs plenty of hidey spots but size itself is not in any way an issue for a small snake whatsoever.

Clearly if the snake shows signs of injury then the previous care was poor in general so good job in giving it a new home but don't skimp on space for him.

I have the plans for what a very experienced herpetologist (30+ years research in to snakes and lizards) considers to be the ideal ball enclosure - I'll grab a copy of it and post it up.

[sirtalis]

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

Nothing wrong with a big viv for a ball - height is good too. They are semi-arboreal in the wild, particularly males.

Of course a big viv needs plenty of hidey spots but size itself is not in any way an issue for a small snake whatsoever.

Clearly if the snake shows signs of injury then the previous care was poor in general so good job in giving it a new home but don't skimp on space for him.

I have the plans for what a very experienced herpetologist (30+ years research in to snakes and lizards) considers to be the ideal ball enclosure - I'll grab a copy of it and post it up.

Beat me to it haha, great minds think alike?

Those are some stunning ball pythons, the calico is really impressive!

[dave himself]

Very nice pick ups the het clowns are my favourites

[RAD House]

To Danny and sirtalis, do either of you keep ball pythons?

[dannybgoode]

I don't but I've been speaking to some hugely experienced scientists/herpetologists who do and who have studied then extensively in the wild.

I have been looking into their requirements as I'm almost tempted by one. Why do you ask?

[RAD House]

I would just be hesitant to give advice on a species I have no experience with. There is a huge difference between how an animal acts in the wild to how they can be successfully kept in captivity. The reason most breeders keep them in racks is secondarily about space and more that they do better in this setup. In my experience in a rack system where they are nice and snug they are insatiable eaters. For a species that is a notoriously an unreliable eater, this seems telling. Finding an animal in a tree every now and again does not make it semi-arboreal, if you have any evidence otherwise I would love to see this. Anytime I have heard something similar it is anecdotal. Even if they were would it matter, in captivity, if the animal is an unreliable eater? I just think you may want to lay off some certainties until you have some experience yourself.

[dannybgoode]

Originally Posted by MesoCorney

I would just be hesitant to give advice on a species I have no experience with. There is a huge difference between how an animal acts in the wild to how they can be successfully kept in captivity. The reason most breeders keep them in racks is seconda

The reason breeders keep them in racks is convenience and profit IMO. I appreciate I am courting controversy here but I firmly believe all reptiles should be kept in as close to a naturalistic environment as possible and the more papers I read on the subject the more I am of this view.

As I say - I have researched this a lot recently and have spoken to internationally recognised herpetologists on the matter and all of them agree on this.

There is mounting evidence (and I mean peer reviewed scientific evidence) that snakes hugely benefit from enrichment and a proper environment. I am just waiting for a word doc summarising the main papers on this subject and I will share it on here.

[dannybgoode]

And yes - I appreciate your point about not owning one and it is entirely valid but I would not comment on something I do not have good knowledge of.#

For example I am happy to explain the principles of flight and yet cannot pilot a plane.

[RAD House]

But should someone take your advice over an actual pilot? Sorry about the big edit of my post, but I prematurely posted by accident.

[dannybgoode]

It depends - the principles of flight are the principles of flight. One does not need to know how to fly an aircraft to thoroughly and properly understand how it stays in the air and stays safe.

A plane designer may not be able to fly it but would you take the advice of someone who had researched the matter thoroughly over someone who just knew how to drive it so to speak?

[dannybgoode]

As to the semi-arboreal bit there have been several studies that show an unusually high amount of avian prey in their diet for a supposedly terrestrial animal - yes I can find papers if you are interested.

[dannybgoode]

I should note I am not simply being argumentative - for me this hobby is about learning and evolving ones understanding of reptiles and pushing ideas, discussing and debating them.

This is a hugely important and significant area that should be robustly explored from both sides.

[RAD House]

Papers you have read on keeping ball pythons in captivity? Have you ventured to talk to any breeders before forming such a damming opinion of them? I have had the pleasure of interacting with a good amount and have yet to meet one whose biggest concern is not the well being of the animal.