Am I ready for a Ball Python?

[possum]

Originally Posted by smy_749

Possum, you should really just have " Hundreds of snakes in my house" as your signature. You say it in just about every one of your posts....

Then you should block my posts if you don't enjoy them...as I'll be blocking yours. I don't tolerate trolling and you are not helping the OP either.

[smy_749]

Originally Posted by possum

Then you should block my posts if you don't enjoy them...as I'll be blocking yours. I don't tolerate trolling and you are not helping the OP either.

I'm just saying, theres no need to say it in every post to justify what you say as sound knowledge. If its good advice, doesn't matter who it came from, and if it isn't, doesn't matter who it came from. Theres no need to tell everyone about how many snakes you've owned because frankly its irrelevant to your level of knowledge. It will become apparent that you are a knowledgable member here over time, not when you keep telling us how long you've been in the hobby and how many snakes you have in your house.....

You don't have to block me and say I'm trolling...

And I didn't say I don't enjoy your posts, just that that particular piece of information over and over is not necessary

[Terranaut]

Originally Posted by smy_749

Possum, you should really just have " Hundreds of snakes in my house" as your signature. You say it in just about every one of your posts....

Originally Posted by possum

Then you should block my posts if you don't enjoy them...as I'll be blocking yours. I don't tolerate trolling and you are not helping the OP either.

Originally Posted by smy_749

I'm just saying, theres no need to say it in every post to justify what you say as sound knowledge. If its good advice, doesn't matter who it came from, and if it isn't, doesn't matter who it came from. Theres no need to tell everyone about how many snakes you've owned because frankly its irrelevant to your level of knowledge. It will become apparent that you are a knowledgable member here over time, not when you keep telling us how long you've been in the hobby and how many snakes you have in your house.....

You don't have to block me and say I'm trolling...

And I didn't say I don't enjoy your posts, just that that particular piece of information over and over is not necessary

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/membe...k-hearing.html

[StudentoReptile]

In response to the topic at hand, I usually do not suggest ball pythons as beginners for the same reasons others mentioned. Yes, ANY snake can be fairly easy if you set it up right. However, MOST beginners want an inexpensive snakes they can toss in a glass tank with a basking light and/or UTH. Cornsnakes, kingsnakes, garters, and most other small North American colubrids do fine this way. IMHO ball pythons do not.

Most beginners do not want to invest in a custom snake enclosure online or outfit a plastic container; to them, this is too much hassle. Much easier to buy a tank at the nearest pet store. A beginner animal, in my definition anyway, has to be as dummy-proof as possible. Yes, I know any animal isn't 100% dummy-proof (unless we're talking pet rocks!), but ball pythons are not very close to the top IMHO. A YEARLING cornsnake or kingsnake is fairly resilient compared to most other species, when you take into account the following: availability & initial cost, husbandry requirements, hardiness when it comes to feeding, etc.

I will concur that BPs can be easy...but there are a few more hoops to jump through to getting them set-up ideally compared to corns and kings. They stress out more easily, more susceptible to humidity issues, and WC specimens are often unhealthy. Unless you buy directly from a breeder, and you KNOW the snake is CBB, and that breeder is reputable and can help you along with any potential issues, and you're willing to invest in better housing that the standard tank set-up...then a ball python may not be the best choice for someone starting out in snakes.

That's my $.02.

[smy_749]

Originally Posted by StudentoReptile

In response to the topic at hand, I usually do not suggest ball pythons as beginners for the same reasons others mentioned. Yes, ANY snake can be fairly easy if you set it up right. However, MOST beginners want an inexpensive snakes they can toss in a glass tank with a basking light and/or UTH. Cornsnakes, kingsnakes, garters, and most other small North American colubrids do fine this way. IMHO ball pythons do not.

Most beginners do not want to invest in a custom snake enclosure online or outfit a plastic container; to them, this is too much hassle. Much easier to buy a tank at the nearest pet store. A beginner animal, in my definition anyway, has to be as dummy-proof as possible. Yes, I know any animal isn't 100% dummy-proof (unless we're talking pet rocks!), but ball pythons are not very close to the top IMHO. A YEARLING cornsnake or kingsnake is fairly resilient compared to most other species, when you take into account the following: availability & initial cost, husbandry requirements, hardiness when it comes to feeding, etc.

I will concur that BPs can be easy...but there are a few more hoops to jump through to getting them set-up ideally compared to corns and kings. They stress out more easily, more susceptible to humidity issues, and WC specimens are often unhealthy. Unless you buy directly from a breeder, and you KNOW the snake is CBB, and that breeder is reputable and can help you along with any potential issues, and you're willing to invest in better housing that the standard tank set-up...then a ball python may not be the best choice for someone starting out in snakes.

That's my $.02.

Don't forget after all the extra setup costs and potential issues, you also have the fact that paper weights are more active than ball pythons, and people getting into the hobby for the first time would assumably like to see the snake now and again.

In the end if you do like many species including corns and kings, than I would suggest you to knock that off of your list before you get the BP, but if you only like the BP's for now, get the BP , do your research and don't cut corners.

Best of luck

[ErikBush97]

Originally Posted by StudentoReptile

In response to the topic at hand, I usually do not suggest ball pythons as beginners for the same reasons others mentioned. Yes, ANY snake can be fairly easy if you set it up right. However, MOST beginners want an inexpensive snakes they can toss in a glass tank with a basking light and/or UTH. Cornsnakes, kingsnakes, garters, and most other small North American colubrids do fine this way. IMHO ball pythons do not.

Most beginners do not want to invest in a custom snake enclosure online or outfit a plastic container; to them, this is too much hassle. Much easier to buy a tank at the nearest pet store. A beginner animal, in my definition anyway, has to be as dummy-proof as possible. Yes, I know any animal isn't 100% dummy-proof (unless we're talking pet rocks!), but ball pythons are not very close to the top IMHO. A YEARLING cornsnake or kingsnake is fairly resilient compared to most other species, when you take into account the following: availability & initial cost, husbandry requirements, hardiness when it comes to feeding, etc.

I will concur that BPs can be easy...but there are a few more hoops to jump through to getting them set-up ideally compared to corns and kings. They stress out more easily, more susceptible to humidity issues, and WC specimens are often unhealthy. Unless you buy directly from a breeder, and you KNOW the snake is CBB, and that breeder is reputable and can help you along with any potential issues, and you're willing to invest in better housing that the standard tank set-up...then a ball python may not be the best choice for someone starting out in snakes.

That's my $.02.

Hey, man. I'm really glad I saw this. You gave me a lot of info that others haven't... well, they have said BP's may not be the best beginner snake, but not in such detail! Anyways, I am willing to buy a custom enclosure, or make one, as I have the material/time. I'm actually doing all my studying online, and I spend most of my time at home, so I like having something I can do, or in this case, interact with, which is why I am getting into snakes so much! So, what I am saying is that I have the time and the money to care for a BP. However, if you still don't recommend a Ball Python, I would NOT want to rush into buying one, and have a stressed out, unhappy snake!
Thanks for your time.

- Erik

[possum]

Originally Posted by Terranaut

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/membe...k-hearing.html

Point taken...but kindly consider how YOU come off? A person comes here trying to be of help... and experience is relevant. (try to get a job without it?). I do agree that just because you have kept so many & for so long, it does not mean you are right...it also does NOT mean you are wrong. It has been my experience that ppl on forums learn much from each other, at least when they are not bogged down in petty stuff like this. I 'get' that this is your pet peeve (Terranaut & smy_749)...but did we really need that in the thread???

Honestly I'd heard that ppl are rude on here but I kept an open mind & came on anyway. I think you might try the polite approach: you could have expressed yourself in a private message, not keep taking a thread off-topic? But hey, what do I know? I might find better things to do and leave you all to your sandbox. Or, we can start over & be nicer?

[smy_749]

Originally Posted by possum

Point taken...but kindly consider how YOU come off? A person comes here trying to be of help... and experience is relevant. (try to get a job without it?). I do agree that just because you have kept so many & for so long, it does not mean you are right...it also does NOT mean you are wrong. It has been my experience that ppl on forums learn much from each other, at least when they are not bogged down in petty stuff like this. I 'get' that this is your pet peeve (Terranaut & smy_749)...but did we really need that in the thread???

Honestly I'd heard that ppl are rude on here but I kept an open mind & came on anyway. I think you might try the polite approach: you could have expressed yourself in a private message, not keep taking a thread off-topic? But hey, what do I know? I might find better things to do and leave you all to your sandbox. Or, we can start over & be nicer?

sounds good. Every forum has rude people, this one is actually considerably less than others but none are arsehole free.

[Terranaut]

Originally Posted by possum

Point taken...but kindly consider how YOU come off? A person comes here trying to be of help... and experience is relevant. (try to get a job without it?). I do agree that just because you have kept so many & for so long, it does not mean you are right...it also does NOT mean you are wrong. It has been my experience that ppl on forums learn much from each other, at least when they are not bogged down in petty stuff like this. I 'get' that this is your pet peeve (Terranaut & smy_749)...but did we really need that in the thread???

Honestly I'd heard that ppl are rude on here but I kept an open mind & came on anyway. I think you might try the polite approach: you could have expressed yourself in a private message, not keep taking a thread off-topic? But hey, what do I know? I might find better things to do and leave you all to your sandbox. Or, we can start over & be nicer?

Come off?? If I was coming off at you I would have posted something other than just the link. Keep your pants on, nobody was insulting anyone or being rude. I was showing you there is a thread ti talk about people who insist that they must be right based on length of time herping or number of animals owned. This was not the thread. The link is one to complain in. Nobody said you were wrong and this site is not full of rude people ,it's a tight community where people who try to start crap and rock tge boat are not welcome and chased out. We love our little forum here so please contribute constructively or move along is how it's done. Oposing views is how things get sorted out and newer better things for our hobby emerge.
Now back to our regularly scheduled thread and yes we can be nice and friends