Pet Ball Python: What to Know Before Owning One
If you’ve ever taken interest in the slithery side of pet ownership, you may have looked into raising ball pythons. However, before acquiring any animal, it is important to set yourself up for success. One way you can do that, of course, is by familiarizing yourself as much as you can with the aforementioned animal. With this guide, you will understand some of what any ball python owner should know before purchasing one, and how you can prepare before bringing one home.
Basic Care
Of course, your enclosure setup and husbandry will be essential when bringing home your ball python. Giving your snake a large enough enclosure with safe, quality accessories will make all the difference with its quality of life. To start, try gathering a basic checklist of supplies you will want for your pet before it gets home, such as:
- Appropriately sized tank (10 gallons for a baby, 30 for an adult).
- Water spray
- Hides
- Thermometer
- Hygrometer
- Heating pad for basking
- UVA/UVB bulbs
- Substrate/reptile carpet
- Water bowls
- Feeding tongs
Feeding
While feeding your ball python will be a relatively simple task, it’s still important to get it right. As a rule of thumb, feed your hatching ball python (the age at which you will most likely get it) an appropriately sized prey item around every five days. As it grows into an adult, you may decrease that to three times a month. To avoid overfeeding, be sure that your prey item is approximately the same size as the thickest part of your snake.
General Temperament
You can’t get too much further from the stereotype snakes have as aggressive, unfeeling beast than ball pythons. They are known to be a fairly relaxed, laissez-faire animal that would much rather chill out than seek any kind of conflict. While they may not be the most outwardly “affectionate” or “cuddly” animals in the world, they are still known to enjoy human contact. They may even demonstrate preferences for certain people over others. You can be assured that you will enjoy spending time observing your pet lazily exploring its enclosure, finding simple joy in perching on a quality branch.
Handling Your Ball Python
When properly handled and socialized from a young age, ball pythons for sale are known to be amicable, friendly animals. However, understanding proper animal handling techniques is still incredibly important to developing and maintaining your relationship with your snake. A relationship – we should add – that can last over 20 years.
To start, here are some basic dos and don’ts of handling your pet:
Do: Be gentle.
Don’t: Handle your snake when it’s stressed.
Do: Support your snake with both hands.
Don’t: Unwind it from the head. Always start from the tail.
Do: Stop your sessions when your snake is exhibiting signs of stress.
Remember, every snake is an individual. How much handling it can tolerate will entirely depend on its personality and mood at the time.
Final Thoughts
Seeking out and acquiring ball pythons for sale can be a wonderful experience. However, it may help to understand what you’re getting into before making the commitment.