Ball pythons, including spiders, champagnes, and certain other morphs, can suffer from a condition called “wobble”. Sider ball pythons are born with a neurological disorder that causes their heads to tremble and wobble. Wobble is not exclusive to ball pythons, as jaguar carpet pythons also wobble. Eye defects are caused by genes such as Super Cinnamon, Super Black Pastel, 8 Ball, Super Lesser, Super Butter, and Mystic.
Bumble bee ball pythons, including Banana, Bamboo, Specter, Mystic, and Mota, can produce offspring with a wobble or even death. Some morphs in the spider complex appear to have some degree of associated “wobble” side effect. Super and allelic combos made from morphs in the spider complex can produce offspring with a wobble or even death.
The wobble from a snake is most likely husbandry or stress related. NERD is a poor source for information on ball pythons, as some spiders will wobble regardless of care and there is no clear indication of the severity of the wobble. The wobble is a neurological issue exhibited by several different morphs and is characterized by periodic equilibrium loss.
A new pastel female ball python with Mystic Pastel has full body wobble, but she is extremely active and shows no signs of respiratory distress or respiratory distress. Ball pythons with Mystic Pastel are available for sale at $900.
📹 5 MISTAKES Ball Python Owners Make
Novice ball python keepers often make the exact same five mistakes. One of them could quickly cost you your snake’s life.
Why is my ball python so wobbly?
Spider head wobbling in ball python can be caused by various factors, including stress, genes, and health. Wobbles don’t harm the snake, but can be caused by excitement or major stress, such as a bath, being held, cold/hot temperatures, feeling exposed, lighting, pain/sickness, or shedding. They can be severe or not noticeable. Cork screwing is when a snake waves its head in a circular motion, usually caused by excitement or stress. It can be stopped by making the snake notice you.
Spider ball pythons have the best appetites and are known for their ability to strike. However, they can sometimes bite themselves if they have severe wobbles or bad aim. My snake has never bitten himself or skipped a meal with me, and he has not skipped a meal. Be cautious when breeding certain morphs together.
What ball pythons have wobble?
Wobble syndrome is a neurological disorder observed in various animals, including spider morph ball pythons. It can cause side-to-side or twisting head movements, impaired locomotion, and difficulty striking or constricting prey items. The specific cause of wobble syndrome is unknown, but hypotheses have been proposed but none have been tested. The study aims to investigate the morphology of individual spider morph pythons with an explicit anamnesis and compare it to healthy wildtype animals.
The snakes were presented to the Clinic for Birds and Reptiles at the University of Leipzig by private owners to determine the cause of apparent neurological symptoms. Two wildtype snakes were euthanized for unrelated health reasons, while three were obtained from preserved material at LMU Munich. Clinical examination and health status including neurological symptoms in spider pythons were described in detail. Animals were euthanized by intramuscular injection of ketamine hydrochloride combined with medetomidine, then applied T61 intracardially.
Due to a small sample size, a morphometric and statistical analysis of the inner ear structures is not possible. The study restricts the comparison to a qualitative comparison of wildtype animals and spider morphs.
How to tell if a snake has wobble?
Wobble, a neurological disorder characterized by head twisting and intermittent head swaying, is linked to spider morphs and their resulting combinations. This condition can range from barely noticeable to severe, causing the animal to fail to thrive and require euthanasia. The severity of the wobble is random and can change at any point in the animal’s life. Breeding an individual with almost no wobble can still produce babies with bad wobble.
The spider gene is believed to cause an error in the neural crest during embryonic growth, affecting where pigment is deposited and preventing neurons from migrating to their normal places, causing the neurological disorder. While pattern and neural cells correlate, it can be assumed that one does not cause the other. Many spiders have low spider physical traits and still have severe wobble, while some have high physical traits with no wobble.
The expression of pattern does not dictate the severity of the wobble, nor does the wobble dictate the extent of pattern. This variability in wobble between individual animals is due to the significant variation in development for every organism, as well as the wobble itself.
How do you tell if your ball python is comfortable with you?
Dr. Bobby Ortiz, also known as Dogtor Bob, is a small animal and exotic veterinarian based in Dublin. He specializes in small mammals and reptile medicine and surgery. Growing up in a family of animal lovers, he worked as an Aquarist at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific in California. He decided to become a vet and specialize in exotic animals, providing the same care and medical attention as dogs and cats. Ortiz lives with his wife and Brittany Spaniel Bodhi and has dreams of building a new tropical marine fish tank.
How to identify pastel ball in python?
The Pastel Ball Python is a pattern changer and color enhancer that distinguishes itself from Normal Ball Pythons by its high contrast yellows, “hook” and “ringed” alien heads, and green eyes. These butterflies typically have faded yellow heads at birth, which darken with age. They can also be distinguished from Normals by their faded yellow crown, white lips, and green eyes. Their bodies are distinguished by bright yellow scales within “alien heads” and blushing within black markers. They have clean undersides compared to Normal Ball Pythons, and bright yellow “flames” stretch up through black markers into the body pattern.
What does a wobble look like?
Wobble, a neurological disorder characterized by head twisting and intermittent head swaying, is linked to spider morphs and their resulting combinations. This condition can range from barely noticeable to severe, causing the animal to fail to thrive and require euthanasia. The severity of the wobble is random and can change at any point in the animal’s life. Breeding an individual with almost no wobble can still produce babies with bad wobble.
The spider gene is believed to cause an error in the neural crest during embryonic growth, affecting where pigment is deposited and preventing neurons from migrating to their normal places, causing the neurological disorder. While pattern and neural cells correlate, it can be assumed that one does not cause the other. Many spiders have low spider physical traits and still have severe wobble, while some have high physical traits with no wobble.
The expression of pattern does not dictate the severity of the wobble, nor does the wobble dictate the extent of pattern. This variability in wobble between individual animals is due to the significant variation in development for every organism, as well as the wobble itself.
How do you know if your snake has a wobble?
Wobble, a neurological disorder characterized by head twisting and intermittent head swaying, is linked to spider morphs and their resulting combinations. This condition can range from barely noticeable to severe, causing the animal to fail to thrive and require euthanasia. The severity of the wobble is random and can change at any point in the animal’s life. Breeding an individual with almost no wobble can still produce babies with bad wobble.
The spider gene is believed to cause an error in the neural crest during embryonic growth, affecting where pigment is deposited and preventing neurons from migrating to their normal places, causing the neurological disorder. While pattern and neural cells correlate, it can be assumed that one does not cause the other. Many spiders have low spider physical traits and still have severe wobble, while some have high physical traits with no wobble.
The expression of pattern does not dictate the severity of the wobble, nor does the wobble dictate the extent of pattern. This variability in wobble between individual animals is due to the significant variation in development for every organism, as well as the wobble itself.
Do pinstripe ball pythons wobble?
Spider ball pythons, which are characterized by a “wobble” defect, exhibit difficulties in maintaining balance and righting themselves. This often manifests as “corkscrewing” or “stargazing” movements.
What does it mean when a snake has a wobble?
Wobble syndrome is a neurological condition affecting royal python with the spider gene, as well as other species like champagne and hgw (hidden gene woma). The severity of the issue varies greatly, with some individuals experiencing head tilts, unable to detect upside down, and unable to move in a straight line. The severity of the issue when inheriting the gene is not easy to predict, as one individual with a head tilt may produce offspring that cannot right themselves.
The cause of wobble has been a mystery, and attempts to separate it from the gene have failed. A study in 2022 aimed to discover the cause of the neurological issues linked to the gene, but the sample size was small due to ethical concerns and access to materials. The study excluded all other morphs except for a direct comparison to wild royal pythons and spider royal pythons. Previous studies on royal python ear structures and 3D scanning data were consistent with the wildtype royals within the Starck data set.
What is wobble syndrome in ball pythons?
Spider ball pythons and jaguar carpet pythons develop a wobble syndrome, characterized by head tremors, incoordination, and lack of righting reflex. Head tilt may be of behavioral or neurologic origin in certain lizards, with intermittent signs. Reptile behavior varies among the approximately 11, 000 species of this class, and the authors aim to help practitioners discriminate between normal and abnormal behaviors. Common reasons for behavioral issues include hyperactivity, self-mutilation, biting, repetitive behaviors, and postural abnormalities.
Medical problems and suboptimal husbandry should be ruled out by attending veterinarians. Addressing behavior issues involves determining a differential diagnosis through a systematic approach, which allows for environmental changes, behavior modification plans, biomedical training, and medication when appropriate. The exotic pet trade, with over 13, 000 species involved, has created financial opportunities for introducing new commodities, such as novel color and pattern strains and rare, unique, charismatic species.
The growth and diversification of the industry are likely driven by increasing desire for exotic pets, greater availability of wild animal species through online markets, and increasing wealth and commercialization of wild animals in popular media.
Why is my snake swaying?
The majority of snake owners maintain an excessively high temperature, which results in an increased degree of wobble. Inadequate husbandry or housing conditions can exacerbate wobble, while some snakes may demonstrate improvement with age.
📹 Don’t Buy These 10 Ball Pythons!
In this video I’ll show you 10 ball pythons that you probably shouldn’t buy. Enjoy! Here’s a link to my Morphmarket store: …
When the power went out here in Texas I had to wrap my ice cold BP around my neck for hours a day for weeks to keep her alive. I took her with me everywhere. Keeping my neck warm kept her warm so it was a job she learned and she never strayed once. She’s has creamy yellow/blonde scales with shock blue eyes so she’d freak ppl out but they liked it.
Great article but one thing you guys left out is Ball Python Diabetes, watch that sugar intake, make sure your Ball Python is limited on how many sodas, Pop tarts, and Happy Meals you feed it every week. It’s a good idea to keep them away from strip clubs and gopher holes as well! Yeah they’ll whine and act like big Ball babies at first but as keepers it’s our responsibility to make sure the health of the animal is first and foremost, and knowing is half the battle!
Awesome article. I had 2 ball pythons, and the difference between them were night and day. Same enclosure set-ups, same feeders, same temp and humidity parameters. One, my female axanthic was the perfect pet snake. She ate almost every time, she was very sweet and inquisitive, never really seemed stressed about anything. The other, my male DG enchi, was the complete opposite. He always hid in the deepest darkest corner of his enclosure. He always huffed at me when I tried to take him out, and struck at me a few times. And after 5 months he went on a hunger strike and didn’t eat for like a whole year. In that year he slowly lost weight. I took him to my vet, who is very knowledgeable with reptiles. An x-ray, blood work, and $500 later, he came back with a clean bill of health outside of being under-weight. I tried every feeding trick in the book f/t, live, pre-kill. I tried different colored rats and mice, different sizes, and even resorted to debraining. Nothing. And all the work of trying to get him to feed only seemed to stress him out even more. He’d strike at every prey item like it was a predator. I finally ended up surrendering him to a reptile rescue, hoping they would have better luck than me. Still have my axanthic though. She’s still perfect as can be. Ball pythons are just oddballs sometimes.
Lord let me find this later one when I’m taking notes 🙏🙏 Need to avoid these mistakes: 1) 0:31 Insufficient research prior. 2) 2:06 Using wrong substrate and/or dry environment. 3) 5:05 Not checking that the meal was actually eaten. 4) 6:44 Irresponsible/dangerous pet handling. 5) 9:00 Feeding live prey (especially irresponsibly unsupervised). (irresponsible already tbh)
Love the way you impart knowledge with humour. I have never fed live, only frozen thawed. Each Ball python has his or her own personality. My snakes come out with me in warm weather for snake enhancement in the privacy of my own yard. Do the people who wear them in public even think the snake may be fearful? The only drawback to these snakes is when they go off food. For a novice owner, it can be concerning. My males sometimes do this during breeding season. My female who is 19 years old thinks she is gravid, I do not believe she is, has not eaten since December. She still looks very healthy at a good weight.
My first ever snake was a ball python. You made a good point of not leaving live rodents in there cages. I hope nobody does that. I did that once and my ball python got really hurt. The vet had to put her down because the surgery was way to expensive. Please, anybody who gives there snake live rodents, never leave there snake unattended it there enclosure.
I’ve had my ball for 6 years now. I got her when she was a baby. She has always refused frozen/thawed. I kept trying, but it got a point where she went 2 months without eating so I said no… this isnt going to work. So I switched back to live but then she still refused for another few months. I was so scared she would starve. Vet said she was fine since she wasn’t under weight (she even shed twice during her hunger strike!) and to keep trying. She eventually started eating again…after 11 months!! I never tried frozen again. It was probably not what caused her hunger strike, but I was so relieved she started eating again that I didnt want to change anything. That was when she was 1 to 2 years old that this happened. She is doing amazing now. Love my girl. And I have a large enclosure for her…this is the first advice I’ve heard that supported this. Most people have said to me that I have her in too large of an enclosure and that balls are shy and like smaller spaces. I figured she needed room to move and stretch out so I always kept her in a larger enclosure. Thank you for this article. And yes, never ever leave live rodents in with your snake unsupervised!! Ever!!
I’m new to the hobby, I’ve found that tanks do not work in my dry dry area BUT, I didn’t realize that plastic locking storage tubs came in many different sizes. They work like a dream. My 1st boy I bought a habit, became aggressive in a week, moved him to an appropriate size tub and he’s back to normal. I recieved a really dry baby that felt like sand paper, it wasn’t eating, it came in a glass habitat. I decided to try the tub method, add substrate, a heating pad area, hides boom I rehabilitated it. My mojave came with shedding problems same thing, had his 1st shed with me, no problem. I now have 10 healthy, eating active snakes. A lot of them came to me not eating. I’m only a month and a half in and I can’t wait to learn more. I’ve been researching bps for 20+ years and have finally gotten into the hobby. I was scared at first but out of all my exotics….piece of cake.
I’ve found that Aspen is okay to use as long as you have a large tub the snake can submerge in to hydrate. I had a Ball get scale rot from using more moist substrate. With a dry substrate and a soaking tub, the snake self regulates without risk of scale rot, and never had shedding issues with that method. Just my two cents of what has worked for me with Balls, Boas, and a variety of other Python’s and smaller snakes.
Feeding Tip- I often blow dry my rat to medium heat after doing cold water thaw. I also never just drop rats in. I hold it on tong until she bites. We have only ever wasted 2 rats in 20 years. I use a very long tong and took the strings off an old cello bow. The bow i use to avoid handling her when hungry, in case she needs to be moved. The blow dry tip i read online helped our feeding happen quicker. hope that helps.
I found this article knowledgeable and very unique as far as snake info. Skit was funny but kinda stereotyped for me being a “black” bp lover. Shades, dancing, a”gang member”, free da homies, the basketball, the mall lol, gold chain. It was the usage of boy what let me know even though the character portrayed is yet “white” it was intended for me. You and Hannah Lee keep up the good work. I liked and subscribe so it’s no big deal.
Just got my 1st ball python, and I’ve been (don’t crucify me); live feeding, it should be common sense to some to not leave a mammal that’s capable of chewing through steel, unattended in the tank with the snake if it decides not to eat it. Also it should be supervised the entire time it’s in there, but if he don’t eat it after a few minutes, it doesn’t want it and xan be taken out of the snakes enclosure.
The winter is just cruel to take a ball python out! I have never taken Argyle out of my home yet. He is getting big enough for it. The folks at the pet store have asked me to come bring him in so I will do that when it’s warm season. But only in places where people are going to be comfortable with Argyle.
Haha loved that skit! Great article! I agree with all of these. For housing baby ball pythons, I use bins, as it can get very expensive to buy terrariums every time it outgrows it. They often won’t eat if the bin is too large, so upgrading it as it grows is very effective in my opinion. Also, in case you ever HAVE to feed live, it helps to make sure there’s nothing between the snake and the prey and that the prey remains at a safe distance and isn’t facing the snake. As soon as it wraps the prey, squeeze your feeding thongs into the rodent’s mouse to prevent it from biting the snake. This can help minimize the risk. But as is said in the article, frozen thawed or pre-kill is the way to go.
My first and only snake is a ball python and she was rescued, her tail was chewed up by a rat I believe, I went to do an HVAC job on a pet store and they where supposed to pay me 200$ for the job so I told the lady to just give me a snake and a light kit because I already had a 40 gallon and still this thank I feel like is small for her she’s 3 years old well when I got her so it’s been a year now I’m guessing she’s 4 idk how to tell but yeah is my first snake and she’s huge I feed her live and must of the time I try to feed her depending how big her belly looks that’s how big the live stock is gonna be and I learned to never feed her while she’s shedding and right after they shed is when she’s super hungry because all the energy she spend doing the shedding.
Mistake #1 – So what about a hatchling ball python? You recommend a 40g breeder? Too big imo. I have had to downsize the animals because they were in too big of a space. They spend most of their time in a tight area like termite mounds in the wild. They like tight enclosed places… add more hides, ect you say? Dont work… downsize them. Mistake #2 – I agree except even with 70% humidity they still can have shedding problems. It sucks! lol Mistake #5 – you can leave a smaller rat like fuzzy to large pup in overnight with a picky hatchling or even a full size adult who dont want to go back on food and not have any problems from the rat since they dont have teeth. Yall had some good tips!
We just got a ball for my 12 yr old daughter for Christmas. We waited a year and a half before making the purchase. We have that temp and humidity monitor. My question is where is the best place to put it in the enclosure? Or should we move it around periodically to check various areas? It’s not reading high enough humidity but we do have it mounted high in the middle of the enclosure.
Wait a minute… aren’t you supposed to us dry substrate because ball pythons even though they spend most of of there time in humid termite mounds doesn’t mean the soil/dirt made from the mounds is wet it the air that is humid and permanent wet flooring can cause scale rot. So use dryer substrate. BTW the humid mounds that they stay in could just be sphagnum moss that has been dampened(make sure no left over water is in there) then but the moss in a container with the hole on top to make sure the ball python doesn’t take the moss out. Finally then put the container in the hot side. Then your done. Hope you can use this info to help your snake.
Glad to report that in the UK, it’s illegal to feed live prey to captive-bred snakes. We don’t get wild-caught snakes to purchase in the UK, given that we don’t have a liberal quantity of wild snakes here. Import of wild reptiles is very strictly governed, and it’s virtually unheard of that you can purchase a wild-caught exotic snake. If a snake has for some unknown reason been raised on live prey, it has to be steadily encouraged to accept thawed frozen prey.
I also had to get it delivered at said stores because I bought it a day before a massive flood, so the road was too bad for it to be delivered at my house I was so worried something happened to it I’d open the box in the store I couldn’t reseal the box so just held it got a few things and went home I wasn’t the one driving so it was fine
(just some things to watch out for) For a full-grown female ball python, a 4’2’2′, 120gallon tank is the absolute minimum size tank. For temporary traveling, an inside-out pillowcase or a travel bin will work, as long as the ball python is not in there for over 3 days, you shouldn’t have any problems. While heating mats can work while the ball python is small, once it gets bigger and the sub straight goes from 1″ deep to 4″ deep, the heat mat won’t be able to penetrate the sub straight… and when using a heat mat ALWAYS USE A THERMOMETER if not the heat mat can and WILL overheat and end up burning, and in some cases kill your snake. Make sure your snake (not just ball pythons, but any snake) has something to hold onto at all times, whether you’re holding them, bathing them, or even in their tank, if they can’t hold onto something they will feel uncomfortable, and sometimes threatened. And lastly… Ball pythons are solitary snakes, and they should never be kept with either another ball python or especially another snake. Most importantly, have fun!
I got my ball python the beginning of July. I was only able to get it to eat twice on thawed frozen, he went over a month uninterested in anything I did with the thawed frozen, he finally ate a live mouse with a quickness, can’t seem to reintroduce the thawed frozen successfully no matter what trick I try. Any suggestions?
A 10 gallon aquarium is sufficient for a ball python for roughly its first year of life or so. Then you will need to go bigger. Not sure where this info came from. I’ve had ball pythons for about 15 years so to say that it’s not sufficient for them at any point in their life is a far stretch. I use racks to house mine and for the first year of them growing the biggest thing I have them in is a shoebox size tub. Which is smaller than a 10 gallon aquarium.
So I have a female albino ball python she’s very happy in her tank and I have her on a feeding schedule but she won’t bother with a frozen thawed rat I’ve tried multiple times but when I put a live rat or mouse in her enclosure I sit there and watch out of her sight to make sure it’s not biting and she always watches the rat for a little bit before she eventually strikes what would you recommend to prevent injury?
I prefer to feed pre-killed prey too. I have a male BEL that won’t eat live prey so putting a live mouse in with him is just asking for trouble. I have a female who sometimes prefers live prey so when she refuses pre-killed prey for a couple weeks then I’ll toss a live rat in with her but I NEVER leave it in there overnight or unsupervised, it’s just too dangerous for my champagne pretzel. I don’t post it online either. the exotic pet trade has enough troubles on its hands and live feeding articles aren’t giving it a good image to uphold. I agree that these animals aren’t fashion statements either. I do find my scaly noodles beautiful and I’m getting into the morph breeding myself for the joy of learning snake genetics but I don’t parade them around like a scarf. I do love handling them though, I find it soothing on a stressful day to pull out one of my serpent babies and lay them across my shoulders to wriggle and flick their tongues with calm curiosity. My female even seems to enjoy perusal tv with me, I think it’s the sound and movement that attracts her attention.
you can put some dry cat/dog food in to avoid the rat gnawing on your snakes but DEFINITELY do not leave them alone for too long. my mr. slithers was likely stressed because we moved him to a separate bin when we tried to feed him the first couple times but he’d let the live rats ride on him while he slithered around. we let the rat loose in the yard but his chances of living would’ve probably been better being roommates with mr. slithers. i thought he was vegan for a while but it was definitely the whole situation. don’t leave them alone overnight but some dry food does give the rat something to chomp other than your danger noodle.
Aspen or moist soil is such a controversial subject because of scale rot. My terrarium is bioactive. I mist once a day and fog every so often and I’ve got a humid hide. There are so many dry places in there. I’ve never had any issues with scale rot. Not even with my Merauke BTS and she basically lives in her humid hide
You lost me at “Cypress Mulch”. Yes i understand that its commonly used. However i worked at a major reptile distributor (wont say which one) that used primarily cypress for their high humidity snakes, and it was always nasty and moldy, had a high risk of mites, and all the snakes had scratched up bellies. Just goes to show the “right way” is often different depending on who you talk to.
Question about the mulch… I noticed that it said “blended” is that ok? I can’t seem to find a 100% Cyprus in my area of Virginia. I did however find many that have the “blend” on it but do not state what it is blended with. I just get concerned because a lot of times the blends are blended with some sort of pine which is a HUGE resounding NO. So sadly I have been spending the money on “Forest Floor” which comes in at $6 for 8 Qts
I just lost my 9 month old python last night. It was devastating. I tried to get him into a vet because I knew he wasn’t well. He hadn’t eaten in 2 months and had lost so much weight. I tried frozen I bough multiple in case he felt something was wrong with the one I offered. I tried live feeding the night before he passed and he just wouldn’t take it. I feel so awful especially since he was my first ball python.
Dang dawg… That was probably the funniest thing I’ve seen all week they’re definitely are people out there because of mainstream that think this is okay ball pythons are different than most snakes they definitely are the picky preppy ones of the serpent Genesis I 100% enjoyed this article and because of this article I am definitely subscribing to this website
Artemis has a habit of not eating his rats depending on what is fed to him. Solution I found was to find frozen de-thawed ones that he likes cause he will actually eat them. However I still double check on him just in case. Xion so far hasn’t had any problems like this though but I am also keeping an eye on her everytime I feed her as well
I use coconut husk in my ball python’s enclosure, is that a good substrate? also he got bit a few days ago by a rat he ate about 2 inches back from his head, I asked my snake breeder I got him from and he said to just wipe it off with a damn towel and he should be fine but he just had a seizure and I don’t know if it’s happened more than once, will this harm him in any way or will he be ok?
I’ve had a royal python for nearly two weeks now & the most infuriating part is the lack of consistency in the guides & in advice. I saw plenty of guides saying you should use aspen shavings but just as many saying you shouldn’t so I looked into it further & based on the research I did, I reckoned a base layer of coco-fibre/chippings for moisture with a top layer of bark chippings to give him something drier to slither on. As such, I’ve had no problems with humidity (reliably between 60-70%) & when I’ve seen him out & about, he’s digging his nose into it & quite happy to move about on it. The first viv I had was one already in the house & I already knew it wasn’t ideal, glass all sides & not really big enough so as soon as I could, bagged a larger setup with wooden sides & top. He explored it merrily for a couple of hours when he was put in & then took a feed (practically inhaled it) before taking to his hide for the next seven days. This is dilemma I’m at now, I’m fully aware he’s nocturnal & I’m fully aware they prefer to hide away, especially after a feed, but I want to interact with him & I want to provide some engagement for him. I join a reptile forum with the concern that he’s not exploring his enclosure like he was before he was fed & I wanted to give him more engagement & I’d like to interact with him to which I was told “You haven’t done any research! You’ve bought the wrong snake! You should NEVER handle a snake unless absolutely necessary!” etcetera etcetera. I absolutely adore my little python pal & want to see him do well but it’s so apparent that nobody has a clue on what to agree on & as a new keeper it’s just about THE most frustrating experience I’ve ever undertaken (even more than my day job which is sourcing parts for classic cars here in the UK), it breaks my heart that I did research & sought advice & now, I feel so clueless because everybody is so contrary to eachother
I can’t get my ball to strike at thawed rats I found him in my neighbors yard and I know that here in South Houston area thay are not native and my last feeding of live he was injured a little there was no bleeding just a small puncture on the top of his head I kept close watch on it for months after he shed and I don’t even see a scare I believe he is good now but if I use frozen how should I prep and get him interested in eating frozen regularly
I’m so conflicted about the necklace part lmao I can’t tell if he was trying to offend me or just us horrible at examples or maybe since it’s my first time perusal and he openly admits to making fun of nappy head ball Dunkin chain wearin “boys”😅 wow I’m no sensitive sheep but gd u are brave lmao luckily for u society doesn’t gaf about snakes so the wokes don’t know of you cause that type shit get u cancelled now days lmao be careful old head and appreciate the advice lol can’t support a guy who doesn’t want it 😂 ty tho me n my girl died laughing
thank you so much for this! many of the places i researched said to use aspen fibers, i wasn’t aware that they molded after awhile(i changed it every other week anyways) and how much they can help! i had problems with humidity so i often sealed many of the openings of the cage(not all) and it was difficult trying to keep it humid
My brother had first had the snake before handing it down to me and he had aspen bedding. The humidity levels have stayed very well it has never gone under 50 but I think that’s because where I live is very humid already (that’s just what i’m guessing). I was recently going to pick up a coconut fiber substrate, is that any good?
Hey I have a young ball python who I got from Petco at around 2 months of age They said she was perfect of frozen thawed fuzzies, but we tried to feed them to her and did all the right things the thaw them out, and she refused to eat, and we eventually had to get live ones Chicago is never left unattended with the rats now (she is about a year and a half now), but I’m wondering, do you think Petco was lying, or did I do something wrong? The mice were warm and all the way thawed but she showed no interest in those and immediately struck at the live show ones Also, she sounds like she has a stuffy nose and the tip of her snout is very red, any help with that?
My house is very dry. I live in california and my heat lamp in the tank just sucks up the humidity. I’ve tried the humidifier and sprayed it every day, I know spray it twice a week. When we got her she did still have leftover shed though, so I think she’s just a bad shedder? She also has mouth rot, which she’s had since the first few months of having her. They said it would go off with the shed but it didnt and now her whole mouth is brown. I might surrender her and get a corn snake cuz they need less humidity but I wanna try before just going and buying a snake.
Very informative my 7 yr old grandson with moms permission of course may be getting a ball python looks like I’ll be helping 😅with the set up and cleaning and feeding so I’m just starting out learning I’ve always been terrified of reptiles but I met the snake he wants and to my surprise was not afraid and carried her around in the pet store 😅 thank you
Obviosly if the climate is not favorable dont bring your snake out. Bit I wont hide mine because people are afraid of snakes. I live in Puerto Rico and it’s really not ever cold here and whenever I go out with mine around my neck best thing to do is educate people. Never had a problem with mine or any other person freaking out.
I have 2 ball pythons 1 female 1 male female is 3 yrs old male is 1 yrs old I do not breed snakes but female is fire lesser and male is a yellow belly my female loves outside and seems very curious while the male not so much and prefers to be snuggled up inside ur hoodie sleeves or pockets and I was wondering if I should take my 3 yr old ball python out in public she will be with me at all times and we will NOT be letting people touch her because of obvious reasons and she may feel stressed and I do not want to push her limits she has never been around more than 4 people and it will be in quite the quiet place but I need to know if it may be non safe of any plants fumes such as pollen any flowers all that and the weather cause I’m so scared ill stress her out and never forgive myself for being so irresponsible and not knowing Google hasn’t really told me much but I know all the signs of stress and she never really shows signs of stress mostly just curiosity except the first few days we got her she was kinda stressed and I know I just went on like an entire rant about worrying if something may go wrong with taking my ball python in public but I have quite the bit of anxiety and I want to make sure its fine if you can’t reply to this you guys seem to have a lot on her hands 🙂
I have a question my ball python is around 6 ft and when she was a baby i used to hold her a lot(indoors ofc) and she would wrap around my arm but now that she is big Im afraid that if i do the same she might break my arm or something could I pick her up again like I used too or will she break my arm?
I took in someone’s ball python after hurricane Ian they never came back for him he us 7 years old and has only been fed live rats how can I get him to eat frozen thaw rats. Why does he bring his head out of his cave when it is only him and I in my room but will go back in his cave when others come in and last of all do they like to be held by who cares for them. Thank you
The only time my snake goes on my neck and on a walk with me is to go to the park a few blocks away for some supervised time in the sun and grass. I let them smell some new things that way once every few weeks or so and they seem to enjoy their few minutes in the sun. I love it when kids approach us when we’re out to ask questions. I used to be an educator at a Zoo so it’s always great to see the curiosity about reptiles 😊
i fallow someone on tik tok who has a rescue that actually was eaten by the mouse💀. the original owners had put a live mouse in a small container with the snake and he didn’t want to eat that day, so the mouse took a huge chunk out of his side. some how he’s alive, and can eat adult frozen mice without issues 🤯 imagine a break stick with a huge bite taken from its side 🤣
I have a ball python and I feed him live, because in my place, I couldn’t buy frozen since I’m in a small town and nobody sells frozen thawed rats/mice (I can buy online frozen mice but most of the ratings, the mice is not fresh anymore… So I don’t want to give it to my snake, and it’s more expensive than the live one). All this time I gave him live mice and the seller also was giving him live mice too. Should I kept feeding live?? I need your suggestions what should I do…
I am planning on getting a ball python myself, but am having a lot of trouble with the humidity. I have a 40 gallon glass breeder tank, and use ceramic heat emitter along with a heating pad on the side of the tank to raise the warmer end to bring the temperatures up to 80 degrees. For substrate I use cypress mulch with a mix of Sphagunm moss as topsoil. It’s roughly a 75-25% mix. I also use a humidity hide in which moss is used as the main substrate. I try to spray the tank every day to every other day, but the humidity keeps dropping to 30%. If I turn the heat emitter off, it brings the humidity up to around 50-60, 60 being the ideal goal, but the temperature drops drastically. Is there anything else I can do to help bring the humidity up? I’m thinking the heat emitter, sitting directly on top of the cage may be what is dying it out so fast, but I also heard that covering part of the top with a plastic or foil sheet can help trap the humidity inside. (It is a wire top cage)
Once when I had to take my snake to the reptile shop I was so worried that it was to cold. How can people walk around with the snakes on there necks 1 it’s dangerous to the snake in weather conditions it has to be in 70 degrees and 2 it’s dangerous for you it’s might wrap around your neck leaving you strangled to death
We have a twenty plus year old ball python (about 3-1/2′ to 4 foot long) that usually eats one medium size frozen feeder rat. They were out of mediums recently so we purchased two small rats. Can we thaw both at once and feed them both at the same time safely or could doing that hurt our little buddy? Thank you.
Humidity is important!! When I was away from home for a lot I couldn’t keep up with the husbandry my bp has some stuck shed and he caught a bad infection that has since then healed and his colors are a lot better (humidity upkeep and good ventilation) he’s 4 and half feet at 4 years old which is pretty good for a male bp
That’s just tragic when snakes die from people leaving the prey in with the snake. The prey will do ANYTHING when threatened. Doesn’t matter how much smaller they are. Before I had a ball python, I had pet rats. Ball pythons are slow and not too bright. Rats are fast and smart. Though ball pythons are smarter than we give credit for, but nowhere near a rat trying to survive.
So I feed live yet my bp eats right off the bat with no issue. I monitor him while eating until the rat is complete gone. I also wait with a pair of long metal tongs just incase the rat begins to bite and scratch I can grab it by the back of the legs and get it away from my ball. I also check my mice and rats for bugs or mite before feeding.
Aspen is okay as long as you provide an appropriate humidity box. Saying this, I don’t recommend it as the snake can get scale rot by staying in the humidity box constantly. Personally, I am making a tropical bioactive vivarium and I’m attempting to imitate the rainforest in Central Africa, the congo rainforest specifically, as they’re native to sub saharan area.
I don’t know if you respond to these still but I just bought a under 1 year old ball python from petsmart on Friday. I’ve been gently handling her everyday since. On Monday night I figured she was hungry since she yawned twice already for me so I gave her 1 small frozen mouse. (I was little skeptical since the store told me feeding day is Wednesday but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try). I put the small mouse in and she ate like a champ but now everytime I get close to the tank jus to look she comes out and is very active. I’m not sure if she’s still in food mode or if she’s ready to be handled again. Today is Wednesday it’s been two days but I’m a little nervous to be attacked or making her puke. What should I do?
Oooooohhh…I feed mine live, but I would NEVER, EVER, throw a rat in there and walk away. I always present the prey holding it by the tail with grips, and I see to it that the snake strikes it, grabs it, and throws coils. I’ll watch for about a minute and if the prey is no longer moving and hasn’t been for a good 20-30 seconds, I know it’s out and can leave it to the snake. Usually, if the snake goes through the trouble of striking the prey and constricting it until it’s under, it’s most likely going to eat it. Either way- it cannot be said enough that you cannot throw live prey into an enclosure and walk away because the results could be catastrophic and fatal to the snake. I’ve seen pictures of what a rat can do to a snake of fairly large size and it is not pretty. If the rat gets a bite into the spine, it’s game over and the rat will proceed to keep gnawing at the incapacitated/dead snake. Rats are not hapless and helpless creatures. They are not stupid and they can be downright brutal. That was a good point about taking snakes out in public. About a month ago, we had a guest and I just completely forgot that some people fear snakes and took our little ball python out and sat about 6 feet away from her and I realized that she seemed nervous and then remembered that yeah, some people are afraid of snakes. I assured her that the snake is harmless and not at all aggressive, I apologized if it scared her, and that I wasn’t trying to frighten her, I just forgot that some people don’t care for snakes.
i’ve been so busy & I haven’t been able to handle my ball python in about 2 months. I feel so terrible 😞 & want to take her out again but i’m nervous. I know they bites don’t hurt that much as she’s bitten me twice already. I still feed her regularly but i’m not sure how to go about picking her up again . What should I do ? I don’t want her to not be tamed as she grows bigger. she does that “push off” twitch when I rub her
Hey! Thank you for the live feeding tips of making sure they eat it and not leaving it over night, we have a small farm of dogs chickens and A macaw, We recently turned are barn into a game room with a pool table and we were looking for a cool exotic animal to put on it now that it has heat and AC we were looking for getting a ball python and we are going to build a cage DIY so that way it can be plenty of big because the ones online are super small with a high price so we’re going to build the shelf that’s already made and box it in with plexiglass! We are going to go get building materials Thursday and then probably get the snake Monday with all the accessories!
When I was a freshmen in high school I had a red tail boa. My dad and I would take the snake places when we could, the snake didn’t seem to mind. I went to the mall one time with my dad, we went into a hallmark and a woman figured out we had a real snake. She screamed and ran, everyone started running and mall security thought there was an active shooter in hallmark. We got banned from the mall for 6 months.
My friend has a ghost fire that we’re about to buy that will only eat live, and we definitely had to stop the rat a few times from biting him, about 55 minutes later we had to pull the rat out because the snake was just touching the rat and backing away, we went to eat came back out the rat back in and about 40 minutes later the finally went for it, after 2 months of refusing frozen we decided it was too long and needed to try live
The enclosure information is good unless your a breeder or wanting to be a breeder then you have a lot of snakes your going to need a rack system. But for a pet male ball python I personally believe a 20 long is just fine as 99% of time Don’t leave there hides I know this because I have ball pythons unless I take them out they do not hardly ever come out unless they go to the bathroom or something . I know I’m going to get all kinds of responses telling me I don’t know what I’m doing but I know exactly what I’m doing because I have the animals and I watch their behavior I know exactly what they do and all my animals are very healthy and they eat like horses. Ball pythons like small spaces they like to feel safe so putting a little tiny baby ball python and a 40 gallon aquarium is retarded but that’s my opinion do your research on how these animals live in the wild and it will help you.
Great article. On the feeding aspect and especially live feeding (which i prefer. 1 reason “I” like it is because it is more natural and I already have it tanked up as a pet so i like to respect their instincts as much as possible.) But 1 thing I do and took as a word of advice from a coworker is NEVER feed your snake in the tank they live in. This prevents accidental bites to you while putting rat in or putting your hand in the tank to handle snake. And also you dont have to worry about a rat chewing your snake and you can make sure they have actually eaten the rat. For this I just use a simple 20 gal or whatever plastic tub. Put the snake in and lid on. Shake the rat dizzy,drop it in. Once snake eats i carefully and gently without bending it put it back in tank
I did research for years before I got my first one (just got one a few days ago). The fact that there are people who don’t research first makes me sad, because they are live creatures who have needs. My ball python’s name is Honey, and she is amazing but she definitely has needs and I always make sure to check the temperature and humidity and am still constantly researching on new ways to help make sure she’s happy and healthy. Thanks for this article!
I just got a young Mojave ball python I put her in a 20 gallon tank for now and have the lamp and heat pad on one side and nothing on the other side. The temperature stays between 74-76° (measured from the thermostat in the middle) I was also told to stay away from aspen bedding so I am picking up the mulch on Thursday. Any tips to raise the temperature or is that ok?
I just brought my baby home Friday it is sunday, she is juvenile and they fed her thawed frozen fuzzies and Saturday was supposed to be her feeding day so I thawed one and tried giving it to her she seems fairly comfortable she is out and about and never in her hides and chills in her water bowl sometimes but she won’t eat . should I wait a week?
I can tell when my ball pythons are hungry for sure. I’ve never had any of my pythons go for it and reject it. They get very mobile very curious they move around a lot when they get hungry. I would check after a few hours if they haven’t eaten it it’s too cold anyways. I truly appreciate you guys as advice about substrate I keep getting so many different opinions on that I will take your advice and see how it goes with the Cypress bedding. I’ve been thinking to myself this wood is absorbing moisture can’t be that good. And I’m also looking for advice on what plants that will give off the most humidity with the least light. I just built a walk in habitat for my large python. And I do really want to bring my snake everywhere just for the shock value but you’re right it just makes people stereotype them like any other Pitbull hahaha
Mine grabs the rat and I give it to her head first. But she has a terrible aim and always grabs it from the middle part of the mouse. So I always have to wait 15-20 minutes for her to let go of it in order to give it to her head first. Then she finally swallows it. Any advice on how to get her to grab the head instead of the side? Because she can’t eat it from the side because she can’t get her mouth from around it
Thank you for this information! I have just purchased a 1 year old ball python after much research and I’ve been sweating my ass off trying to keep her comfortable and healthy. Your information tells me that I’m on the right track. She’s very chill but I don’t handle her much. I don’t want to over do it. I’m aware that they are secretive and I seriously respect that. I don’t want any harm to come to her.
I have a hatchling ball python, and I am currently keeping him in a 10 gallon to monitor his droppings, how he eats, if there are any signs of mites or neurological issues. However, I’m worried that doing this is not caring for him properly. What is your take on this and suggestions? I want my little guy to eventually live to his thirtieth birthday.
Another thing I would recommend, especially if you’re feeding your ball live mice/rats, is get a kill box! It gives them a separate area to eat outside of their cage so they become accustom to being fed outside of their cage so if you put your hand in their enclosure to get them out they don’t immediately strike at you. Personally, with my 1st snake, she was very tame and I fed her dead medium mice and I had her out on a towel in my room as I fed her. But when I got my 2nd which is my 1st ball, we used a box from Pet Smart that originally was used as a travel box but soon became the kill box so my ball could eat live since he refused to eat frozen. I find it very practical since it is clear acrylic so we can watch the mouse and make sure it doesn’t harm the snake and it’s safe to contain the snake and mouse in because of the lid and a nice amount of space for striking. It’s also very helpful when you need to clean the cage since you can the have your snake relax in the box while you clean and restore their home.
My snake would eat like clock work every wk, I made that mistake once and threw a feeder in her enclosure and went on vacation for 3 days, when I returned she was in her hide along with the live rat. She had about a half dozen bite marks all over her body and one on her head. All n all she healed up fine with a few baths and some ointment.
I would recommend a 40 breeder or a 55 gallon for a male. A female I would recommend a 75 or 90 gallon because that’s much easier to get than the much preferred 120 gallon or 4x2x2. If you are good with tools and woodworking, and have the space, and want your female to reach its full potential, give it a 5x2x2! I have a 6 month old female pastel ball python in a 37 gallon aquarium (36″Lx12″Wx20″H) with lots of hides and enrichment. The substrate I use is a 70/30 mixture of 70% Zoo Med Reptibark and 30% coconut fibre. Having 4 inches of that mixture is very easy to keep that 55-65% humidity range. My temperatures with a 100w ceramic bulb is always a nice 88-90 on the hot end and 80-82 on the cool end via a heat pad on the cool side. If you insist on using a tank, I recommend using foil tape to seal the screen and leave just enough screen to have the heat lamp.
Thank y’all for this article! I was given a Spyder Ball Python. I know they’re special in they’re own way and I did my research on them. She’s 2 years old, what can I buy to keep the terrarium moist if I’m gone for a month? Right now I just mist it every other hour to keep the humidity up but i don’t want to go on vacation only to come back to an unhealthy unhappy python
You’re amazing all the way up to the skit and after and even the skit wasn’t bad till you get too you’re nappy head part ??? What was that about ?? That’s where you pretty much lost me keep the Racism out of the educational articles bc you are educational but the skit absolutely killed me and lost me ..
the only reason I bring my ball python out in public around my neck is because she is an emotional support animal for my autism and I have paperwork and I am responsible and respect the people who don’t want them near and try to stay as far as I can as to respect boundaries and im not really trying to parade her around saying “LOOK I HAVE A COOL ANIMAL NOW IM GONNA TRY AND MAKE IT DRAMATIC” half the time I’m not even paying attention to her around me neck except making sure she doesn’t touch anything she shouldn’t and I wouldn’t bring her with me if I didn’t have paperwork saying I was allowdd
DO. NOT. GET. COCONUT. FIBER. SUBSTRATE. I cannot stress this point enough, I know it might seem great for them because it’s soft and retains moisture well, but do what the uploader suggests and get cypress mulch. I made this mistake with my second snake and it cost him his life. One day I found he had the substrate stuck to parts of his mouth after drinking and like an idiot I just cleaned him off and figured it wouldn’t be a problem. I came home after a long day at work to find he suffocated from the stuff congealed around his mouth. And for those who don’t know, the reason the uploader said definitely stay away from cedar is because it’s toxic to them.
God I was sold a spider ball before I knew about the wobble. The breeder hadn’t mentioned it. I still have her, she’s about 4 years old and her head wobble makes it impossible for her to climb anything unsupervised safely and feeding is definitely a process. It’s sad to see but best we can do is warn others and stop intentionally breeding spiders
By general definition, a snake is a paradox if it shows signs that it’s two things at once–that it has contradictory markings. For example, an ivory should be all white–for it to have a patch of brown is genetically impossible, hence it is a paradox. BEL snakes or albinos that have black streaks, are another example–their genetics should never allow them to have melanin. It means that something in the animal–but only in PART of the animal–isn’t the same as the rest of it. It has, either due to chimerism, mutation, or other cause, more than one set of genes in its body. It has patches of genes that allow it to produce colors that the rest cannot.
Re question of the day !!! I’ve been using orchard bark for around 10 year now and haven’t had a single issue with it so far, only thing to really do with it is to let it dry out for a couple of days in your tub or viv before putting your ball python in, only because it’s a damp substrate rite outa the bag and humidity will b way too high from the get go !!!!!
I remember when the first spiders hit the market, just about every single spider or spider combo not only had a head wobble but they would also make a corkscrew movement. It seemed as though the wobble and corkscrewing got worse when feeding. Back then the spider had the most serious and significant neurological issues. Champagne’s were much less, hidden gene woma and some super forms had the neurological issues just not as bad as the spiders. Spiders are gorgeous and make beautiful combinations but definitely a motph i would not buy. In my opinion there should be some regulation within the ball python community itself. It has nothing to do with what it looks like and the fact it passes on to other spider offspring but rather it’s the well-being of the snake.
Personally, I see nothing wrong with hybrids. Hybridization is a good way to make a snake with specific traits like making a ball python with a retic pattern, or a snake with the beautiful blood python colors but the ball python temperament. I’ve also read that hybrids tend to get the best trait from each parent, and are typically more hardy than their parents when it comes to temperature and humidity requirements (so worrying about what their requirements would be isn’t as much of an issue). Also, I’ve read that hybrid snakes can visually show heterogeneous recessive traits, so you could possibly get hybrids that are het for a trait yet still show that trait. Keeping track of the percentage could get difficult though. Even still, if it creates a hardier and more beautiful snake, I think it’s worth the risk of maybe messing up purebred ball pythons. There are already so many mutations in the captive bred ball python gene pool anyways.
I disagree with the idea on paradox and Chimera. First, paradox is not “black spots” it is failure to code in a certain areas. There is absolutely nothing wrong with them, and they make a very unique and cool snake. Now, if avoiding because they don’t make sense to pay more for as an investment, then ok. As far as Chimera goes, nobody knows how common it is. We all likely have some that have that going on, it just may not show. The visually stunning Chimera (half and half looking snakes) are quite rare. But Chimera is an anomaly that happens frequently, even in humans. The only draw back is there is a chance it can be tricky on the genetic side. But truth be told, that can happen when you can’t even tell an animal is Chimera. There is a human woman who went through a ton of investigation on state assistance as she was not genetically testing at the parent of her own children. Even at birth. They found location of genetic testing was failing in DNA as she was Chimera. It happens. They honestly can’t be avoided, as you can’t always see it.
I have 2 spiders with no issue what so ever my champagne wobbles way worse than both my spiders put together. With that being said my whole view on ball pythons nearly changed when I went to a reptile depot not knowing really anything about ball pythons I bought the prettiest one in my opinion and it was super cheap it was a queen bee well he had such a horrible wobble he literally started cork screwing when I put him in water to soak like corkscrewing like crazy Like freaking out well a week later I tried to feed a live hopper he wanted it but he could not strike straight so he lost interest fast I waited a couple months tried assisting moved on to forcing which went well but after about a month or even 2 when I was getting ready to consider another force feed he passed away and so I blamed myself and it really hurt me I stayed away from balls for over a year blaming myself before I finally started doing research perusal articles and I then realized about the spider wobble so I then learned a shit ton did tons of research I’m now on my first year of breeding I have 15 ball pythons 5 females I’m hoping are going to go this year 2 Bumblebee’s all my snakes are healthy fat if anything so with all this crap being said if you want to do this ball python thing first things first do your research do things correct it isn’t any different than any other pet they deserve the best just like a cat or dog the second point id like to make is most spiders are completely fine some are kind of wanky it’s your job as a responsible breeder to inform the buyer of exactly what they are getting that guy should’ve seen my inexperience and said this isn’t the snake for you but he seen my inexperience and saw dollar signs and that’s just not cool it’s not morally ok inform people teach them what the don’t know this should’ve never happen to me or anyone for that matter it’s your job as a reliable and responsible breeder to not do this to anyone.
What’s wrong with paradox/ringers? I know they’re not genetic, but it does the animal no harm. 4 of my 8 ball pythons have paradox and or ringers. My champ pastel female Mildred has both. I think they look cool. Just a little “extra” eye candy. For someone to jack up the price for the animal with them is crazy, since it most likely won’t be passed on. I have had babies hatch with them, but it’s rare, and I didn’t charge any more for them than I did for those that didn’t have them. (Jan Griffiths).
ALL spiders have neurological issues. The neurological issues come from a gene that is so close to the spider gene that it ALWAYS passes to their young. Your spider might not have neurological issues that you notice when it’s just crawling around but they do always have balance issues and can’t flip back over as easy when they get flipped upside down. You saying that only a small percent of them have issues is very misleading because 100 percent of them have issues, some just less noticeable than others but even a just talking about a scale of severity, a LARGE percentage of them have SEVERE neurological issues.
Great topic! I had a question and was hoping it could maybe perhaps get answered in one of your questions of the day!! I was wondering how do you tell when your BP is ready to go back in its enclosure!! I’ve heard 10minutes all the way up to 5 hours Lol Like that’s a Humongous Gap! Like how do I know?? Do they wiggle more? Do they try and escape? I took mine out earlier today and had him out for 45 minutes! I normally do about 15-20 minutes!! I just put him up because I thought I had him out to long!! Great Vid Chris!! My favorite morph is anything Pastel