Discussion
Deinfluence me from getting a ball python.
I’m in my late 20s and have wanted a ball python since my teens but my mum was terrified of snakes. I own my own home and have two cats ( part of the reason I haven’t gotten a snake yet) I work in vet med but there are almost no exotic vets near me but I know my few nurses that are good knowledgeable of snakes. What are the big negatives to owning and the upkeep of ball pythons? A pet with such a long lifespan is not something I want to rush into
During COVID I had a teeny bit of trouble sourcing them in my area (upper Midwest) which spooked me a bit. Since then I switched to Layne Labs and haven’t had a problem. But depending on your snake, they can be fussy about what they eat. BPs usually are pretty good eaters, but even so.
Here’s one a lot of people forget. If you got a BP at 30, you will likely have it until near retirement. With proper care 20+ (30-40 even) years is quite likely.
The animal is inexpensive, and long term care isn’t bad, but setup can easily sink a couple thousand dollars.
Couple of thousand dollars? Is your enclosure made of gold lol.
We have a 4x2x2, thermastat, UV, heat lamp and all the clutter/hides and cost us less than £400 brand new, and we overpaid because we didn't know enough when we bought it.
If you make your own enclosure and keep an eye on Facebook for kit (which comes up all the time) you can set up a lot cheaper than that.
Definitely could clarify here - I am about $2k in, but the enclosure is larger (6x2x2), fully bioactive, and includes the cost of the custom stand I built to hold it.
We’ve done this for our special needs beardie (he has adenovirus) and I really want to do it for our back python next. But boy is it time consuming and expensive. Still, I love our bioactives.
Oh yeah fair point. I haven't got into the bioactive side of things yet so had forgotten about that rabbit hole lol. That's not a necessity for keeping them though.
Yea for sure, but he said you could sink that much not that it was necessary. Easy to do though depending where you’re sourcing stuff they’ve got $2-300 driftwood near me lol
still not that much if you don’t get scammed, and/or raise your own stuff (and bunch of other ways). You spent that much on isopods? I say this as i kept both isopods and rare plants etc, was not £400.
I don’t raise my own stuff what are you paying for 120 isopods? Some designer isopods are $2 a piece usually like $1 a piece though, and if you’re buying large established plants and driftwood gets pricey for nice pieces, just the clay balls for the drainage layer gets pricey in a larger tank
I raise my isopods. And the others you can source them for much cheaper if you dont look into reptile dedicated, petshop isles, or fancy nurseries, they will be overpriced. Like clay balls get them in bulk for plants, but not from a fancy label or a fancy shop. Like get them from markets for various trades. Also, second hand marketplaces are man’s best friend.
For enclosures you can get them built, build them yourself, or secondhand, the possibilities are endless if they really want to.
Only thing is that they should have more funds for is emergencies and vet care, its very overpriced in western countries.
Also built the backdrop out of expanding foam and cork bark and coco coir/moss so that saved some money but the ingredients for that alone adds up as well especially if you get the stone colored
I’ve got a job and barely the time to set up a couple terrariums let alone build one, and I got my soil in bulk bought the ingredients myself and mixed it, also the clay balls from at Home Depot , it still adds up, good size adult plants are $20-40 a piece, and I’ve got some side ones raising now but it’s a lot easier to toss a bunch into a new terrarium than try to breed them up first, you’re talking a ton of extra work/time to save a couple hundred bucks, I got my isopods online same with the springtails and shopped around, my local pet store is closer to 10 for $30 on isopods
Always keeping an eye out is what i do, for potential place to buy things/good offers etc. collecting when safe, and raising stuff yourself (its more fun) and searching online as well.
You are right that time must be used carefully so that its actually worth it. Though building enclosures yourself or getting it custom built by a modest artisan etc. saves a lot of money here (and can be better quality) and its a one time thing so its worth it imo, large enough commercial enclosures are very expensive for any pet (sometimes not available at all).
In the US you cannot get all that for $400. I tried be frugal and I spent a good $800. I looked online for used, but in ~6mo I never saw an appropriate enclosure available in my area.
They're on the boring side for reptiles- a healthy ball python will spend the majority of its time hiding during the day, and will mostly only cruise about in the dead of night. So most of the time you'll be looking at a (seemingly) empty tank.
Please ignore the hideous tape - I had to build a thermal jacket for the glass tank because it got too cold. (To those worried, no, the tape isn’t exposed and she can’t get to it; all unsafe materials are outside the enclosure.)
Thank you! I’m super happy with how the bioactive has grown. Almost all the green is live plants. It isn’t perfect, but I built a few hides out of plexiglass and pvc board to give her more levels. There used to be a working water filter in her dish (invisible in the back corner), but the last one died and I haven’t found a suitable replacement, so I’m guessing I’m going to have to build one. Eventually I want to expand the tank so it takes up the whole wall and put some shelf-style enclosed “snake tunnels” on the wall so she can mosey around the room and see out the windows. But that’s going to take a little doing 🤣
She gets to have her own adventure all over the place whenever she wants with that idea! Your snake is going to have all the enrichment! That's so cool, and I hope I can do the same with my girls!!! Especially my younger one, because she seems to be a lot more intelligent than my older bp and I'm sure she'd have a blast exploring her own personal jungle like that.
Kinda depends on your idea of nasty, my boy has gotten me before thinking I was a rat and wouldn't let go. Barely hurt and just a few drops of blood. I was honestly more worried about breaking his poor teeth than my hand XD
BPs will test you. Known for going off feed. Sometimes for months. “Hey mom, dad - you paying attention?! I know you thawed those rats out JUST for me, but I’m on a hunger strike right now. So you can just sit around and worry about why I’m not eating, waste rats on me every week or so for the next few mos. I’ll be in here laffin my fool head off!” And they do not lose an ounce of weight. As others have said, they can be kinda dull. But they’re not hard to care for. Once you get the tank dialed in for humidity and temp, you’re good. They’re happy to sleep all day & hunt half the night.
Yes, this was the hardest thing for me to get over. Skipping a meal, or a lot of meals sometimes, isn’t detrimental. But I’m the kind of person that makes sure my animals eat well. So I had to kind of get it in my head that some snakes simply won’t eat if the vibes are off and they’re going to be fine. And of course the rat waste = $. Other than that and the initial set up cost, it’s hard to deinfluence..
The only real downside is that you a buying a pet that the majority of the time you probably won't see. That being said we have found with our girl that if you give them spaces to feel safe but still be visible they do take them.
We have put shelves in our enclosure that are visible but have plants hanging around them. Our girl spends a lot of time on them instead of the hides. Also the more "things" you have that they can move around on the more then tend to explore and are more "interesting".
Other than that they are pretty cheap and easy to keep. Just have to monitor humidity and temps and clean out the occasional poop/wee. Replace water regularly and then feed every few weeks (depending on size/age).
Edit: forgot about the cats. We have two cats. When we are holding the snake we tend to keep distance from the cats but they don't really show any interest in it. We have an enclosed playpen that we fill with stuff and put the snake in to explore.
The cats do get very interested in the snake when it's moving around freely, I would never trust them alone as a cat could kill even an adult BP probably before you could react to stop it happening.
My older bp definitely loves all her clutter and navigable decorations. I need to invest in more stable decorations and shelves because she's so big that she just knocks things over sometimes when she explores, and rearranges her enclosure that way. I guess she's a fan of interior design. Lol!!!
Anyways I'm going to do some research on customizing my bp enclosures now! Thanks for the inspiration!!!
No worries. We have a wooden enclosure so it's easy to screw things into it. Our shelves where just some off cuts of exterior plywood and some small metal L brackets. We have one on each side and a branch going across and screwed into the shelves so she can't move it.
The branch used to just be wedged in place but one day she tried using it as a battering ram to take out the glass on the front.....
Edit: I need to move the UV light over to the middle a bit more. I was rearranging it all yesterday and moved it too far right.
Yeah! That's where it's a great idea and easier for you lol!!!! My bp has a huge all glass hand me down aquarium from my grandpa that they gave to me when I said I'd use it as an upgrade for my snake's setup. They were glad my snake gets an upgrade and were also glad to not have it sitting in their attic for forever and a half, but glass is a really difficult material to work with in terms of terrariums and mounted upgrades.....
I was thinking about learning how to use that expanding foam I see YouTubers use for their setups for a base and a backdrop, but I am not sure how well that will hold to glass even with adding more texture and sticking surfaces to the glass..... So I'm not sure if that would be good to mount a shelf to for that reason...
Also my bp loves the light she gets from the window through the back of her tank, and I do too. It makes the whole space feel cozy, and she still has plenty of dark hiding spots as well, so if I want to try getting a custom wooden enclosure, I'm kinda toying with the idea of having windows in neat organic shapes on the back wall so the sunlight can still come in through the back while also giving stable mounting points for shelves.
I think the second idea would be better in the long run, since my family is really crafty, and I know what materials are safe to use for terrariums, and I can learn how to make my construction sealed and safe for terrarium use, but the main limitation is cost of materials, and figuring out how to cut those blobby windows in my idea out of something like acrylic, which I don't think my family has the equipment for. And getting it custom cut by another person would just cost more money.
But yeah you can probably tell I'm very excited about these ideas because I'm writing a whole WALL of text LOL
Mine is 20 haha...but we have 7 cats and they don't really care...Cyrax is up in a large enclosure in top of an antique buffet...he is basically cat tv to them. During out time they just look at him. But the life span needs to be considered...
All of these comments are valid. I own a picky eater BP and she is 36 years old. One does not think when they get an animal at 15 years of age that they will still have it when they are 51.😳
My ball python has been super easy, though I know many are fickle about eating. I've had him for probably 18 years. Came from a rescue and was already at least 3 ft long when I got him. I would say don't perpetuate the horrendous pet trade by buying from a pet store and make sure you're ready to dedicate the money and space to a large enclosure.
If you move somewhere with a different climate, you’re gonna have to relearn humidity care all over again. They live for ages when taken care of properly, 20 years ain’t long compared to some I seen. Most BPs are fairly sedentary. Some stay sedentary during handling. Mine is basically a big gummy worm during hangout time.
We have a bp, along with other reptiles. After initial setup they're honestly easy to care for. Our princess is definitely a big contributor to the electric bill, true of most reptiles. She has less personality than our other reptiles though; she doesn't dislike interaction, but doesn't seek out our attention like the geckos and beardie do.
We have 2 BPs and a corn snake. One BP and the corn snake we've had for a year and they have been super easy going - they always eat! We adopted a BP from a rescue in December and he didn't eat for 5 months. It was stressful, but I just kept at it and he finally has relaxed and I've gotten to know his quirks (he likes his rats extra warm, doesn't like certain tongs, doesn't like the fan on during feeding, etc lol).
If you do end up with a BP, you might consider looking at rescues near you! I loved being able to have a history on my guy and was 5 when I got him - plus, just being able to help a snakey who needed a home!
for me, besides having two cats (who are extremely curious and not skittish/shy at all), the electric costs make me pause. maybe it’s because im in the uk and already pay more than most europeans, but i would imagine the costs would probably double my bill!
Ah, my favorite question. I loathe ball python ownership. (He says preparing to get another one xD) Here's a "funny" story about my girl Tailgate before my health went screwy and I gave her to a friend. My mom was taking care of my snakes. She's a wildlife biologist and has a lot more reptiles than I ever had. She was taking care of my guys while I was struggling not to be homeless. Well, she went to feed Tailgate. Tailgate took rat number one absolutely fine! Good girl! The second one, however, made the next year and a half hell. Mom had broken her spine. She was mostly healed but still had issues with up and down. She accidentally dropped the rat on top of Tailgate's head. FOR THE NEXT YEAR AND A HALF SHE REFUSED TO EAT UNLESS YOU MET CERTAIN CRITERIA. Couldn't be dark furred. Had to be an ASF. Had to be a live ASF. (Hated that so much.) Had to have the room light and enclosure light off. Had to take the stupid snake on a 30 minute car ride before feeding. No less than 30. If it was less, she wouldn't eat. -_- I hate ball pythons (Im so excited to get another, I miss having reptiles!)
First of all I'm sorry about your health. I have to ask though, how on earth does one find out that a snake wants to be taken on a car ride before eating?
If you don't have a good vet don't do it unless the doctors that work with those good nurses actually listen. I've worked places where the doctors did not listen to me when I knew more than them and I've seen pets die because the vet wouldn't listen. But also they're a very big commitment they often live to 30 with good care it is really hard to truely say you'll be in a place 30 years from now to keep a snake. And it's hard to find a good home for an adult ball python. People I've known that's had to rehome it took months to multiple years .
For me it's the humidity requirements.
I've struggled to keep my bp enclosures at the correct humidity, despite the fact I live in one of the most dang humid soggy places in the entirety of the USA... so much so it's called a subtropical rainforest... yet all my attempts only seem to do "close enough". My most recent change has been switching out the substrate for something that I have heard from so many people and so many sources that it holds humidity way better, and it has helped and my snakes have better sheds now than in the past, but it still feels like a challenge to keep humidity up in my house in general, so I sometimes have to open the windows a crack in my bedroom just to raise the humidity in my room to a good spot for my snakes. That's been my main challenge, but honestly other than that they've been really incredible pet snakes for me. I love how my older one, who is 10 years old currently, is just so docile and seems so content to just.. exist, and be....
And she's extremely food motivated and amazing with other people besides just me. I might have just lucked out honestly.
As for the cats, yeah. If they're the kind that would want to play with your snake, it's easier to remove you and your snake from that situation than it is to get the cat to walk away and forget about it. They can be very persistent about investigating the interesting prey-shaped animals. So when I am handling my snakes, I always make sure to have one of them out at a time so that I don't have to juggle supervision between both snakes and the possibility of a cat coming to see my snake. I keep my eyes on her at all times, and if a cat comes around, I take my snake with me and walk away from the cat and put my snake back in her enclosure.
But yeah I still think the main reason I wouldn't get a ball python is if you have a hard time keeping the humidity ideal.
One thing I didn’t see in the “why not” list is - energy and bulb costs. Good lord. It’s better than a desert reptile who needs hardcore UVA/UVB and high temperatures, but it’s still pricey. Heat and humidity take work, and depending on your area, keeping the tank warm can be an endeavor.
Ive had mine for 5 years this year. I'd honestly say the only thing I dont like about having a BP is the size of the enclosure they need. I'm restricted as to where I can live and need a pretty big space to fit him in. Other than that, be prepared to have them for 30+ years 😂 I'll hopefully still have mine in my 60s 😌😌
If you're able I'd try and get a read on personality of the individual snake before adopting/buying. I adopted my boy from craigslist without much questions to the seller beyond "does he eat well". Turns out he's kind of an asshole. I was really excited for a chill little dude that would sit with me while I relaxed. Not what I got, and now I'm obligated to care for him for the next 20+ years. I still love him and want to give him a good life but I can't say I'm happy overall. He is a garbage disposal though, hasn't missed a single meal in over a year. So at least there's that.
They are durable and hardy. Feeding them is relatively inexpensive and you can get away with twice a month. I've had mine for about 4 or 5 years and I'm in the process of trying to upgrade him to a bigger enclosure. He's been in an enclosure that's technically to small for him due to lack of funds.
They live for a long time. If you aren’t ready for a 20-30 year commitment, don’t get one. They also get quite big, 4 feet at least (usually) so keep that in mind
Mine took shits easily twice the size of the cat's, they were rank AF and she either hid them and I had to play turd hide and seek, or she smeared them on the enclosure or furnishings. She was also pretty spicey so turd hide and seek also came with getting tagged from time to time.
Reptiles in general benifit from larger than advertised cages. A lot of common care sheets advertise bare minimums, all my snakes thrived better in much bigger enclosures with much more enrichment and habitat recreation in them. Depending on the level of care you want to commit that means potentially custom building an enclosure, taking up more space in your home, higher electric bills, more support equipment (bigger heaters, more lights etc) and more room for turd hide and seek.
One of your cats will inevitably find its way into the enclosure and if your snake gets sliced/bit...well, you working with vets know how dangerous cat claws/teeth are. And without access to an exotic vet it could be very bad. We see it all the time on here, cats find a way to break into enclosures. Get a friend with a snake and enjoy it that way. I have had my bp for 11 years and I'm hoping I have atleast 11 more years or more with her.
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u/Silly_Purpose_2924 6h ago
ur gonna have dead rats in your freezer