Ball Pythons

Most owners prefer to feed frozen/thawed.
Which answers your second question.
As for the separate enclosure, it depends on your comfort with your set up. If you feel like something in the tank can a) enter and irritate the snake's mouth or b) somehow stop it from correctly grabbing and eating the mouse, then yes, take it out and feed it in a plastic cubby.

>>2010443

And let me just state - many owners will say to take the snake out just to avoid the chance of them swallowing a large piece of bark and causing a serious obstruction.

Chances are, your snake is never going to swallow a fucking pinecone, but if you do use some sort of bark or mulch, consider a different substrate. Might be less pretty, but you and your snake both will get over it, and it'll be safer and easier to clean.

Feed frozen. Safer on the snake and more humane.
Don't be worried about BPs not eating anything for awhile in general too, as a heads up. They are notorious to just straight up not eat for months. They are either probably one of the easiest snakes to take care of to one of the more difficult ones because of so many being so finicky with food.

Anyone else want to skin and eat these guys?

>>2010515
that's an expensive meal for such a shit tasting animal desu

>>2010526
Well way I figure they're wild in the everglades and rattlesnake tastes grew plus they have fantastic patterns so I might as well go hunt them. Do they taste bad?

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Don't feed live unless the snake won't take anything else.
>>2010646
Burms are wild in he Everglades, not ball pythons. Also, I can't imagine they'd taste good.

Frozen/thawed.

I feel really bad for feeding my ball python live as a kid because everywhere online was saying how picky they were and how you were a shit owner and they'd starve.

>>2010659
For anyone wondering, I fed my snakes live for many years and had no problems with it whatsoever. I've now switched over to frozen/thawed because it's easier overall. I'm not saying things like in that pic can't happen but it's pretty unlikely, especially if you aren't feeding the mouse a prey item that is too large and you are watching the feeding at all times. Frozen/thawed IS better, but you aren't the worst person in the world if you do feed live. Just make sure you supervise the whole feeding and remove the mouse if there is obvious biting.

>>2010439
my bp actually looks at me like im retarded any time i try to feed her frozen/thawed. picky cunt

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>>2010659
Snake tastes the same across the board. I'll eat any snake 3" and over.

3' and over...

>>2010738
>>>/out/
>>>/k/
>>>/ck/

>>2010743
I'm a frequenter if all those boards and here. I did have a pet ball for five years. Cute snake.

Also, feed it live.

>>2010748
i didn't post my snek t bh familia

>>2010738
I use to have a 410 like that called a snake charmer

>>2010758
They're pretty effective within 10 yards. I just keep it around for my nephew when he visits and we go rabbit hunting. Also has a .22lr barrel.

If you have trouble getting your ball python to eat, consider feeding it multimammates. They're what they eat in the wild. I feed my BP frozen thawed multimammates and they are like crack to him. He's never not taken one

>>2011118
>2011118
available at most pet stores?

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>>2010439
>Ball Python

What's the biggest sized rat a ball python would need to eat in its life time? Thinking about getting one but the thought of having huge rats in my freezer sounds slightly disturbing and expensive.

>>2012337
Don't know the answer, but I'm gonna let you know that rats are cheap as hell.

The biggest rats are about $2.55 each. Assuming you feed one colossal rat (400 - 750g) once every two weeks and it eats every time (ha), that's 71.40 plus 25 shipping for a year of food. The vendor I use, big cheese rodents, vacuum seals their rodents so you can keep them up to 3 years in the freezer as long as they're sealed. If you want to buy in bulk like this, you'll probably just want to get a small chest freezer to keep them in. It's expensive up front, but over the life of your snake it'll save a ton of money.

>>2012366
I pay that much just for small mice, I know it's blatant robbery but I prefer live feeding and the pet store's literally up my block.
>>2010439

As for op, even months of researching won't remove the initial anxiety at first, but rest assured knowing it's really easy, get a heating pad, light if you'd like, and you're good to go
I trust you're smart enough to know a good terrarium set up; hides, climbing decorations, water bowl etc

>>2010445
>>2010443
I've read that you shouldn't feed them in the same tank they live in simply because they may occasionally bite you thinking you're food/ feeding them

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How are you guys housing yours?

As in light vs heatpad?

I've heard I should get a proportional thermostat to regulate the temperature more precisely, along with a probed thermometer to constantly know the temperatures of the warm and cool zones of the tank. Is this really necessary? I don't feel like it is, and don't see why a simply heat pad + thermometer wouldn't suffice. But I'm not looking to skimp on my snakes health, so maybe some of you fags can enlighten me

>>2012988
Me again, just to say that my tank is rather small.. 10.5x24 and about 18 tall. I don't feel like all that shit is necessary for such a small tank.

>>2012985
That's not a problem so long as you train your snake the difference between hand in tank and feeding time.

>>2013002
Stupid question I know, but how should I train it to know the difference?

>tfw snakes are illegal in my country
>tfw if I were to get one I'd get at least 4 months in prison

I just want a snake senpai ;__;

>>2013007
Not a dumb question.

Use tongs to offer a mouse. Never offer a mouse with your hands. Wash your hands if you handle rodents before handling your snake.

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>>2012988
Nocturnal snakes prefer belly heat so. A simple heat pad with a hide over it works. Keep another hide on the cool side of the cage in case your snake wants to cool off. Had mine for 5 years now, got him when he was 3 years.

>>2013007
Not saying all ball pythons react the same but mine only becomes aggressive when he smells food, which I always present with feeding tongs.

>>2010439
Just do frozen, it's easier and safer. Pfft, pythons.

>>2013200
Where the fuck do you live?

>>2015281
PETA land

>>2010439

Feeding tub: Just fucking no. totally not required.
Live vs F/T: F/T is cheaper and easier, it also removes any danger from bites to your snake.
If your Ball goes off its food, as they often do, dont fucking freak. As long as it stays a healthy weight for its size leave it the fuck alone, if it starts losing tooo much weight, then try 1 live mouse to kick-start feeding before going back onto F/T.

I have multiple snakes and I stopped keeping balls because they bored the fuck out of me, but man, they can be dickholes, just gotta ride it out. The snake knows more about being a snake than the keeper will, give them time.

Also, for the Vivarium, dont go all retarded and use any bark, moss or any kind of substrate a shop would sell you. Fucking newspaper is perfect.

Look at any large reputable breeder, they all place their snakes on newspaper or at 'worst' kitchen roll.

Keep it simple. It wont look fancy but the snake will be 'happy' and healthy.

>>2016526
>I don't know shit about snake keeping but I'm just gonna make a post for the sake of it!

>>2016526
OP here. I got mine a week ago, and he ate at the store the day before i bought him. But now, he will not eat for me. My enclosure and temps are all good, and he's very active. So either he's going off feed for the winter, as it is halfway through december now, or he's getting used to being in a new enviroment. But if anyone has any input on this, it would still help.

>>2013200
Do you live in a Scandinavian country or something? Always thought it was weird as fuck they banned the keeping of reptiles when most escapees would just die during winter.

>>2012988
A rack + belly heat + digital thermostat.

I got tired of hauling aquariums around. They're a pain to clean too.

On the live - f/t debate: I feed my corn snake fresh pre-killed mice. I can get live mice dirt cheap locally, cheaper than the small packs of frozen, and she only takes frozen mice when she's extremely hungry. I worry a lot about her catching a few nips while killing, though, which has happened before with feisty mice.

I can get the safety of freeze-thaw with the price and snake-happiness of live by buying a fresh mouse once a week and dispatching them before providing them to her. Grab the mouse by the base of the tail, get a decent grip on their head (I wear a sturdy glove against bites) and lift the body while holding the head. Snaps their neck, killing them instantly. It's even nicer to the mice than letting the snake do it, as crushing suffocation is a much more prolonged and painful death than a quick snap. And she loves them that way.

>>2018023
>crushing suffocation
That's not even how snakes kill, at least not with properly sized prey. They squeeze so hard they completely stop bloodflow which fucks up a whole lot of stuff almost immediately.

>>2018033

I concede the fact, but hold to my point. It's faster to break the mouse's neck. Plus, in their place, I'd rather think "why are you grabbing my head" for a few seconds before everything going away than think "oh god is that a snake? it's a snake. i'm fucked, shit, shit--SHIT it got me, oh jeez, my bones, i'm dying, goodbye cruel world"

>>2018039
Oh yeah, I'm definitely not saying thats a bad way of killing mice. Probably one of the best

>>2018039
>>2018033
>>2018046
I just shake them in a tub, i dont feel comfortable swinging them by the tail.