I bought a ball python....

yeh our beardie has turned into quite the money pit..... we keep her in a 75 gallon aquarium..... i spend about 25 bucs a month on crickets

 

Please please please feed it weekly, at least until it's a year or two old. Many many people underfeed their snakes because PetSmart said to feed it every couple of weeks. It'll grow much faster and will have a higher resistance to diseases. I've been into herps on and off since I can remember and I've done more research than I care to remember, if you've got a question please don't hesitate to ask me. Some things to remember: Never feed when it's in shed (when it's eyes are opaque). Never feed in the tank (bathtubs, rubbermaids etc) so they never associate your hand coming in with food. Feed live sparingly, if you'd like I can send you a reason why but suffice it to say it can turn out very bad. If shed gets stuck a warm water bath does wonders - also helps for bowel movements, it can/does happen. Like I said, please ask me if you have problems or questions. PM's are your friends here.

 

When I pole vaulted in highschool my idol was Jeff Hartwig, 3 time olympian and former US record holder. At a pole vault camp I went to, I got to meet him and watch him jump. Way cool. However, I'm telling you guys this because his other love in life is herps. He has 2 websites, one for pole vaulting and one for his herps and what boas or other critters he has for sale (he breeds some of them). Check it out! Jeff Hartwig I still have his email, too. Yay. Too bad my college doesn't have pole vaulting

EDIT: I think he codes his own website, too. Because that's about as basic as you can get. I could code that in Windows Notepad (Forgive me, I took a web design class in high school...it kind of stuck even though it's not my thing. The stuff i had to memorize is still there )

 

You'll like that snake for about six months then you'll be bored to death with it. Had two of em. You get them out and make sure they don't crawl under something because if they do, it can be very hard to get them out. So then you get tired of them trying to escape every time you get them out so you just leave them in there container. Then you never know if they are going to eat or not, if not, you end up taking care of a stinking rat until they decide to eat it. And like somebody previously mentioned above, they will get big and mean with age and you will slip up one time and they will bite the snot out of you and then you will get rid of it. Good luck with it.

 

Wow...way to be optimistic...

Feed them when they're hungry and they'll eat. My brother has pet rats, so dealing with live rats still isn't a problem. Handle it often and allow other people to handle them and they will never get mean. As for escaping, you can't exactly handle a ball python and assume he's going to stay with you. If you let him out of your sight, that's just careless.