CapeFearConstrict
Wilmington, NC
Male, 32
I've been working with ball pythons for over ten years now. Two years ago I decided to breed them as a business. I run a small operation. Currently I have approximately 100 snakes in my breeding program and hope to produce over 200 babies in the 2013 breeding season. I've always been fascinated by reptiles, snakes in particular, and being able to work with them every day is very satisfying.
I feel ball pythons are a great starter snake. They are very docile, reluctant to bite and they don't get too big. Some snakes are very active when being handled, they will be going this way and that, and for a child this might pose problematic if the snake gets away from them. Ball pythons will explore a little bit while being handled, but they aren't usually quick moving and they are easy to control. Ball pythons aren't perfect though. They are notoriously picky eaters. I have some snakes that haven't eaten in over seven months. This is frustrating when you're trying to raise up a snake for breeding, but as a pet owner, it's not such a big deal. Corn snakes are another species that come highly recommended. I have no personal experience with them, so I can't comment much. Definitely research any species you decide to go with before bringing your pet home.
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Ball pythons got their name due to the fact that when they feel frightened or stressed, they ball themselves up. I've read that the reason ball pythons do this is because in their natural environment, the king cobra is their natural predator, and balling up makes them more difficult to swallow. I don't recall where I read that, so I can't verify if it's factual but it makes sense to me. As for other reasons why snakes might coil up, I think there might be a few different reasons. If they find a warm spot, like a rock that has been heated by the sun, coiling up over it makes sure their entire body gets the heat. It might also help to make them less visible to predators and to feel more secure. It could also put them in a better body posture to strike if they need to.
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Honestly, that's a tough question. An easier question would be "what's the worst thing about breeding snakes?" That would be cleaning up snake poop day after day. :) The best thing... It would have to be seeing baby snakes hatch out of their eggs. It takes anywhere from 4-8 months from the time you start pairing the male and female together until she lays eggs and those eggs are ready to hatch. Those babies are the culmination of months of anticipation, hoping, hard work and patience. It's a combination of seeing the miracle of new life, the feeling of accomplishment in knowing that you had a big hand in making it happen, and the hope you have for the future with the babies you just hatched. That would be the best thing about breeding snakes as far as I'm concerned.
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No, that's not possible. Like I mentioned in an earlier answer, snakes can't be trained in the same way dogs and cats can. They just don't have the intelligence required. It would also be difficult to teach them vocal commands because snakes don't have ears.
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OK seriously, how DOES the clown car thing work?
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I feed most of my snakes rats of various sizes, depending on the size of the snake. The more picky eaters might get mice or African Soft Furs (ASFs), a more rare type of rat.
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There's no set rule that can be used to determine if a mutation (morph) will be valuable. It's all determined by how desirable the mutation is and how much supply there is of that mutation. As for making an individual snake valuable, you have some control over that. You would need to pair up a male and/or female that contain the gene or genes that you want in the baby, and then hope you hit the odds. The way the mutations work is that a baby is born that is different. The difference might be subtle or it might be blatantly obvious. Most of the morphs we have today came from wild caught animals from Africa. When these snakes are found, we don't know if the mutation is caused by a genetically passable trait, or if it's just some anomaly in the snake. A breeder will need to buy the snake and prove it out, which in some cases, can be very expensive. As an example, the viper ball mutation was bought for $70,000 and turned out not to be genetic. The GHI ball mutation was bought for $125 and now animals with that single gene are going for $10,000. It's a gamble that some of the big breeders take because the payoff can be enormous. A single new desirable gene can make a breeder hundreds of thousands of dollars in just a few years. Can you create a valuable snake by breeding two normal or common snakes together? In extremely, extremely rare instances, yes, but normally no, that doesn't happen. The only way it could happens is if a random mutation occurs in one of the babies that turns out to be both genetic and desirable. There have been very few instances of this happening, but it does happen.
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I think I need to clarify what exactly constitutes an attack from a python. Pythons only attack their prey. They strike, bite and constrict. They don't crush, but their constricting makes it difficult for their prey to breathe. With every exhale of the prey, the snake constricts tighter, making it impossible for the prey to breathe. Ultimately, the prey will suffocate and die. At that point, the snake releases the constriction and swallows the prey. I've never been attacked by a python, in the sense that they thought I was prey. I know this has happened to others, and there are methods to get them to release, but in general, they will let go after a few minutes when they realize you aren't dying and they've mistaken you for food. Most bites people get from pythons are from defensive strikes. These are bites that occur because the snake is scared and wants you to leave them alone. The snake will not pursue you, but rather will seek to run away. Therefore, the best way to get them to calm down is to put them back in their enclosure and leave them alone. Generally speaking, the time between opening the snake's enclosure and when you pick them up is the time when you're most likely to get bit. Once you get them in your hands, they usually calm down and are fine. Every once in a while, you'll get one that is so high strung that even after picking them up they are tense and stressed out. The only thing you can do with those are to spend time handling them every day. That may acclimate them to your handling and they should calm down.
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