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.
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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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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If you go to my website (link is at the top of this page) and check out my YouTube videos, I have some where I unbox snakes I received in the mail. You can see exactly how they get packed and shipped.
If properly packed, the snakes won't jostle around too much in transit. The boxes are also labeled as fragile and containing live animals, so most people handling them will be careful as well.
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A green liquid coming from his heat pits? That's definitely not normal. I have no experience with that, nor have I ever heard about anyone else experiencing it. If it continues, I would suggest taking him to your vet.
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I don't know how necessary it is, but it definitely doesn't hurt. I usually feed live, but occassionally need to feed frozen/thawed. When I do feed frozen/thawed, I typically wiggle the prey item in front of the snake for a few seconds to simulate movement. Typically, if the snake is going to eat, it will strike the prey and constrict. I don't typically keep moving the prey item after that happens, but a couple seconds of movement to simulate a struggling prey certainly won't hurt.
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I have no hands on experience with either of those species. I would recommend seeking out advice from keepers of those species. Feeding habits can vary widely between different snake species, so any advice I can offer may be useless at best and even potentially destructive to your cause.
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There have been no recorded incidents of a ball python killing a human. Ball pythons only constrict prey. If the snake does not believe you are prey, it will not constrict with the intent to kill. A snake may hold on tight to your arm (or your neck if you have it draped over your neck) if it feels unsupported, but it won't be with the intent to harm. A ball python will never mistake your sleeping son as a food source. If a ball python escapes, it will look for a warm, tight, dark spot to hide and wait for a rodent to pass by.
Your son has a greater danger of dying from falling out of bed than from a ball python.
Odds of dying from falling off a bed, chair, other furniture: 1 in 4,238
Odds of dying from a constrictor snake: 1 in over 5 million
Constrictor snakes kill, historically, 1 person every two years. Falling off furniture kills over 500 people every year. These numbers are easily verified through a web search.
A ball python is a great pet for kids of all ages. Don't let irrational fear keep your son from enjoying such a wonderful pet. Good for you for actively looking to find answers!
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