5 MISTAKES Ball Python Owners Make

Novice ball python keepers often make the exact same five mistakes.
One of them could quickly cost you your snake's life.
Even some of the big box stores recommend one of these mistakes in their care guide, but we are going tell you which one it is, AND why it's a bad idea.
Here's to you having a healthy pet ball python.

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[skipper]

Thank you so much for this. At first, I did not know the difference between a python ball and a basketball, but now I do!

[lightsout]

When the power went out here in Texas I had to wrap my ice cold BP around my neck for hours a day for weeks to keep her alive. I took her with me everywhere. Keeping my neck warm kept her warm so it was a job she learned and she never strayed once.

She’s has creamy yellow/blonde scales with shock blue eyes so she’d freak ppl out but they liked it.

[nataliesreptiles]

Awesome video. I had 2 ball pythons, and the difference between them were night and day. Same enclosure set-ups, same feeders, same temp and humidity parameters. One, my female axanthic was the perfect pet snake. She ate almost every time, she was very sweet and inquisitive, never really seemed stressed about anything.
The other, my male DG enchi, was the complete opposite. He always hid in the deepest darkest corner of his enclosure. He always huffed at me when I tried to take him out, and struck at me a few times. And after 5 months he went on a hunger strike and didn't eat for like a whole year. In that year he slowly lost weight. I took him to my vet, who is very knowledgeable with reptiles. An x-ray, blood work, and $500 later, he came back with a clean bill of health outside of being under-weight. I tried every feeding trick in the book f/t, live, pre-kill. I tried different colored rats and mice, different sizes, and even resorted to debraining. Nothing. And all the work of trying to get him to feed only seemed to stress him out even more. He'd strike at every prey item like it was a predator. I finally ended up surrendering him to a reptile rescue, hoping they would have better luck than me.
Still have my axanthic though. She's still perfect as can be.
Ball pythons are just oddballs sometimes.

[johncorpuz]

I work at an animal ER and I’ve seen several cases of what you talked about as the last point. The rat ended up munching on the snake and the wounds were so bad that euthanasia was the only way to ease the poor snakes’ suffering 😢 Definitely a great last vital mistake to end with.👍🏽✌🏽

[Ibaneddie]

Great video but one thing you guys left out is Ball Python Diabetes, watch that sugar intake, make sure your Ball Python is limited on how many sodas, Pop tarts, and Happy Meals you feed it every week. It's a good idea to keep them away from strip clubs and gopher holes as well! Yeah they'll whine and act like big Ball babies at first but as keepers it's our responsibility to make sure the health of the animal is first and foremost, and knowing is half the battle!

[horser]

This was so great! Thank you for emphasizing the importance of being an educated and prepared owner vs buying on impulse.

[bandito]

My first ever snake was a ball python. You made a good point of not leaving live rodents in there cages. I hope nobody does that. I did that once and my ball python got really hurt. The vet had to put her down because the surgery was way to expensive. Please, anybody who gives there snake live rodents, never leave there snake unattended it there enclosure.

[devinslaven]

I love how you throw some bloopers in. Makes the videos that much more fun to watch.

[girltarantula]

I’m new to the hobby, I’ve found that tanks do not work in my dry dry area BUT, I didn’t realize that plastic locking storage tubs came in many different sizes. They work like a dream. My 1st boy I bought a habit, became aggressive in a week, moved him to an appropriate size tub and he’s back to normal. I recieved a really dry baby that felt like sand paper, it wasn’t eating, it came in a glass habitat. I decided to try the tub method, add substrate, a heating pad area, hides boom I rehabilitated it. My mojave came with shedding problems same thing, had his 1st shed with me, no problem. I now have 10 healthy, eating active snakes. A lot of them came to me not eating. I’m only a month and a half in and I can’t wait to learn more. I’ve been researching bps for 20+ years and have finally gotten into the hobby. I was scared at first but out of all my exotics....piece of cake.

[redactedunknownclowngod]

Lord let me find this later one when I'm taking notes 🙏🙏 Need to avoid these mistakes:
1) 0:31 Insufficient research prior.
2) 2:06 Using wrong substrate and/or dry environment.
3) 5:05 Not checking that the meal was actually eaten.
4) 6:44 Irresponsible/dangerous pet handling.
5) 9:00 Feeding live prey (especially irresponsibly unsupervised). (irresponsible already tbh)

[karyannfontaine]

Love the way you impart knowledge with humour. I have never fed live, only frozen thawed. Each Ball python has his or her own personality. My snakes come out with me in warm weather for snake enhancement in the privacy of my own yard. Do the people who wear them in public even think the snake may be fearful? The only drawback to these snakes is when they go off food. For a novice owner, it can be concerning. My males sometimes do this during breeding season. My female who is 19 years old thinks she is gravid, I do not believe she is, has not eaten since December. She still looks very healthy at a good weight.

[zachenglish]

I had to do a double take during the skit. That was quite a shock!
Nice editing too :)

[Frost-khmg]

I love your guy’s videos! Please keep em coming! My beardie Penny and I love watching y’all. God bless you and your family sir

[reptielenshowassen]

Haha loved that skit! Great video! I agree with all of these. For housing baby ball pythons, I use bins, as it can get very expensive to buy terrariums every time it outgrows it. They often won't eat if the bin is too large, so upgrading it as it grows is very effective in my opinion. Also, in case you ever HAVE to feed live, it helps to make sure there's nothing between the snake and the prey and that the prey remains at a safe distance and isn't facing the snake. As soon as it wraps the prey, squeeze your feeding thongs into the rodent's mouse to prevent it from biting the snake. This can help minimize the risk. But as is said in the video, frozen thawed or pre-kill is the way to go.

[MarkedInBlack]

I’ve found that Aspen is okay to use as long as you have a large tub the snake can submerge in to hydrate. I had a Ball get scale rot from using more moist substrate. With a dry substrate and a soaking tub, the snake self regulates without risk of scale rot, and never had shedding issues with that method. Just my two cents of what has worked for me with Balls, Boas, and a variety of other Python’s and smaller snakes.

[littlesnake]

I realized Argyle needed more humidity. He was so lethargic. More lethargic than ball pythons usually are. I soaked the soil and he came alive! He loves it. He also loves getting fresh water in his dish. He comes right out and gets active.

[katrinarobertson]

THAT SKIT!!!
OMG, Me and my boyfriend laughed so hard we had to pause the video!
I swear you guys have the best blend of educational and comedy since Chewy left snakebytes.
I love you guys!

[sidewayshonda]

I’m so glad that I know what to use as a new substrate I really didn’t know that aspen was bad for her so I’ll be going in and changing it asap thank you for the tips!❤

[laurahernandez]

You guys are so funny! love the videos. Lots of great info.

[chrissy_crumbles]

I've had my ball for 6 years now. I got her when she was a baby. She has always refused frozen/thawed. I kept trying, but it got a point where she went 2 months without eating so I said no... this isnt going to work. So I switched back to live but then she still refused for another few months. I was so scared she would starve.
Vet said she was fine since she wasn't under weight (she even shed twice during her hunger strike!) and to keep trying. She eventually started eating again...after 11 months!! I never tried frozen again. It was probably not what caused her hunger strike, but I was so relieved she started eating again that I didnt want to change anything. That was when she was 1 to 2 years old that this happened. She is doing amazing now. Love my girl.
And I have a large enclosure for her...this is the first advice I've heard that supported this. Most people have said to me that I have her in too large of an enclosure and that balls are shy and like smaller spaces. I figured she needed room to move and stretch out so I always kept her in a larger enclosure.
Thank you for this video.
And yes, never ever leave live rodents in with your snake unsupervised!! Ever!!