My daughter has been asking for a ball python. This would be her very first pet snake. I’ve kept snakes my entire life and am here to help but what if you don’t have someone like that around? Are ball pythons good pet snakes for a beginner?
Ball pythons are considered an excellent choice for the beginning snake owner. These popular pet snakes are large enough to be impressive and small enough for a child to handle them. They are slow-moving, docile, easy to care for and easy to handle.
Before we talk about all the reasons ball pythons make good pet snakes for beginners let’s learn more about them. Ball Pythons are native to Central and West Africa. They live in grasslands and areas with lots of shrubs.
Ball pythons are a short heavy-bodied snake with a beautiful camouflage like pattern. Babies are around 10 inches and adults can average about 3-5 feet in length.
They can live up to 30 years and get their name because they often curl up into a ball in order to hide and protect their heads.
Ball Pythons Make Great Pets for the following reasons.
Ball Pythons Are:
- Available
- Affordable
- Hardy
- Easy to care for
- Easy to handle
- Come in many colors and patterns
Considerations
- Can be inconsistent eaters
- Can have a difficult time shedding
- Set up can be expensive
- They like to hide
We’ve listed several reasons ball pythons make good pet snakes as well as some things to consider before buying one. Let’s take a look at each one a little closer.
Available
Ball Pythons are very popular and fairly easy to breed. These two in combination also make them very available. They can be found in most pet shops, online or at reptile expos. Finding a reputable breeder is also not very difficult.
We always recommend buying your snakes or any reptile from a reputable breeder. They usually have vastly more knowledge about how to care for a specific species and usually have detailed knowledge and records for your particular snake.
They can tell you all about your snake’s characteristics and specific history before you purchase them. They also tend to be generous with information and are usually experts in caring for the particular animal they are offering.
After all they’ve made it part of their lifestyle and business to raise them up to be as healthy as possible. From hatchling to adults. Not just keeping them alive but reproducing as well.
There are many reputable ball python breeders. If you do a little research you won’t have a problem finding a good one.
Affordable
You can find a normal natural looking ball python for about $50 to $75 U.S. dollars. If you are interested in any of the hundreds of different unique and colorful morphs that are available, this price can easily go up quickly from a few hundred dollars to as much as $20,000 dollars or even more.
Depending on your interests and budget you can usually find a beautiful ball python that is affordable and just right for you.
Hardy
Once ball pythons are established eaters and are cared for properly, they are very hardy snakes. As long as temperatures are kept within acceptable limits and humidity requirements are being met, they tend to do very well.
Easy to Care For
Ball Pythons are generally easy to care for. They will tolerate mistakes better than other reptiles but it’s still a good idea to learn as much as you can about taking care of your pet ball python. Fortunately, the proper information about how to care for them is readily available.
If you buy your snake from a breeder, they will often have a “care sheet” for you. A care sheet is usually a one to two-page document with the most important quick-and-to-the-point instructions on how to care for your snake.
You will need an enclosure with a latching top or door or a plastic tub that fits snuggly into a shelf or rack. This is very important.
Ball pythons are escape artists so a cage with a screen top and a few books stacked on top to hold it down isn’t enough. They will escape.
You will also need a reliable heat source, water dish and a place for them to hide.
Ball Pythons like smaller spaces so a large enclosure isn’t necessary. It is important to have one large enough for them to at least stretch out along two joining sides. Their tail to body along the width of one side and the rest of their body to their head along the length of the other side of the enclosure for example.
Ball Pythons often spend their days curled up in a log and as such they don’t require special lighting like many lizards and tortoises do. This can be good news for their owner who wants to avoid dealing with expensive bulbs and fixtures.
They do however require proper heat. This can best be accomplished by an under the tank heat mat. These come in different sizes and are widely available. It’s important to get one specifically for reptiles.
Sometimes heat mats can malfunction and overheat causing harm to your snake. So, it is also highly recommended that you use some kind of thermostat to keep it in check.
Most ball pythons are raised on appropriately sized frozen-thawed mice or rats. If this makes you squeamish then a snake may not be the right pet for you. At least any snake that eats rodents that is.
Ball Pythons only need to eat about once a week or once every two weeks for larger adults. This is much different than the daily care of many other pets that require far more attention.
It is still a good idea to check their enclosure on a regular basis and remove any feces or soiled substrate that may be present.
Ball Pythons can be kept in a glass terrarium with a sliding secure screen top or in a plastic tub with a latching lid (be sure there are enough holes in the sides of the tub to allow for air to circulate). Many breeders and keepers prefer tubs for the overall ease of care and health of the animal.
Tubs are easy to clean quickly, provide a feeling of security for your snake and can be stored on a bookshelf or “rack” that you can either build or purchase.
The downside to this is that you will only really see your ball python when you take her out. You won’t be able to observe her as she explores her cage.
Ball pythons spend much of their time in their hiding spot so observing them crawling around in their glass terrarium isn’t going to happen much anyway.
This said, it is just fine to keep your ball python in a glass terrarium as long as it has a secure top and plenty of places for your snake to hide and feel secure.
This is important. A stressed snake can stop eating and can even become sick and nobody wants that. With all of these things in mind, ball pythons are considered easy to care for and that makes them a great choice for a beginner or anyone.
Easy to Handle
Ball Pythons are one of the easiest to handle reptiles you can have as a pet. They tend to be laid back, calm, and not nearly as skittish and energetic as other popular pet snakes. This is great news for a beginner especially if that beginner is your son or daughter.
They are big enough to be impressive yet small enough for even a child to handle them by themselves without too much concern for safety. For them or the snake.
When ball pythons have just hatched and for the first few months of their lives, they can be a little more prone to strike. Sometimes this is merely a food response behavior. They see something move and think it’s time to eat and sometimes it’s defensive.
The great thing is, that these little snake bites don’t hurt at all. (Imagine pinching yourself lightly with your fingernails.) So cross that off your list of concerns.
So many people needlessly worry too much about this one thing that they never allow themselves or their kids to experience the joy of owning a pet snake.
This initial potential propensity for biting at an early stage, is very common of most pythons and boas and many other snakes for that matter.
With a little time, ball pythons will generally be very docile. Many come that way right out of the egg. They are typically tame by nature and it’s rare to find one that is trying to bite its owner on a regular basis.
Come in Many Colors and Patterns
Perhaps more than any other reptile available, ball pythons come in many different colors and patterns. This is not the way they would normally look in the wild.
It has come about as a result of many breeders working for a period of years to select animals with various traits in color and pattern and pair them with one another to emphasis that color or pattern. The resulting offspring can often look very different than its parents. This is called a morph.
A detailed description of breeding and genetics and how it all works is beyond the scope of this article. Let me just say thanks to so many breeders who have taken their hobby and in some cases their life’s work to whole new levels to bring us reptile lovers so many variations to choose from and enjoy.
As mentioned earlier the more unique and rarer a morph is the more expensive it can be. Some can even cost as much as a car!
Colors and patterns range from all white with blue eyes to calico looking patches of white and other colors. From albino snakes with hues of yellow orange and pink to very dark colored versions with interesting pattern variations.
Some have stripes and others a psychedelic looking camouflage. One of the most amazing things about all of these is that they are all the exact same kind of snake. Ball Pythons. They can just appear to be so different. Some refer to these different skin colors and patterns as a “paint job”.
This is one more reason these snakes are so interesting and appealing. No two are exactly alike and it’s very easy for you to get one that has its own unique look.
Considerations
With all the reason to own a pet ball python there are also some things to consider. Let’s examine those next.
Can Be Inconsistent Eaters
Ball Pythons are notorious for being inconsistent eaters. Some eat very readily and never have a problem yet others can go “off food” for weeks at a time and sometimes even months. This can be very concerning and worrisome for the first-time snake owner.
It can also be difficult to get hatchlings to start eating. This is another reason it’s a good idea to get your pet ball python from a breeder.
One who has already gone through the process of getting them started eating on frozen thawed rodents and feeding them their first few meals. Very often they can tell you how many meals your potential new snake has had and even show you the dates of these meals.
Can Have a Difficult Time Shedding
Snakes should always shed in one long piece of skin like a rolled off pant leg. They shouldn’t shed in pieces. This is normal for a lizard but not for a snake.
Ball pythons can sometimes have problems shedding properly. If this happens then it’s a sign the humidity is too low and just needs to be increased.
Set Up Can be Expensive
Along with buying an enclosure, a heat mat and thermostat as well as substrate a water dish and a place for your snake to hide, initial set up can be a few hundred dollars before you buy your snake.
Let’s face it. Buying a reptile as a pet is a lot more involved then just getting a pretty betta fish in a tiny fishbowl. Ball pythons are no exception. And this is pretty common with most pet snakes.
You can save some money if you buy your own tubs and drill your own holes. You can even build your own snake rack to put it in.
The good thing is once you have it all set up and you’ve purchased your new snake the most expensive part is behind you. For an animal that can live 20-30 years or so this really isn’t that bad.
They Like to Hide
Ball Pythons like to hide. They aren’t very active and as such are often tucked away in the darkest part of their enclosure away from prying eyes.
If you are looking for a snake that is more active and frequently crawls around their enclosure climbing up and over things on a regular basis, there are better options.
Conclusion
Ball pythons are very good pet snakes for beginners or anyone who is looking for a new pet reptile. They are interesting to look at and come in all kinds of color and pattern variations.
If you like the idea that ball pythons are there for you when you want to hold them, are tame enough for even a child to handle, are low maintenance and easy to care for, then a ball python is a very good choice.