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The first thing you should do when you receive a new ball python is give it an adequate amount of time to acclimate and settle in to its new home. Your home is a new environment to your ball python with many scents that it may not be accustomed to. This new transition into your home will likely cause it stress just as it would to a small child that advances from kindergarten to elementary school. New faces, a new school and new classmates will probably cause some anxiety to the child. The same principal applies to your new ball python. You'll need to give it some time by itself without bothering or handling it so it can settle in. Refer to the following blog article which goes into greater detail on properly acclimating your ball python.

After you've allowed your ball python some time to acclimate and settle in, you can then offer it a meal. Sometimes ball pythons will feed immediately when offered a meal and sometimes they won't. If your ball python doesn't feed when you offer it a meal then you need to take a step back - figuratively speaking of course - and try to figure out exactly why it's not feeding. This process is similar to flicking a switch on a lamp to illuminate the room you're in only to find out the lamp isn't working. Is the bulb blown? Is the lamp plugged in? Is the switch broke? Is both the bulb blown and the lamp unplugged? When trying to figure out why your ball python isn't feeding, you have to first remove all variables one at a time in order to try and figure out the underlying cause of why your ball python is not feeding.

1. Are you handling the ball python for long periods of time each day causing it stress? If so, cut down on the handling or stop handling it until it starts feeding again.

2. Is the cage/tank set at optimum conditions? Check both the hot and cold spots and make sure they're both at their acceptable levels. Check the humidity gauge and make sure it's optimal as well. Make sure you have all the necessary ingredients that make up a suitable environment.

3. Is the cage/tank in a high traffic area of your home and is the hide placement adequate? Refer to the Proper Hide Placement for Ball Pythons article for tips on how to properly place hides for maximum results.

4. Are you offering it frozen thawed? If so, double check your feeding strategy by referring to the article entitled Feeding F/T (Frozen Thawed) Food Items. Since we're trying to remove variables, I would suggest offering your ball python a live hopper mouse in a small tight shoe-box sized container to see if it feeds or place the ball python in a small brown lunch-bag along with the mouse (and a piece of food for the mouse), seal the bag completely and check on it in a few minutes. Again, we're trying to remove variables in an effort to figure out why it's not feeding so offering live in this context is perfectly reasonable and recommended.

5. Perhaps the ball python needs more time to settle in and acclimate? If you've performed the steps outlined above and it's still not feeding, it's very possible that it's not ready to feed yet and simply needs more time to settle in. I would contact the breeder and inform them of the situation and try offering it a live hopper mouse twice a week as outlined in #4 above until it begins feeding.

We as humans in an ideal situation consume food pretty much each day for the most part. Not only that, we tend to eat several times a day. Our diet differs drastically from that of a ball python whereas adult ball pythons can go months without feeding on a voluntary fast and hatchlings can go more than a month or so with no adverse affects. I would recommend trying the steps outlined above and bring the breeder into the picture if you're crossing the 2-week period with no success.

Refer to the original article for more information and viewpoints on the subject and join our ball python forum to discuss this topic in greater detail with our members.

Appollo's arrival

Pastel ball python

New pastel ball!

My 2010 baby female lesser p. ball python

Male het pie bp 1st day

**Rackdaddy Update**

I've been out of the loop lately and have failed to respond to emails and phone calls because I've been down the Gulf of Mexico helping out as a volunteer with the oil-spill cleanup efforts. Both Peter and Matt from the facility joined me for the trip as we tried to do our best to help save the environment and animal life in general. Although we live many miles away, it's still our planet so we had to do whatever we could to help out.

We're back now from the cleanup efforts so please give us a little time to catch up and get back to full speed here. Karen, Ginger, Eric and Steve were manning the fort here at the ball python facility while we were down the gulf cleaning up corporate America's mess and I want to publicly thank them for a job well done. Excellent job guys!

Thanks for everyones patience.

Ron

Visit and bookmark ReptileVeterinarians.com. It's a free service for locating local reptile vets in your neighborhood using just your zip code.

Ball pythons can pick up ticks so make sure you check your ball python – and check it twice – to make sure there are no ticks on it when you remove it from the grass. Ball pythons are pretty good swimmers too but you still need to monitor them if you decide to let them swim in your pool. Rinse them off very well and let them soak in clean water if you've had them in a chlorinated swimming pool. They have a very powerful grip so bear this in mind if you allow them to crawl on objects. It may be a challenge to remove them if they've wrapped themselves around something like the arm of a chair for instance.

There are many people in the world that are deftly afraid of snakes. I for one was very afraid of snakes many years ago – circa 2,500 BCE – so I know how afraid someone can be if they suffer from Ophidiophobia (fear of snakes). We know ball pythons are harmless wonderful pets but there are many people that see them as nothing more than another “scary snake”. Please be mindful of these people when you have your ball python outside.

I'll more than likely add to these tips as we approach the warmer summer season. Until then it's piles of cold snow to contend with. Brrr.....

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Jerry Seinfeld and NBC - in association with RCReptiles.com - is searching across the country for married snake and reptile owners! If you and your spouse bicker over your pet ball python, snake or reptile in general we would love to hear from you!

"The Marriage Ref" will be coming to NBC Sunday night at 8PM and will feature married couples that bicker about an assortment of light-hearted subjects. If interested please email RealityShowNBC@gmail.com for more details. Pass this along to anyone you know that bickers with their spouse over their reptiles and would like to be in a television reality show!

Please include the following:

1. A recent photo
2. Your location and phone number
3. How long you've been married
4. Your reptile issue

We look forward to hearing from you.

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