Royal Pythons a.k.a Ball Pythons

The Photo is from http://www.ra-reptiles.com/baby-ball-pythons/

Snakes are extraordinary creatures. They are quite different than just about anything else out there. No legs, Shiny scaly bodies, long flickering tongues, and some of the most beautiful colors out there. While there are many that make great pets, some aren’t for everyone. One particular snake species that I find suits most snake lovers is the Ball Python or also named the Royal Python.

Royal Pythons are native to Africa and do quite well in captivity.  A 50-gallon aquarium will do just fine for the entire length of its life. One great aspect about Ball Pythons is that they are hearty snakes. These snakes aren’t as unforgiving to temperature changes as some of the other pythons and reptiles are.

The temperament of Royal Pythons is quite docile. I have kept them for over 10 years and have never been bitten.  I would trust most of them in the hands of children. I think it mostly has to do with its defense mechanism. Once threatened, they will ball into a ball and hide their heads. Hence, the name "Ball" Pythons.  So even naturally they rarely attack. With that being said, another good point is these particular pythons don’t get as big as most of the others in the pet trade. Most Royal Pythons max out in length at around 4-5 feet.

Feeding them isn’t that expensive either. At most you will feed your full grown Ball Python one medium sized rat a week.  I am quite fond of them in that they are vary friendly and inexpensive to maintain. They’re great for beginner herp lovers.

However, its always good practice to make sure your pythons is eating no matter what type. Ball Pythons are particularly finicky eaters. Some will just stop eating all together and several babies will choose to not eat at all. So as a good herper I will tell you to make sure that cute Ball eats before taking him home.

I have had many Ball or Royal Pythons throughout most of my life. One particular Ball that stands out in my mind was my first. His name was Samson. My Uncle Jay bought him for me in a small pet shop inside a mall in North Carolina. Looking back, I can even remember the ride to the pet shop with my uncle. Filled with excitement and intrigue, I felt as if I had just won the lottery. The coolest part was he bought him one too. Which my uncle named Goliath. Inevitably, I got Goliath as well.  I can remember thinking about how Samson was my first "big" snake. I was like 13 and up until then all I had ever taken care of were Garter Snakes.One thing I was fascinated by was the fact that when Samson was either on the bed or floor, if there was an object in his way, he would simply raise up his head and look over it. It sort of gave him a personality. Samson, Goliath and I had many wonderful years together. I had Samson for almost 10 years before he passed. A picture of Samson and I still hangs on my wall today. 

Hope You Enjoyed the Post!

Any Questions or Suggestions email me at jamesdward24@gmail.com

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Parakeets

Parakeets are amazing little birds. They make a great starter pet too. They can be trained to do tricks and have an excellent nack for mimicking. Parakeets come in a few different color variations from blue to green. These little birds are low maintenance. So long as you keep their food and water bowls clean by washing them daily. A weekly cage cleaning would suffice.

These birds aren’t well suited for distinct declines in temperature. So be sure to keep them in an environment with a relatively constant temperature with no drafts. Parakeets as with most other parrots are a bit on the messy side. They love to throw empty seed shells all over the place. One thing that has to be checked as often as possible is the food dish. Often times the dish seems to have seed and in reality its just seed shells. So the ‘keet could potentially be starving.

Pellets are a great idea for just about any bird. However, it can be a bit tricky to get your bird acquainted to eating pellets. One trick is to put ¼ pellets and ¾ seeds for the first couple of weeks and then slowly increase the pellets until there is nothing but pellets in the dish. Another great idea is to place pellets in the food dish throughout the day and at night a couple of hours before covering the ‘keet to go to sleep allow it to eat as much seed as it wants. The parakeet may play with the pellets at first for a few days to weeks but, eventually it will begin eating but, don’t forget during this time to substitute with seeds at night allowing it to eat as much as it wants, then replace the seeds back with pellets before covering the parakeet up.

My first pet bird was a green parakeet named Pete. He was a wonderful pet when I was about 11 years old. Pete would set on my shoulder for most of the day. Hanging out with me as I played in the house or outside. I really found that I enjoyed his company. Sometimes I would place him in a plastic airplane that I would pretend fly him around in. He was a great pet and a wonderful friend.

My Two Parakeets Brooke and Blue back in October 2009.

 If you have any questions or suggestions just send me an email at JamesDWard24@gmail.com

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