Ron's Ball Python Blog

When I read posts throughout the Internet, I tend to think that reptile and herp vets are evil people that turn into horrible monsters when the moon is full. I might actually believe this nonsense if it weren’t for the fact that I have wonderful relationships with many vets myself so I know they aren’t evil at all. Reading posts on forums (including ours), one might get the impression that reptile and herp vets are evil monsters because most people seem to try to avoid them like the plague!

Vets have pursued many years of higher education in order to understand and treat an assortment of animals, including reptiles and herps. Just because your ball python or reptile is unable to bark or meow doesn’t mean you should not take it to the vet if you feel something is wrong with it. Forums (like our forum) are a great resource for information but it’s by no means a way to avoid taking your ball python or reptile to the vet if it needs attention.

The sad reality is that if you can’t afford a visit to the vet in the event that your animal sincerely needs the attention, you may have to ask yourself, “Should I really keep an animal or reptile as a pet, especially since it relies on me exclusively if it ever needs the assistance of a vet?”

You can now locate local Reptile & Herp Vets through our website. They’re there for your pet and are not evil people so seek their assistance if the situation warrants it.

Reptile and herp veterinarians are your friends

The use of live rodents to be fed to reptiles and amphibians (herps) is strongly discouraged for various reasons, especially the danger they can cause to the herps themselves. Frozen foods are more beneficial and healthier for your pet and converting them to accept frozen foods after eating only live may not be as hard as you'd think.

Breaking the Myth

Many pet stores, reptile experts, and help books often state that feeding live prey is the best choice of food. This is simply not true. Frozen/thawed foods are just as good as, if not better than, live foods. Do not buy into the argument of "My pet needs live prey, because in its natural environment it must hunt, stalk, and attack its prey for food. No one kills their prey for them in the wild." or "I'd like to give my pet a chance to hunt and kill because it naturally likes the 'thrill of the kill.'" The fact is that animals in captivity act much differently than animals in the wild. Reptiles in captivity do not spend their days searching for food or hiding from predators; instead they are housed in a safe and comfy enclosure with all their habitat needs met for them.

Safety for Your Pet

Feeding frozen/thawed foods are safer for your reptile. An animal that is not hungry will most likely not eat; it will ignore the prey animal. The prey animal on the other hand, left alone in a tank with a predator may not be so relaxed. Rodents may become aggressive and attack and injure the disinterested reptile. Even when your pet is hungry and trying to catch the prey, the prey may use its teeth and claws to defend itself, resulting in injury to your pet. Serious bites and scratches could lead to blindness, gashes, and even death for your reptile. You are responsible for the health and well being of your animals in captivity. That means keeping them properly housed, heated, humidified, fed and keeping them safe from avoidable harm.

Benefits of Frozen/Thawed Foods

There are many benefits to feeding frozen food to your reptiles.

• Increasing number of pet stores are selling frozen foods for reptiles.
• It takes much less room to store frozen foods than it does to house, feed, and care for live foods before they are fed.
• Live foods may have internal or external parasites; the freezing process removes most parasites that may be harmful to your reptile.
• Frozen/thawed food prices are also lower than that of purchasing live rodents.
• All frozen foods are humanely euthanized according to a set of government-dictated guidelines.

Types of Frozen Foods

• Pinkies - most commonly used, are young mice that are almost hairless and smallest in size. (30-45 min thaw time in cold water)
• Fuzzies - second smallest, are juvenile mice with some fur. (60-75 minute thaw time in cold water)
• Small Rats - larger than a fuzzy, but without the fur of adult rats. (75-90 minute thaw time in cold water)
• Adult mice and rats - used in feeding larger reptiles (2+ hours thaw time in cold water)

How to Thaw Frozen Food

Never feed your pet food that is still frozen! You do need to thaw it thoroughly and warm it slightly (above room temperature) before feeding. Warming up the food will enhance the smell and is more attractive to your reptile. Using the microwave to defrost is discouraged since it can leave cold spots in the middle. Follow these steps to defrost:

1. Remove the number of food items from the bag.
2. Put the food in a container filled with cold tap water.
3. Leave the food items in the water for the suggested thaw time for the type/size of food.
4. Run warm water until the entire container is filled with warm water. Let stand 10 - 15 minutes.
5. Just prior to removal and feeding, run almost hot water into the container to warm the food to above room temperature.
6. Remove from the container and shake off excess water.
7. You can also leave the frozen food in the refrigerator to slowly thaw. If time is an issue, pinkies are usually small enough that they can defrost by running them under warm tap water for a few minutes.

Converting to Frozen/Thawed Feeding

If not immediately, most herps will take frozen/thawed foods eventually. If your pet is stubborn, converting to frozen/thawed feeding may take a little bit of time and patience. However, many herps easily convert from live to eating frozen/thawed foods. Here are some techniques.

• Try different size/color foods.
• Make sure food is warm (soak in warm water prior to feeding).
• Use long tongs (never use your fingers!) to dangle the food in front of your reptile.
• Let your reptile get inside a hide box, then using tongs, wiggle the warm food in the entrance.
• Try different movements: up and down, side to side, at different speeds with your tongs.
• Using tongs, drag the food across the substrates, giving it little hops.
• Feed a small live food and follow it immediately with a frozen/thawed item.

If your pet is still stubborn about accepting frozen/thawed foods, have patience and try leaving the food in the feeding habitat for longer periods of time. You may even try leaving the food in the feeding habitat overnight to encourage your reptile to explore the food and eventually accept it.

Look for positive reactions (head turning, tongue flicks, stalking behavior) while you are feeding your reptile. If the reptile appears stressed, stop and try again later. Remember, it is important to know that it will not hurt your reptile to miss a meal every once in a while. So don't give in too easily and return to feeding live.

Pythons and boas are under attack!

The US Fish & Wildlife has made a motion to ban the importation, ownership and transporting of Pythons and Boa Constrictors in the United States. We need every person who cares about reptiles to write and share your thoughts as to why the ban should not be allowed!

You can read the proposal in its entirety here Injurious Wildlife Species; Review of Information Concerning Constrictor Snakes from Python, Boa, and Eunectes genera and write a comment on their website explaining why you feel the ban should not be allowed on harmless Pythons and Boas. I've provided my comments below but please do not use my comment as a template for your own, present your comments in your own words.

Remember, they try to start banning Pythons & Boas first and then it moves to another species and then another species and before you know it, we're only allowed to keep stuffed animals or photos of animals and that's it. Stand up to the goverment and exercise your right to keep harmless Pythons and Boas as pets!

Thank you for standing up and speaking for the animals that cannot speak for themselves.

PLEASE POST THIS INFORMATION ON EVERY REPTILE FORUM YOU PARTICIPATE IN, YOUR BLOG, REPTILE NEWSGROUPS, REPTILE CHATROOMS, TELL YOUR FRIENDS, YOUTUBE ABOUT IT, ETC.

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To whom this may concern,

My name is Ronald Crawford, a professional breeder of ball pythons (Python regius) and owner of RCReptiles.com. I thank you for taking time from your busy day to read my comment. I'm writing you today concerning Docket ID FWS-R9-FHC-2008-0015 to voice my comments and concerns about the possibility of potentially demonizing the entire constrictor family of serpents based solely on a few species within the constrictor family such as the Burmese Python. I am only familiar with ball pythons so I can only speak to the defense of this particular species. I’m hopeful that other herpetologists well versed with other species within the constrictor family will deliver compelling arguments as to why they should be excluded from your list of harmful constrictors as well.

Ball pythons are docile snakes by nature and pose absolutely no harm or threat to humans, children, babies or household pets such as cats and dogs. They are non-venomous and grow to a maximum length of only 3-4 feet and are in fact one of the most popular pet snakes because of these and other attributes. They are incapable of killing and consuming an adult human, child, baby or household pet and there are no records or reports of a ball python causing death to any of the aforementioned nor will their ever be.

The ball python trade in America contributes strongly to the US (and global) economy by providing revenue to companies including airline and shipping for transportation, advertisers (both online and offline), US Fish & Wildlife for import/export inspections and permits, tax revenue for our government, etc. et al. Ball pythons are also used by many educators to provide an up-close and personal “one-on-one” experience with young impressionable children at schools about reptiles and animals in general. Many children, who are indeed the future of our planet, are not familiar and educated about animals and pets other than cats and dogs. This experience helps to educate and give them a broader appreciation for reptiles, animals, the environment and the importance of conservation in addition to the diverse flora and fauna populations found on our planet.

I’ve merely scratched the surface on the importance of not allowing the ball python and other non-threatening snakes in the constrictor family to be included in the list of harmful constrictors because I know your time is limited and I could go on writing for days about ball pythons. I thank you again for reviewing my comments and hope that what I’ve presented has provided some additional insight and understanding as to why ball pythons should not be included in the list of harmful constrictors.

Respectfully yours,

Ron Crawford
RCReptiles.com

Quarantine is a word and practice that is seldom implemented by many ball python and reptile keepers alike. It’s also an ignored practice that has unfortunately cost the lives of many ball pythons due to a disease or parasite infestation brought in by a new ball python that was not quarantined properly.

Ball pythons from the RCReptiles.com facility are captive born and bred and are 100% disease and problem free, which is one of the reasons why we have so many customers that are completely satisfied with the quality of our ball pythons and our customer service alike. Unfortunately, many ball pythons and snakes in general that come from pet stores (in addition to unscrupulous breeders’) harbor dangerous and deadly diseases that can infect and ultimately kill your existing collection of established ball pythons.

Zoos are all too familiar with the importance of quarantining new animals because they don’t know if the animal is healthy or not. Well known Zoos trade, buy and sell animals’ amongst each other and despite the fact that they may all be well known institutions, they still adhere to strict quarantine procedures. You too should incorporate a quarantine process when you bring new ball pythons (or snakes in general) into your home.

Place new ball pythons in quarantine!

My New Snake Looks Fine Though
It doesn’t matter if you acquired an animal from a pet store, from your friend that no longer wants her ball python or even from RCReptiles.com for that matter, you still need to place it into quarantine. Despite the fact that our ball pythons are 100% healthy, parasites-free, virus-free, disease-free, etc., you still need to put them into quarantine. You may be thinking, “Why do I need to quarantine them if I purchase them from you?” The answer is very simple. Most people look at quarantine from the “outside in” opposed to the “inside out”!

What this means is that you could have mites or ticks on your existing ball python and have yet to realize this. You could have visited a pet store, handled one of their ball pythons and brought the deadly IBD (inclusion body disease) virus back with you on your hands or mites could have crawled from the snake onto your clothing. The disease or mites could have been transmitted to your ball python when you picked it up without thoroughly washing your hands prior to handling or if mites fell off your clothing and into your ball pythons’ tank when you opened it. Now you have a serious problem with your existing ball python that you knew nothing of so you think your ball python is 100% healthy when in fact it’s not, its been COMPROMISED!

Lets say you receive your new ball python from RCReptiles.com and you don’t place it into quarantine but put it in the tank right next to your existing ball python, or the same tank for that matter (a big NO, NO!). Your new healthy ball python from RCReptiles.com is now susceptible to catching the deadly IBD virus or having mites attack it from the other tank by crawling from the infested tank to the new tank!

The same holds true if you have a happy and healthy ball python in your collection and acquire a new ball python from a pet store or from your friend that decided she doesn’t have the time for her ball python. That new ball python can bring disease or parasites into your collection if you don’t quarantine it!

How to Quarantine Properly
When you receive a new ball python from any place other than RCReptiles.com, you need to take the snake to the vet ASAP and have them check it out. They will perform a fecal exam, health check, and etc. to make sure the new ball python is okay. Ask your vet to check it for mites and ticks as well. Despite a clean bill of health from the vet, you still need to implement a strict quarantine process when you get home.

The new snake should be housed a minimum of one room away from your existing collection of ball pythons or ball python, the further away from your established collection the better. You should use white paper towels as the substrate instead of mulch (aspen, cypress, repti-bark, etc.) as this will help you tell if there are mites on the animal. Products such as provent-a-mite, black flag, no-pest strips, etc. are effective for treating a mite infestation. You can search the Internet for vendors that sell these products in addition to the “articles and reports” section of our website for further information.

Mites can travel to your ball python, change your clothes if you can

Wash your hands thoroughly and if possible, change your clothing after handling the new ball python before you handle your established ball pythons from your collection. Never offer a rodent to an animal in your established collection if you offered the same rodent to the ball python in quarantine. For example, you offer a rodent to the ball python in quarantine and it does not feed. Do not take that same rodent and offer it to one of the ball pythons in your established collection if it was placed in the same cage or near an animal in quarantine.

How Long to Quarantine?
You should keep animals in quarantine for a minimum of three months. You can then move the animals from quarantine into the room where you keep your other ball pythons if you choose to.

Repeat this procedure for new ball pythons and snakes in general that are introduced into your collection. A happy ball python is a healthy ball python so implement a quarantine process to make sure your ball python remains happy and healthy. Feel free to visit our ball python forum to discuss this topic in greater detail.

A very common question that’s asked by ball python keepers is whether to feed their ball python in its tank or in a separate area. The thought process behind whether to feed a ball python in its tank owes its origin to Pavlov and his infamous “dog experiment”.

In a nutshell, many for his contribution of his infamous dog experiment know Pavlov, a physiologist who passed away in 1936 for this infamous experiment. Pavlov learned that if he fed a dog and rang a bell in unison, the dog would be conditioned to expect food when it heard the ringing of his bell. Pavlov would ring his bell and the dogs in his experiment would begin salivating even in the absence of food.

Pavlov's Dog Experiment Might Apply to Ball Pythons too!

This same conditioning process is thought to be possible with ball pythons as well. The common theme is that if you feed your ball python in its tank over a period of time, it will learn to associate the opening of the cage with feeding time. I don’t know if this theory is true or not because I haven’t performed any measurable experiments but to be on the safe side, it’s probably best to feed them in a different tank or container (box, paper bag, etc).

I have experienced first hand some adult ball pythons that will retract their necks in the famous ‘S’ position when their cage is opened, anticipating a tasty morsel of food being placed in their cage. Some adults will literally come flying out their tank when we open their cage on feeding day in extreme expectation of embracing their dinner. Some adults will still come flying out of their tank even on days when we don’t have rodents in the room. Could this be the same effect that Pavlov noticed when he rang the bell and offered his dog a meal? I cannot say without conclusive proof but it’s very plausible, especially since we know there exists some level of intelligence in ball pythons.

If you decide to feed your ball python in its tank and you notice that it postures itself expecting you to place a rodent in the tank each time you open it, you can negate this behavior by gently touching its head with a soft object like a rolled up newspaper. Don’t hit your ball python on its head; gently touch it with the newspaper. Your ball python will retreat and pull back its head; oftentimes it will move its head under its body or turn away completely. This is very helpful when you simply want to remove your ball python for some personal one-on-one time and do not have plans to feed it.

Our ball pythons appear to be conditioned to transition themselves out of the “feeding time” mode to “it’s not feeding time” when we touch them with the newspaper (for animals that posture themselves expecting a rodent when it’s not feeding time). Again, whether ball pythons are conditioned the same way as the Pavlov experiment, I can’t say without conducting measurable tests.

I’m very curious to hear from anyone that has been feeding their ball python from a hatchling to an adult in a separate container to see how it behaves when the cage is opened when rodents are present and not present alike. Please share your stories with us in our ball python forum. Thanks.