Ron's Ball Python Blog

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.