I got balls...

[ParadigmShift]

Curious if we have any other ball python collectors on ICmag.
Breeding season is here and all my adults have been pairing for the last couple months.
I'd love to see some of your pics, here's a few of mine.
First picture, female normal
Second female pastel
Third & forth male bumble bee

 

[ParadigmShift]

OK, let's try that again...

 

[Telly3000]

Those are sweet! I like the bumble bee one.
I used to keep snakes back in highschool.
How hard is it to breed them?
I see you mentioned a breeding season.
How many eggs on average?
What do you do with the babies?

 

[ParadigmShift]

Once they reach maturity pairing them is easy. Females tend to wait till their second to third season, and atleast 1500g. The males can go much sooner, for exemple this bee was not even 500g only 6 months old and was locking-up with every female I'd put him in with. Come spring time, so do the eggs. In the incubator they go for a couple month till the babies pip.
They have anywhere from 4-12 eggs, average about 6-8.
Hoping to see some QueenBees and a Blue Eyed Leucistic this year
Fingers crossed...

 

[Telly3000]

Once they reach maturity pairing them is easy. Females tend to wait till their second to third season, and atleast 1500g. The males can go much sooner, for exemple this bee was not even 500g only 6 months old and was locking-up with every female I'd put him in with. Come spring time, so do the eggs. In the incubator they go for a couple month till the babies pip.
They have anywhere from 4-12 eggs, average about 6-8.
Hoping to see some QueenBees and a Blue Eyed Leucistic this year
Fingers crossed...

That's pretty cool IMO
Well put up some pics when the eggs and babies come, I've never even heard of a queenbee or the blue eyed leucistic

Edit: Just checked out some pics of the ones you mentioned, supercool looking, kind of albino

 

[ParadigmShift]

Similar but different, unlike albinism, leucistic is caused by the reduction in all skin pigment, not just melanin leaving the snake white instead of yellow.
I love the leucistics but don't care for the albinos.
Peace
God Speed

 

[ParadigmShift]

A picture I took tonight of my Bee locked-up with my normal female.

 

[Directrix]

I'd take a picture of mine but she's blue right now.

 

[ParadigmShift]

Hey Dtrix your girl in full shed, you got a morph or just a normal?

 

[Directrix]

Yeah she's a normal reduced, but she's got this awesome stripe down like the last 8" of her tail. she's pretty awesome. i would love a pastel but i doubt it, I've got a cornsnake who's still a baby.

People always argue cornsnake vs BP but honestly, they're both awesome in their own ways. It's hard to compare the two.

 

[ParadigmShift]

Agreed, surely she has done her shed? Would love to see a pic of her...

 

[Ickis]

I have a coastal carpet python named Peyton Sneaky Snake. He, I think it is a he, is 2 years old and between 7 and 8 feet long. He is a very good feeder too. Sheds all in one piece. Carpets are very easy to care for. I was waiting for him to shed to take pics so he would be all bright and new. He shed last night again all in one piece, even the head cowl but he isn't as bright as he usually gets. Anybody ever experience this?

He easily eats a medium/large rat, not the jumbos (so things are like rabbits). I give them to him live and always have. He is docile except when he wants fed. One time he hit the back of my hand with a strike and it was like getting hit with a baseball bat. The teeth made me bleed but they don't really hurt or cause damage. It was the power of the strike that hurt.

I wait until he has been hunting a day or two before I feed him. On average he gets a rat every 10 to 14 days. Once in awhile I make him go 15 days or so. Keeps him in shape hunting. I am in the process of building him a larger cage with a bigger floor space. His is only 20" x 20" but he has 3 feet of height and I keep climbing rods up top so he has some space. He is just getting pretty long.

I am making one where I can section him off to one side for ease of cleaning and also a prey door so I can just put the rat in a side section and then open the inside door once I have the outside door closed. He is getting to big to just open up the doors and hand him a rat even with tongs.

 

[ParadigmShift]

I have no experience with carpets but I have a buddy who breeds them along with jags.
I stick to balls, as they are much more docile and quite a bit smaller.
As far as balls go, they do brown out as they age. It varies from snake to snake, some more some less. That may be what you are seeing with your carpet's last shed.
I'll have to post some pictures of one of my females, she be all plumped up and full of eggs.
BTW beautiful carpet
Peace

 

[Ickis]

I think that carpets are a bit more aggressive when it comes to feeding but otherwise they are that much. They can be when they are small but seem to get out of it. You need to practice some things with it. Handle them frequently. Never open the cage door and feed them instantly or they think the cage door opening is a diner bell.

Carpets are longer but they say an 7-8 foot carpet weighs the same as a 4-5 foot ball.

You have some real nice looking snakes too. The patterns are way cool.

 

[danny karey]

What a cool f'n thread!!!! Alot of great info paradigmshift.............and killer pics!!

I used to have a couple but was forced to get rid of them when I had my son.............I miss them alot.

I see that your in Canada too Paradigm...............Do you sell the baby's at a store or? Would love to get back into keeping a couple of snakes.

Keep up the good work........and I got this puppy tagged!!


Danny

 

[TexasToker]

Before I went to the military I was an avid collector. I had breeding piebalds, a few regulars, and a weird (at the time) morph I got from another collector called the bumblebee morph, but it was way more spotted than yours.

I came across this morph and fell in love, I bet it has a nice pricetag too.

Called the black widow. Pastel X Black Pastel X Spider

 

[ParadigmShift]

@ Ickis - I'm not dissing the carpets, I love them very beautiful snakes. I share my snake collection with my 8 year old son, a hunger strike or a defense strike, is a strike...I can hand feed all my balls as can my son.
My biggest female is about 5' and weighs in at about 3000g. Easily kepted in a tub in a rack, very efficent for me to maximize room for more snakes.

@ Danny Karey - Thanks for the props man.
I'll never sell none of my balls to a pet store, ever. If I can't sell/trade the snakes, I keep it. I'll only sell/trade to other private collectors, this year I should have available some nomals, pastels, super pastels, spiders and some bumblebees males and females. And for a fellow ICmager the prices will be right, I'm also in Ontario.

@TexasToker - Sexy snake right there boy...
So far I've only been playing around with Doms and Co-Doms, but have plans to work with Recessives. I love pies, and plan on working towards my own panda piebald.
Here's a pick of one, not mine.


And here is another recessive I would love to one day produce, it's a spider:killerbee-axanthic this would be my holy grail.

Peace

 

[ZoeFresssh666]

wow, those are pretty amazing!!

 

[Ickis]

I didn't think you were dissing carpets snake paradigm. I wouldn't care even if you were. LOL! I got this as a baby from a homeless guy near the end of the summer. He said it would die with him in the winter.

I never had a snake before. I am just a "save the wild kitten" kind of person. If I could find a good home for him I would. I can't just hand him over to anybody though. This type snake can live for 30 years. He could have 28 years left.

cya around the net back to growing weed for now.

 

[Directrix]

Agreed, surely she has done her shed? Would love to see a pic of her...

yeah here she is..

I had to take her to the vet for a RI this winter, but she's all good now.

Apparently she's a normal reduced pattern. I love the stripe down her last 10" of her tail though.

and here's my cornsnake, saying what's up..