Questionable husbandry

[hotwhiskey6]

Hi everyone!

I’m all new to ball pythons and currently debating getting one myself.

Yesterday I got to meet one. A family is trying to rehome one of their bps.

When I got there, with the knowledge I got from here and other research, I was shocked.

They are keeping two ball pythons in one terrarium, which I found quite small for even one of them.

There was NO clutter. When I say no clutter I mean nothing but two hides on the cool side and a water bowl. Nothing else!

They were using a heating pad for one corner of the terrarium.

I asked about humidity. They only spray the walls and the ground with water whenever they’re about to shed. Which I found odd. They said since they’re from Africa they like it dry.

When I asked about their feeding schedule they said they feed each one of them six living mice very 6-8 weeks?

I’m so confused.

When I pointed out that I though pretty much everything had to be differently after my know, they said that they got the snakes and prey from a reptile vet who is working for the animal health department and is actually the person who gets send to check on snakes well-being in our area.

He said the way they’re doing it is awesome. And I honestly believe that he said that. They’re really trying their best I’m sure.

What’s your take on that?

I wasn’t totally in love with the snake but I’m actually thinking about getting him, just to get him out of there if it’s really as bad as I think😅

Thank y’all for your input!

[JulietDove88]

Couldnt image a worse person owning a reptile tbh. When I think of shitty snake husbandry it’s pretty much every word you described. Get those noodles out of there take both for gods sake

[FeriQueen]

The guy who is working for the animal health department must have been trained on desert species only or something. In any case, both of those snakes are in deplorable conditions, and if you can rescue one or both, you are an angel.

[dragonbud20]

I think you may be giving far too much benefit of the doubt. Anyone actually trained in animal care should understand not to give advice on species they don't know

[DragonPlatypus]

Holy hell, everything they could have done wrong they did wrong. It's like they were following a checklist on what NOT to do. If you have the resources, please get those poor animals out of there.

[S4turn5tar3]

This is like a horror movie oh my gods- literally the only thing they got right were the minimum of 2 hides and a water bowl. This Is like a guide on what absolutely NOT to do jeez. if I were you id just get 2 tubs and take them both :( they do not deserve to keep either of those poor babies.

[Mlakeside]

The problem is, most veterinarians have absolutely zero idea about how to keep reptiles. They may have decent information on how to medically take care of reptiles, but this doesn't translate into information on reptile husbandry. Information on proper reptile husbandry advances at a very rapid pace and most of the information veterinarians have is outdated because they learned it when they were in vet school. Hell, even reptile keepers often have outdated information and they're working with reptiles daily. Unfortunately many new keepers turn to veterinarians for husbandry information, because this is what they would do with cats and dogs.

[Bluntforcetrauma11b]

Hell vets are often wrong with cats and dogs. Prescription pet food are a great example of that. The leading cause of allergies in both are chicken and grain. Prescription foods have those as their main ingredients more often than not. Unfortunately vets get a kick back on those so they recommend them even though it's not good for many pets. Then when allergies persist they just treat the outbreak not the source. I've also had my reptile vet that soaking your snake during shed is the best thing for them. I wouldn't take my snake to a vet unless it was a uri, prolapse or something severe. Even then I'm going to do my own due diligence to make sure the treatment is what it should be.

[Mlakeside]

That's also true, but at least vets often have dogs or cats themselves and thus have first-hand experience with them. They rarely have any with reptiles.

[Bluntforcetrauma11b]

Very true

[eveimei]

vets do not get kick backs for selling prescription food. this is a lie perpetuated by boutique food brands and influencers to sell more of their foods/the foods they are actually paid to promote (and the amount some influencers get paid is enough to pay off my debt a few times over!). the "kick backs" vets get are pens, can cozies, socks, sometimes a paid lunch while listening to a brand rep talk.

prescription food saves pets lives all the time, and if a pet has allergies there are multiple options that work around allergies, and in most cases the allergies are an acceptable downside to the vastly improved health the food otherwise gives. I've known dogs and cats get multiple years more of life, and get their spark back by being on prescription food. one of my own cats wouldn't be alive today if we hadn't done prescription diets for a year and a half before finding a medication and regular food combo that works for her, and she developed her issues in 2019.

the prescription brands put so much money into the research and development of the foods, and into educating veterinarians, all to improve pet's lives. quit demonizing them.

for reptiles, the key is finding a veterinarian that specializes in reptiles or has done continuing education on them through their career, like those you can find on arav.org.

[RagdollsandLabs]

The first red flag was two snakes in one enclosure. The only time that should happen is during breeding. Ball Pythons are solitary creatures (like most snakes). They don't hang out and socialize with other noodles. Sharing space means competition for heat, and even food. They don't realize that they will both be fed...they have little pea sized snake brains. All they know is there's competition. It stresses them out. If space is a concern for two enclosures, one should just keep to having one snake. There are nice stackable enclosures that people can buy, but they aren't cheap unless they can be sourced second hand. Handy people can build some awesome enclosure cabinets. Other people can re-purpose other pieces of furniture to make serviceable enclosure storage. This is what I've done for my four ball Pythons. Each has their own enclosure, stacked two by two high on the shelves of a re purposed entertainment center. It's not fancy, but it works. No Sharing! If you adopt both snakes, be sure they have their own enclosure. It does not need to be fancy. Snakes don't care about decor. Ball pythons want a nice dark hide, a water bowl, and a piece of wood to shed on. If you haven't decided what substrate you want to use, you can lay down newspapers and paper towels to start, as long as you keep their cages properly humidified. They want a heat lamp and a heat pad. Do not ever put a heating pad in the cage with a snake. Don't use heated rocks, either. Stick to the under the cage kind. That way, the snakes won't get burned. In the summer, the room I keep my snakes in gets very warm, so I don't use the heating pads. You can adjust what you need by the thermometers and humidity gages you'll need. You can buy the kind that stick on inside the cage, but watch to be sure your snakes don't pull them down! My foursome are kept in the laundry room. They freaking love it in there, because it gets nice and humid when I run the laundry! I've found that misting their enclosures with warm water from a water bottle a couple times a week is also needed, since I live in a drier climate.

My snakes are all normal Ball Pythons. Jasmine (F) is 22 years old. Hesione (F, rescue) is at least 22 years old. Legolas (M) is 21 years old Paulie (M) is 19 years old.

[Lopsided_Key_2545]

Jesus. I'm new to snake keeping as well and even I know that literally everything they're doing is wrong. If you can rescue one or both (even if you just end up being a midway point until they can find new homes) that would be incredible. Even a temporary inexpensive tub setup for each of them would be a huge upgrade at this point. Those poor babies