Husbandry Tips & Tricks

FAQ about Ball Pythons

This is a resource page filled with frequently asked questions about the care, breeding, and business of Ball Pythons and other reptiles by Rich Macias. If you have any questions please send them to Rich Macias and I will be certain to answer them as soon as possible! Take care!!

Hi Rich, What are the numbers like 1.0 or 1.3 or 0.2 mean in your price list page?

This is a sex/gender code, the 1.0 stands for a single male. The 1.3 is a single male and three females. The 0.2 simply means two females. Sometimes, you may see three digits like 1.2.5 which is 1 male, 2 females, and 5 gender unknown.

What kind of records and paperwork do you keep?

I maintain feeding/record cards for each and every ball python in my collection. Every snake has an ID number starting from my first ball python until now (on my 1,200th or so). Each card has the animals genotype, gender, hatch date, parents ID#'s, and type of food they accept. I also have breeding details for example lock ups, ovulation dates, and egg laying dates for all the proven breeders I sell. I also have a section of the card specifically to sketch any unusual neck markings for an extra identification measure. I make sure no snakes are mislabeled or accidentally switched during routine cage cleaning.

Thanks for visiting, I want to be as helpful as I can, so if you have any reptile related questions about ball python care, breeding, feeding, caging, buying, selling, and so on. Let me know :-) my email is snakebloodlines@aol.com.

Rich, "Is your line of Tri-Stripes compatable with the Snake Keeper original lineage of Tri-Stripes?"

This is an excellent questions, and I honestly don't know the answer to that as of right now (June 4, 2014). My Tri-Stripes hatched out from an albino to het albino breeding in 2010. Back then, I did trace a "grandparent" to one particular aberrently marked captive hatched female that I purchased from the Snake Keeper, but this purchase was many years before Snake Keeper proved out or even obtained their original Tri-Stripe animal. To date, I have yet to attempt any breeding of my lineage to the Snake Keeper line. Do I hope they are compatable? Absolutely Yes!

Hey can you please give me some tips on how to fatten up or maybe make my ball pythons pick up weight a little quicker? Oh and what is the correct way to thaw out mice and rats to feed them?

Live rats of the appropriate size bulks up ball pythons.

My snake is always striking at me when I open the cage.

Here is a reply I made to someone consistently getting a feeding response bite everytime they opened their snakes cage:

"How high are your temps? Maybe turn down the hot spot a couple degrees. Sometimes we keep them too hot for comfort & this extra heat increases digestion, thus increasing appetite, & we get a constant feeding response every time we open the tub." Rich Macias

Limited Availability, First come First Serve...

All animals sold on a FIRST COME FIRST SERVE, if there is something your interested in please send payment as soon as possible. No reservations without payment. Many times I have been answering questions on high demand animals, only to have another person send payment immediately and swipe a "deal in progress". I highly recommend if your seriously interested in purchasing, send payment immediately.

Never use aluminum tape to hold a thermomostat probe in place!

Note to self...Was having the most difficult time getting my temporary incubator to hold proper temps!

Figured out the problem. My thermostat probe was taped to the heat tape with aluminum tape which insulated the probe giving it a 10F higher:hotter false reading!

Started put regular masking tape and getting an accurate reading now! Oh man...what was I thinking?