Winter Choice

Hey Folks,

So I'm looking to buy myself up a new BP, and from what I've read, most BP tend to go off eating over the winter season (although this appears to be more a case of the 1year+ snakes rather than the babies). Should this be a concern of mine considering it is mid-winter? Should I wait until spring before I buy my snake?

Thanks, as always!

If you see one that you like I'd get it. Just be prepared, have a cage all set up with proper temps., and when I bring one home I use a shipping styro with some hot water bottles in it to maintain heat, that way he/she don't get a chill on the way home.
Mike Derks

The cage is almost all setup, I'm just worried about getting a baby that's not going to be feeding becuase it's winter. Maybe I should wait till spring to buy her?

You could wait til you're more comfortable with the weather, But I have C.B.B and C.H. babies (85 or more) and currently they are all feeding like champs. My room temp. is at 82 - 84 and they have a warm spot, the room light is set-up on a timer for 12 hours - That's my baby room. I really think if you keep them warm and keep the lights on that the babies will continue to feed. Good luck with your decision.
Mike Derks

Thanks for the reply Mike, really appreciate it. You raised another question of mine though..about lighting. Most sights I read say that BPs dont need much in the way of lighting. You say you have your lights set on 12hour timers -- do I need lights for my setup then? I was under the assumption that normal sunlight would do the trick..maybe I'm waaaay off base?

I think that decreased lighting can contribute to a slow down in their feeding behavior.
Ball Pythons don't need light like a Bearded Dragon, because of the vitamin D thing. But when I lived at my other place my snake room was influenced by a window and when Sept. and Oct. arrived and the days were shorter, many of my BPs would go off feed or slow down until about March or April and then their feeding response would increase. That's been my luck
Mike Derks

So is that a full-spectrum light you're using? I'm trying to avoid using lights as they can apparently dry out the bedding and lower the humidity in cage

figured I would stick my nose in here. Mike referenced room lighting, not individual cage lighting. Ambient lighting is sufficient, but sometimes the shorter periods of (day)light can negatively influence feeding responses. I was lucky this year...I kept my baby BPs in a room with some non-BP adults that I was cycling, and never had a problem with them feeding with only 8 hrs of light .

Thanks Harald,
And you're right, the room lighting is a standard 4' fluorescent. Thanks for your patience.
Mike Derks

Do your research, have a great home for it, and go out and GET R DONE!!!