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ball python het ?

S

sakura

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my fiance inhertied a ball python. to me it looks normal but i know nothing about snakes. i was told by someone that you can tell by the patterns and marking if it is het or has special genes. if so can anyone show me or tell me where to look for picture of what id be looking for to see if his is het for anything. all i know for sure at this point is that it is a male.
 
I would bet it is most likely a normal male...and the time you would need to put in to prove it is a Het. would be great...if you like him then great...get him a girl and see if you can produce babies with him...

good luck...
 
yeah we are fine with him but he isnt like any snake ive had before. he stays hidden under his water dish all the time. except for when we take him out to handle him or feed him. ev ery snake ive had in the past moved around the cage not like him. we'd get him a girl if we had the money right not.
 
yeah you can't just say a snake looks like its het for something unless you know the parents were het and even then its still guess work.

for example say I breed a het ghost to a possible het ghost and get babies that are all normal looking, well technically 50% of the babies would be hets so you could go through and pick out the ones that have indicators such as head spots or color/pattern variations to try and prove them out as a true het.

What I'm saying is at this point your male is a dinker and like Michael mentioned, you could get a female when you have the money and try and play around with breeding him to see if anything cool comes of it. As far as knowing the indicators for hets goes, there's not really a guide just speculation and none has been proven.

Good luck with him and post pictures of your new friend we all like pics
 
Ball pythons are nocturnal so if you want to see him moving around wait until night time and he should be roaming around. Definitely post some pictures!
 
yeah he doesnt even come out at night he stay hidden all the time. ive checked before. cuz i know alot of snake come out most at night. i dont understand this snake. he seems to be special. lol
 
what are the temps? I have a Pastel Ball in my classroom with no heating...and its cool in the school...and he comes out all the time at night...I have him an upside down clay pot with the hole nocked out bigger as a hide....
 
Actually Jerry...I had it in my class for 8 months on a heating pad and it only ate twice...then it started pounding...thats when I noticed the heating pas had broken...so...with a heating pad...no feeding...without...feeding...has been like that for a year now...no respiratoy issues....nothing...healthy...no need for a vet here...
 
dumje said:
Actually Jerry...I had it in my class for 8 months on a heating pad and it only ate twice...then it started pounding...thats when I noticed the heating pas had broken...so...with a heating pad...no feeding...without...feeding...has been like that for a year now...no respiratoy issues....nothing...healthy...no need for a vet here...
Click to expand...
What?
No heat to digest?
Something sounds fishy here.
 
dumje said:
what are the temps? I have a Pastel Ball in my classroom with no heating...and its cool in the school...and he comes out all the time at night...I have him an upside down clay pot with the hole nocked out bigger as a hide....
Click to expand...

What was the point of this post? What does it matter what his temps are you obviously dont know yours. Y would u need to know his? Not trying to give u a hard time just sittin here scratchin my head?:shrug01:
 
I agree with Jerry 100% on the matter. It is rediculous to think everything is okay with your ball just because it is eating and hasn't had heat for a while. From what you stated, it appears to me that the heat pad could have broke at any time, so you really have no idea when it broke. Not trying to cause any arguments and the way you house your snake has nothing to do with the ops post, but from what you said it sounds like there is a serious lack of husbandry knowledge. I hope the op is smart enough to not follow any advice you may give. In regards to the op, you say you have a heat lamp on your snake? Try a heat pad since balls need belly heat. A heat pad hooked up to a thermostat and your snake will be a lot happier.
 
ok, will a nomal heat pad like i used on he baby animal when i did wildlife rahb work? or does it have to be one of the heat pads from the repile section at the store?
 
I would get a reptile heat pad such as a zoo-med. You have to be careful if you use one without a thermostat though because the temps can vary greatly. I had a ball python receive a very bad burn from a heat pad not hooked up to a thermostat. Thermostats are more expensive than heat pads, so if you can get them both at the same time, great. If not, a towel should be placed between the heat pad and the glass of the tank. This is what I did until I was able to get a thermostat. You can find good thermostats on here or craigslist for half the price of a new one.

Good luck with everything!
 
When I used tanks I put down good layer of coco fiber like 2 inches thick with the pad and depending on temps and tank size. I ran 100 watt ceramic with either 100 watt day light and 60 watt night light.
 
ok thanks. but back to the het thing. a heperotologist here told me that some of the ones that are het have certain markings. like alein head marking and things like that. because if i bred him to another and it was just normal and he is het for something wouldnt i just get het and normal babies? so how would i know what to possibly look for if he were to be het so i would know what to breed him to to get the full possible outcome
 
There really is no way to tell without proving the snake through breeding. He most likely is a normal not het for anything. If you bred him to a normal the babies would be normal and het, but again you wouldn't know which was which. It would take a very long time to prove him out if there was anything to prove.
 
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