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======== Copy of Your Message ========
Subject: Re: ball pythons
Date: 5/21/04 6:05 AM Central Daylight Time
From: M surinamensis
MsgId: <
[email protected]>
>You'll find info on ball pythons at my site
"They are equally comfortable on the ground and in trees"
Wrong.
"Like most pythons, ball pythons are curious and gentle snakes."
Anthropomorphism and wrong. There will be many instances of statements throughout this "care sheet" which are incorrect in large part due to the inclusion of "most pythons" or "most pythons and boas"
"Males have longer spurs than do the females; males also have smaller heads than the females."
Stated as an absolute and therefor... Wrong.
"Ball pythons, like all pythons and boas, devour a variety of prey in the wild - amphibians, lizards, other snakes, birds and small mammals."
Again, wrong. There are a good handful of species which, while opportunistic feeders, can't be said to be widely carnivorous and have fairly specific predator-prey relationships. "Devour" when used to describe a species with such strong SPECIFIC feeding instincts is hardly appropriate either.
"They do not eat mice in the wild, however, and do not recognize the mice we offer them as being something edible."
Wrong. They certainly DO eat mice in the wild. Not our lab bred white mice, but they DO eat mice. Understanding which mice is key to understanding the feeding triggers.
"Ball pythons are reputed to be able to go for extended periods of time without food; wild-caught ball pythons have gone for a year or more without food until finally enticed to eat lizards and other snakes"
Since the natural diet contains very few lizards and snakes and the overwhelming majority of a ball pythons prey is mammalian- the above is... WRONG.
"This should also make you suspicious when a pet store tells you that their ball pythons are eating well."
An illogical conclusion based not on reality but rather Kaplan's anti-pet trade sociopolitical views. She has made it abundantly clear many times that she wishes to see the pet trade abolished- any statements she makes regarding the subject are suspect at best, propagandist rhetoric at worst.
"Buying captive-born ball pythons reduces the stress on the threatened populations in the wild and helps ensure you will get a healthy, established eater and a snake already used to contact with humans."
Wrong. Wild populations of Python regius are not threatened. Quite the opposite in fact. Collection for the pet trade has become a fairly substantial industry in many of the nations where these animals are found. Because of this, there is a distinct emphasis on sustainable collection and preservation of habitat. Ball pythons adapt very well to captivity, have extremely low percentages for import fatalities and their collection creates some economic stimulation in nations which need it fairly desperately. While captive bred animals do offer certain advantages, there is no reasonable moral objection to collection of this species from the wild. The above quote is simply... more anti-pet trade garbage.
"All ball pythons are naturally shy about having their heads touched or handled by strangers."
Wrong. More anthropomorphism with the inclusion of the word "strangers" Your snake does not know you as an individual, no matter how much you might wish this was the case. Behavioral responses will alter subtly as animals age and with the approach the handler takes. Rather than your ball python getting to know YOU... you get to know your ball python. It changes the approach you take towards handling and thus the response the animal will display. If you want a pet that loves you and recognizes you as being a unique individual, buy a puppy.
"All snakes are escape artists; ball pythons are especially powerful and cunning when it comes to breaking out."
Compared to what exactly?
"Pine and aspen shavings should not be used as they can become lodged in the mouth while eating, causing respiratory and other problems."
Wrong. Pine should not be used because of the hydrocarbon levels, aspen is 100% totally fine. Unless all those captive breeders who were being so heavily praised earlier in the same "caresheet" have got it wrong...
"The utilitarian approach is to use inexpensive Astroturf. Extra pieces can be kept in reserve and used when the soiled piece is removed for cleaning and drying (soak in one gallon of water to which you have added two tablespoon of household bleach; rinse thoroughly, and dry completely before reuse)."
Poor advice. Astroturf, cage carpeting or any other similar materials are all trash. They are composed of extremely dense microscopic fibers and are never truly "dry" in the center, no matter how they may feel on the surface to the touch. They do nothing more than harbor bacteria, spread disease and illness and fray (leaving very dangerous loops of tough thread sticking up).
"Ball pythons prefer dark places for sleeping and, as they are nocturnal"
The same page started out by listing them as crepuscular.
"Proper temperature range is essential to keeping your snake healthy. The ambient air temperature throughout the enclosure must be maintained between 80-85F (27-29 C)-during the day, with a basking area kept at 90F (32.5 C)."
Wrong. Mere lines after it was noted that they hide throughout the daylight hours and do not emerge when the sun is up. A basking area for a ball python is a useless waste of a lightbulb, a simple thermal gradient maintained from one end of the enclosure to the other is all that is needed. Much simpler to maintain with heat tape or UTHs without mucking around with lightbulbs. Just plain poor advice.
"No special lighting is needed. Ball pythons are nocturnal snakes, spending their days in the wild securely hidden away from possible predators. To make it easier to see your ball during the day, you can use a full-spectrum light or low wattage incandescent bulb in the enclosure during the day."
Again, contradictory information mere lines apart. This section is immediately underneath the one which stresses the importance of a basking area created with an incandescent bulb or ceramic heat emitter.
"When they eyes clear from their milky opaque, or "blue" state, soak the snake in a tub of warm water for ten minutes or so, then lightly dry it off, and return it immediately to its tank; it should shed cleanly within twenty-four hours."
A ten minute soak? Why that duration? What prompted the selection of an apparently arbitrary number like ten minutes?
"Many of the parasites infesting ball pythons and other reptiles can be transmitted to humans and other reptiles."
Wrong. Very few can be transmitted to humans, the majority of parasitic organisms are extremely host specific- to a particular species in some cases.
"Ball pythons are native to very warm, but not hot, dry areas in Africa. Many people make the mistake of trying to keep them in a too humid overall environment, using damp sphagnum moss or misting them frequently throughout the day."
And spend most of their lives underground or underneath leaf litter and detritus. Where the moisture is. The mistake of keeping balls too dry is far more common than the mistake of keeping them too humid- as is evidenced by frequent reports (probably from individuals who followed this "care sheet") of poor sheds and dented eye caps. Balls should have a humidity greater than forty-five percent- around 55-60 is ideal.
"The problem with this is that keeping the overall environment damp leads to conditions such as blister disease where in the skin, usually of the belly, becomes covered with blisters, leading to bacterial infections of the skin, which in turn leads to overall health problems."
Ah... I see now. Melissa Kaplan does not know the difference between "Humid" and "Wet" Not a big surprise really, considering.
"Daily contact with each other will begin to establish a level of trust and confidence between you and your snake."
Anthropomorphic crap. Plain and simple... WRONG!
"Unfortunately, the lust to sell has overcome common sense in private breeders as well as pet stores and wholesalers, and an increasing number of boas and pythons are being sold who are infected with this virus."
Anti-pet trade propaganda again. IBD is extremely rare. While it does occur, it's not common by any stretch of the imagination, nor is the characterization of breeders and dealers as money grubbing uncaring types appropriate or accurate. Kaplan doesn't like the pet trade or, as far as I can tell, the idea of owning animals as pets to begin with. Breeders and dealers are some of the most passionate, animal loving, caring and knowledgeable individuals it's possible to find. If reliable information on a species is desired, go to someone who actually works with it... don't turn to Kaplan's Herp Care Misinformation website if you want to keep your animal alive and healthy.
"The main causes of death of snakes in captivity are directly related to their care: improper temperatures, contact with heating and lighting elements, no regular access to water, lack of necessary veterinary care and treatment, careless handling--all things for which we, as their caretakers, are directly responsible."
Forgot to mention "This caresheet"
This is an old argument... Kaplan has a lot of "caresheets" which contain outright lies, misinformation, dangerous omissions and seem to be little more than a vehicle for her anti-pet stance. Many times she has said that mistakes, when pointed out, would be corrected... I eagerly await the revisions to her ball caresheet (and boa, and burm, and anole, and beardie, and cornsnake, and kingsnake and well... the whole site really) but doubt that they'll appear anytime in the near future... or ever. There's a very good reason why those who have been working with reptiles for long enough to develop that BS radar avoid her like the plague- her "information" seems okay with very casual inspection or if one is not experienced enough to see the errors... It's always wise to seek other sources for anything important though... like keeping your animals alive and healthy.
Hey Kaplan... do you even OWN any ball pythons, or was this "caresheet" written based off information contained in ancient TFH publications and books by DeVosjolie (the most notorious plagarist to ever "write" a reptile care manual)?
-Seamus
"Genes, like Leibnitz's monads, have no windows; the higher properties of life are emergent... And once assembled, organisms have no windows." - Edward Wilson, Sociobiology
