Two quick questions for anybody with ball pythons?

[Allthingsterrarium]

Hi there! I have wanted a ball python practically forever. I know I'm definitely getting one (or several) someday but right now there is a gorgeous one like nothing I've ever seen before on a great website called morphmarket. He's a deep amber yellow with a light tan head and small black spots and lines. In any case he's jaw dropping stunning and I can't recall ever seeing another like him so I'm definitely considering maybe getting him. weighing the pros and cons. He's probably still available but the listing hasn't been updated in a while. I've done a lot of research on them over the years so I think I have most of it down but there are two things that are currently bugging me.

One is lifespan. I know it's a pretty long term commitment and most sources say they live about 20 years on average. That's pretty good for a maximum average in my opinion and its' similar to my gray banded kingsnake but other sources say that with good care they can live 30 or even 40 years. Good lord that's a long time, especially for my current living circumstances. I like my animals to live a good life but I actually prefer it when they have a more modest lifespan if possible because there are so many terrarium animals I would love to experience keeping and I can only care for so many at once. Is it true that 20 years an acceptable norm or is 30 years or more commonplace?

Secondly, according to the breeder listing, this particular ball python is unfortunately currently being fed live mice. Now I personally don' freak out about that as much as other people do, after all the snake is much stronger than a mouse and I imagine injury risk would be minimal and that it would also be extremely quick and painless for the mouse. The thing is frozen food would be sooooo much easier to handle, especially when this snake becomes large enough to take rats, not many places sell live feeder rats around here. Also my Mom, who I live with, is really freaked out by live mice. Is it typically difficult to gradually wean them onto thawed food?

 

[Enn49]

A 20-25 year lifespan is pretty average for a Royal Python but having said that I had for a time a grand old man of 31.
Your other question is harder for me to answer as here in the UK we never live feed snakes unless it's a matter of life or death. Royals can be very picky over their food so I'd say the younger the snake the more chance you have of changing it to frozen.

 

[Memo7]

I’ve owned snakes for close to 20+ years. Royal pythons with my experience have been some of the most difficult when it comes to food. If it is a young snake I would start with a change to frozen thawed and move to rats as soon as you can as for me rats are a better meal than mice. Good luck

 

[Oursapoil]

Hi,
They can indeed live very long. As they reach adult size, please be aware that they can make massive dump and their urine smell is quite strong too. If you are planning on having many be prepared for a lot of cleaning. They will also need to be separated during feedings). Depending on where you live, heating them up in the winter can also become costly. I was not lucky with mine as they would trigger an attack only on moving preys (lucky me I had a Petco next door). I was lucky a couple of times with frozen jumbo rats (to feed my adults) by letting them warm up (after fully thawed) on a heater and "jingling" them by the tail in front of the pythons (use a long tongues for that, they are very nice and never tried to bit me or my son but when feeding it is not worth taking the risk).
Break a leg my friend.

 

[Allthingsterrarium]

A 20-25 year lifespan is pretty average for a Royal Python but having said that I had for a time a grand old man of 31.
Your other question is harder for me to answer as here in the UK we never live feed snakes unless it's a matter of life or death. Royals can be very picky over their food so I'd say the younger the snake the more chance you have of changing it to frozen.

That doesn't sound too bad as far as lifespan is concerned. Sounds only a few years longer than a well cared for bearded dragon. The snake I'm looking at was born last year and is only 80 grams so with some persistence it should work out since he's young.

 

[Allthingsterrarium]

I’ve owned snakes for close to 20+ years. Royal pythons with my experience have been some of the most difficult when it comes to food. If it is a young snake I would start with a change to frozen thawed and move to rats as soon as you can as for me rats are a better meal than mice. Good luck

Yeah he was born in 2020 and is still pretty small so that's sounds like a good sign for being more eager to try new food presented differently!

 

[Allthingsterrarium]

Hi,
They can indeed live very long. As they reach adult size, please be aware that they can make massive dump and their urine smell is quite strong too. If you are planning on having many be prepared for a lot of cleaning. They will also need to be separated during feedings). Depending on where you live, heating them up in the winter can also become costly. I was not lucky with mine as they would trigger an attack only on moving preys (lucky me I had a Petco next door). I was lucky a couple of times with frozen jumbo rats (to feed my adults) by letting them warm up (after fully thawed) on a heater and "jingling" them by the tail in front of the pythons (use a long tongues for that, they are very nice and never tried to bit me or my son but when feeding it is not worth taking the risk).
Break a leg my friend.

Thanks Oursapoil!
Oh yeah I wouldn't have a whole bunch unless I had a big house in the countryside and more time to clean! That does sound like it would be pretty awful smell wise! Unfortunately I live in Wisconsin and winters here are not kind to us. I's hard enough to keep my other terrarium animals warm so that's certainly a challenge I'll need o consider now. I've certainly heard good things about letting the food get warm.

 

[Spotted Bull]

I have seen several instances of mice biting snakes. I'll never feed live. Get one already feeding on frozen/thawed. Balls are hard to switch to frozen from live. I've tried. You can do a filtered search on morphmarket and filter out the live feeders. Ultimately it's up to you. But frozen sure do store easier. And you don't have to feed them.

 

[Scorp]

The only time I have seen a snake get injured is when feeders are just left in the tank. I live in a small town where feeders are hard to come by so I call our local farm supply store and get broiler chick's (chickens ment as meat birds) Not only do they have less chance of hurting the snake, they are also 75% cheaper.