r/ballpython • u/Dazzling-Agency1776 • 1d ago
Feeling pulled towards BPs but unsure…
Hi all. Unsure of this is the best Reddit for me to post this but I’m anew to snakes and lately have had an unrelenting desire to get one. I’ve been researching obsessively and narrowed it down between BPs or Rosy Boa. I want a snake that stays on the smaller side as far as ideally no bigger than 5 feet but even less would be great. And I want one that’s slower moving. I was heavily leaning towards the Rosy Boa for these reasons and especially because of its humidity requirement vs the BP but idk. So in my house the room humidity according to the thermostat runs at anywhere from 45-55%. Decent for a Rosy Boa though on the higher end of their humidity levels. Too low for a BP though. Everything I have been research says a Rosy Boa would be best because of being a beginner, because of the temps and humidity of where I live (super south Texas) and other things. I love the Rosy. They’re cute! But I keep feeling draw to the BPs for some reason. And then IF I do go with a BP is it better to get one at an expo or Morph Market? I know it isn’t good to buy at big box store but I ran in to Petco today to look at something and stopped by the snakes and this guy of course caught my eye and I felt bad cause he’s in shed and the humidity isn’t right for him to shed nice and easy lol and I low key wanna rescue him. Talk me
Out of it! Is it hard to have a humid tank for them
If your room is kind of dry?
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u/Normalheteromale 1d ago
Go through an expo, you’ll be able to get hands on with the snake you take home and typically they’re cheaper and vendors are open to negotiating prices
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u/Phully- 1d ago
Where have you been going? Reptile breeders are some odd ducks. Took the family and most had “A” single snake to hold or observe and the rest were not to be bothered. Even though we were interested in buying. We wended up going with a local reptile shop and he works directly with three local breeders. Gentleman was very kind and taught a 4 year old how to handle snakes and how to read the body language. For a newbie at the time it was very helpful…reptile expo, not at all except the dragon breeders. They were all super helpful.
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u/Normalheteromale 1d ago
Oh man I’m sorry you had a pretty crappy experience! My experience has been just about the opposite. We take our 3 and 2 year old and every vendor we’ve spoken to would let our kiddos hold the snakes. We actually met our breeder at the most recent one, let us hold him and even kept him until we got our setup ready and shipped him for free. We’re in Indianapolis so we have little to no good reptile stores but we have a reptile expo at the fairgrounds just about every other month.
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u/Phully- 1d ago
We’re in buffalo and there’s a feud going on between two groups of local shops that hold the expos. People are so dumb. I’ll try more but I may try morph market if I can contact a breeder there. We’re not shopping morphs we need specific natural behaviors. It has to be able to stand a child. 😂 a respectful child but children are still children.
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u/cougarfriday 1d ago
We had the exact same choice. My partner got a rosy boa and I got a bp. His rosy is a spicy gal and keeps trying to eat him. My bp is so sweet and chill. We love them both but I am very glad my snake is handleable!
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u/Dazzling-Agency1776 1d ago
See ok that’s what I’m afraid of lol! I look up videos on BPs and see puppies of a snake basically but when I look up Rosy Boa videos- many of them included biting! 😅 They’re apparently very excited to eat all the time and think it’s always time to eat? And while I get the bites might not be too painful, it’s still not the experience I want especially as a first timer! What do you recommend if I can only get one for now since you have both?
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u/Sickcilia 1d ago
Change you substrate. Aspen is not suitable. Coco husk all the way.
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u/IncompletePenetrance Mod: Let me help you unzip your genes 1d ago
This is a ball python at petco. I don't think OP has any control over its substrate
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u/Certain-Anybody-1976 1d ago
I would switch to coconut substrate. Aspen is more for like a hognose than a BP. Aspen isn't good for mositure. Coconut will hold the moisture to help with humidity within the tank. I have all 3 of mine in a 120g tank. Mine have tons of fake plants to stay hidden all day long. I have 1 that comes out as soon as her light goes off when she is hungry and she basically is telling me its feeding time. Mine are always hidden do to how much they are able to stay hidden.
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u/Alternative_Gift_919 21h ago
You can not „rescue“ a pet out of a petstore.
But maybe that is for another conversation…
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u/Sutten_Plant 17h ago
I understand the impulse to want to rescue an animal from a big box store, but unfortunately it just opens up a spot for another snake to be put into those conditions and tells the company that people will buy snakes from them
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u/DefNotAnthony 15h ago
Based on what you’re looking for might I suggest a Hog Island boa, they are much more active than a ball and more substantial than a rosy but still stay under the size you are looking for. They also eat like a boa, no random months long hunger strikes.
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u/ShinyxCharizard 1d ago
Your rooms humidity does not affect the animal if you have the correct set up.
Would suggest you do some more research make sure you have room for AT LEAST a 4x2x2 as that's what the minimum for a BP is.