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If you would like to be featured here send me a little info about yourself and include of pic of you and your snake(s).
Be as brief or lengthy as you wish. . Feel free to use an alias or remain ananymous. If you are under eighteen
please do not include any contact information such as phone numbers or addresses.
-Chip
RoyalPython@aol.com
I received these e-mails and photos from Margaret Navarro.
Thanks for your helpful website!
Three weeks ago we found a Ball Python under some brush on the beach at Ocean Shores Washington. He was injured, having
bite wounds over much of his body. We brought him home and got on the web to find out as much as we could about his care.
He has been to the vet and is on antibiotic injections every three days. He has eaten twice and just came out of a shed two
days ago. He seems to be adjusting very well to his new home and we are doing our best to provide what he needs. We named
him "Lucky" as corny as that sounds, because we feel that if we hadn't found him he would have died. see enclosed pic.
Margaret
Navarro
Dear Chip;
Thanks for the quick response to my email. I would be delighted to share the picture and I'm enclosing more.
One shows the extent of his injuries. "Lucky" seems to be quite happy in his new home. We have added a second hide for him.
The first was a box placed over a heavy water bowl and he spent most of his shed time in it. We have a ceramic bulb on a rheostat
and a light for heat and will soon add a heat pad under the tank for the second hide. We plan to add a piece of driftwood
when the right one shows up, but for now he seems to enjoy climbing around on the empty oak spice rack we found at a thrift
shop. The two men in the family have had some prior experience with snakes, but this is the first for me and I'm soaking
up as much information as I can. I think he is beautiful and fascinating. Thanks again for your help.
Margaret Navarro
You write about whatever you want...about yourself and your pythons.
Bonnie wrote:
Ball pythons make incredible pets when the owners are well informed and responsible
people. Owning any pet takes alot of work, and the ball python is no exception. I got my first reptile 2 years ago. I had
alwayz wanted a snake as a pet, since I was a little girl and my uncle had a gorgeous boa. Two years ago, I finally decided
I was ready for the commitment, and I went out and bought a book. I read that book from front to back, absorbing all the information
I could. Then I went online and looked up more information. After about 2 weeks of research, I went to the pet store to look
around. The first shop I went to had about half a dozen BP babies. They all looked healthy, and the shop was well cared for
and clean, but none of the babies were "the one". I decided to go to one more pet store, and there she was. This shop was
also very clean and the animals were healthy and lively and as soon as I saw this little 12 inch baby BP, it was love
at first sight, as corny as that might sound. So I took her home. I put her in her new enclosure, and I watched her for a
few hours. I wanted to hold her more than anything, but for some strange reason I was afraid to. I finally worked up the nerve
to hold her, and I didn't want to put her down after that. She's alwayz been a healthy snake. Now she's almost 4 feet
long. My second BP, Sapphire, was another story. About 4 months after I got Shimmer, I was browsing through a lil pet store
I hadn't been to before, and I saw him. He was shedding, sitting in his water bowl, looking miserable and lonely. So I asked
to hold him. The girl at the register went into the back to get him, and brought him out holding him in a canvas bag... she
was afraid to touch him! I reached out and grabbed him and she told me to be careful and I started thinking this woman was
crazy because he was the friendliest BP I had ever met. I couldn't resist, I paid for him and took him home. It was that night
I realized I had made a huge mistake. A few hours after I had him home, he finished shedding and I got my first good look
at him. Along the entire length of his back were scratches, like he had rubbed up against something rough over and over again.
Not only was his back raw, but I found a tick under his chin! It was then I relaized he must have been imported... how else
does a snake get 2 ticks (yes, I said 2, I found another one in his belly a little later)??? I called the pet store and they
offered to buy him back, but I couldn't send this sweet, abused snake back to these ignorant people! So I pulled the ticks
out and sterilized his wounds and took the best care of him. After a few weeks, he still hadn't eaten and I was getting worried.
I took him to the vet and they couldn't find anything wrong, they told me to just keep trying. After 3 months, I decided I
had to force feed him. It was just as stressfull on me as it was on him! So I force fed him a couple fuzzies ever 2 weeks
for months, offering a couple for him to eat on his own in between. After 4 months of force feeding, he suddenly began eating
on his own. My hard work had paid off! FINALLY! Now Sapphire is a healthy 4 feet, eating on his own, and just as friendly
as ever. Shimmer and Sapphire live together in a 36"x 18" tank. My vet told me they didn't like living together, so I went
out and bought another of everything, costing me more than $200, and I separated them and they both stopped eating! So now
they're together again, living happily ever after, and my little girl veiled chameleon Skunkie occupies the extra tank. I
hope to get a red tailed boa soon. My boyfriend has an 8 footer named Melakiya, she is the most gorgeous thing ever (well,
besides Shimmer and Sapphire, of course ;) ) To anyone thinking about keeping a ball python, take this advice...
do your research first. Read books, surf the web, visit reptile chats, talk to breeders and other BP owners. It could mean
the difference between life or death for your pet. Your (future?) ball python is counting on you, do it for him.
Feel free
to e-mail or IM me. Mackenzi31285@aol.com
Thanx!
~Bonnie
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