Tell me everything you know about ball pythons as pets?

i've raised about 4 of them, they are pretty low maintenence i would handle them often so they would remain socialized, i did get bit once my oldest male, scared the hell out of me more than anything, my male was about 4 feet long and was occasionaly a stubborn eater & an escape artist, a wood cage worked best for them the aquarium lids they can push easily, he did get away once for a couple of months when i found later on he was a lot more aggresive towards eating but not towards me, i kept him with a female, he got loose one more time & stayed lost, the female recieved an injury that never cured & she later died, next i bought another boy & girl both of which "escaped" but this i think was an assisted escape, other wise they are great pets very easy to care for i would often lie watchin tv with one on my stomach balled up & they never gave me much trouble

I had a bemese python once great pets but can eventually bite they are near sighted so dont ever approach it quickly it will get used to your scent. try to handle it often a snake who doesnt socialize will become aggressive.Also dont bother it much when it is shedding it is weak at that time. I feed my snake about once every 1 to two wks but at time it would eat more. dont put your hand in at feeding time it might mistake your hand for food what I did is use some long tongs and wave the dead mice in front of it cause they do prefer live prey and wait and see if it will grab it. also have a basking light for it a place he can go and warm up. one other thing have a bowl with some water big enough that it can get in they seem to like that right before shedding. also remember its gonna grow so plan a head of time to get some proper traing on handling and accommodations for it when it does get large they are strong so make sure where ever you house your snake it is strong enough that it will not escape they are really good at escaping out of even a small hole so goo luck and have fun they are beautiful and great to have just be sensible about having it out and around people til you know its temper. And remember even the most tame snake can bite.

As far as snakes go, ball (aka royal) pythons are one of the best. They are very docile, have great attitudes, and almost never bite. They are, however, very shy and don't trust strangers readily. They don't need much space as far as pets go, I have two in a 40 gallon tall vivarium; purchase a vivarium for the locking escape proof lid.

You don't need an overhead heat source, a human heating pad placed under a towel under a glass tank set on low is enough to keep them warm. I can't stress enough not to overheat your snake, I've had an experience with a heating pad. It was placed on high and caused a second degree burn on the belly.

Overall, if you correctly care for your ball python, you will have a companion for at least 25 years.