Before the materialization of the Ball Python Craze, I have always been interested in them. Ball Pythons have been in my life also since the beginning of my herpetological pursuit. My first purchase was in 1990; A "captive bred" baby which did feed on mice but nothing else; a typical ball python once it has established a prey item.

This trait of prey specificity for all its minuses with imported specimens is actually a huge plus in its behavior towards their human owners. The reticence of ball pythons striking and feeding on other prey animals also benefits us in their reticence to strike us. They also (as you well know) go into a defensive ball (hiding its most vital part; its head) instead of taking a stance and striking as many snakes do. Such behavior just makes these snakes the perfect pet of all the snakes I have ever owned. Sure you'll find a few feisty individuals but that's just a rare few. Imagine a few crazed Bearded Dragons. (I know its hard but a few are out there, a friend had a mean one! What luck - out a million Pogona Vitticeps he gets the only vicious one in the USA.)

They are short but thick snakes which make them great to hold. Unlike other snakes which continue to move and often dislike handling, Ball pythons are often content to just sit in your palm or around your neck hardly moving at all. It's also reassuring to see how friendly my ball pythons seem to be. Although they are what they are, you can recognize a tame snake by its willingness to extend its neck straight out and just crawl. Nonetheless if you're looking for the tamest snake that's actually manageable; a snake that won't ingest your cat, poodle or child; a snake that even dislikes striking, try a ball python.

Ball pythons will always been in my life along side my Blue tongue skinks.

We have a modest collection of a dozen or so ball pythons. Our main group is a 1.1 pair of  100% Heterozygous for Pied (Mark and Kim Bell) and a 1.2 100% het for albinism. These animals were acquired a few years ago as juveniles and are finally adults ready to breed.

Breeding ball pythons isn't the easiest feat however I somehow managed to do so with both groups. I missed the eggs of the albino in March of 06 and they dried out. I did manage to catch the het for pied. Incubating eggs for over a decade, I thought the eggs might've been bad but I stuck to the program and they hatched on May 6 of 06.

Now I have four (one didn't make it) seemingly healthy baby ball pythons! They didn't come out pied but they might be hets for pied. (66% chance, 33% being completely normal) You can't help but being a little disappointed in not seeing a pied baby but just having these guys hatch is a minor miracle. I'll raise these four babies and eventually breed them with a parent to increase their odds of having pied offspring. The only way to confirm their genetics is to grow these four babies and breed them. If they produce a pied baby, we have undeniable proof that the parents are  100% heterozygous.

All I can say is if you do decide to buy a Het baby or a real Pied, they will honestly be represented to the fullest. As a customer I always wanted to be special. I wanted honesty, generosity and kindness. Now I can be the seller who can give to my customers what I always wanted when I was one.

Het Eggs Hatched

All Four Het Babies!

5th Dead Baby