Housing: Baby BPs will do well in a 10 gallon aquarium tank. There are several sizes you can choose from. Some owners get custom made tanks built for their snakes. Adults can be housed comfortably in a 20 long or even a 30 gallon tank. You can use various substrates such as wood chips (NEVER cedar as it is VERY toxic to snakes), astro turf carpet, paper towels or newspaper. Newspaper is very easy to clean up, but I prefer the astro turf. I get the tan colored since it makes the snake look even more attractive. The tank needs to have a warm side and a cool side so the snake can regulate its body temperature. A heat pad underneath the tank is good. I also use a heap lamp on top. Never use a heat rock as the snake can rest against it and burn itself. Make sure you have a water bowl. It'll help with the humidity and they soak and drink the water as well. A hide box is essential. Some people have 2 hide boxes, one on either side of the tank, but mine seem fine with just one hide box. Your choice. You can find several types of hide boxes. I use the half logs, but you can make your own out of rocks, or tupperware, even upside down terra cotta pots. BPs are nocturnal will spend a lot of time inside the hide box. They will be less stressed if they can hide. I keep climbing branches in there as well, for decoration and they do like to climb. Make sure you clean out the tank on a regular basis. I clean the astro turf with hot water and bleach, rinse well and let air dry. I wipe down the tank with the same bleach water solution, rinsing well. Your BP will be more healthier if he doesn't have a smelly, wet, dirty tank to live in. Add a thermometer inside the tank to monitor the temperatures. Temperatures should be kept at about 86-88 degrees on the warm side during the day and about 75-80 degrees at night. Don't let the temperature get below 70 degrees. Due to them being nocturnal, do not use incandescent bulbs at night.  The best bulb used at night would be a black bulb if at all possible.  All heat bulbs should be placed on top of a screened lid which is on top of your cage.  It should be at least 12-15 inches above the snake and should never be in contact with the snake.  Also do not use hot rocks as the snake may obtain a few small burns. A heating pad is sufficient at underneath your enclosure for additional warmth.

-Water: Your snake should have a large dish or bowl for it to be able to soak in.  Soaking is important during shedding.  A really neat soaking method is a tupperware bin with a lid on top and a hole cut in the lid for the snake to enter and exit.  The lid gives the snake some security and may soak longer periods of time at a comfortable level.

Feeding & Shedding: Offer your baby balls a pinkie mouse or a fuzzy every few days. Babies are growing so they will eat more at first. Older BP's should get mice, then eventually rats. My adults are currently feeding on small rats.. I had read that BPs can digest several smaller rodents easier than one big one. Again, the choice is yours. Most times a medium rat is a good meal for a full grown BP. Try to get them on a schedule. DO NOT put your hands inside the tank when your BP is eating, or is about to feed. You may get bit if your snake sees your hand first and thinks it's his dinner. Wash your hands before and after feeding. If you still smell like a rodent, he will treat you like a rodent!! There is always debate on whether to feed live mice and rats, or pre-killed frozen. If you choose to feed live, please monitor the feeding carefully. Invest in a pair of hemostats just in case you need to separate the rodent from the snake if it is biting. All 4 of my BPs get live and so far they are fine with it. You can also stun the rodent before dropping it into the tank. A rat could bite your snake defensively as it is getting squeezed. If you think that happened, check the BPs skin for red, open marks and make sure they are cleaned. Infection could set in. I have seen damage to a snakes skin from untreated bite wounds and it isn't pretty. Usually neosporin on the bite will help and after a few sheds, the scar won't be that noticable IF treated immediately. After your BP eats, leave it alone. Often if you try to handle the snake, there's a chance it could regurgitate its food. It usually will take a few days if the temperatures are right for it to digest. I don't handle mine until after it defecates. That way I know they are digested, and I can handle them for a few days until the feeding begins again. When the BPs eyes turn a milky blue, that means they are getting ready to shed their old skin. They will dull and will not take offered food. In a few days, the eyes will clear up and after a few more days he will rub its nose against things to break the skin. Then it will crawl out of the old skin and you have a shiny, smooth beautiful snake. Offer it food after it sheds. If they do not shed in one piece, check the humidity levels, mist the tank and the snake. Soaking it in warm water helps too. BPs can be picky eaters and will often go off feed for months sometimes, especially during the winter months. Usually they are ok and will eventually eat when they are ready, if in doubt, ease your mind and go to a vet.

Handling: When handling your snake, make sure you support the thickest part of his body, and don't squeeze too tight. Your BP will be curious and will want to explore. My older BP likes to crawl into my clothing and hide. They like warm dark places. She also enjoys hanging out around my neck or exploring my keyboard when I am trying to type!! Avoid any sudden, jerky movements around their head. Ball Pythons are normally head shy and don't like being touched there. Many BP owners have broken their snakes of being head shy. If your BP recoils and tries to pull his body into a tight ball, then you have startled him. Make any movements around him slow and careful. Some owners will not let too many people handle their snakes, where other owners won't mind passing their BP around. I tend to make sure a few people who have handled snakes before and who are not frightened of them, hold mine. It won't stress your snake out that way. I handle mine a few times a week, mostly before their next feeding, for about a half hour at a time. As long as your BP seems to enjoy being handled by you, both you and he should be fine. If you do ever get bitten by your BP, make sure there is no teeth embedded in your skin and clean well with peroxcide and neosporin. Most times a BP will bite if hungry and mistakes you for food or out of fear. Don't be afraid to handle him after a bite. You need to make sure he didn't lose any teeth which can happen if you jerk your hand when you are bitten. It can get infected and might lead to mouth rot. BPs don't hold grudges so you should be fine handling him.

Breeding: The toughest part with breeding pythons is to actually determine the sex of the snake. Hopefully someone that has experience with it, can actually help you and show you how to do it.However, in general, males have thicker tails and curved anal spurs.  Probe depths for a female is about 2-4 subcaudal scales and for a male 6-10.Once you have determined that you have a male and female and are wanting to breed, it is actually quite simple. The only thing is, it takes you about a year to get it to take place. You should keep your snakes separate all the time throughout the year, then around late October or early November, stop feeding the snakes and leave them at regular temperatures.  After a few weeks without any food, around the beginning of December, you can put your snakes together in a larger enclosure.  You still want the same set-up as you normally would during breeding, just a little larger as you have more snakes in one cage.  12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark is a good method during this time and is important. I would to keep your snakes together for at least 2-3 months during the breeding season.Once you separate the pythons, make sure that the female is offered more food than usual.  If your female is gravid, you should see some swelling and witness some basking with their bellies turned upward.  They usually go into a shed cycle and then lay 6-7 eggs a week or two after they shed.  They prefer to lay their eggs in a some kind of plastic box with some sphagnum based peat moss and vermiculite.  The female should lay her eggs at night.  She will stay coiled up around the eggs after they are laid. The best way to make sure the eggs hatch is to take the eggs out and place them in an incubator or a hovabator which is cheaper.  You should incubate the eggs at 88-90  degrees and then about 60 days later, the eggs will hatch. The babies will poke their heads out and will sit in the egg for about 24-48 hours while they absorb their egg yolk.  About a week after birth, the baby pythons will have their first slough. After their first shed it would be around a week to when you would start offering some food.

 Stephanie Winters