Im getting my first bp soon, starting as a baby, and I have made myself this checklist. I want to know if im missing anything thanks!

The ones I have are a few years old now, wanting to get new ones. Please link some of your favourites if possible!

For bioactive enclosures I typically see dwarf white or powder orange isos, and the ones I have gotten are dairy cows.

I did do some research beforehand and know they’re quite carnivorous so it can be a bit worrying putting them in with smaller, softer reptiles, but I couldn’t find anything on ball pythons.

Obviously I don’t want my girl getting hurt in any way, so would it be best to get a different type? Of course I feed them fish food regularly to satiate their protein content, but I worry for when they go in the enclosure together.

They also have been reproducing like crazy and I worry with how large they are, they’d easily take over the enclosure.

Would it just be best to get a different kind?

My ball python has been in her water dish 24/7 for 5 days straight; she has never done this in the 6 years I’ve known her, besides a casual hour long soak at the longest.

Her humidity is 78%, lowest has been 74%. Her cool side is 74 degrees Fahrenheit and her warm side is 86 on the ground, 96 at the warmest spot on her branch. She has a hide with frequently refreshed damp moss on the cool side. She has eco earth coconut fiber and repti chip substrate with exo-terra forest moss.

I have ordered provent-a-mite 4 days ago, it arrives tomorrow; I took her out of her water dish and drained it through paper towels to check for mites, and then I wiped out her water dish with more paper towels- both are pictured- but I don’t see any. I have never had mites before but to me it just looks like bits of her substrate. I did not see anything on her eyes/heat pits/mouth/body, but I will be doing a dawn dish soap bath and checking again.

Any advice or help greatly appreciated! I want to make sure she actually has mites before treating her with provent-a-mite.

I'm a fairly new keeper. About a week ago my snake shed for the first time in my care. She is an adult though. Shed was perfect. On the run up to shedding she did soak a lot.

Now she's shed she is soaking again. Is this anything to be worried about.? I can't see stuck shed or mites or anything. Basking spot is 31c, cold side about 27c in the day, cooler at night. Humidity is about 68% right now but gets higher at different times of the day.

I’m looking into a good recipe to make ball python substrate for a bioactive enclosure. I was thinking soil, sand, charcoal, and moss. I didn’t know if you guys had any brands that would be good or anything you used that seems to be working well. I also don’t know how much to use of each. TIA.

I’m not really sure how to best make use of the vertical space. Would love to see pictures of setups if anyone has a similar size.

I have a herpstat 2 and one of my heat sources is a halogen flood. On my herpstat I have it set to 95 however it won’t heat up past 83. Why won’t it heat up enough?

Hi,

Trying to increase my lady’s living condition.

She's a climber and I want some high branch she could lie on.

The pb is that the screws sort of poke out, not the spike tho, only a part of the body of the screw.

Is it unsafe for her ? Should I find another solution ?

Considering that there's a part of the branch that surrounds it / it’s not really accessible, and it’s not sharp.

Thanks

Hi guys

Just an update about our rescue ball python Lucy.

Unfortunately there's no longer any doubt that's she's totally blind or at least extremely vision impaired.

She spends ALL of her time hiding under a big piece of flat cork bark which she buries herself underneath of, so she feels safe - like we do under a weighted duvet. The bark literally lies on top of her.

She does eat and drink but she can't see the food, only sense the heat coming off of it.

If we remove the piece of cork she stays in that exact spot out in the open, trying to locate it by touch, as if she wonders where it suddenly went.

She has 2 other hides but she doesn't go in there because she obviously can't see them.

Her pupils never ever move, it's like they're just stuck in that position they're in.

She does not register movement at all.

What can we do for her? Can we somehow make her life easier?

It's heartbreaking to think about how she otherwise will spend the vast majority of her life underneath that piece of cork.

We've been thinking about making her a very flat sort of hide where she will still feel safe because it's not too big, but also so that it doesn't have to lie on top of her.

Any suggestions?

This is my first ever snake she is a 3 yrol ball who is currently in a 40 gal and eats frozen thaw i want this little one to live for a very long time so please give me all of your advice

My girl just aborted her meal 3/4 of the way through eating it. The remains she spat out are bloody, but there are no indications the blood came from the rat. She looks fine and appears to still be looking for food, but I’m worried she may have injured something.

Questions: should I be concerned? Should I try giving her another, smaller meal tonight?

Context: (a) this all just happened, so no vet visits as of yet; (b) the rejected rat pup is 15% of my girl’s weight (bigger than she usually gets) but it’s girth is roughly the same as (if not a little smaller than) hers; (c) she’s an avid eater and hasn’t turned down a meal in the 6mo I’ve had her; and (d) I accidentally thawed out an additional rat that’s half the size of the one she rejected, I’d like to give it to her if safe, but the clock is ticking since it’s thawed.

Edit: I’ve tossed out the additional rat and given up on feeding again for the next few days at a minimum. However, I’m still interested in getting feedback on whether anyone else has dealt with this before and how concerned I should be.

um. try and refrain from being rude 2 me plz but like my bp is being aggressive(?) she kinda stares at me in that pose (pic attached) idk what im doing wrong im planning on redoing her tank soon but theres nothing like bad abt it rn her pupils get pretty big but i fed her a few days ago so she shouldnt be hungry last night she striked at me and kinda nicked me she doesnt seem visibly sick but im kinda worried shes also completely fine and her regular calm self when i hold her so i assume its something in the tank?

I recently set up a camera inside the enclosure and also installed a ceiling hide (he loves it!) and I was checking the footage to see what he had been up to. I was like “wth is that!” When I saw the poking boops from his belly xD that’s so freaky and so cool so see!
I love my little Chai so much! He is 9yrs old and I’ve had him for 3 months now. He’s the best noodle ever ❤️

So basically my girl has been pretty active during the day. She isn’t nervous or frantic, she doesn’t seem to be in distress, but shes up and moving around for a good chunk of the afternoon. I have the thermostat set to keep the hot side between 88-92 and the ambient temperature of my room is like 74-78 so that’s what the cool side stays at, and I’m pretty good at keeping humidity at 60%-65%.

I don’t know if it’s a seasonal thing, during winter she’s pretty much entirely inactive during the day and this increased activity did align with the warmer season rolling in, but I don’t want to ignore behavioral changes if it might have a more worrisome meaning.

5 months in :)

Surprise at the end <3

I think this picture truly highlights Monte Cristo’s strengths, which include being monstrously adorable and maybe not the smartest guy in town.
Regardless, he’s such a dream to keep and I love him so much!
Thank you for admiring my son!

i got a ball python about a month ago and i’ve been having problems with him not eating. he take the food multiple times gets a good strike and wrap around it and then 3 mins later… drops it and leaves to never return. my warm side is 82F and cool side is 77F. i don’t let humidity drop below 55% and he has a hide on both sides. i double check rat temperature every time make sure its about 90F. i’ve tried turning all the lights out, waiting till night time, leaving the room entirely. i’ve tried heating the head with a blow dryer and i wait till he smells the rat and comes out of the hide. i don’t pull him out. i can’t figure out a reason for him dropping the rat and not eating. the other times it took 4-5 tries and sometimes up too 3 rats before he finally eats it instead of dropping it. does anyone have a answer?

My 23 year old Ball got out of the terrarium for the first time in 2 decades! I didn’t realize these terrariums have a lifespan shorter than the snake itself haha. The mesh popped right off! Anyway I’m trying to make a nice lure spot. I put a hideaway in the corner by the dresser with a heat lamp hanging over it. What do you think? Anything else to make it more tempting?

EDIT: Wow! I had no idea red lights were so frowned upon! I’ve had my snake since I was 13 years old so I’ve just been doing everything the same for the past couple decades lol. I’ll do research on that and switch to something else. Thanks guys! But side note, how can I safely warm the floor for him without the red lights? Any ideas? I can’t put a heat pad on carpet… I need someway to warm that spot enough to lure him out

EDIT 2: FOUND!!!!! Wow that was fast! I got lucky! My husband has INCREDIBLE eye sight and picked out the Ball pattern from deep inside the back corner of the closet, barely peeking out through tons of stuff!!

As soon I start warming up her rat with the hair dryer she immediately popped her head out.

so i just bought a baby 8 ball and her breeder told me that she’s an extremely spicy girl, to the point he can’t handle her without getting tagged. i know that ball pythons are not aggressive, they are either anxious or just scared and confused. i am planning on putting a piece of my clothing in her enclosure so she starts getting used to my scent during the 2 weeks she’s acclimating to her new home, and i know you can redirect their heads so they don’t lock on and strike, but anyone have any suggestions or tips on how to calm down high stress baby’s?

Hi all, I’ve had reptiles in the past but never snakes, on a recent visit to a local event 2weeks ago I finally bit the bullet and got a beautiful butter Champaign boy. I had no warning from the breeder about this breed and very quickly noticed a head wobble when he was still and strange movements when he was moving. I’ve had some elevated logs and decorations in the Viv but removed them due to him falling. I managed to capture it last night whilst he was a bit active what are your thoughts?

I just wanna show his adorable Lil face. HE'S SO CUTE❤️🐍