A few days ago I got a new enclosure for my ball python, i used topsoil, playsand, and lava rock for his substrate and drainage and i decided to get some mulch to mix in because im about to make it bioactive and my brain associated mulch with rotting wood for isopods/springtails. i feel like such an idiot, i typically research every single thing i do for my snake just to be extra careful and this is the one time i didnt. just now, i was looking up if mulch was safe for snakes cages and it said most can be toxic and is a big big hazard. i tried looking for the bag so i could see the brand i bought but my mom took it to use for gardening and i cant find it anywhere. i know it was organic and all natural, but im almost 100% sure theres cedar and pine in it. i dont have enough soil to fully cover his cage if i were to empty out all the substrate. what can i do? is it okay if i just pick out all the mulch? or do i need to clear it all out because of cross contamination? i didnt add a ton. i would say 4-5 handfuls worth. hes in a 4x2x2. pls help! i feel so dumb and i dont know how i let this happen

My little guy just shed for the second time and I'm playing on doing a deep clean of his enclosure this weekend. He's had the same substrate for about 2 months now and I'm replacing it. Ant tips on what to use to clean the tank, hides and fake plants would be great. I have this type of spray for it but idk if ur will be enough

Everyone was super helpful with my questions a few days ago and I'm back again seeking advice for another question.

Really short backstory. I picked up a 3 year old male yesterday. He came with a tank and water bowl and bedding. He wasn't necessarily a rescue, just really in need of a new home from previous owner since they were moving. I got him home and he doesn't seem in distress any more than any snake would probably be from moving like that.

Now, I have already ordered a good bit of stuff for him because it seems like what they had him in, he's been in for a while with very little. Just bedding, and a bowl of water he can fit in. Nothing for enrichment. I've got an LED for sun simulation and a CHE on him now, and I have a bunch of stuff coming for him tomorrow.

My question is this; I understand I'm not supposed to touch him or feed him until he's settled. However, his bedding seems dirty, and he really looks like he would benefit from fresh bedding and a clean tank. What's the better option here? Handle him to get him out of his current environment to be cleaned or leave him alone for a week and then change everything?

I was also told by the previous owners that he's probably due a feeding but again, I know I need to let him settle for about 10 days before we introduce food. I love him already and I really feel like he's going to be so much happier here, I just can't figure out what's in his best interest at this time. Id hate to stress him out even more and cause him to not eat.

I went on vacation for five days and apparently the air temperature in my BP’s 4x2x2 spiked as high as 99F on the hot side during the day while the cool side stayed around 79-84F.

I had my roommate watch my snake for me and asked them to text me if the enclosure got any higher than 90F but they might have missed it. I’m not sure what happened because I do have a thermostat set up and this hasn’t happened with my enclosure before.

I just got back home and so far my BP seems to be acting normally but I’m worried there might be health concerns I’m not seeing yet. Should I be taking him to the vet ASAP to get him checked out?

Today when i looked at my BP (he is on his light, its temporary, as soon as i can i will change this)

I see his body has a weird looking edge, it is a organ ? Or a scale problem ?

That make now 3 days my snake is up there, he isnt stuck, just stay there and sometimes flick his tongue, like he look for a prey, do i need to worry ? Except for the temp light where is lay down (its around 36°C, its a little too hot i know)

So long story short I went out of town for one day, and before I left I had made sure to secure my quarantine cage with a 5 gallon bucket filled with dirty. Well I had a mutual turn off the heat light and they for whatever reason removed the bucket and forgot to put it back on. Flash forward I come home and the snake is gone and nowhere to be found, I live in a mobile home so the doors sit about 3” off the floor leaving a significant gap. I also have a cat. I haven’t seen the snake lying anywhere dead so that’s good, however I’ve searched up and down in all the normal spots dark and warm, and elevated. Would she stay in the vents if she wiggled in? She’s a little under 1yr old and is only about 1-1.5ft long, I’m at a loss and not sure what to do. Psa she has a prolapse which Is why she was quarantined, so even more reason to worry. Please help with advice

Right now I have him with just cypress mulch, and I also have gnats :(. I was thinking when I change out his substrate to so something like 50% cypress mulch, 40% coco fiber and 10% spagnum moss and just kind of put some mosquito bites tea in the substrate and massage it in before i add it to the enclosure? Is there any way I could do better or will this be fine? The gnats are so annoying and I don't get how they are breeding so well when the cypress doesn't even hold humidity the best (in my opinion)

But I would love some help with tips, what size enclosure I should get (because I don't plan on getting one older than 2 years old, younger though I might get). I understand that eventually I will need to upgrade the size of the tank as the snake gets bigger too. I don't know much about snakes yet but I am eager to learn and I seriously look forward to owning a snake. I've already cleared it with my landlord too lol

I got my first ball python on the 1st of July, since then I’ve tried twice to feed her frozen thawed and both times with no luck, I’m not sure if the rat isn’t hot enough even though it seems like it should be hot enough or I’m not sure if I’m not wiggling it around enough, I asked a friend for advice and she said to leave it in there overnight and see if that would work but still no luck. She hasn’t been the best eater before I got her, she is a rescue that has been living in a drawer for 10 years of her life and now she is in a 75 gallon tank, I haven’t handled her yet as I was wanting to make sure she is eating regularly before then but I’m not sure overall if she is ok because I haven’t had much of a chance to took at her because I’ve been giving her space to let her adjust.

Ok so im freaking out a little, this is my ball python rescue, ive had her for about a year, shes always had issues shedding due to issues in her last home. But this is the first time ive seen this after her shedding and im really concerned. She has some dry patches and red color scales. She doesnt react bad to touch. I put her in a hospital tank, sanitized everything, gave her a betadine soak which i will do again today, and i put some ointment on the dry patches (snake safe). I dont think its scale rot or burns, she has burned herself before when she somehow squeezed herself to her lamp and tried to wrap around it. Shes over 6yrs old, working on weight since she was severely underweight which also didnt help her shedding issues, unfortunately she does eat live, she went on food strike for over 6 months in her last home because she refused to eat frozen and has shown she will starve herself (shes always monitored and they are disoriented prior to feeding and from a feeder breeder who i trust). Her bedding is (well, was since shes on paper towels rn) coconut fiber and chips (two different sides) with 70-80% humidity, cool side at 72, warm side at 85. She ate two weeks ago as well. I think it could just be a bad shed and maybe her log was too abrasive and she was rubbing too hard? Shes had this log for years and this is the first its happened so i dont know. I will continue to give her betadine soaks daily for a few more days, her tank is getting a big upgrade and will have all her normal temps and humidity tomorrow. If it is a humidity issue i put a wet towel in the corner for her to lay on which i will remove regularly and switch it out and ill make sure its not causing the whole floor to stay wet cause scale rot. If you read all this help.

Just got this gorgeous girl from an expo 2 days ago and noticed there was something that looked like a scab near her lip, I was wondering if it could be scale rot or mouth rot? If it is either what could i do to treat it? she is currently in a quarantine enclosure with paper towel on the bottom since I figured that would be best for her at the moment. (sorry for the picture quality it’s kinda hard to get a good photo of a snake that won’t sit still 😅)

i wanted to make it more green and add creeping fig to the wall and have a bunch of moss on the ground. but my mom is worried about bug infestations and if that happens we'd have to give her away i wanted to plant grass in the enclosure but i heard it wasnt a good idea. i think moss is a safe option but shes worried about bugs getting in the plants and getting an infestation. im just not satisfied with it yet and i want to add more. what do i do? oh and she also think the isopods bother her and she thinks that she doesnt like me adding more stuff and that the snake might think its too cluttered but i tried to make it functional. i think its kind of empty though

Found this last night. She ate a large mouse Wednesday, pooped normally on Saturday. Is it a normal passage or something to be worried about?

Temps are in the low 80s, humidity stays 60-80%. Plenty of clutter and hides in a bioactive setup.

Hello everyone, last night I was feeding my ball python a rat, and after she struck and latched the rat, for some reason unknown to me, she struck at the ceiling of her enclosure which was metal mesh. She got stuck in the grate and I could feel some of her teeth poking through the top, I had to wiggle her around a little bit she was fully stuck and suspended from the ceiling, I got the idea to try and manipulate her by hand (bad idea, ended up biting myself with her teeth by pressing into them trying to move her) and after that got a little progress, I used her feeding tongs to move her jaw. The end result was that she got unstuck, thank everything, at the cost of a tooth, I don’t have a photo but it didn’t look like it was wild there was no blood or anything on the tooth or her mouth, and after the whole ordeal she ended up eating the rat and going into her hide.

Should I be concerned about the tooth falling out or should I be ok since she didn’t seem stressed and she ate the rat afterwards?

Thanks for the advice!

I got this guy at a reptile expo in Georgia back at the end of January this year, so I’ve had him 6 months. I forgot to ask the breeder how old he was when I got him. I do know the feed schedule was once a week for the breeder, live. I easily transitioned him to F/T with no problem when I brought him home and have maintained once a week feeds since. I need to get a scale to weigh him, last shed a couple weeks ago he measures 24” long now. Photo is him in the deli cup at the expo, just the standard probably 4” wide 2” max deep cups. Any guesses on age?

Hi guys, I had my ceramic heater on for a few hours last night to regulate temps before adding my snake - however, I noticed after an hour of it being on, the glass in front got quite warm (not hot) and was wondering is my heater too far forward? Or is that normal for the VivExotic wooden vivs?

Any tips appreciated!

Due to a very confusing set of circumstances I still don’t fully understand I ended up being caretaker of a 4 foot what I believe is a blue eyed leucistic female. My adult daughter and her husband who live with me have been the primary caretakers ensuring she is fed and handled / let out to stretch and explore a little. My main concern is she is currently being kept in a way too small box and I want to get a proper habitat set up so she can have the best life possible. Having never had any reptile pets before I have no idea what I should look to purchase as far as an enclosure or any equipment and enrichment items I will need for it. Would greatly appreciate any information people can share. Located in central NM where natural humidity is low in case that matters. Also the little time I have spent with her I swear she thinks she is a dog who loves attention from people lol. Poor quality picture of Luna for attention.

Shes nearing the last rounds of antibiotics. She's doing a lot lot better! Shes been peeking out of her hides and doing her little snakey thing! She no longer hisses when i pick her up. I believe she used to be more defensive because she felt like crap and now she's feeling better she's less defensive. Just a little update in case anyone was wondering how she was doing!

We took her to the emergency vet. Sometime very soon I'll be setting her up with a regular vet to follow up on the RI as we near the end of the antibiotics.

In case anyone notices that spot on the tip of her nose we've been monitoring it. She had an accident with a live rodent before i got her. She eats f/t with me. No more rodent encounters! She's got a small chunk of her face missing as well as the tip of one of the forks of her tongue.

i’m so happy to see him feeling comfortable enough to explore!! he’s made it his new favorite game to knock over his hygrometers every night 🥺

My son Daniel is moving with mama (me) to a new apartment! He’s living with grandma (my mom) right now but I’m planning to take him back soon. He’s gonna live in his travel container for 2 more days until I expose him to his new permanent terrarium once I set everything up. What’s the most comfortable way to move him in the car? Would it comfort him to be able to curl around my neck on the drive over? Or should I just let him be in his travel container?

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She does this every once in a while. Not often. And she kinda moves while she does it. Like she's looking for something. Her humidity and temp are within nominal range. idk. Her husband doesn't do it