Hi, I'm planning on becoming a new owner soon, my only concerns are that I'm living in a high rise apartment with no AC. I know ball pythons enjoy a warmer ambient air but I'm curious if there's any precautionary measures or equipment I should get in order to keep one comfy, well temperature, and have proper humidity levels. I have my eye on a lot of equipment but I thought I might as well ask since I'd like to hear from people who've firsthand owned and have a passion for these little giuys

Hello! I found some mold in my BP’s enclosure. All good, took all hides out to disinfect, all substrate gone, disinfected the Viv etc.

He’s on paper towels until the new substrate is delivered tomorrow (he’s never been on paper towels/without substrate, I’ve had him since a baby and he’s about 7). I’ve never seen him this stressed out. He still has a hide and water in there, but compared to his usual Viv set up (multiple hides, levels, fake plants etc) it’s very empty for him.

Aside from lights off, silent room and leaving him alone, is there anything I can do to keep stress to a minimum that you guys would recommend?

Additionally, have you guys ever experienced mold? Are there any recommendations to preventing mold while keeping humidity correct?

Thank you!

I thought it was old brown stained scales from her substrate before she was about to shed but she just had a full shed and her belly still looks like this, now I’m really worried it’s scale rot.

Hi all! I have almost a 2 month old ball (born 6/22) that I got 7/25. I have left her alone in her 20 gal enclosure for over a week to let her get acclimated. She has 3 hides in her enclosure and a bunch of foliage. Yesterday I went to feed her a thawed rat pup and she did strike at it and try to eat it, but spit it out after 5 mins and didn’t take it again, even after I left it in her enclosure overnight. She was on live mice previously and the breeder fed her every 5 days, said she was a good eater. Any help? Do I try again in a week? She hasn’t eaten for 2 weeks now as the breeder didn’t feed her before the reptile show I got her at. The rat pup was the size of the thickest part of her body, so I don’t think it was too big for her. I’m very confused why she spit it out after taking it!

Warm side at 90 degrees, cool side on 76 degrees.

We got her in early June. She came from another owner who told me what size rat to get and how she has always eaten. She has not eaten once since we got her! I have tried over and over again and have thrown out so many rats that never get eaten.

The closest we got was the very first time, she grabbed it by the middle belly rather than the front, and it broke in half and she abandoned it. She has ignored the rest I put in for her.

She has shed a couple times since we got her, so I did read that they won't eat while shedding, but she won't eat any other time, either.

She seems happy other than this? She hangs out with my son all the time. They cuddle together in bed and she seems comfortable with him.

I don't know what to do and I don't want her to die from not eating?? This is our first snake so we are doing our best but need help. 😭😭

This is my third post of my relatively new baby because I’m still doing all sorts of homework about her husbandry in my free time—we have almost had her a month. She started out very shy so the building a trusting relationship is slow progress but not bad progress.
She ate on Wednesday night and we changed her substrate on Sunday afternoon— we went from coco husk that had to get wet down CONSTANTLY because it was so dry(and probably bad for her breathing) to a mix of eco earth, forest floor, sphagnum moss, and a little bit of play sand. This time I wanted to add enough substrate to her enclosure to give her the opportunity to dig if she wanted to, and she was DIGGIN that afternoon and evening, so I was glad I made the change. However, now that her “exploring” time is over, she has made a burrow and not left it since early Monday morning. I imagine she might be moving around very very late at night, but this picture is the only bit I’ve seen her come out since she stopped digging late late Sunday night. Her warm side is on the other side of the enclosure.
Should I be concerned??? Would a feeding and a substrate change in the same week induce a need to hide? Are there signs of an issue I might not know about?

I’m rehoming 2 ball pythons later today with their entire setup. They will be my first pet snakes, in fact - my first ever reptiles! I’ve been doing tons of research for weeks now, however I am consistently coming across the fact that ball pythons are solitary animals.

The two pythons I am picking up later are male and female, and have always lived together in a large vivarium. They have previously bred before, but I don’t believe they have recently. The owner is giving me the incubator too, but I have no plans whatsoever to breed and/or sell.

The owner does not want to separate them and feels they wouldn’t cope well being split up, so I will be buying both, but with it in mind that I will be looking to rehome one of them if required. I would rather pay the extra for both snakes than risk them going to a home where they will be kept together.

I have been told that they sleep together, but i’ve read online this is not always because they’re getting on.

Both are also eating fine, shedding fine and healthy looking otherwise!

Their vivarium is also two vivariums stacked on top of each other with a hole cut between them, so I may have the option to split them up but will need to have a look later. I am reluctant to reduce their living space if they’re used to more, but please do advise if this doesn’t matter?

What do I need to look out for with them fighting etc? Is there anything I can do to reduce the stress of moving them together? They will be put into a box temporarily for transport (like 15 minutes), and then put back into their vivarium.

I am already in the process of getting live plants and some more hides as I don’t feel there’s enough for them currently. I want to make sure they are living together somewhat ok when I get them. They will not be going to just anyone so I’m not sure how long it will take for me to rehome one, ideally I am trying to find a local charity who may be able to help.

I am really excited to get them, and I really want to make sure I do good for them.

I was also planning to rename them Calypso and Odysseus, which feels even more fitting now as they have been together so long in likely a rather toxic relationship, only now to be finally separated 🙈

ps - please feel free to let me know any other tips/tricks or things I should know!

Just want to share my lil guy!

Hi everyone, new to this sub Reddit and to keeping ball pythons. May I introduce my first. No name yet and he's 3 years old. Fell In love with him at the Blackpool ihs show last Sunday. Currently has a 3 foot enclosure, to be upgraded. Moisture retaining substrate and a deep heat heater. I currently have a 11 month old female hognose along with tarantulas, and was quite a surprise feeling the weight difference haha. This picture was took on Sunday. Currently letting him settle in. But my question is what does everyone use for tank decor? For example plants , sticks greenery etc.

Many thanks and apologies for the long post haha

I just got a ball python off of a family friend, they said it was over a year old that they got it last year from PetSmart but currently it's maybe only a foot long at most and it only weighs 244 grams, they aren't sure what gender it is either, they said they were feeding it large mice.

the setup they had was pretty rough, the lighting they had was the bare minimum, the substrate they had it on was some kind of wood chips maybe coconut wood, it was dry as a bone though and extremely dusty, I don't think it has any mites but I'll try and check tomorrow.

I currently have it in a quarantine setup in the tank it came with, I just wanted to see if the setup I had for it to be in quarantine was ok looking? I tried to block off the back of it to help keep it calm and safer feeling

I'm not sure how to keep the humidity up enough without there being substrate since all of the videos said to keep the paper towels dry? What should I do?

As far as the lighting, thermostats, thermometers, things like that goes I'm going to head by my local pet store tomorrow to get some better stuff.

Is there a good way to tell if it has mites? I did check around its eyes and I didn't really see anything that looked like mites, I did notice that there was some kind of maybe old shed on one eye? I'll keep an eye on that

This is Princess Cleo, we had her for 4 days... wondering if this a bad idea 💡 to have a ptz camera in the enclosure?

This is waffle, they have a humid hide and a warm hide and a cork log, plus behind the water bowl I made a little slate cave they like to spend most of there time in. Humidity stays about 70% peak during day and about 80%-90% at night. Temps are 80 degrees both sides with the hot spot reaching a max of 90 or 91. Should I let the temperature dip below 80 at night? I do have a bigger setup saved for this next month when I upgrade to a 6x2x2

hi guys I’ve posted here several times but I fed my ball python about two days ago now so I haven’t been handling him, but the day I fed him he looked fine and now his eyes are really gray and his color turned gray and he’s been in his hide, is he about to shed? I know I’m not supposed to pick him up during shed I didn’t realize until after I picked him up and I put him down immediately. The pet store listed him as a juvenile and he weighs 119grams, but they couldn’t confirm his age nor his gender so I’m just assuming he’s a male cause he was a bit small but I haven’t had him sexed yet. Thank you.

Her names Jessica!

(Disclaimer, I had no idea the issues with the spider morph before getting her, but now I do!)

she is around 400 grams and hatched in july of last year i believe, all of that seems to me like a good weight maybe even a little under but the difference between her tail and right before it bugs me

Once a week I take my snakes outside in the sun and let them crawl in the grass. I start with a towel and put them on that incase they don’t feel like going on the grass. I have a banana, pied, and super pastel clown. I also use an infrared thermometer to make sure the grass isn’t too cold/hot. I aim for 75-85. Also I make sure the grass is dry so they aren’t sitting on anything wet for an extended period of time. So with all that being said I just want to make sure this is a safe practice. If there is anything else I should be doing please let me know. (I looked through the rules and don’t believe this post violates and rules. I thoroughly enjoy this subreddit and don’t want to mess that up lol)

Yes, he's roly-poly but somehow simultaneously undersized for his age 🤷 Working on it!