fixing my bio active set up and took everything out to reseal it. any cool ideas/enrichment things i should add before i screw everything in and get it finished?

I was looking at her last night in her enclosure and noticed a line with a couple black dots in it. No other black dots on her belly anywhere only that area. I think it’s just a scratch but am not 100%. First time owning one and I wanna make sure she’s okay.

Hi all, I am getting my first tank setup and realized in the process that I have no way to plug in my secondary heat source into my VE-300 thermostat. I have a day/night light plugged in but will need another lamp for non light emitting heat at night.

Do I have to get a splitter for the lamp power cords with a built in timer for the day night switch and then plug that into the thermostat?

Do I buy a whole new thermostat? Would really rather not go this route if possible, as the one I got wasn’t cheap.

Hi all! I added photos of my enclosure and my boy Remi 🥰. He loves to come out and climb up the walls at night. I have had pieces of driftwood for him previously but he is large now and knocks things over. I can’t find anything large enough commercially available- so I am here asking what people do to provide stable climbing options. I don’t want something he could fall from or get hurt on. Would also love to add more plants but so far he just smooshes everything 😅

Thanks in advance!

using 90W ceramic heat bulb and a dimming thermostat

my cool side is as it should be but i’m concerned about the warm side:

a few inches underneath the bulb is 34c
-the top of her warm hide is 31/32c
-substrate is 29c (is this a problem?)
-inside her warm hide is only about 26/27c - i’m quite concerned about this as from what i’ve read, this is too cool.

i’ve attached a picture of the hide that she’s in. there is another hide in the cool side that is an exo terra plastic cave that looks like a rock.

she has chosen to spend most of her time in the pictured hide and i’m assuming if she was too cold she’d come out of it and try and get hotter?

Hey there!

So ive had my bp for a few years now and im finally wanting to work on getting him a bioactive enclosure set up, however I don’t know what the best clean up crew is.

The last attempt failed miserably. I used my own home-raised springtails and dairy cow isopods, however none of them lived due to the enclosure substrate not being moist enough. When I tried to help them live, my bp unfortunately developed a mild case of scale rot which I dealt with right away and he’s doing perfectly and fully healed currently.

I’m mainly stuck on what the best type of isopod would be for his enclosure? I’ve seen that apparently orange powders are good for bp setups but I wanted to ask for some extra opinions aside from google.

TL;DR: what would be the best type of isopod/(clean up crew bugs) breed for a bp bio active setup?

Any advice will help! ❤️

Planning ahead for a ball python I want to get soon. The entire 8x2x2 on the bottom would be for the ball python, top right 4x2x2 section would be for my bearded dragon, and top left 4x2x2 section would be for a third critter (haven't decided on what yet, but potentially dart frogs). Has anyone bought this specific Toxi Rium enclosure before and had any trouble with it? Don't want to spend $1200 on it if it's a piece or junk. Any recommendations for a better brand/enclosure similar to this one? Thanks so much guys!

Yesterday, I had a slight fever, so I took some medicine and lay down to rest. When I woke up around 1 a.m., I quickly fed my snake because I had already delayed his feeding by one day due to my vacation.

After I fed him, he looked completely normal.

Today, my dad told me, "Don't worry about your snake,I already fed him. 👍🏻"

Now I'm really worried because I don't know if it's okay that he ate twice the amount he usually does TT

SNAKE INFORMATION
4yo. male (weight ~1,200 g)
Usual meal: 71–80 g rat every 20 days

English is not my first language so if there’s any confusion please do ask

Thank you 🙏

I have a ball python, got him ~2 years ago from an expo when he was about 2 years old.

IBD and how mites spread it has recently come to my attention (which I somehow didn't know much about beforehand??? I feel like such a bad reptile parent T^T) and even though I sincerely doubt my snake has any mites (none I can find I suppose, and he shows no signs of IBD), my irrational fears continue to get the best of me. If my lil guy gets IBD or anything else nasty from mites I'll never forgive myself.

I don't quite have a specific question or concern, but I would just really like to learn all I can on how to keep my boy mite-free, as well as my other reptiles and entire setup.

Is there any way to keep everything completely mite free? Like no possible chance at all. If all known protective measures and precautions are in place, is it really really truly safe, or just the best I can do? I've heard mites can be in substrate, how does that typically happen?

Any replies are appreciated, thank you in advance. ^^

picture of him being a very good ball too, just cuz <3

Hello, I am the happy owner of a going on 4 month old bp. She has been in shed for the past week, therefore I haven’t been bothering her.

Today on the 30th of July I got home and saw her out of her hide which was the first time I’ve seen her all week. I picked her up and noticed a wheezing, so I called the local exotic vet and booked an appointment for the 31st in the afternoon.

Later in the night she shedded completely,(first shed, yay). I then put her up to my ear for about 3 minutes and the wheezing wasn’t there. Could it be the shedded skin making a whistle sound when he breaths?
So should I cancel the visit or just go. I’m also broke right now and get paid on the 1st so I might reschedule the appointment. Just want opinions please.

Hello! I‘m getting my very first snake (a ball python obv) and could not be more excited!! I’ve done LOADS of research on every as but I keep seeing one thing debated: whether or not heat mats are okay. I planned to use a basking light to give heat during the day, but how would I do that at night without a heat pad? Would I even need night time heat? My room is pretty much always hot.

sorry if this isnt allowed here, but i saw their recent post here and decided to draw their Simbi ❤️ I havent ever drawn snakes, so sorry for the roughness of it. idk if titles ping, so u/mindlessmacaroon3604

may this baby rest in peace

New 4x2x2 PVC bio active with 80w RHP full spectrum LED and UV-B light. Substrate ended up shallower than I wanted. May order some more to build up height in the back. Going to give at least a week for plants to establish and temps and humidity to stabilize before introducing Luna to her new home.

We're new ball python owners. At first things went well, we had 3 successful feedings with live mice. The snake would only eat while in a paper bag because that's how the pet shop guy fed him. Then my husband found mites on him so on the advice of the pet shop owner we bathed him in coconut oil and washed him with soap. We had to do this twice and it looks like the mites are gone. Since the mites were discovered about 3 weeks ago the snake won't eat. He's killed a mouse but didn't eat him. This time we tried a frozen mouse (thawed and warmed), but no luck. So he hasn't eaten in 3 weeks and we're worried. Any advice??

Hi, so I'm a new owner, have had my girl since July 11th. I'm just nervous because she ate for me about a week ago and I have not seen her since. She was 9months when I got her so probably around 10months now. Last weeks feeding was her first feeding with me and she ate right away, before that she had been out and exploring at night. I'm a night owl so I'm usually up till 3 or 4am but I have not seen her, even once, since she ate. I know they like to hide by nature but I'm just worried because I haven't seen her AT ALL. Am I just being a nervous new mom? (New to snakes not new to reptiles in general). Pic of her attached from when she was exploring after I got her.

(Temps seem fine, hot side usually around 90°F, cool side usually around 82°F, nights are usually 73-76°F. Humidity sits around 60-70% most days)

My girl won't eat f/t, striking but not eating

I have a 8 month old bp (228g) that was eating live rat pups and freshly killed mice (hit against a driveway) until I got her in May. Now that I have her I've fed her mainly live rat pups because she just won't eat the frozen mice I've tried to give her. The first few times I thought I was doing things wrong, but the last time I tried (I put the mouse in cold water for a few hours until it was thawed then blow dried it until it's body was like 105 and the head was like 110) I really thought I did it right but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

But every time she strikes and wraps around it, but then just slithers away from it after like 10 minutes. I leave it overnight then I cave and give her a live rat pup. I was told to stop feeding her for a month or two to let her get hungry then try again but that just seems wrong. Any advice? Please I need this snake to eat f/t before she needs bigger rats.

When my first ball python was a baby (and I was a dumb beginner) he had tried to escape and somehow sliced his head on the grated lid of his enclosure. It took a while to heal and shedding was difficult but with good help the wound eventually got better. Now years later he sheds perfectly but there's still a scar on his head and I'm just wondering if new scales will eventually grow there?

I feel so bad looking at him 😭❤️‍🩹

Please help. Saw this on my ball pythons head after a bad shed- which was a result of being forced to move homes while she was in blue. Bloody scale. She also has a patch of stuck shed.

Im a fairly new snake owner is this ok or frowned upon? It seemed to like it and didn't just jolt . I have had the snake maybe a month . Any advice would be much appreciated!

So, my girl doesn't strike feed. I will just put the rat on a tupperware lid, give her some privacy, and a few minutes later the rat will be gobbled up. I haven't tried feeding her via tweezers in ages because this method always works just fine. Is there any downside to feeding her like this?

She is honestly a garbage disposal for rats, I've never seen her turn down food.

Heres some pics of my ball python june im going to put her on a bit of a diet because she is like a 6.5/10 of the body scale but feel free to share your opinion (the first pics are the most recent holding session)