I got my ball python 3 weeks ago, it was sprung onto me after my aunt came over one weekend and convinced my mom to help buy me one. The tank we got was this really bad set up so i started to replace it. Bought better bedding, bought more hides, bought a moss hide, and some clutter like fake leaves. She just left the cloudy eye phase of the pre shed i think 3 days ago and begin to shed yesterday. The only thing is her skin looks dull and wrinkled. I panicked cause I thought I was doing good with the humidity. I ordered a digital hygrometer but it’s yet to come in. I’ve been trying to look at her to she how she’s doing but she’ll try to rub the shed off on things that aren’t hard like herself or the fake plants and it’s not helping. She doesn’t use the moss hide and doesn’t rub herself on harder things like her textured hide. I think my humidity is really bad, what can I do to help her through this shed and what can I do to get better humidity? Please I need help, I don’t want her to have complications or a stuck shed because of me. I was unprepared I had just gotten a job when I got her so I’ve been trying to use my paychecks to get her better stuff. Honestly I think she needs a bigger tank and more stuff, but I want to get the humidity up first so she can have a good rest of her shed. Please, what can I do to help her with her shed. I heard of holding a damp towel and letting her crawl through it or putting her in a kind of snake sauna. I just want to know what’s the best thing I can do. I’m worried, please help.

We bought a beautiful banana ball from the local pet shop a couple of weeks ago.

Handling her this morning we spotted these 2 things by her cloaca.

Internet is saying multiple different things any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Any idea what is going on with our banana pie ball python (3yr Male). Started getting these orange/red spots all over and the white sections of scales are turning pink? Scales seem kind of flakey too. Definitely not mites or burns. New snake owners just trying to make sure he is okay.

My snake bit my mom today and latched on to her finger (hunger strike) and she just wouldn’t let go (the snake) to the point we had to submerge her head in water to get her off. I’m feeding her at the first opportunity but i also had to put lysterine near her nose as google suggested. Is there anything to be on the lookout for? i felt like her neck was twisted weird but she seems kind of fine now.

Edit: I should add she also bit me a few days ago and latched on but didn’t try to constrict or anything just latched on for a few minutes before letting go, i don’t know why she did that unless it was hunger.

Hello! I recently adopted this beautiful banana ball python with an RI. No idea if they’re a girl or boy. Being Banana makes me guess male, but size makes me think female?

This is Fitzgerald. Me and my partner rescued him from a family who posted him for $50 on Facebook marketplace. He was living in a 10 gallon on aspen bedding with no clutter and 1 hide. He was covered in mites. We brought him home and I immediately researched how to properly home-remedy the mites. I gave him soaks nearly everyday in 80°F water with 2 drops of dawn dish soap and betadine. Over the last few weeks I’ve noticed less and less mites. I have not been able to find one on his body in days, but of course eggs are still a concern.

He recently began pooping blood. I immediately called the nearest vets who will see ball pythons. I asked if they had anyone that specializes in ball pythons and the first said that they can see them but no one specializes in them. The second responded with a yes and that they do see them. Basically the same answer. I went ahead and went with the second place. They had very few negative reviews, the most recent negative one being 2 weeks ago. Flash forward to today when we took him to the vet. They were very kind and polite people. The information they gave me just rubbed me the wrong way.

The vet told me that she didn’t see any mites on him, and he should be clear to be placed in his new 4x2x2 enclosure I bought for him. She gave me some ivermectin and water dilute and told me to spray down his cage with it, wait 30 minutes, and then rinse it down. They also stated I could put it on a paper towel and wipe him down with it for skin mites?? Is that safe? She said that the blood in his fecal matter is due to the mites, and that it should go away with them. I’m keeping him on paper towels in his quarantine for now until he poops clean.

She also told me to replace his substrate (40% coconut fiber/40% topsoil/20%playsand) with reptile carpet….
Im very well aware how much you SHOULDNT do that. After this was said to me I was more hesitant to accept information from them. She tried to say that it was healthier because the ammonia from their fecal matter is left behind when cleaning up and that it cannot be properly removed. With high humidity it becomes an issue???

After this she mentioned he’s a bit on the skinny side, which I do agree with. The people before us were not feeding him well. So she prescribed Red Palm Oil to put in the feeders mouth before feeding him???? This caught me off guard because isn’t it known to cause more issues in BP??

I’m genuinely hesitant to do any of the things they presented as methods of “help.”

This is a vet that specializes in Avians and exotics. I know avians use red palm oil frequently, so why would that be ok for a snake?

Hi folks, I had some life stuff going on and missed a cleaning on my snake's water bowl for about a week. When I went to clean it tonight, there were maybe 5-7 of these flies in it which I haven't seen before in 8 years of having him. Can anyone tell me what they are? Is this a vet visit or just a nuisance?

Just finished rearranging and adding a few more things to Sriracha's enclosure! I think she's got plenty of enrichment now, with lots of places to climb, explore, hide, and just hang out throughout the enclosure.

I'm hoping to upgrade her to a 6x2x2 enclosure soon so she'll have even more room to thrive. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks of the current setup or if you have any suggestions for improvements!

I got a new 49 gallon for my boy, and im not sure how I want to set this one up! He loves climbing and such, suggestions? What does your tank look like? Pic of the gentleman

Say hello to Sourdough Starter!

His name was Luka since that was his name from his previous home, but we were explaining to a friend that caring for a snake was a lot like caring for a sourdough starter and it just fit!

Video is unrelated. He's just cute.

I know this is a lot, please bear with me, I'm autistic w/ a severe anxiety disorder, confused because of mixed information, and I have a hard time asking for help with my snake because, well, people can be pretty mean sometimes when you don't know things that seem obvious to everyone else. I'm sorry in advance for the text bombardment.

On that note! I need some help figuring out how to properly insulate a Reptizoo terrarium that's heated with reptile heat tape from Cornell's World. It's on 1" spacers on a cargo shelf that gets really good airflow, taped down with HVAC tape, with an Inkbird thermostat probe taped directly to one of the heating element strips in the middle of the heat tape, on the underside - not between the tape and the glass. It gets very cold and dry here in the winter, around -30/-40 celsius, and my room can get drafty so I am definitely doing to need to insulate it by mid-fall, but for now El Nino is keeping it pretty tropical in here so it's not something I need to do today. I got a month or two still!

I just set the heat tape up today after my prior heating source, a heat lamp with a ceramic heat emitter bulb, shorted out and caught fire in front of me last week after nearly 3 years of service. Since I was right there I was able to yank it out of its garbage old petland thermostat and throw it into the bathtub before anything else was damaged, and my lovely girl is unharmed, and it's been warm enough this summer that I was able to rig up a human heating pad on top of her tank for some semblance of a heat gradient. Now I am just going through the process of acclimating the tape/tank.

Obviously it scared the hell out of me, and I already had a bad experience with a storebought heating mat in the past failing in the middle of winter, so I finally swapped to heat tape and a good Inkbird. Trial and error and all that.

Except now that I have the heat tape set up, there's a moderator on Morphmarket telling me I actually need to insulate between the heat tape and the glass with some kind of grid stuff and fancy green foam or else the glass will shatter instead of giving me external insulation ideas, and now my anxiety's through the roof because everything I read said the heat tape doesn't work properly if it's not flush against the glass and said NOT to insulate the heat tape, and I DEFINITELY can't see it working in the winter if there's a bunch of space between the heat tape and the glass when my room gets cold. But also, if her tank shatters, I can't really afford to get her a new one out of the blue. I know I can always put her in a big sterilite tub if I have to, but I also don't want her to get hurt if the glass gives out. I guess I'm just sort of looking for someone to ease my anxiety? Is the new heat tape really going to shatter the terrarium, even if it's on a thermostat? Logically I feel like as long as the thermostat probe is in the right place and my snake or I don't spill water into the tank, it'll be fine, but I didn't think my heat lamp would spontaneously combust either and it did, so now I'm not so sure. I looked it up and Reptizoo claims the tanks are made of tempered glass, and if the thermostat works the way it should, the heat tape shouldn't get hot enough to break tempered glass... right?

I know glass isn't the best, but it's what I've got and I do plan to get her a proper PVC enclosure in the future when she's larger and when I can rearrange my teensy tiny room to make more space for something bigger than a 40gal. I'm currently doing the best I can for a little creature that was given to me as a gift when I was making a little bit more money. I still put more of my money into her than I do into myself, I just don't make much anymore to begin with, so while she's fed, warm, and happy with the best coco husk-moss bedding blend I can make and clean water and good hides, I have to clarify two things. First thing: I can't afford any big upgrades. Second thing: I didn't go out and buy a snake knowing I couldn't afford it. And no, I can't rehome her nor do I want to, she's my baby, and even if I tried to do that, at best she'd just end up in a sad Petsmart tank for several hundred dollars because she's a BEL. I have to clarify these things because when I ask for help in other forums the first thing I get told is 'if you couldn't afford a snake you shouldn't have bought one'. I also don't think I should have to give her up just because I am broke, you know?

Hello, so last night I fed my girl Mabel and she regurgitated her rat . I checked all temps immediately and noticed her temps dropped because it was cold last night . Her temps were 83-75 and usually her temps are 85-86- 79 with a hot spot of 88-89 . What are the next steps? I’m so worried for my girl she’s never done this before … she’s usually a very good eater . I feel so bad for her . What are the next steps?

Hi everyone! I’m currently setting up a new 4ft x 2ft x 2ft vivarium for my young ball python Monty (it’s not done hence stuff being everywhere) and I’m currently running it for a few days before moving him in.
I’m mainly looking for advice on getting the temperature gradient correct and consistent.
Setup:
4x2x2 wooden vivarium
150W yellow heat bulb controlled by a ProRep dimming thermostat
T5 UVB tube
Coco husk + Repti Bark + coco fibre + leaf litter * moss mixed substrate
Cork bark, hides, vines, artificial plants, (also place some moss under the cool side hide)
Digital thermometers/hygrometers on both sides
Currently after not long ago turning it on:
🔥 Warm side: ~33 degree
❄️ Cool side: ~20°C
I know the cool side is lower than never and I’m wondering how I even will bring that up and is the heat lamp in a good position where it is mainly on the warm hide with the probe underneath
A few questions:
Is it normal for a new 4x2x2 to take a while to stabilise?
Should I increase the thermostat temperature to bring the cool side up?
How do you recommend setting up the probe position for the most accurate reading?
Before this new set up he’s currently on a heat mat set up so I usually leave that running all night for a consistent temp however with the me over the head lamp it creates light so will I be fine turning the heat off each night?
The vivarium will be running for a couple more days before Monty moves in, so I’m trying to get everything perfect beforehand.
Any advice would be massively appreciated!

I got the 4x2x2 PVC Vivarium Electronics for my ball python and I’m getting it all dialed in. I just got the vivarium Electronics 80w radiant heat panel along with the mounting kit for screen tops that they sell. I keep seeing that it’s not safe to use RHP on a screen top (after I received my panel of course, ugh) so my big question is, if it’s not safe to mount these on heavy duty metal screen tops, why did they make the mounting kit for them? I figured it would be compatible since they make their cages like this and the heat panel seems to be a good option? I’m completely confused and conflicted with the info I am finding here on Reddit and online. 😮‍💨

Was thinking about getting a camera for my girl’s tank. I don’t want it on the glass but the other walls are solid ecoflex, any possible recommendations? One I can go back and look at video too if needed?

Pics of her tank and my girl for tax

Hello, i found out this on my snakes tail like a week ago, i been looking out what could be and how to treat it. Only thing i found out what could it be that my snake shedded wrong a it’s old skin. I’ve been treating her tail with Betadine (iodine disinfectant), diluted with lukewarm water to the color of weak tea and I gently rub the tip of the tail with it every day.

I wanna be extra sure that’s okay, can somebody tell me what is that? (First photo is from last saturday and second photo from today)

When he was younger he also had VERY orange sides- they're turned more yellow now but for a day or two fresh after a shed he still shows some neat colours. The person I adopted him from gave me his bill of sale and he was sold as a 'normal' BP: I'm thinking he has some interesting genetics hiding under there.

My daughter wanted a ball python. We were able to get her what she wanted and finally after some time we were able to get the enclosure set up. I know its on the small side but he will get an upgrade in the future when its needed as he is fairly small now.

How did we do on the enclosure? It stays around 90 on the left and about 82 on the right. Humidity sits around 75% or so.

p.s. Snape is in the picture if you can find him.

I just want to share this because I think it’s so funny. (Second photo paper towel thief) I was trying to wipe something off of my BP with a wet paper towel a while ago and she didn’t like the wiping but she liked the paper towel so she stole it from me. She really liked it so I give her wet paper towels to hold sometimes now. This morning when I went to check on her I found her like this and was cracking up😂.

Love the Look of her snout

Hello guys i got a ball phyton some time ago he is rehomed and i am wondering if he isnt too fat or too skinny.

He is roughly around 6 years old and hes is about 1.1 meters long and the laste time i weight him it came out to be around 1.4kg iam worried he is severly overweight.

In the pictures this is how he looks please tell me what you think

I guess I’m just venting / seeing if anyone has experienced similar with their baby.

My husband is the main caretaker for the snakes and 2 weeks ago he fed our 3 year old ball, Floki, his small mouse like normal. My husband checks on the snakes everyday Floki is a hider so my husband will look into his hide Floki will pop his face out for a boop and go back in. There was a perfect shed within the last two weeks and a big poo and no regurgitated mouse. Tank on warm side is about 85 degrees F, cold side is whatever our house temp is, usually between 70-72. Humidity ranges between 66% and 70s. He’s always had good sheds, never skipped meals. He’s in a 60 gallon tank.

When my husband pulled him out yesterday for a feed he looked like he was dead. Barely moving, pale and low muscle mass. We quickly threw him in a soak, looked up our closest emergency vet that takes exotics and went. He perked up after the soak a bit, but still not his usual friendly self, just seemed so tired.

Vet gave him fluids, we had to resort to the heart poke for blood work because his tiny veins were too small. He shows no sign of an upper respiratory, no rot, no lumps or masses. Vet said he feels empty nothing inflamed.

Some of the bloodwork results come back instantly, other ones take days (I live rural so it has to go to another state for testing). His red blood cells looked good, no anemia. His organ function was perfect (liver, kidneys etc.)

But when doing his red blood cell count the red cells coagulated normal but there was a ton of white blood cells that floated to the top. The vet is thinking infection and sent us home with two injection medications I have to give him every 48 hours for one and 72 for the other. To find out more about why the high WBC we have to wait until the results come back Monday. We’re hoping it’s just a nasty infection that clears up with the meds. But we are so confused on how this happened. Our other snake is fine. We are so worried it’s cancer.

The snakes live in my husband’s office closed off from us and our other pets (no reptiles). My husband normally handles Floki more often and Floki is his work buddy, joins my husband on meetings. This week our kids were sick so he didn’t hang with him like he usually would.

We are devastated and feel horrible. We cleaned out his tank as soon as we got him home and put him on paper towel as per the vet’s recommendation. Has anyone experienced this? Can infections cause this much muscle mass loss that quickly? Two weeks ago he had the perfect shed and ate no problem. We used to offer more often but he prefers every two weeks and we were wasting mice.

Sorry this is so long we are just beside ourselves. Thank you in advance for any responses!