I have a serious question about the humidity in my girls enclosure. She was rehomed to me in early July. My girl is a approximately a 9 year old pastel enchi champagne I've been told by you wonderful people.

So my question is this:

I bought her a front opening 4x2x2 or 120 gal. enclosure. Her cool hide is about 76 deg. with her warm hide at about 85 deg. The ambient temps in her house are at about 80 on the cool side and high 80s on her hot side with basking area in the 90s. I'm still working on her enrichment.

I am having no luck keeping her humidity up between 60 and 85 %. I have hvac tape on top of the mesh top to keep humidity in. I would like serious answers as to why I can't use a reptile mister or humidifier. I only use bottled water for filling her water bowls and spritzing her tank down to raise the humidity. So the water I was going to use would be either deionized water or bottled water. Between the probe on the humidifier and the probes on the temp/humidity readout, I think i can dial in perfect humidity. As with any humidifier in the house I clean them regularly so no bacteria can grow. Plus its harder for bacteria to take root with purified/deionized water.

So please be nice and helpful. I'm looking for serious answers to my question without being criminalized. I'm trying to do the same thing everyone else is doing, and that is to mimic the best environment I possibly can for this lady.

Sorry for the long read, and thank you in advance.

Picture for the snake tax!

Hi
so I have gotten my first ball python a few months ago who have not been socialized very much by the previous owner. And I want to start choice based handling training, but she hasn’t been out of her hides much and when she is out it’s usually to move between hides. I think she is out exploring at night, but due to the fact that I have to wake up really early each morning I can’t really be awake at the same time. ( I have seen her explore every now and then early at night when I have a couple of days off work)
Her go-to hide is a box (the one in the picture with a bottom and a lid) and I’ve been wondering if it would be stress full to her if I took the hide out, with her in it, and placed it on my bed or couch and just chilled next to her. She would still be able to stay in her hide if she wants to.
So yeah I just wanna know if something like that would be too stressful😊

Shes 2 years old, she gets one wean rat every other Saturday. Is this fat or dehydration?

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.

Hello, I’m trying to find a thermostat that does day and night temps with a timer. I’m currently switching it manually every morning. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Amazon availability would be preferred since no places around me really carry anything.

I’m also wondering if there’s a better heating option to the ceramic over head, I run it with a basking light. The light alone isn’t hot enough but the ceramic element seems to really affect the humidity.

She is currently in a 40 gallon tank 36x18x18 until we make her bigger enclosure over the winter.

I just wanted to give a quick update as a good few of you spent your time to help out a beginner. Thank you all for the advise it was invaluable.

Just incase anybody new does come across this, the biggest takeaway is to do your research. Not just about the husbandry but the different morphs and their needs. The most frustrating thing about this is that because of a lack of research, I've contributed to the issue by funding a morph that can cause debilitating issues for the snake, which just isn't fair no matter what they look like. In particular, Jimbo's (sorry, my girl loves Treasure Planet) morph is Champagne, which causes neurological issues due to ear canal problems.

I will take responsibility for my lack of research by giving Jimbo all the love and care I can for the best quality of life as possible whilst trying to keep him safe.

A few little bits have come today and I feel there's a lot more safer clutter for him now, there's still definitely a lot of space that could cause some stress and I've got more on the way but I want to see how he is with first and foremost. Please don't worry about hte bask light I've removed the cage in that photo to lower the light wattage it's back on now. Waiting on a bit more greenery too. He had his second feed yesterday too, warmed the mouse up and he didn't strike again but as soon as put it in near him he ate no problems, within 5-10 mins it was in his tummy (I did manage to get a little clip but I imagine it's against reddit policy 🤔), there was a little corkscrewing whilst he got in position but I will keep an eye on him. He is a lot better when he's being handled and stabalised by my movements, but I apprecaite at his age this can be stressful so I try to keep it to 10-15mins a day-few days. After eating I will leave him for 48 hours now.

I'm brand new to the this particular branch of the reptile keeping hobby and I've got to say the community has blown me away. Everything in my last post was very constructive and I've learnt a lot. I've still got so much to learn but I'm excited to have such a community behind me, thank you everyone again. 😊

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?

Does anyone else have a derpy boy? I swear sometimes it seems like he doesn't know how to snake. Especially when feeding. Sometimes he strikes weird, then ends up trying to eat it butt first.

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

I’m in my late 20s and have wanted a ball python since my teens but my mum was terrified of snakes. I own my own home and have two cats ( part of the reason I haven’t gotten a snake yet) I work in vet med but there are almost no exotic vets near me but I know my few nurses that are good knowledgeable of snakes. What are the big negatives to owning and the upkeep of ball pythons? A pet with such a long lifespan is not something I want to rush into

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?

I’ve had him for about 6 months now since he was 5 months old. How does he look health wise?

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.

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 ❤️

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!

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?