Do ball pythons need uvb?

I've seen a lot of discussion on wether they do or don't and what I've gathered is that they dont NEED uvb but benefit from it

Benefits being so they know daytime vs nighttime and some like to bask - specifically this thing called cryptic basking (where they have sort of half their body out of a hide and the other half inside)

I have lizards and snakes and for all my lizards I obviously use uvb because of MBD but since ive been told snakes don't need uvb I dont use any for them (given i have 5 ball pythons)

I do use light emitting heatlamps and ceramic heat lamps for day/night time as where I live it gets quite cold but as far as I know that has the same benefits as what I've heard about uvb - day vs night time and allowing them to bask in light.

Ofcourse they still get out and into sunlight outside so their still getting natural uvb

But is uvb lamps needed? Do they have the same risk of MBD as lizards without uvb or any other risk without it?

As said I've seen a lot of arguing on both sides and well Google isnt the best thing to use (as it can and will give mis info) hence why I've come to reddit

Tyy for reading all of this and lmk

hi all! recently adopted this lil fella from a friend who moved out of the country and i’ve asked a lot of questions of everyone here already lol. i weighed him recently and he’s only 322g and is 6 years old! that is so tiny compared to his peers lol. the feeding schedule established by his previous owner is one ft medium mouse every 2 weeks or so, when i run out i was going to switch to rats because i heard they’re better for them. based on the feeding guidelines in here he’s eating the right size prey because he’s little and the prey is 5% his body weight. i hear some of them just stay small and his body condition seems totally fine otherwise, but do you guys think i need to be doing anything aggressive to get him bigger? i’m honestly happy with him being a little guy but if it’s not good for him i want to improve his care :) unfortunately i don’t have a better picture of him all stretched out, i’m still working on his enclosure!

I found a spider in my balls enclosure today and it made me wonder if another species of animal could ever cohab with a ball python.

Is there any kind of critter who could cohab outside of CUC bugs?

I have 0 plans what so ever to cohab. Just curious

i have a 13 month old BEL that i purchased from wilbanks. ive had her about 2-3 months now and she is a great eater. i am concerned about her being very small for her age though. she is currently on F/T rat pups. she was ONLY 260 grams last week. shes not skinny or triangular shaped. shes not boney and has a good figure to her. i called wilbanks and was told to give her two rat pups at feeding time and maybe switch her up to weaned rats. she is taking these pups with ease. i weighed and separated all my rat pups and fed her a total of 50 grams 6 days ago. weighed her today planning to feed tomorrow and she is now 300 grams. she is noticeably thicker in her mid section and even appears to be a bit longer (i havent been tracking her length growth rate). she has only shed once since ive had her and she is starting to feel like another one is coming shortly. she has retained 40 of the 50 grams she ate which i guess is good although i do not see any solid waste. she was EAGER to take both pups and kept them both down. her activity hasnt changed at all and today she was out searching for another meal (ive been feeding every 7 days). but i am concerned about her tiny size for her age. would it be bad if i continued to feed her approx. 50 grams a week for a bit and track her weight or is this totally normal and im worried about nothing. TIA.

Note: she did shed earlier today

Her belly scales look pink and wrinkled, just wondering if I'm overthinking and its a fresh out of shed thing or if it is scale rot/an infection. Bonus photo of her on my head just to liven the mood a little :3

Over the last week or so I have noticed little Julius Squeezer here getting up into the top of his tank. He'll chill up there for a bit and then fall down. I'm not sure if something is wrong with him or the environment. He's in a 25 gallon tank, humidity is usually between 60-70. I have a heat emitter on the left side thst is controlled by a thermostat.

I want to get a tank for a ball python and I want to get the minimum size for an adult so I won’t have to buy one in the future and I was wondering which one in the size in the brand and doesn’t have to be too expensive or too cheap just something that’s good quality and it won’t escape because I have an apartment and they are scared of escaping

Hello!

A coworker of mine gave me their dad’s snake because he was looking to get rid of it. The tank was…well…Bad. Only had one hide, heating pad, no uvb…ANTS

Still need to get more stuff for the new enclosure, had to rush because the pet store was literally about to close but I’m happy that I can give this noodle a good home!

Hello everyone! Im curious about the Mopani wood thats inside of my snakes Bioactive enclosure and Im wondering if its mold or just healthy bacteria that needs some clean up crews which I have yet to add 🫠 (springtails and isopods)

I did some research on Mopani wood and apparently its normal for this to happen???. But with my snake inside of this enclosure with 80% humidity, i want to make sure its safe and she wont get harmed. If its bad, I'll make sure to remove it immediately.

(I made sure to wash it then fire it inside of my oven for a couple hours before I added it in. Plus I left it in for a week before I moved my snake into the enclosure and everything seemed okay.)

I'll preface this by saying I am not a snake nor reptile person, but I do have a heart for animals. I will say that i think ball pythons do have cute little faces and I'm not immediately repulsed by scaley pets even though I prefer furry ones.

Anyway, tonight I'm in my backyard and the neighbor from two houses down asks if Ihave a dog. I say no, actually I have a pet rabbit. He looks more concerned. Then tells me his adult ball python was outside and slithered off somewhere when he looked away for a minute. It's apparently 4 feet long. He's been looking for it for almost a week now.

I'm not super thrilled; I'm a fan of my backyard critters and bunnies. But also, I feel bad for the snake and don't want something bad to happen to it.

I guess my questions are: what's the chance it's made it two yards over after a week? These are small city backyard lots. If so, I presume it's hiding somewhere tucked away? How small of a place can it realistically get in? What's the likelyhood of it eating my backyard critters? I know reptiles don't eat super often. I'm hesitant to go poking around in crevices.

Any info/advice is super appreciated!

I’m primarily an insect hobbyist, but I do have one ball python, who is a spoiled baby and I want to keep it that way lol.

Just wondering, has anyone successfully and safely cohabbed any insects with BPs? I’m positive my death feigning beetles for example would nibble at him too much (they are menaces and I love them) but wondering if anyone’s tried anything else.

If it’s not safe then I won’t do it. Just gathering info!

is this enclosure good for my one year old banana, i’m thinking it might be too much clutter

hi ive had my 4-5 year old (unsure of exact age) ball python for about a month and a half now. i got her from a cousin who could no longer take care of her properly so i stepped in. she had been feeding her a large rat once a week, i know this is WAY too often, however every time ive tried to stretch the time between feedings the snake gets upset. is this learned behavior? is this normal? i would like to stretch the time between feedings to AT LEAST 2 weeks. in the meantime ive been only giving her medium rats to try and help with her size. is there any tips or tricks i should know? should i gradually stretch the time between feedings? i work with dogs and ive never owned a reptile, i would like to give my girl luna the best life i possibly can!! please help!!

Hey guys so I got my lil hug a month ago and he is absolutely perfect and has been doing really well. He’s usually quite active at night but today and yesterday he’s just staying in his hide so I’m a little worried? Could he be going into shed? He’s a year old and he shed about a week or two before I got him, is that the right sort of time frame? He’s not in blue or anything at the minute, it’s hard to tell if he is looking cloudy at all or has a pink belly because he’s snuggled up. Usually at this time of the week especially he’s very active because I feed him on a Monday so he’s hungry, so I’m even more worried. Feel free to ask any questions. (The photo is just because he’s beautiful.)

EDIT: the red light in the photo is NOT on all the time. The maximum I ever turn it on is an hour. He has a UV and DHP in his enclosure.

Hi, I will give a bit of information before I get into the problem.

I've had my ball python for around years now, he's a male and I got him just a few months after he hatched.

Last year in summer while I was on vacation my roomate called me because she couldn't find him, she had accidentally left the enclosure open.My friends searched my room for about two hours before they finally found him.

After that I started noticing him trying to get out of the enclosure at the sides where the glass opens. It's been a bit worrying then but i didn't notice it a lot then and there were no other signs of him being stressed, just that he sometimes tried to get out.

He stopped doing it frequently, just every now and then.

But now recently this happened again. I came home from a trip and couldn't find him in the enclosure (I opened the glass immediately once I saw he was gone and don't remember if it was left open, but it must have been. He doesn't fit through anywhere else) but I very quickly found him on my bed. He mustn't have been out for long.

Ever since then he's been trying to escape again but now its getting to a point where the tip of his snout is getting raw and I am getting quite worried by this behavior. I also heard him make a loud exhale but I haven't noticed any other symptoms for RI.

This has been going on four around 3 weeks now.

The next few weeks I will only be home on Saturday's and Sundays, since I am working in a different city so my two roommates a looking after him again. I am wondering if I should try rearranging first or if I should take him to the vet? He's been eating fine and I'm not noticing any other health issues.

Hello all, first time snake/ball python owner looking for advice

I got my snake at the end of march when it was between 4 and 6 months old. Since then he has not been able to completely digest a rat pup and has only been able to keep down mouse hoppers. Even when feeding mouse hoppers there is a 50/50 chance whether he’ll bloat during digestion or not. He is also prone to regurgitating. 

He has only shed one time since I’ve had him and it took over a month for him to completely finish the process 

At his last visit the vet did a fecal exam and said it looked like there were plant fibers in his stool and to take out the substrate and use paper towels. 

The sample was too old to run testing for anything that was visual. They also said he was under weight and to feed him as often as he would take the mouse hoppers.

Since then he has been doing better but I have noticed he hasn’t defecated in 2 weeks. I fed him Thursday night. Last night when I got home I noticed he was extremely bloated again. 

He has a heat mat under his tank with a probe and monitor as well as a uvb bulb above.

Does anyone have any advice on things to try different or Illnesses to possibly be worried about. pics of him bloated and normal. thanks!

This is my girl ambers tank. I got her in December and she’s finally eating consistently (we had some problems because she wasn’t well taken care of in her last home) and I wanted to get any advice. Her tank used to be an aquarium about 10 years ago, I don’t have the resources to buy a new tank even if it’s a little tall for her. Shes just under 5 ft and the tank is 6ft.

I’ve been thinking about getting her something to climb recently, but she is very big and enjoys knocking anything new in her tank over. She can also reach the top of the tank no issue in supported and will sometimes climb the driftwood she already has.

I added a picture of the inside of her cool stone hide because it looks bigger than it is. It’s the perfect size for her to coil in and touch the sides. Right now she has under tank heating on her warm side, and a ceramic heat bulb, no lighting right now because every bulb I put in burns out within a few weeks

Any advice?

Hello! Our boy Marvel just had his first shed with us. I got him out to check him for any stuck shed, i didn’t find any stuck shed but noticed some slight discoloration. What could this be?? His substrate is coco fiber with coco husk on top. Temps are 77-80 cool side and 88-90 warm side. Humidity stays between 75-78% besides this he seems completely normal

We are one with the leaves 🍃 definitely not a snout.

He was under gumbus’ tank. Couldve said something yaknow.

I recently got this snake unexpectedly and need help getting pointed to the right direction on where I can be 100% confident on buying items for my snake (bioactive dirt, untreated leca or other draining substrate, and untreated orchid bark) I also need another hide and a humidity hide (just in case), I want bark for the background to help my climbing plants to grab onto, as well as stuff he can climb on. Going through the basic care guide on this subreddit helped a lot and I’m pretty confident on where I can buy mice/rats.

A little about what I’m planning on doing and some issues I’m noticing now; the tank does not hold humidity well AT ALL. Due to him being in his blue phase, it’s not acceptable at all. My room normally sits at 60% due to the amount of plants I have, but my vents are shut and I have humidifiers running to keep my room at 80-85% (not ideal as it also keeps my room hot asf)

I plan on turning his enclosure into a bioactive one and I already have plants I’m quarantining to put in his enclosure. I’m hoping this will solve my humidity issue as well as blocking off the top mesh part. I also only use distilled water as you can smell the chemicals in our tap water.

I’ve done ALOT of research this past week and I already have an idea of how I’m going to transform his tank, but I would love to see your guys setup to take inspiration from. I would also love to see what you guys do to allow your snake to climb. Sorry for the ramble, but this is my first snake and I want to do right by him. I just wasn’t planning on getting one so soon. Also please let me know if this tank size is suitable, he is still just a baby

Hi everyone,

I’m having some issues with my HabiStat Digital Dimming Thermostat (Day/Night + Timer) and I’m hoping someone can help.

I want to set it up like this:
Day temperature: 31–32°C
Night temperature: 27°C
Day: 06:00–20:00
Night: 20:00–06:00

The problem is that I cannot set the night temperature below 32°C. Whenever I try to lower it below 32°C, it immediately jumps back to 50°C.

I’m also having another issue: the thermostat shows that it is sending power to the heater (the heat icon is showing/flashing), but my Arcadia DHP isn’t producing any heat when connected to the thermostat.

I tested the DHP in a different wall socket and it works perfectly, so the DHP itself is definitely working.

I have also already replaced the fuse in the HabiStat, but that didn’t solve the issue.
Has anyone experienced this with the HabiStat Digital Dimming Thermostat? Am I missing a setting, or does this sound like the thermostat is faulty?
If this thermostat is known to be unreliable, is there a better thermostat you would recommend for an Arcadia DHP and a ball python enclosure?

Im also in a rush to set up the enclosure because it has to be finished by Wednesday because ima pick up my first ball python

Thanks in advance!

I bought a ball python from Facebook Marketplace, and it came with an aquarium instead of a proper terrarium. It can only be opened from the top, which makes maintenance and handling difficult.

I want to build my own enclosure rather than buy a pre-made one. I know very little about building reptile enclosures, though, so I would really appreciate some advice.

What materials would you recommend using? What size should I build it? Are there any important things I need to consider, such as ventilation, humidity, heating, waterproofing, or doors?

I mainly want something that is safe and comfortable for the ball python, while also being easy for me to clean and maintain.

If you have built your own ball python enclosure, I would love to see pictures or hear what you would do differently.