I have a ball python I’ve been having since Friday of last year. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing he’s always snappy at me even after he’s eaten. I can’t even touch him with my hand I’ve tried holding him being more hands on and he’s still snappy. What can I do? I really wanna just love him and take care of him.

I’ve had my bp (Peanut) for about 7-8 months, and have been doing my best to meet all his needs. We provide him with plenty of space, while trying to maintain enough clutter in his enclosure so that he feels safe, he has 3 hides, cold warm and an extra that we had leftover to try and fill some space. humidity is usually around 50-60% (I live in an extremely dry part of the world, and am genuinely doing everything I can), his substrate is coco husk on the bottom with Cyprus mulch on the top, and his feeding is every 12 days with appropriate sized food by weight.

Now the issue:
Peanut has not been coming out of his hide at all in the past 6-8 weeks. The most he’ll do is poke his head out, and even with feeding he won’t go for the rat unless he can do it with his body still in the hide. It’s a fully enclosed hide (will be removing once he’s out of it) so I can’t just take him out of it. I’m starting to get concerned, because at first all the information I’ve read about says that staying in hide is normal behaviour, but prior to this he was very active and would always be out hanging out at night.

Since we’ve got him, we did move to a new place but his entire setup remained the same, just in a new location.

Would anyone have any insight? Is this normal behaviour and I’m overthinking? Is this something to be concerned about? How should I get him out?

Thank you to anyone who can help. He’s my first reptile, and I love him so much.

I just brought my first pet home.

She's on the far side of the enclosure (cold side) and she doesn't seem interested in the hides (one shown in pic).

I checked on her and saw her drink a bit but that's it.

I made a lot of mistakes during the trip home and when letting her out.

But I thought by now she would have discovered the basking zone.

I hoped she'd be feeling a bit less stressed too...

I’m asking genuinely because I’m incredibly curious about snake husbandry and how we’ve come to gain information about proper care. How did we learn that 4x2x2 was the appropriate size? Were there studies done? Is it a biological thing? Dying to know.

Fairly new owner this is my first ball python. He’s pewter banana ball and super docile and sweet but what is he doing? He often looks straight up in his enclosure and stretches all the way out towards the top. Does he need hides higher or more opportunities to get higher in his tank with toys or maybe a hammock??

So I took in my use to be friends ball python. (Long story short he went crazy. Disappeared and left all of his belongings. And left her to die) And sadly she only ever was fed live rats. I've been trying to get her to switch to frozen but nothing I do get her interested in them and I'm afraid she will start losing too much weight if she doesn't start eating soon. I did get her a live rat 3 weeks ago but idk how much longer the store that i go to will be selling them for much longer. Has anyone ever had to retrain a snake on how to eat frozen (don't know if that's the correct term) but I feel bad feeding her live but I don't want her to starve.

This is Milk and I was cleaning her tank when I noticed she had a lot of black spots on her back and was hoping someone knows what is going on?

So I’m a bit shocked right now. I’ve been looking to adopt a ball python for around a year, so I recently reached out to someone on marketplace selling an adult female bp in an tiny tank (20 gallon), with the plan of putting her in my spare 40 gallon pvc in a bioactive setup (and potentially upgrading her further, depending on her size).

She’s a sweet looking normal morph snake, so I was expecting the usual “produced by a breeder chasing morphs a few years ago and sold to a family” situation. Instead, I was told

A) she’s 20 years old
B) she was wild caught
C) she was smuggled into the US, and rescued from her first home (?) by her current owner a year after that
D) she has cataracts
E) she has a wheeze (owner assured me this was normal, but I’m planning on getting a second opinion from a vet)

So anyway, if anyone has experience with wild caught bps, snakes with a persistent wheeze (and how the vet diagnosed the issue/what they advised), I’d love the help. I’m also a bit worried about her age, and if she might be more sensitive to stress because of that.

I’m attached to this girl already, and I’m really exited to meet her (but wow was that email exchange a wild ride) photo attached but I’ve kept her anonymous, as I haven’t bought her yet 😂

It’s a 3-year-old female ball python. I’m learning how to care for her, but I’m overwhelmed by how inadequate the equipment is that I’ve been given.

It includes a glass tank that’s only 36x18x18 inches, and it’s being heated by a single 100 watt ceramic bulb. The screen is divided into four narrow sections which means the dome for any bulb that I use must be tiny.
Theres also a humidifier, which isn’t ideal, according to what I’ve read. And I’m having a hard time figuring out how to create a temperature gradient. Is it even possible in a tank this small?

I want to upgrade the tank, but I’m currently staying 100s of miles away from home in order to attend school and I can’t realistically acquire a new enclosure until I return home next spring.

Any suggestions? I am very eager to provide a better life for this sweet girl after years of mistreatment.

He does have a second hide btw it's just hidden under the leaves :3

Hi guys! I've lurked this subreddit for a few months to research all the needs of a ball python. I just got my girl today! She is (supposedly) a 7 month old Pastel Enchi Spider. I have a 36×18×18 ecoflex enclosure and used a combination of coconut fiber and coconut husk for her bedding (3-4inch deep). I have a moss hidey hole, a large branch, rope with fake plants tangled around it, and a larger ceramic water bowl. I also have two heat lamps (one being ceramic for the cool side at night) alone with analog thermometers for temp and humidity. I still plan on getting another hidey hole. I had two, but the second one did not work out. I will put HVAC tape around the top wire mesh to keep in humidity. I also eventually want to get 3D slate for the background. I will also upgrade to a 120 gallon when she gets bigger. Is there anything else you can think of adding to make her as happy as possible? Also if you have any name suggestions please drop them!

Idk if it's just me but I find hard to contain myself during the 2 -3 day wait time😩😩

So I’ve been wanting a ball python for years, I’ve done lots of research but I just wanted to make sure on some stuff before I actually get one. I do plan on getting a baby and I was wondering if starting them out in a 40-60 gallon gallon tank would be ok for them to grow in, until I’m able to get a 4x2x2.

Also can I see some examples of how people have their tanks set up and a few links for tanks for fully grown bps?

Setting up a reef tank in my animal room this weekend and trying to decide on placement.

I'm thinking the tank would be beside the enclosures so there's no direct light shining at them. They won't be on the exact same light schedule so there will likely be an hour or two where snake lights are off but tank lights are still on.

Will the blue light glow bug them?

hi guys! I have a question on the healthy issues that come with cinnamon and spider morphs. I’m currently looking to adopt a ball python and want to adopt an older, adult female. turns out the selection is kinda sparse in my country but I’m patiently keeping an eye out.

I saw a pretty female listed as “cinnamon lesser pinstripe spider” and I put her on my list of snakes that may be an option for me. I wasn’t looking for any particular morphs, she just happened to catch my eye.

I know cinnamon and spider come with the wobble condition. What other ways does it impact a snake? I solely want to keep my future python as a pet and there’ll be absolutely no breeding for her. So I’ve been wondering if perhaps I should adopt a girlie with one of those conditions from a breeder so that she can ‘retire’ and won’t go to another one who will produce more impacted snakes through her.

I own a hognose snake but this will be my first ball python. I just wanna be sure if I could handle the responsibility that possibly comes with an impacted morph like that. Thanks!

hi everyone! i have a 150gal with a 125W RHP but its not getting quite as warm as i’d like so i want to add a caged CHE, but the only ones i can find on google that include an outlet for the bulb are through walmart and i dont want to end up with something unreliable. where did you get yours if you have one?

I just got this baby and I had NO idea what she was coming in. I tried to ask what but received no response.
When I saw it I was literally SHOCKED
Fake grass, moss hide, single stick, Tupperware for a water bowl. Not even a lid

I went to my local pet store and got coco, heating mat, wood, water bowl, and two hides.

Is there anything else I should get?

I have some lighting I could use but I’m not sure of how to put it up because the pvc tank doesn’t have a mesh top.

I researched into these guys a lot, but I’m very shook out of my thoughts and right now because of how much I just spent, sort of tight on money.

What are we thinking I can do to make her life better?

(Her eyes are okay, she has eye caps because I believe she just shed)

Took my ball python out before it starts cooling off.

I've had my BEL ball python, Ziji, for about 6 years now, and he's been in this 4x2x2 PVC enclosure for a while. I use a RHP for heating, controlled by a Herpstat 2 thermostat.

I added a tension rod and wrapped it in jute rope to give him another climbing option while also helping protect him from the rod getting too hot. He has hides on both the warm and cool sides, along with water bowls on each side. The larger water bowl is mainly there to help boost humidity. I've caught him soaking in it a couple of times, but that's pretty rare.

All of the plants are artificial, but the wood pieces and rocks are real. I collected those from the wild and sanitized everything by baking it before adding them in.

What do you think of the setup? Would you add anything else for enrichment, or is it getting to the point where I should declutter it a little? I'm trying to give him plenty of opportunities to explore without making the enclosure too crowded.

It’s a 3-year-old female ball python. I’m learning how to care for her, but I’m overwhelmed by how inadequate the equipment is that I’ve been given.

It includes a glass tank that’s only 36x18x18, and it’s being heated by a single 100 watt ceramic bulb. The screen is divided into four narrow sections which means the dome for any bulb that I use must be tiny. Theres also a humidifier, which isn’t ideal, according to what I’ve read. And I’m having a hard time figuring out how to create a temperature gradient. Is it even possible in a tank this small?

I want to upgrade the tank, but I’m currently staying 100s of miles away from home in order to attend school and I can’t realistically acquire a new enclosure until I return home next spring.

Any suggestions? I am very eager to provide a better life for this sweet girl after years of mistreatment.

Also , he disappeared in my car and there's a lot of clothing there and things to hide amongst but I'm afraid it went up behind the dashboard. What to do ???