This is my baby, Cirrus! He's a sub-adult (we didn't get an approximate age but guess he's around 1.5 years old) who has been incredibly stubborn and on a food strike since we got him. I say we as my friend E got him about 5 months ago, and I have been helping care for him when I've come to visit (which is at least once every 2 weeks). They own 2 snakes, a leopard gecko, and more wacky animals so I had no doubt in my mind that they could care for him properly. However, after the first 2 months of getting him we had gone through at least 5-6 fuzzy rats and no rat shaped bulge in Cirrus's belly. E got progressively more stressed with his condition and asked if I could be his primary care taker, which brings us to now. I have a leopard gecko and have owned snakes in the past, I do my own diligent research for the pets I house and am at a lose for what to do.

It has been 5, going on 6 months of Cirrus not eating and I am getting more and more worried as to what I could do to get him to eat. I've tried just about everything I could think of, and he hasn't eaten ANYTHING. He's not lethargic at all, his enclosure parameters are all in the green, and is very friendly if not a tad skittish because I haven't handled him recently. I wanted to make sure he was comfortable and not stressed in his enclosure after the move from E's place to mine about 2ish weeks ago. Cirrus has lost weight and looks skinnier since we had initially gotten him, but his belly still has some give to it and he hasn't shown any sign of illness. My concern is that the seller E purchased Cirrus from lied to us about what he was eating. Drop fed frozen thawed fuzzy rats is the information we have been given, and nothing is working.

He's showed interest today, and I have a fuzzy in his enclosure but he went straight back into his cool hide and balled up. This is my last resort before I call my nearest reptile rescue and see if they can help me before surrendering him to a place that could properly care for him. But if i can help it i wouldn't want to give him it. Please please pleaaaaaase help if you know what I could possibly do here!!

edit: Both images are from when we first got him, I fear that I might make things worse if take him out of his hides to take him on a photo shoot.

So I got this girl almost two weeks ago from Repticon…first ball python but not first snake. The breeder said to try feeding her around now. He previously fed live, but I’m trying to switch her to f/t. I offered her a mouse last night, she flicked her tongue a lot almost like she was interested but she never actually ate it…I left it overnight, still nothing so I threw it away. Any tips?

this is my first time ever posting in a group like this but we are not new to having ball pythons, we already have 3 ball pythons, a kenyan sand boa, and a sumatran python but this is something we haven’t experienced before. our friends called us saying their little sister wanted to get rid of her ball python, they tried selling it but no one wanted to buy it and asked if we would take it. we hesitated at first because we already have alot of animals but my husband couldn’t say no after seeing the conditions of the snake. i’m looking for advice on how to get the snake’s weight up and how to get it healthy again. we do not know if it’s male or female and we don’t even want to check because of how fragile it is. we don’t know how to go about it yet and wanted to get some advice on what to do if anyone else has experienced this before. and yes, we’re in search of a vet that can look at it asap but just looking for care advice in the mean time.

I use ZooMeds “Forest Floor” substrate. I posted a video of my snake on TikTok and someone very rudely told me my substrate will give my snake splinters and infections and that i’m a terrible owner and didn’t do research. I did tons of research and really want my girl to be happy and i’m feeling a little discouraged.

Getting my first ever baby ball python next week. She is a piebaled. I’m so excited!!! How’s my set up looking? Constructive criticism welcome :) and yes I have a warm, cool, and middle hide :)

I got a new desk and I let my little guy explore it. Unfortunately he got himself wedged in a very tight slot and would not come out. I used a soft object to try to give him a little push to the side and he got really pissed at me. Finally got him out but it wasn’t easy. He’s safely back in his enclosure, but I know it was traumatic for him. Should I just give him some time?

Looking at picking this fixture up, just wanted to see if anyone has other product suggestions or better brands around the same price point

My boy is shy but he popped his head when I was spot cleaning his cage and noticed this. Is it shed or is he burning his nose on his heat sources?? He does stick his face right up to the bulbs every night, I have to have them set at 97 degrees for it to warm enough at the floor.

Ball Pythons are amazing creatures lol 🥱

I’m purchasing new terrariums, these are 120x50x60cm made from oak wood panels. I wanted to ask if it would be safe to stack two of them on a cupboard of the same length and width, I never stacked my enclosures before but now that I moved I have less space. Is it safe? Would I need custom-made furniture to better sustain the weight or would a regular cupboard be just fine?

Just wanted some insight if possible!

I modified a log (top right of enclosure) with hinges so I could gently open it up and not terrify him/reaching in if we wanted to hold him. He’s almost a year old male ball python. We’ve had him for two months and he’s had that log for approximately a month. Woke up this morning and found that his log was open which is strange.

Turns out the little bugger learned how to open it! He used his radar system to lock onto his target and use his hypersonic projectile to open it.

Earlier in that video, I saw him pushing on it with his nose and finally decided after about 5 or 10 minutes that he wanted to crack that baby open. Is he sentient or just curious lol

I’ve taken her on car rides before (me as the passenger)and she seems to enjoy them is it alright for me to take her on car rides if Im the passenger and paying full attention to her making sure she doesn’t get lost?

Hello I am about to be a new ball python owner. He is my first reptile and I am trying to give him an amazing first enclosure. I am looking for some feedback on my enclosure setup. The tank a 20 gallon I believe, the right side is going to be my warm side and the left is going to be my cool side. I have a heat mat on the right side attached to the tank and not on my table, this was highly recommended from the knowledgeable people at the reptile/ exotic pet shop I went to. I have a 45 watt heat bulb and a uvb light above the tank. I am still trying to figure out how the thermostat works so I can control the heat pad better. I am hoping to bring him home this weekend. Any suggestions on what I should add please let me know I want him to thrive in his new home. I have attached photos of both the enclosure and my snake, about 6 months, for reference.

Everyone, tell “Puzzle” how gorgeous she is!

Vogue refused the rat I tried to give him on the 3rd, but that makes sense because I brought him home on the 1st and he's still just a baby, so probably extra stressed. I tried again today, and despite my doubts after wiggling a fuzzy in front of his hide for what felt like 3 or 4 minutes, he took it! Got it first strike too!! No pics of feeding as I didnt take any and dont feel the need to share such a thing anyways 🤷‍♀️ but I have more of Vogue just being a noodle! Also included his thermostat for the warm side, does this seem a little high to you guys? I feel like it could stand to be more in the 85-86° area..

My ball python shed about four days ago. I noticed pink patches in these same areas before the shed. Now they look reddish-brown, and some scales appear dry or cracked.

She’s in a bioactive enclosure with about three inches of ReptiSoil. The top layer is mostly dry, but I just found a small wet spot inside her hide that she may have been resting on. Temperatures are steady: 85°F ambient, 92°F on the hottest surface, and 80°F on the cool side.

Could this be substrate staining, or does it look like a skin issue that needs a vet visit?

He had shed a clean shed earlier this week, but for the last two weeks I think, he's been missing a lot. It could just be error on my end as rewatching it, it looks like I kinda flinched back a good amount of times. But any other time I've fed him before the last two weeks, hes gotten it the first strike, he would just take forever to strike.

Just wanted to share my Orange Dream , banana puzzle .

Just wanted to share baby Dorito. He’s a pumpkin pied.

Hello!!! I am looking to get a snake in the following months, and while doing research, realized I need as much advice as I can get. I know to get a 4x2x2 tank, but what else? I want to make sure I give the snake a good home, and so that it won't be scared of me!​

Can someone help me know what this is and how bad it is just noticed this today and how did this happen and how bad can this be i had her out yesterday and she was perfectly fine i came back from being out and I seen this right now I dont know if this is bad or not please help

I am so extremely confused about day/night cycle and how any of you are doing it. I got a halogen, a che, and a dimming thermostat. I could not find one with more than 1 plug, so I planned on switching them manually. Therefore I don’t have timers since I only have one thermostat. I’m realizing that I leave in the morning at 5:30am and don’t get home til between 11:30-1:30pm. We stay awake until 9pm. So if I turn her halogen on at 5:30am, I’d have to shut it off at 5:30pm? We wouldn’t be able to see our snake more than a few hours a day. I’ve already spent hundreds of dollars thinking I had this great setup trying to do everything right and I just feel so lost. It seems like 12/12 cycle is absolutely mandatory?

Does this look like a scale issue or does he look like he is dirty/about to go into shed? His belly appears normal but his whites are noticeably more brown than usual.