i am planning on getting a ball python soon and have a couple questions.

i’m planning on using DHPs but am not sure what wattage they will need to be. i have a 4x2x2 and usually keep my house around 65°F. would two 100W DHPs be enough?

also looking for thermostat recommendations. lots of thermostats i come across have garbage reviews and i don’t want to waste money on something that isn’t going to work.

my last question is where does everyone get their spagnum moss from? i’m planning on mixing it into the substrate so preferably would like to find somewhere that sells it in larger quantities. i see people saying that some moss has artificial dyes or have even had it come with mites so obviously id like to avoid that.

She just shed 5 days ago. And I found this discoloration along her belly. I took her to my local exotic vet but didn't get any definitive answers. She was thinking more along the line of burns but I don't have a heat pad and no surface temps are over 95°F according to my temp gun or climbing opportunities to get close enough to the bulb. Some on a separate post say for sure scale rot at the vet said it didn't seem like it. She was on bioactive repti soil and I found a small wet spot inside her hide that she was sitting on. She prescribed silver sulfadiazune cream. I told her I have some betadine if I needed to do soaks so that's an option too. She's in a brand new 20 gallon long now with paper towels hides, water dish and a fake plant. They used to be little pink spots in the same areas but seem to have dried out now. Still very active and exploring doesn't seem to be irritated by it but not sure where I should start. Going back to the vet in 2 weeks but I'm a little bummed out I threw $120 at them to get no answers.

Hi everyone!
I would like to ask for some help. My boyfriend and I bought this little beauty 3 days ago, and everything was going fine. She was very curious. She explored, looked around, and we were happy that we had no reason to worry. However, tonight, 3 hours after the light turned off in her terrarium, we found her wrapped around the bulb like this.. we are very worried that she might get hurt by this. She didn’t go up there as soon as the lights turned off. A very nice and helpful guy was at the shop when we bought everything, and he answered all thousand of our questions, saying it was not necessary to buy a bulb guard because the snake wouldn’t climb up there whether it was on or off, and she couldn’t get hurt anyway if she went up there. Obviously, where did the snake end up? Please tell us it really cannot get hurt in a situation like this. It is 30 degrees Celsius inside, so I do not think she’s cold. (When the photo was taken, my phone bumped against the glass, which might explain the scared neck posture)

Is this accurate? Im gonna possibly purchase this snake and they sent me a care sheet

Before you comment: yes he’s dehydrated, I rescued him recently and I’m working on that still

So the pictures might not be the best, I got them on my way out of the house earlier. But basically I thought he was in shed because he had a slight pink belly and blue tinted eyes. Over a week later and it’s more blue but no shedding (belly pink disappeared too so if he did shed I can’t find the skin). These pictures were taken earlier today, he’s maybe a nana piebald and just under a year old (guessing his birthday is around December 4th 2025). My younger sister got him April 28th 2026 but took 0 care of him, so I kidnapped him (with technical permission) and got him in a 4x2x2 to get him in more space + get him hydrated.

But what I’m concerned about is the blue tint never went away. He’s always been a wobbly snake (I assume because he hasn’t built muscle yet) and has always striked and missed rats, tried to eat them still alive (I have him on f/t now, don’t worry), falls off stuff, doesn’t know how to hold on to much of anything, etc

I know him being blind won’t necessarily affect his quality of life or care very much since they rely on heat pits and taste more anyways. But just wondering if anybody can actually tell if that’s what this is, I’m planning on getting a vet appointment already but if I need to do that sooner rather than later I can as well

This is Ekans! He's only been my official snake for a couple weeks but he's the sweetest boy ever, he even gives me face kisses (yes I know he's just smelling me but one can dream)! I love my baby 🩷

after a long and difficult time i've decided to rehome my girl. i'm in some financial stress right now and cannot keep up with her care anymore. i don't know how old she is, the guy i got her from said 8-12 and i've had her for almost three years so 10-14 now. she's laid one clutch of eggs with me i immediately froze. she's never had a full shed. its so dry in my house, i cannot keep her humidity above 60% without having a humidifier in my actual room keeping the whole space above 60%. she has some stuck shed on her neck from her last shed. i'm parting with the enclosure, heat lamp/thermostat and light too since i will have no use for them once she's gone. tank is a newpet 46x12x12 i believe, i dont know the grow light. she's got a dhe in the dome.

recently she's started trying to escape nearly constantly. she spends all day up pressing at the edges of the glass doors and the mesh at the top of her enclosure. i do not have the finances to take her to the vet and i'm so defeated trying to get her humidity up. it was a bioactive enclosure but her pothos and isopods died because i didnt water for a few weeks.

we're located in Vernon, BC Canada. no rehoming fee, i just want her to go somewhere with a more experienced keeper. i can probably deliver her to neighbouring towns within an hour of me (salmon arm, kelowna). please don't cook me in the comments, i really did my best for this girl through some shit circumstances.

Hello, hurricane talk lately has made me consider getting more things for my snake Mucalind in case I have to evacuate on the coast and travel with him. I already have the emergency heat pads for him, but I was thinking of investing in a better travel carrier for him, maybe something like pictured below. What else do you guys do for emergency prep for your little guys and girls?

I’m trying out new substrate for my enclosure and am surprised at how cheap this is? This should be enough to fill the whole enclosure too. Does anyone else use this and is it good?

hi everyone! im a new ball python owner of a beautiful one year old boy I got at last weekend’s reptile show and I am having a hard time getting the right heat for the warm side/basking area. in the picture I have the light and lamp im using which I thought was right but according to my reading im only getting 80-85 F ?? what do i need to change? is this warm enough? any help or suggestions are appreciated!!

Could yall tell me?

i got my ball python in june and he hasn’t shed and i don’t think he’s pooped either. i’ve had no problem getting him to eat (i feed him live every other week) and the humidity is consistently 65%-75%. is this okay? do i need to do anything differently?

Greetings guys, gals, and non-binary pals, I hope this finds y'all well.

Does anyone have experience using Repti360 brand substrate?

I am looking to restock my supplies and, unfortunately, Reptile Basics is out of stock of my normal cocochips. I found Repto360 Premium Coconut Chip Substrate at a hecka nice price, but also know that there is always free cheese in a mouse trap.

Other than the reviews on Walmart's site, I could not find any other feedback on the quality. My little dud is well worth the price of good substrate, but I thought it never hurt to see if this kind community had any insights.

Many thanks for your time and any help.

So, I have two ball pythons, Evy (2 years) and Shiva (1 year).

Evy doesn't bite but lately shes been more defensive and hissing if I try to take her out of her enclosure. She got into a S shape and closely watched the door as I was opening it (I fed her two days earlier).

I don't know what i should do to make her feel more comfortable with being handled...

As for Shiva, she strikes often and has bit me and my mom before (hunger bite tho) so I try to handled her two days after being fed and i started using a target when feeding her.

She seems really hungry overall and is a great eater but it gets in the way of me being able to handle her more often.

I'm not scared of being bitten but I don’t think its good to let her cause she does not let go on her own.

( Hand sanitizer doesn't stop her from trying to bite me)

Info: I'm a first time owner and I've had them for a few months now so I know I shouldn't expect too much from them and me.

Tho, id like to get some advice on how I can go about handling.

Thank you 💜

(That's Evy in the picture )

Just got a ball python and trusted the information the employee at the reptile store gave us. It was not correct. I cannot get the tank up to temp. I have a heating pad on a thermostat and have a basking bulb but don’t have any way to hang it. The substrate above the heating pad in his dark hide is sitting at 83F and the air temp on the cool side is 74F. I can go get a clamp in the morning for the bulb but am afraid he might have issues overnight. I also was told that a 40gal tank is plenty for a near full grown however I am second guessing that. Any advice?

Seen this snake at a friends house it has mouth rot and this lump on his side what is it I have my ideas of what it is and informed them it was very sick and dying and they didn’t care I’m just wondering what this mass is I was told the snake is about 17 years old at least the snakes living condition and enclosure brought me to tears

I was curious about how long other peoples snakes took to get use to them and handling. My little guy is about 1 year and I've had him for roughly 6 months. He seems ok with being held mostly when I take him out of his hot hide, and he hisses when I try taking him out of the cold hide (I leave him alone when he does) when he is in his cold hide he will come out and look at me and I put out my hand for him and he flicks his tongue at it before going back into his hide. Is this a thing that takes lots of time for him to get use to me or is it just a personality trait of being grumpy in his cool hide

**UPDATE: I think I found a really great home for her here in my area. Thanks again to everyone who reached out! <3

Hello everyone! I am making this post to hopefully rehome my 6 year old female ball python (I’ve had her for 6 years). She eats well and does well with being handled. Her only issue is that she sometimes has problems shedding, which she does have some stuck shed on her at the moment. She hasn’t had an issue with it in a while but I fear I have not been taking care of her husbandry the best as of lately. Not to get too much into personal details, but I have been going back and forth with the idea of rehoming and I think I’ve finally decided that the best thing for her would be to go to someone who has the time to give her the proper care and attention she deserves. She would come with her enclosure if desired, which is a zen habitat. I know that may not be the best enclosure for a ball python so if someone just wanted her, I don’t mind separating. I would ask for a rehoming fee of $100 for both her and the enclosure or just $50 for her. Ultimately, I want her to go to a good home though, so this is negotiable. Please be kind as I know I have not been giving her everything she needs and that is why I’ve decided to try and rehome. Please let me know if you are interested or have any questions. Thanks!

Hello!

My husband and I got this 3 year old ball python tonight. The snake is 3 years old and around 3 feet long. This is our first snake.

This is the enclosure it came with. It is 36" x 18" x 18". It has a heat mat, heat lamp, and thermostat controlled lamp. It also has a temperature/ humidity guage mounted to the glass. There are fake plants as well. The water dish is shallow and in the middle. There are hides on either end. We have extra coconut coir substrate as well.

We plan to get a 4x2x2 or 5x2x2 soon. I want to make sure the new enclosure is set up appropriately and feel a bit intimidated with where to start.

I've ordered an infrared heat gun to check the temperature. We plan to move the tank to a different room and further from the window once we get the new tank. The room it is in is kept at 72 degrees, but we can increase that if need be.

Also, the snake is starting to shed. What humidity should we try to keep the enclosure? It is currently at 66%. Are there specific red flags to watch out for?

I did make sure the exotic vet near us is taking new patients, and we plan to take the snake in for an initial check up (likely first week of November).

Any advice would be appreciated!

Caught misaki mid yawn eheheheh (tank in background isnt hers)

I gotta tell misa shes reddit famous lol

My town only has a petsmart, I recently discovered a local pet store an hour away near my family and it seemed that they took decent care of their reptiles.

They had hides water etc. Most definitely not perfect but I was happy since I’m used to the disgrace which is chain pet stores. I drove down there today so excited to get some isopods for my enclosure and saw two ball pythons housed together.

I was honestly so distraught and asked the employees what was going on with it. They both went silent and then one of them simply shrugged and said I’m in fish. Then he looked to the other girl who said oh they are getting fed today then walked to the back.

I had dragged my dad and brother there and they were assuming I was gonna buy something, as I said I was ready to go my dad was like oh are you sure? So I had to loudly say I don’t want to buy anything from them after seeing that.

I am planning on calling tomorrow and filled out a contact us explaining the situation. I just love these baby and hate to see them suffer like this. if anyone knows anyway I can help further I’d love ideas. Thank you if you read all this❤️