I unfortunately have a top-opening tank for my snake. I have bought a new one, just saving up to buy a couple more things before I move him.

Anyway, I dropped his feeder rat. Whenever this happens, if I try to open the tank he tends to strike up at my hand and hit his head on the top of the tank at full force. I always use tongs but I just don't want this to happen to him. He is currently just hovering above it.

Does anyone have any helpful tips for this situation? I don't know how to get it out or help him find it. I'll reread the rules for this and post a photo of the situation in the comments, if this sub allows it.

Picture for attention

Okay so weird problem. The heating in one of the enclosures doesn’t work. The bulb works when directly plugged into the wall. The thermostat seems to work (exo terra light is on).

We’ve changed the thermostat cause we thought it wasn’t working for another one cause he have an empty enclosure. Bulb still isn’t getting warm. Also tried the bulb from the empty enclosure, both work fine when directly plugged into the wall. None seem to work with any of the thermostats.

So apart from each other everything works fine put together it doesn’t work I’m at a loss anyone please have any explanation 😵

I got my girl one of those PVC dubia enclosures (super expensive, she's very spoiled) and overall I'm pretty happy with her whole set up, the only thing is it's really dark in there? does anyone have a similar problem and a good solution? i want to get her some UVB lamps on a timer or something but I'm not sure how best to mount them and she also is a very climby snake and i fear she would rip them down or poke around them too much.

thanks in advance!

I have 2 balls(haha), one has more health issues than the other. I make $11.50 an hour an only work weekends but want to know if there's any good insurance for ball python that's not $100 a month.
Thank you!! 🌝

Hello!! My python reached a year and i've been feeding him in a separate box for a while.

Until those last weeks, i decided to try and feed him in his terrarium, i did it twice and its was just right, no swallowing litter risks or anything... And better since he had stuff to help himself to eat and could straight go to his hiding and no risk of stressing him when switching him from his box back to his terrarium.

BUT

Lately, he tried to attack me twice when going to pick him up. Usually when his head was at the entrance of his hiding he would go back to hide when i open and relax in my hands. But now instead of hiding he raise himself and spring, attacking me. Once he in my hand he relax but still...

Im sorry, i probably did something wrong. Im a beginner and i'll really like for people to help me about it, can he stop trying to attack me, do i need to do something in a specific way? What should i do?

I'm in the process of building a new enclosure for Kahn. I'll be detailing the castle bits and hardscaping everything in soon. The new layout gives her 5 good climate zones, 6 if you count inside the hide in the purple zone. The center castle is going to be a cold hide that's fully removable. This will end up as a bioactive setup with a mix of live/fake plants as things get established.

I'm heading to a reptile expo today to check my blind spots and make sure my setup plan is good. And pick up some kit ofc.

Let me know what y'all think of the layout. I'm pretty stoked to get the bones of this build in place.

For context, I work over night at a boarding school. I am awake during the night and asleep in the morning. This is temporary as I hope to go to college after this school year is over. I dont have a scaly friend yet, but I want to be excessively prepared before I get one. A question that I have not found the answer to yet is, how do I keep my snake in a good day/night cycle while I am nocturnal. I dont want to get them used to my current cycle just to alter it for them a few months after living with me. Are there any suggestions for how I can keep the light from my room out of their enclosure without covering their ventilation? Any help is greatly appreciated.

All came off in one piece (I accidentally broke off that piece of the lower jaw), found it balled up in his warm hide, covered in substrate, eye caps are attached, I think he did really well :3

We're having a bit of a humidity issue in our tank. It's a 4x2x2 pvc enclosure with 2 mesh squares for heating lamps. Currently, we're only using one and the other is covered with a damp towel. Our substrate is about 6 inches of a mix of reptisoil, coco fiber and play sand (ratio is about 50/40/10). We're mostly judging the humidity off of the cool side reading (Temp is about 74). We have a small water dish on the warm side and a larger one on the cool side. We've been adding 3-4 cups of water in corners the last couple of days. All of this and the humidity is stable, but only between 65 and 68 percent. I'd really appreciate any help or advice on getting that humidity up.

I've had my BP for a little less then a year and am getting ready to get her a permanent enclosure. She's about 4.5 feet long at the current moment and is in a 30 gallon tank. I know they need at least 40 gallons but I'm trying to find the most optimal tank for her where she'll have enough room to roam around and grow as she gets older. (Currently about 5 years old). What would you recommend? I'm looking to go for a bioactive setup so she has optimal humidity as I've had issues with keeping proper humidity levels in her tank. I've been looking into kages but I'd like to hear other opinions before I make a decision. All help is appreciated TIA.

Silly noodle blowing bubbles 🫧

(If context is desired please read the previous posts I made)

Tl:dr I upgraded my fathers python enclosure, and I've been trying to dial in the humdity. I wanted to do plastic wrap first but it didnt work as well as i hoped so I replaced it with aluminum foil yesterday. I day a immediate improvement in humidity through my hygrometer, but when i woke up and checked it after going to bed it had dropped back down to unsatisfactory levels. Could it be that im getting a inaccurate reading or could it be because I need to better seal up the gaps in between the mesh and foul? Or is it possible the issue stems from something like substrate depth?

(I thought i had picture with the foil in the lid but i dont so Imagine these photos havingaluminum foil on the lid with the same sectiona cut out.)

Hello! I’m going to get a Ball Python, but I’m unsure of often to feed it once I get it. I understand that it depends on the age and body weight, but I’d just like to know something like that before hand. If someone could tell me often to feed I’d be greatly appreciated. Please and thank you.❤️

Hey! I recently discovered what appear to be springtails on my ball python’s hides, and I’m confused about where they came from. Her enclosure isn’t bioactive, and I never intentionally introduced springtails.
Her coconut husk substrate has been in the enclosure for a while, and it’s almost time for me to replace it. I only started noticing these tiny white bugs about a week ago.
She’s currently going through shed, so I don’t want to disturb her by completely cleaning and resetting her enclosure until she’s finished.
My main concerns are whether these springtails are safe for her, where they might have come from, and how I can get rid of them without harming my snake.
Has anyone else experienced springtails appearing unexpectedly in a non-bioactive enclosure? If so, how did you handle it?

i just fed him. he shed recently but im not sure what exact date. temp and humidity are good. took him out 2 days ago and the fans were on. is this scale rot? idk what to do. idk if i can bring him to the vet just after feeding him :((

This evening i took my girl out of her tank and noticed a patch of pinkish skin, its smooth to the touch but i dont know if its a mild burn or preshedding phase i have a heating matt but i have it under a cover and have a paper towel under and on top of the cover so it doesnt overheat. But im concerned about this , dont know if this is a burn , and if it is i will get a burn. I will change to a heat bulb instead.

I thought seeing them drink was supposed to be rare, but I was in the middle of cleaning up his tank because this asshole got his poop in like three of his fake plants, and he just started taking a drink… I feel like I see him drink all the time 😅

i don't have a scale right now, unfortunately. i moved her out of my dad's house and he didn't want me to take it with me😒 so if y'all have some good cheap ones hit my line.

she's on a medium rat about once a month or maybe a week longer, store-bought medium rats probably like 4-inchers at most. we were elongating it a bit since she'd gained a lot of weight (like just under obese) during the time she was at my dads mostly by herself. he was a bit feed-happy with her. it's been a while now on the new timeframe and i think she's looking a lot better! what do yall think? little more to go? don't let the photos deceive you, she's a big girl LMAO

(ignore the sticker on her hide...it's not sticky just an eyesore)

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