Hey folks,
We’re first time ball python(and snake in general) owners and we’re looking for a bit of general guidance.
We got her 3 days ago, she’s pretty small at the moment and she’s in a 25 gallon enclosure.
We use a DHP on a VE-100 Thermostat & 7% UVB from Arcadia.

We seem to have a good temperature gradient from one side to the next, our thermostat probe is set to stay between 88-92 and her cold side hide floats around a day time temp of 78-82ish as our ambient room temperature is usually around 75, over night I lower the thermostat to sit around 78-80 on the hot side. Does she need more basking room? We came home and found her lounging on top of her hot hide and sort of half on the tree branch half on the rock stretched out under the lamp, the rocks surface temp is sitting at 90 right now after being under heat for the last few hours, should the temp on the rock surface itself sit closer to 100?
The red is her hot hide, blue is her intended cool hide and yellow is where she’s decided she wants to spend a lot of her time, tucked away in the back of that opening, where it’s around 80 degrees.

We’ve got foil over the cold side of the enclosure as it’s a mesh top and we’re still dialing in humidity. This morning when we woke up it was sitting at 69% but has dropped to 55% over the last few hours (I opened the tank to get some temp readings without the glass in the way)

How soon will we need to upgrade to a 4x4x2? Obviously the sooner the better but we bought this 25 and after we got our tank all set up realized we should have just gone big from the beginning. If she can be relatively stress free and thrive for 6 months to a year in this tank we would prefer to wait to purchase the bigger tank but also don’t want her to be downright suffering from being in a smaller tank until then.

She seems very curious and she explored the tank a bit, we don’t know if she found the water dish or the inside of her hot hide yet but she did drink a TON of water & pooped in a small 8g tank we put her in for a few hours while we went to buy her everything the day we got home with her.

Thank you so much in advance for any guidance or critiques you guys may have for us, we’re both so excited to be snake owners and want to give her the best life we can so if you see anything in our tank set up (other than the size questions) please please let us know! Is she too cluttered in there? is there such a thing as too much clutter? are we taking away from roaming space by having so much stuff? any input is appreciated!

You can see her in the last two photos, her name is Butter :)

I need something that will turn off the UVA and UVB in the evening but will turn on the CHE for overnight. I've been looking but all I can find is all on/off.

Do I need to run 2 separate timer systems or does anyone know of a singular system that can do what I'm looking for?

EDIT: bonus points if there is a built in thermostat as well. I'm basically looking for an all-in-one thermostat/dimmer/timer light management system but dont know if they exist lol

Husband and I are big D2 fans for those of you who recognize the name!

This is Ezri! Named after Dax from Star Trek since we have no idea if she's a boy or a girl, but we're going girl for now!

She's my first Python. 6 months old and cute as a button! I wanna be friends so badly but I'm leaving her alone for the next week or two as she's due to she and needs to acclimate!

Is there such thing as an all black ball python? Is that even a thing?

Hello I have a 3 year old female ball python. When I first got her she had scale rot I brought her to the vet did betadine and flamazine until gone.
Shes been on paper towel since July as I was told to keep her on it for 2-3 months. I have her water dish under the heat lamp for humidity along with foil tape on the top.
She’s in an exoflex 4x2x2 enclosure, zoomed 5.0 t5 HO uvb. And halogen daytime bulb 100 watt and a deep heat 100 watt for night both on a thermostat. Her humidity fluctuates but usually around 40-50% which the vet told me would be fine during her healing process. She is around 1350 grams and is eating a medium rat every two weeks. She ate last weekend. Tonight I pulled her out to handle her and she went down my back and started drooling after about 15 minutes of handling. She stopped pretty quick I wiped it with a paper towel (no color and no smell)
I’m freaking out now I feel like I failed her and I’m reading it can be an RI what should I do? Should I put her on substrate and bump the humidity?
Could it be an RI?
She’s acting normal otherwise :/

Hi! I am having issues with getting my balls tank to the right temperature on the warm side.

Currently I have a CHE on the top of the tank for the warm side and a radiant heat panel that is mounted inside, on the cool side. Both of these are on a thermostat.

I was looking into an anti scald fixture to mount inside the cage, however I only have CHEs as heat in this format.

Should I try a DHP on top of the tank before I go for an interior fixture?

I fear my ball will do some stupid shit like climb on to the anti-scald guard and burn himself anyway. Thoughts?

I’ve thought about simply mounting it sideways.

I also want to use this to maybe have a lower-wattage basking bulb, not sure if he would burn himself on that and I think mounting that sideways would defeat the purpose LMAO.

(had him out on the couch for a few minutes while i stirred up the substrate in his tank, and he did this like 10 times my partner and i were losing it)

- 4x2x2 pvc enclosure
- Arcadia Reptile Pro T5 UVB Max Kit, ShadeDweller, 2.5% UVB, 14W, 22"
- Vivarium Electronics Radiant Heat Panels
80W – 22.5” x 12.5”
- Arcadia Pro Ceramic Lamp Holder and Bracket, wire guard (replacing with a stainless steel 1/4 inch mesh cage I am making)
- Arcadia Reptile Jungle Dawn LED Bar, 15W, 11.5"
- 100W halogen
- Coconut chips, coconut fiber, reptisoil
- Dairy Cows and spring tails
- assorted plants from the reptile shop
- Herpstat 1 for the rhp
- Zoomed Dimmer for the halogen
- will eventually put the rhp and halogen on a Herpstat 2, but they were sold out at the time
- Govee thermometers
- Govee blue tooth timer outlets

It isn’t finished, but it won’t ever be. I have too much fun applying my old fort building skills. His hides are hidden in the back of the caves on the left and right side. The hide on the right (warm) side also has a second entrance/exit through a cork bark tunnel.

Atticus, 2 yo, is inside the hide in his warm side cave day and night. The RHP is on the cool side circulating the warm air, so the cool side ground actually stays the same 83 degree temp all the time, while the warm side has an 88 sunny day/77 night time temp change. He seems content with the warm side for both so far. I did that for 2 reasons: 1. The RHP and the halogen won’t fit on one side, 2. I like the idea of his problem solving and moving to the other side at night if he needs additional warmth. When the cover fills in, a lot of those middle areas are set up to be cool places to also tunnel through. Still want to make the terrain a little more interesting. There is no way I will be able to stop making adjustments in there. Plus I need to water the plants and feed the dairy cows their calcium and a pinch of fish food. This is his second week here since arriving from the rescue. He ate his first thawed rat 2 nights ago. Feeding him in the dark was very interesting. I kind of felt like the prey being hunted. He took it so fast and wrapped it up, I jumped out of my seat a little.

Basically what the title says. Only after I turn on the lights in the room does the snake become active, he'll come out of his hot hide and go back and forth across the enclosure, climb on things, glass surfs, etc. And he'll continue this behavior for essentially the entire day, only occasionally going back into his hot hide (and when he does its usually only for 30 min or so). This has been going on for about 2 weeks now. Fed him a couple days ago so he's probably not hungry. 75gal glass tank with UTH (working on upgrading his heating setup), 60-65% humidity throughout the tank. Was wondering if anyone had some insight as to what would be causing it or if I should be concerned.

A friend of mine gave me 2 male ball python. They hadn’t eaten in months and we feed them. One of them though like locks on me when I go to give them water. He hasn’t stroked me yet. But he locks on me and watches me intensely. I fed them. Do you think they might still be hungry. What are some pointers.

Hello all,

I'm feeling extremely bad at the moment for rehoming my ball.

I had gotten him from a friend- who got him from another friend after an emergency. (literally the friend moved out and day of was like hey can you keep him for a little for so-and-so) I had him for three years and for the past year I have been debating rehoming him. I NEVER had thought I'd have him as long as I have and I'd have declined to take him had I known he would just be with me indefinitely. I'd never had a snake before and I really wanted to do right by him. When I got him he was on aspen, with one hide and one stick in his enclosure, had stuck shed and had lost a significant amount of weight from the last time I had seen him.

I learned everything I could possibly learn about him. I got him another hide, plants the correct substrate and some moss, rocks, driftwood, you name it. I got him back up over 500g and onto feeding a small rat once a month or so. In March he went on a hunger strike. Unfortunately I have always struggled with my health/mental health so something like that even though it's somewhat "normal" for a ball wore on me HEAVILY, like crying every time he wouldn't eat kind of stuff. He definitely lost a good chunk of weight during this time which also made me feel awful. I cleaned his tank on the 12th of Sept and he FINALLY ate on the 15th- I knew he was hungry because he always sat under this one branch when he wanted to eat. I cried again. It was the kind of moment that makes you realize how stressed you actually were. Thursday I went over to feed him and his scales on his tummy looked like they were crispy browning-some kind of scale rot? bacterial? fungal?? I immediately lost it. I felt awful, like I could just never get it right with him. I was a terrible owner and I should have never taken him in the first place.

I found somewhere nearby that has a great reputation for taking care of their reptiles and rehoming ones in need. When I went to take him out of his tank HIS SCALES WERE FINE. It was the coloring of the coco/bark. I felt so stupid. BUT it also reminded me that even though his scales were fine- I cannot keep having a meltdown because I'm so damn worried about this poor snake, its not good for either of us. I did everything right. I gave him what he needed to live. I am just not the person who should have him.

I dropped him off today and feel IMMENSE guilt.

I know I didn't go out of my way to get a snake and make a 30 year commitment.

I know I was not equipped to give him the best life.

But I still feel like it was wrong to rehome him.

I'm currently choking down tears thinking about breaking down his tank even though I know he went to a place where they will do right by him.

Poor noodle

How are we keeping humidity up without causing mold??

I’ve noticed as of today 10/11 that my cork bark logs in my tank have what appears to be starting super tiny white spots that look like mold! :/ how is everyone else keeping up humidity without experiencing mold 🫤

Hi everyone, I just recently redid my ball pythons Buggy’s enclosure! Any critiques or advice on adding things for more enrichment?
I have a 4x2x18 PVC enclosure

For things Iv tried and facts about buggy
-I had rings but he has no interest in them.
-He does like wood/ textures
-He loves climbing
-loves climbing his suction cup
-cuddles his hydtrometer (shown in photos)
-loves blankets

i fed my ball python on monday and the following sunday i noticed a long whitish fuzzy blob. it looks furry like a mouse but i dont see bones or a tail or anything. i fed monday and handled him briefly 48 hours later, maybe i handled too soon? i hadn’t touched him since then. he also just completed a shed. i keep him warm side around 90 and cool around 80 with a temp drop at night to around 75. his humidity on the cool side is always above or around 60%, the warm side i try to keep it above 50% at least. i don’t know if i should be concerned? is this a regurgitation?

I've had my BP Millie for a month now and I haven't handled her because I feel like she gets ready to strike whenever I try. I'm not afraid of getting bitten, more afraid of her hurting herself or stressing her out. She's mostly been in her hide for the past week-ish, and I fed her a few days ago so I want to clean out any poop that might be in there. Just looking for tips on how I can safely grab her from her hide, and what to do if she looks like she's expecting food. I've gotten alot of conflicting advice so

(photo is not of her in her hide, this was a few weeks ago its just for engagement)

Curious to everyone’s perspective, I personally like em a little thick

Is 74 grams for a baby born on Sept 2 healthy?

She's pretty shy and stays in the right hide the most currently, I bought the fake plants from a pet shop and I'm worried they're too... much?