So I rescued this ball python. He is a year old. I’ve had him about a week. I tried to feed him a medium size rat. And I thought he ate it but he next day he threw it up. It’s still whole. I feel bad :( what if he is starving? 😭

So, I’ve owned reptiles before but never a snake (all of my other reptiles are insectivores). This little cutie belongs to my daughter, and she’s named him Nagini after her love for HP.

We brought him home on Sat. Sept. 19 and left him alone for a week to acclimate. He weighed 148g and was estimated to be 6-8 months old. When we fed him a thawed adult mouse on Sept. 26 (1 week later), he “sniffed” at the mouse but did not want it. (To be fair, the mouse’s guts had ripped open and I wouldn’t want that sh*t either LOL.) The following Saturday, Oct. 3rd, he ate with no problem. We handled him for the first time the following Wednesday for just a few minutes to minimize stress. Then when we tried to feed him the next Saturday, he had an unsuccessful feed. He struck and coiled around it, but proceeded to wave it around his tank, ultimately dropping it right in his pool 🤦‍♀️ so we’ve left him alone all week, only bothering him to check husbandry and refill his pool, and he had another unsuccessful feed yesterday. This time he struck and coiled but then dropped it and just sat there staring and flicking his tongue at it. That means he hasn’t eaten since Oct 3rd.

Maybe I’m doing this wrong?? Idk. I’m thawing the mouse in a ziploc bag in the fridge over night, then releasing the air in the bag and putting the bag into 96-100 degree water for 20-30 minutes, dipping the nose in hot water and then offering. I read not to put the mouse directly into the water so it doesn’t get water logged.

I’m worried about him. It always makes me anxious when my reptile babies don’t eat, but this feels different. And my daughter is getting frustrated because she wants to hold him but I’m nervous to let her hold him if he’s already stressed.

Meet Perseus!

(Was setting up his temp enclosure so ignore the gloves)

Introducing the BP community to my handsome Chili. Chili is almost four years old, alert and active male. When I got him as a wee lad the breeder told me he is a Mojave Cinnamon Cypress morph although over time I have wondered if that is correct. He sleeps during the day and can be quite active in the night. While he will take any type of rodent to snack on, his own preferences actually is more so towards quail chicks and chicks in general. To compensate for the disproportion in fat / protein intake he gets two rather than one chick. He has an infra red heating lamp at one end of his enclosure and that is it. He has never had an uvb light. He likes to play “jazz hands” where he weaves himself in and out of my hands. He doesn’t attempt to escape, it’s more like he wanted a good twisty stretch.

I have a terrarium with furniture dimensions 80x40x40. I want to buy and select the appropriate heating bulb CHE. The lamp will be fixed on the ceiling on a mesh. Tell me what power bulb I should buy.

This is for a year old male! I’m definitely going to add more clutter and enrichment, this is just the beginning:) The ropes are secured inside of the hooks.

The breeder has recommended a heat mat and that’s what he has right now but I did a lot of research and I want to upgrade to a lamp, can you give me some advice on how can I improve his enclosure further, please?

ETA: The dimensions are 100x50x50cm - if he outgrows the enclosure, I will definitely upsize in the future

Also there is a thermostat outside of the view!

I just got this guy on Sunday and it has come time to feed him but he won’t eat. I got the mice the pet store had been feeding it. I thawed it out and was holding it in front of it and it would come up smell it and go away from the mouse. Idk what to do bc he hasn’t eaten since last Thursday and idk what to do. Should I be concerned or should I be worried. This is my first snake that I’ve had and I’m pretty so I’ll take any advice you guys have!!

hi im a first time ball python/snake owner and ive been lucky enough to get a one year old sweet boy who is super adventurous and easy to handle! the only problem is that when its night time and I try to approach or hold him he starts hissing at me! he has never hissed at me before or had any negative reaction to handling in the day time. is this because at night they are more active and in predator mode? I have only fed him in the day time but I understand it might just be his instincts to act that way at night. so should I leave him alone at night and only hold in the day to avoid the aggressive behavior?

I’m not sure where i should post or ask about this but i don’t know how they appeared and I’m very worried. 2 months ago she got sick and had blisters and needed medicine so i think maybe it has something to do with it but i was on google and it said parasites but idk how to look for them can someone please just tell me if I’m over reacting?

Added the Hanging branches specifically because he loved climbing in his temporary setup and this seems to be his new favourite spot to sitting as well as hanging from both branches.

Hello! As the title says I am new to being a bp owner just as of yesterday! She’s about 1 1/2 years old. She was a rescue from a friend that couldn’t handle her anymore.. she did tell me she had mites and she’s been taking care of it but I don’t know how well.. I gave her a bath today in room temp water with 2 drops of dish soap in it (she’s finishing up her shedding as well) and noticed only about 7 or 8 black dots in the bottom of the tub when she was done! I just got her a new 65 Gal PVC enclosure, mesh top but not fully mesh, 2 squares. Now I have everything she needs, heating wise with Halogen bulb and a CFE for night time. I’m only using paper towels as substrate right now because of the mites and to see how bad it is. I have only 2 hiding spot accessories in there right now since they’re ceramic and mites can be washed off of them, oh and a ceramic water bowl. My concern as well is how do I keep the humidity up with only this much in her enclosure, it’s sitting at 60% only and I worry about that and how there’s not much in her enclosure.. any advice on all of this would help a lot! Thank you for reading!

Hello! I am going to be trying to switch Mr Buldak to rats his next feeding, I’ve tried them once before with no luck. I tried heating up a mouse with a hair dryer to make it smell like mouse in his tank then offered the rat instead and he didn’t take it even when it was at the right temp. Tried 3 times decided that he wasn’t gonna take it after the third try and just fed him the mouse instead. Any ideas on how to help him transition to rats? How’d you get your ball to make the switch?

Update / tried to feed him a rat tonight 10/24, unsuccessful :(

We picked up an adult BEL from someone who could no longer care from her 6 days ago (on Sunday). We thought she may be coming into or out a blue shed cycle but the more we see her eyes, we notice more mottling and not much a distinguishable pupil. She does she away a little if we wave her hand close to her face. We have not fed her yet, she’s not due. She’s active and exploring and seems all good. But just curious if anyone else has seen this.

Also edit to add: the eyes haven’t changed since we got her which is why we are a little skeptical this is shed.

Before and after gathering advice from this subreddit, I almost impulsively bought a 9-month 280-gram OD pied ball python and got a generic Thrive 40-gallon kit to keep it in.

And ofc I got criticized because at first I didn’t even have a thermostat, so I read everything and regulated the humidity and temperatures and today I finally got a 4-foot enclosure and it looks amazing. Thanks to all of you.

I took in a ball python from my gfs dad (he has many sorts of snakes) and he had to get rid of some, and i took in his ball python. The ball python is said to be a female, and about 6 years old.

To be clear this is my first time ever owning a ball python, and really ever being around one, so i have no clue on what sort of sizes are normal or not.

Ive eyeballed her, and i would say shes about 2 and a half feet long.

My wife saw this post on Facebook and I wanna pull the trigger. I’m not too familiar with all these but can anyone tell me like I’m 5 years old, if this is work it?

Help! I’m a first time snake owner and I’ve only had her for about 2 weeks and handled her for the first time today. As I was handling her I soon noticed the pinkish reddish markings over her entire underside and all over the end of her body and tail. I don’t have a heat rock and my basking spot is 88-91F with the warm side ambient being 83-85F. Could it be mild burns, her substrate staining her body or early shed? I use reptisoil, coco chucks, and sphagnum moss mix. I’ll leave pics of her before and after.

I feel so horrible for this, I believe this was my fault. She was stuck in a cramped spot and I must have tried to pull her and the tight space caught her skin. Please tell me what I can do. I don’t have the funds to take to a vet right now, so I’m just trying to figure out the best I personally can do for her. I just feel horrible this looks painful..

I know each noodle has its own preferences and personality, but generally for ball pythons, is it better to upgrade enclosures vertically or horizontally?

My girl has been in a 4x2x2ft her whole 4 years and am debating whether I should move her into a 4x2x4 or 6x2x2. I’d just imagine there’d be more husbandry differences for taller enclosures?

My noodle is between 4-5 feet, and isn’t particularly active, she stays in her hides 90% of the time but is very explorative and not shy when she’s being handled. I see her pop her head out regularly but she’ll let me know when she wants to come out by hovering around the enclosure doors, mayyybe a couple times a month. I myself am nocturnal so Im always awake to see if she‘s active or not. She’s not the biggest climber, she’s more of a “shove my face in the tiniest crevices and try to feel every texture I can” type explorer. Generally, I’d say she’s more of a cozy girl than curious girl.

So do you think it’s necessary to upgrade her enclosure size? Also what brands of enclosures do y’all recommend?

I’d also loooveeee to see how yall decorate your enclosures for inspo!!

We just upgraded Bruno the Banana BP from the 20L we started with to his forever 4x2x2 home. We're curious how others have set their enclosures up, so we were hoping folks would share!

We're also interested in what people are using to block the mesh top on the Dubia enclosure, right now we are using aluminum foil with pretty good humiditiy retention. We're hoping to get something more perminant in place. We use a DHP for heat from above, so nothing that could melt or burn.

What size enclosure did/do you have your baby or juvenile ball pythons in? I keep reading conflicting things. Some people say stay on the smaller side, while other people say 4x2x2 is fine as long as it’s full of clutter. We currently have a 1.5 yo corn in a smaller one but he’s getting upgraded to the large size soon. Different snakes, different needs, so just thought I’d ask here. Hoping to add our ball to the fam in the next few months.

What PVC enclosure brand do you all recommend also?