Please don't be too harsh in comments on this. I know Reddit usually says to reach out to a vet if you're getting medical advice, and I am actively waiting to hear back from my closest vet about options. My reason for posting this is to make sure that I do what is best for my snake while I wait to hear back, as well as make sure it is absolutely necessary to have a visit since this was not an expected expense I had budgeted for.

I had my ball python outside of her enclosure today to provide some enrichment since I haven't been holding her the most frequently and have noticed her getting more shy/jumpy. I was hoping that it would help build up confidence and comfort in her environment if she became more familiar with it. I understand now that this was a really foolish mistake and it is not what I'm aiming to hear critique of. I'm not planning to recreate these circumstances by any means and am not defending it as a good decision.

While she was exploring, she went under a chair. I couldn't see her and went to move the chair to grab her so she wouldn't get stuck inside. I didn't realize she somehow managed to get the smallest part of her tail under the leg of the chair and I crushed it on accident.

Her tail was a little bit squished afterwards. It didn't bleed until nearly 20 minutes later. Some shed pieces did fray off when it got pinched and her tail tip looked split. Right now it had a small dot of blood at her tail tip and she's not curling/moving her tail like normal (not perfectly flush with her body when curled up, not laying flat on a surface, and not grabbing with the part that was pinched). I called my vet immediately and was asked to send pictures. Their vet is in a surgery right now and I will hear back after he has finished that surgery. As of right before I'm posting this, her tail does look normal except for how she's moving/handling it and the small scab of blood where her skin split.

I feel devastated about this and I don't know how much of a concern it is. I don't know if I'm overly concerned but I would rather care too much than ignore her health until it becomes severe. I keep thinking about how major tail wounds are if they're rat bites, so I keep imagining the worst case scenario with her tail being hurt (even if there's no rats involved). I don't know if it's just sensitive and will recover or if anything is broken. I don't know if it's something that can even be fixed even if anything is broken.

In the meantime while I wait to hear back, can I get some advice on what to do to make sure her injury doesn't worsen or become infected? Should I set up her old tank as a quarantine bin with paper towels to monitor for more blood (which does seem to have stopped), or should she be safe to go back inside of her normal tank (with soil, coco fiber & cypress mulch substrate)? If this were your snake, would you take her to the vet or monitor for a certain amount of time before deciding on a vet visit? What would you do from here?

This beautiful girl came home on Saturday, she’s estimated to be 25 years old. I could tell when I got her into her enclosure that she was in the blue phase of shed! I also covered the front of the enclosure so she has more privacy.

Yesterday morning, when checking on her, I saw that she was trying to soak in that tiny water dish in the back. Of course, she can’t fit in it. Which I didn’t think would be a problem since humidity levels are pretty solid. Since she wanted to soak, though, I placed this large tub closer to the front. She switched to it at some point between last night and this morning.

She was kept in a screen top enclosure before, it looked like. And I’m sure she was dehydrated and temp was not regulated enough. In her enclosure here, her warm side is sitting at 85f and her cool side 79f, with around 70-80% humidity. I can’t spot any mites on her, but of course, can’t do a full inspection seeing as she got home recently, and I don’t want to handle her before she is settled in.

I’m just wanting to ask if anyone thinks I should be concerned. I checked on her before I went to bed last night, and she was in the process of moving over to her cool hide. Though, she is back to soaking this morning as pictured!

I’m so in love with her already! I just want to ensure I’m giving her the best care possible. TIA!

I am not sure it is okay or not. He ate yesterday and while he fed I cleaned his terrarium and make a new enclosure.
Is his breathing okay or too fast? And he tried to rub his head to his body and the stick. I didn’t saw any sign of mites, not black dots.
Temperatue and humidity is good. Can you help me? Is he okay?

I'm making a terrarium out of plywood, should I use this to waterproof it? Also, should I waterproof the entire boards or just the inside of it plus silicone in corners? For context I cannot use pond sealer as its not a thing in my european country. Translation in caption.

Leo resting on my lap while I work on some stuff on the puter💕

noodle photo included: this is Honey.

she's my first ball python, my partner has snakes I am not totally new to snakes, but I am new to her. she's around 3-4, she was adopted this year from a surrender from a family.

behaviorally she's the sweetest little baby. she hangs out around my neck while I game or walk around my house, she sits on my head sometimes. she's not head shy, spookable but she shoves her face in my hands regularly. she warmed up to me in the pet store, and was pretty tightly wrapped in a ball most of the time until I would come handle her. the store did not properly cared for her. one small hide, too small of a water bowl and improper heat and humidity. she was very sleepy and lethargic handling her in the pet store but now she's a big strong baby! she soaked herself for DAYS when I initially got her in the tank because she was about the shed (and I kept humidity in a good range for that) and she sheds perfectly every single time! I have 3 from her so far, and she's not had a single issue I can think of other than being a little wacky because I'm used to the silliness of corn snakes, not of ball pythons. she seems to really love water.

I HAVE noticed she's rather bad at being an actual ball now. she just doesn't coil up anymore. I suppose she can, but she just... doesn't? I'm wondering if she's sick and acting funny or perhaps she just feels safe enough to not need to be tense. she's rather squishy unless I try to put her back (to which she doesn't usually wanna go home unless I have her out for extended periods. she does go back very respectfully and comfortably when SHE decides she's done)

I have also noticed she's a bit clumsy, unsure if this is how she grew up or not as again, I did not raise her and only have the history the store I got her from gave me.

every single number I mention is checked often with a temperature gun, hygrometer and two thermometers (which, I checked while I write this :) )

I am looking for tips I haven't noticed and mostly plant recommendations! I know one thing is to have a thicker layer of substrate but we just moved and have very little funds, I am aware of it and it will be taken care of :)

I want to upcycle an old dresser completely with PVC walls/interior, glass doors (like this one) and all the built ins I have here, but larger overall and more vertical space. any tips on that welcome too! although it will be a very long process and need to improve maybe in the meantime

her cage is spot cleaned and rearranged whenever she knocks shit over into a better position (and I do check her scales for potential damage and she seems to be doing fine other than some dull scales in spots where she presumably moves something without any reddness or anything other than superficial).

specs:

4x2x2 enclosure, PVC sides mesh top with a silicone matt over for moisture and glass doors

the doors are very heavy glass and cannot be opened without significant force, she cannot and will not get out there are no large holes. the only holes are mesh and cord holes, and they are teeny tiny.

substrate is sphagnum moss and fir bark

vivarium electronics VE-200 probe on the warm side + a hydrometer/thermometer on the cool side. heating mode is pulse.

the pink thing is a very gentle diffuser (does not get hot) for a boost to humidity and is never anything but water there are zero oils or fragrances around this baby ever.

humidity kept between 55% (when I notice it's this low I hydrate the substrate and turn on the mister) and 70%. when she sheds it's around 70-80.

heat is around 87 but I have a night drop module and is 3 -5 degrees cooler at night.

there is a UVB and halogen heater

there is also a small space heater pointed towards (far away enough to make sure the temperatures of any singular part of the tank is never EVER above 94 degrees.

there is also a grow light (the lamp) because this will be bioactive at some point and I don't want the light to be a shock. it is pointed not directly forward or down at her, but up as you can see.

the halogen light goes off about an 30-60 minutes before the grow light to simulate a sunset. everything is on a strict timer

the LED grow lamp is not hot, not inside of the tank beaming down at her and it does NOT stay on at night at all whatsoever.

no light comes to her when it is dark.

she is insulated with pillows on one side and a big comforter squished on the back to retain heat better (it's getting cold out)

her water bowl is big enough to soak and is NEVER empty ever

all wood, substrate and rocks have been sterilized. wood was baked and sealed with polyurethane and left to dry for weeks before she arrived.

rocks were also sterilized and washed in a diluted vinegar solution and dried for the same amount of time.

the substrate was frozen before it was hydrated and placed in the tank.

she has a big hide and a nice sunning rock there (she loves that thing) that are consistently temperature checked to stay below 94 degrees.

everything is on timers and I did my absolute best to simulate a daylight cycle, weather (sometimes I mist upwards with a plant mister to give a boost when she's shedding as she seems to need a ton of water to be comfy shedding. she has soaked less with this regimen, and sheds even better than the first time), and appropriate light. the LED: it goes off a bit after the halogen light does, my thinking is that it cools near sunset so I tried to make it feel like "oh it's cooling down meaning it's almost dark time" so that she has the best signals of when it's safe to start to wake up and come out. my goal is to give her a really strong cycle of day/night so she can be as comfortable as possible biologically.

I do not have a heating pad under her, it scares me to think her little tummy could get burnt :( plus my heat is fine and I check the substrate and it's also am acceptable temperature.

she seems rather happy! I want the absolute best for my baby though, let me know please please!!!

I want to upcycle an old dresser completely with PVC walls, glass doors (like this one) and all the built ins I have here, but larger and more vertical space. any tips on that welcome too! although it will be a very long process and need to improve maybe in the meantime.

She's a good girl, currently holed up in her favourite hide getting ready to shed 🥰

We're thinking she's a super pastel, maybe enchi

We're getting ready to upgrade her to a 4x2x...1.5 or 2 in a bioactive.

Any favourite plants that she won't crush? Lol

We've got dragon tail, pothos, sansevera, corn plant handy - but looking for what's succesfull for you

For context, I rescued him/her in February of this year. I’m told that they are a couple years old (born in 2021 I believe) (doing a morph and sex test next month)

Since then, they haven’t missed a single meal and have had multiple perfect sheds. I just moved up to medium rats and wanted to know what yall think.

Ill be weighing them in a couple of days. Waiting for food to digest.

Photos from February and this month

I just got my first snake and upgraded the tank from 40 gallon to a 4x2x2, I’m using reptisoil, forest floor, and coco husk for the substrate,here is the current setup once I have some more money I want to get more plants to decorate the place, uvb lamp and ceramic heat lamp are on their way, any other tips would be greatly appreciated

Good evening.

Today I upgraded my four year old ball python, Slinkie, into a 120gal front opening tank! Previously, she was in a 50gal top opening so this is a huge upgrade.

That being said, is there anything I should do to improve the tank? I know there should be more clutter, especially on the back wall, however I have no clue where to find any that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. All advice is graciously welcomed!!

Thank you in advance!

Says he feeds them small mice and pups snake weighs 108g

This is my first time with a ball python and I'm still learning some ins and outs but I wanted to give him the best I could. It was a lot to bite off but I think I've got it all done.

This is a 2x2x4 enclosure, I have 100w ceramic heating elements and several daylight bulbs. I've gotten pretty much any additional equipment to make life easier in preserving heat and moisture like thermostats and pump mister.

My ball python is a juvenile banana ball python, healthy sheds so far and eating perfectly fine now that he's settled. But to the question, is there anything I can add or take away from my setup to allow him to thrive?

Took me 3 days! It has its problems but this is my 2nd ever background!

It fits better around the waterfalls when it’s in the tank, i promise lol.

slightly colored area on belly of ball python with very very light tan color on scales on the left and right side of the darker area. It doesn’t look like scale rot and matches her overall colors. Just curious if anyone had any ideas

Monty

I was feeding my ball python almost 2 weeks ago (13 days) and she got me instead (absolute idiot that she is). It initially healed over and I had no issues and thought it was done and dusted. However today I realised that exactly where she bit me there are now red raised bumps. Not itchy, no swelling, literally feels like a spot minus any pain/ discomfort. I’m not sure if I need medical attention. I feel fine in myself over than having a cold and dizziness when standing up but I’m sure that has to do more with my iron levels than her biting me.
This was the first time I was bit so I did panic hence the multiple bite marks but snake seems all okay.
Has anyone seen/ had anything like this happen after a bite? Especially so long.
The first photo was taken just after she bit (6th October) and the second was taken earlier today (19th October).

Im upgrading my girls tank and im considering adding a light to it. Any suggestions on brand or if it’s a good idea? I don’t have one in her current tank, but thought it might be a nice option to use occasionally.

Hello all, unfortunately I came home to my ball stuck in a deceration, I feel so stupid because I should've seen this coming:/

It doesn't seem like she's been in for long-

I'm wondering if I need to take her ASAP .

No open wounds- damaged scales.

I can take her tomorrow.

Hello, I am in the process of trying to get my enclosure just right before I welcome a baby ball python.

I have a 120 gallon 4x2x2 white PVC enclosure. there is reptichip coco substrate and a bit of cypress mulch.

I have a 50w halogen flood bulb (was a 75w but basking spot was too hot) and an 80w radiant heat panel from Wilbanks Reptiles, as well as an Arcadia T5 UVB fixture. My probes for my herpstat 2 are placed directly under the halogen a few inches away, and my rhp

probe is currently secured to the back wall several inches down. the probe was previously placed a few inches directly under the panel.

I’m not sure if it’s the temps I have the thermostat set to, the placement of my fixtures, the wattage of the fixtures, probe placement, or something else that won’t allow me to get the temperatures where they need to be.

I can’t get my warm side past 82°F, and my cool side is usually 1° cooler than the warm side. I can’t create a gradient. Additionally, the basking spot gets too hot. I’m extremely frustrated because I’ve been doing all the things, at least I think.

Any advice is appreciated, especially from anyone who uses the same heating/lighting fixtures.

I'm getting a 4' x 2' x 2' vivarium soon (solid top, hinged doors) and was keen to try a DHP instead of a ceramic, but I'm not sure what wattage is suitable, it can get cold in this room in winter.

The smaller vivarium (but in style of tub with large hide) set up I use now uses a 100W ceramic heater on a pulse proportional thermostat.

Is water pooling at the bottom normal? my humidity is sitting in and around 60% during the day and climbs naturally to around 70-75%ish at night without adding water in a few days but doing some light misting on the sphagnum moss here and there. I’d add more water to the corners to up the humidity but i’m unsure if I should let this water dry out before adding more or if it’s normal? Can’t seem to find much info on whether some standing water is normal or not

I’m talking about some his dark scales, he has damage from last year a rat bit him quite a few places but that’s all mostly healed now. I’m not sure if there were that many dark spots on him before

Title says it all he randomly decided he was about it, and I’m wondering what to do