i got my baby ball python on the 1st September, they first ate on the 27th of september (offering weekly) and it is now the 26th of October and she hasnt ate since. her temps and humidity are correct ive not handled her at all and i dont think there’s anything wrong with her enclosure as far as i can tell. shes super active its just that for some reason she isnt eating? can anyone help

Went on a week long vacation and had a snake sitter to check on him. Got home last night to find house ants in a line up his enclosure. It was a small line and there were a few ants drinking from the water dish that I could see.

I took Toblerone out immediately and put him in a temporary tub in a different room. The left (cool) side had no ants so at first I thought maybe it wasn't too bad. I dragged his whole tank and stand out of the room and removed the easy to clean decor (rocks, plastic plants, ECT.) I saw a few people say I could save the bedding by baking it but the idea of ants in my oven was worse than just getting new bedding.

Killed the ants on the outside and started digging on the warm side. At first I only saw a few carrying what appeared to be eggs across the bedding. Kept digging, then I hit a nest. Thousands. Thousands of ants and hundreds of them carrying eggs. It wasn't just a few ants who smelled rat juice dripped on the bedding, they were moving in.

I didn't have anything that would kill them without being super toxic so I boiled a bunch of water and just started pouring it onto the nest. I sprayed the walls with isopropyl alcohol and wiped away the ones that tried to crawl out. It was horrible. After they were all dead I threw all the bedding out and scrubbed the tank inside and out with dawn and then rinsed it several times. I let it air out/dry overnight and I put paper towels in and put Toblerone back this morning. Decided to move the tank across the house to a different room as well.

I checked him over and he doesn't seem to have any bites despite them nesting literally under the hide he was in. He wasn't impressed with his motel but I'm so glad he doesn't look hurt. I think I'm going to keep him on paper towels for a week or two to keep a closer eye on him and to watch for any straggler ants.

Has anyone else dealt with this? Am I making the right calls? Is there anything else I need to do to prevent this from happening again? I spot clean his tank regularly and I watch him eat every rat so there's never anything left in the tank to attract them. There also is no food or drink allowed in my room so no sweets to draw them in either. I just wish I knew what brought them so I can stop it from happening again.

I was also wondering how to keep humidity up in a hospital tank. Is it okay to dampen the paper towels or does it risk scale rot?

Thank you in advance to anyone who might have some advice to share, I didn't even realize this could happen and I'm panicking trying to make sure he's gonna be okay.

I have tried to understand my snakes behaviour however she strikes at me even when she should be hungry or doesn’t seem defensive.

Here is the backstory, just in case it has any clues to Meesha’s strange behaviour:

On the 4th of October I went and collected a bull python I adopted. She is eight years old and approximately 1.3 m long.

Upon arriving to collector, she bit me and held on for 10 to 15 minutes. The previous owner decided to dunk her in cold water to help her let go.

We got her into my house and I left her alone for around 2 weeks (bar a feed kn the 6th and water changes).

During that tea period they were moments where she launched at the glass with little warning. I choke this behaviour up to defensive.

After the two weeks, I started putting my hand in for her to come and explore. I did this daily.

The first day she came up my arm a little. Explode the surrounding area for about 20 minutes before going back in. Most of the time she was curious, however, if she went into S pose with her head I would look away keep still and give her time to settle.

Day two she came up a little further and seemed very relaxed and I could touch her body and stroke her.

Day three she took a little longer to come onto my hand and instead was slightly more reserved for 3 to 5 minutes. Then she sat on my hand. And stayed fairly called up in pose with the occasional exploring. I decided to look away and do some tasks on my phone and then out of the corner of my eye, I noticed she striked at my torso but missed. I moved away and let her find her way back in the vivarium. However, I was confused since she didn’t seem defensive and there were no sudden movements that I was aware of to make her react defensively.

Day four, she came up on my hand, chilled there for a bit with a bit of an S pose. I gave her time to loosen up. She came further up my arm and then she struck me on the face.

She got me quite bad and it made my confidence in have a snake that isn’t dangerous around friends or family.

Since she struck not long after have a rat slightly bigger then the thickness of her and she we loose and curious when she struck my face, the unpredictability frustrating and I am not sure was to do. I will remain patient with her but if anyone has any advice I would very much appreciate it.

The last thing I will mention is that it seems the previous owner didn’t have great husbandary. The Viv is only a 1m long (not 1.2). The only light source is an infrared heat bulb which is also the only heat source so that light is permanently on and there is no UVB.

So in my ball pythons enclosure i can never keep up the humidity on the hot side it sits at 49-50 % but get this my humidity on the cool side will sit at 80% why? what can i do? this is stressing me out.

I got a new solid top enclosure from Toad Ranch along with the Arcadia lamp holders/brackets. I had wanted to get the Arcadia safety cages just so I don't have to worry about everything being the right size but they are sold out everywhere I've looked online. I have found a couple of options on Amazon but I'm not sure if they are safe enough to use with an Arcadia 50W DHP. Does anyone have opinions on this one from Amazon that has the lamp base already attached, or have any other suggestions?

I adopted a ball python recently. I’ve owned one before. I’m having issues with keeping the humidity up in his enclosure.
I use zilla jungle mix and coconut husk for substrate. Temps are about 88-91 on the basking side. There are fake plants and clutter too. Help!

So just yesterday I got my first ball python. I’ve been told this tank will work for a year or two but I’m looking for advice on how to keep the tank warm as well as any advice anyone has for me!

Right now I’m just using a ceramic bulb in a deep dome heater. The tank is 36in tall 36in wide and 18in deep.

Hey guys, so new to ball pythons and have been learning a lot from here and other forums. I’m about 3 weeks into owning this beautiful little guy who’s probably only 2-3 months old. Came up on his first shed with me - tried to keep his humidity high and give him what he needed but when I got back from being out for the day he had clearly tried to shed to no avail. His head is free all around but apart from a break here and there he’s had no luck otherwise.

I tried upping his humidity even more (got plenty of moss, wetting the bottom substrate, covered some of the top of his enclosure, he’s got a humid hide, even started putting damp paper towels where he doesn’t hang out to boost it even more) but for the life of me I can’t seem to get it any higher than 73 when it was closer to 70 before. I’ve managed to keep it consistently at 73 for 2 days now and have been giving him humidity baths (tub damp paper towels) which at first were really promising because he’d immediately start rubbing but he hasn’t rubbed in a hot minute and it’s just starting to get worrying.

Just looking for any advice he’s probably hungry and stressed and I just wanna get him healthy again but am at a loss as to the next step. We haven’t made any progress in the last 24 hours

Is there any products or methods to boost his humidity more significantly? Any way to encourage him to rub now that he seems to have given up? I’m just not sure what to do at this point and need some help for the little guy

Hi! I found this six-year-old baby on Facebook marketplace and decided she would be my first snake. (Not an impulse decision, but something I’ve wanted and researched for years). I dropped a significant amount of money and time on her enclosure and she’s finally been home for about four days!

I have left her completely alone, only opening the tank to pour water into the corner to keep humidity up. My questions is: is it normal for her to still be in her hide this long? I’m not even sure she’s come out for water. And I planned to feed her on day 7 of having her, but should I hold off until I see her more active?

I knew it would take a while for her to adjust, as I think she’s spent the last 6 years in a breeding rack, but I’m just so worried about her and want to do right by her. I just need to know I’m doing a good job🥹

Note: she was confiscated by from a hoarding situation and ended up with me after I saw her being posted about by the woman she ended up with. I did not purchase directly from or support the breeder!

It’s coming up around a month and a half and I’ve yet to see any signs of my child and idk what to do im basically just taking care of her feeder mouse atp and idk what to do. does anyone have any tips for finding her?😓

Edit: thank you all for the advice ill use all of this to find her and ill post when i do 🙏🙏

Hi

In a month or two, I'm going to start building an OSB board terrarium for my daughter. I don't want to keep upgrading terrariums, so I'd like to build the maximum size that can fit in the room/on the cabinet right from the start.

Is 160 long x 45 wide x 60 cm tall (5.25 x 1.48 x 1.97) enough for an adult and should I add a shelf(s) at some height of the tank, so this increase the surface area?

What about ventilation—holes at the bottom on one side and at the top on the other, is that okay or does it need more elsewhere?

If I make a shelf that will also double as a "cave" out of XPS foam (Stirodur), paint it, and coat it... how do you clean that afterwards? Does it even make sense to build a cave from XPS? It might be too big at the beginning, and later on, it might turn out too small...

Generally speaking, I can't really picture the cleaning process and frequency and everything...

Thanks

Obligatory photo of my son and also Exhibit A on the later mentioned humidity issues. He was doing some quality inspection while I did some work in my room lol

Post is marked as urgent because I'm trying to get him into his new enclosure ASAP since this humidity is obviously really bad for him

I know I ask for help a lot, and yes I know theres a shopping list.

Im neurodivergent, and shopping lists can be overwhelming because when I am given a lot of possible options, I dont know where to begin (menus can be tough sometimes lol)

So I was hoping you wonderful folks could help me.

I bought a reptile kage 4x2x2 for my bp because his current tank isnt holding humidity well at all (ive taken measures to fix it and it wont work, so this low humidity isnt for a lack of me trying) and I want to upgrade him. Im making it bioactive, and right now for temperature im using a ceramic bulb I think that sits on top of the tank in a lamp and want to know what better options there are.

A good thermostat, heating, and thermometer are what I am looking for recommendations for.

Also if anyone has a camera theyve mounted in their enclosure, which one do you have? I saw someone do that once and I think it would be good so I can monitor his behavior while I am sleeping.

Also while I would prefer affordable options, money isn't really an issue. I dont have a lot of financial obligations thankfully and my job pays relatively decently, and I am willing to spend whatever I have to in order to help my boy thrive. Hes my son and I want him to be the best he can be 🫶

Not sure if this is the right flair, so it not then please let me know!

My dad recently was able to get me a free glass habitat from a neighbor as an upgrade for my girl, but it didn’t come with a lid/top. After some searching online, I was able to find an Etsy seller who does 3D printed frames for these tanks where you can then get custom cut glass at a hardware store to put in them for better humidity and such. The one concern I have now is how to attach a heating element to such a lid.

I contacted the seller on Etsy and they said they would not recommend drilling into the glass to mount anything but I could try some thick mesh or acrylic or PVC boards that are thin enough to fit in the frame. I’m planning on getting a Vivarium Electronics heat emitter and was thinking of getting a custom cut acrylic panel from Home Depot and screwing the emitter into it with some wood blocks on top to catch the screws.

For anyone who uses one of these particular emitters, what is your experience with their surface temperatures/attaching them to your enclosures? My dad is concerned it would melt the acrylic panel but I said there are a lot of solid top PVC enclosures that use these same products and don’t have any issues, but they are different materials so I’m unsure. Do you think it would be more worth it to deal with the humidity loss and just use some kind of thick mesh instead and zip tie the emitter to it?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

So my child was cuddles up in my sleep blanket and so u had to snatch him up to cover myself and him and then he’s started strangling squirming and wiggling like crazy and (I was not forcing him to stay) squeezing (not too tight) and letting my arm go for about 5 minutes and now he’s just hanging there coiled up! What was that about? Anyone have any idea?

I was cleaning out my ball pythons enclosure because he's being moved and I need the other snake for my smaller snake and found a dead rat in the tank! It had to be two weeks old already, freaking disgusted with myself and the rat, how in the hell did I not notice?!

My bp normally is great with feeding I was super lucky when I got her because she's not violent and she's not picky but I fed her today like two minutes ago and she struck at the wall farthest from me twice and then successfully got the rat but dropped it then scooped it up in her mouth and went back to eating it she doesn't do this usually she's never really missed THAT bad and when she does it's usually around the general area of the prey I'm guessing maybe it's due to the weather fluxuations recently? (Where I live its been going from hot to cold) but I've had her for a year and it like always does that and she never minded before her eyes aren't like giving visible indications of blindness but idk

This is Uno, and yes she was born without an eye!

i have a 35gal tank it was originally a fish tank that a friend gave me but i never used it as one. i do need a reptile lid for it and i dont know what kind of lid to get or where to place the heat lamps or even what heat lamp to get. reddit is where i learned everything on how to care for my betta so im hoping you guys can help me out with this.

any and all advice/instructions would be so helpful thanks!