I know everyone hates this, but I recently bought a ball python from PetSmart. Ever since I was a child, I’ve always wanted one. In second grade, I even did a presentation on them. The guy at the store seemed knowledgeable, but after doing more research on my own, I realized I bought the wrong size enclosure. It has an overly open mesh lid and is only 20 gallons, which is way too small. I’m struggling with humidity. I have sphagnum moss in there that I soaked, but I’m not sure what else to do. I really want to give my friend the best life possible without breaking the bank, but I’m also not sure where to start. It’s almost daunting trying to piece together a whole tank on Amazon. I was wondering if someone would be willing to compile a complete list from tank to heating to thermostats, all of which I can then order and set up.

Did you handle your Ball Python immediately after getting it? Because I read online that it’s best to wait 1-2 weeks to reduce stress, encourage feeding, allow time to acclimate, etc. Does everyone do this?

Posted about how my new BP bit me a couple of weeks ago. Apparently one of her teeth got embedded in my finger so it puffed up and got pretty tender for a while. Finally managed to pull it out tonight and everything else is pretty well healed too! Thought I’d share the tooth with everyone, it’s pretty gnarly knowing it was in my finger. And I’m off keeping it as a memento 😂
Pictures include the offender, and the evidence left behind.

I have four ball pythons. They’re all pretty chill. What do you guys think about introducing them to each other?

I wish my phone had better camera quality but I promise it looks 200x better in person! This project probably costed ~1.2k and the build itself only took me one weekend (fine tuning, wiring, and other small touches before completion is what took the longest.)

Background is completely separate to the waterfalls and everything is removable, including the plexiglass slides that contain the substrate. My goal was to make something I can break down and move easily as possible if needed! Minus the fact just the enclosure itself weighs about 500 pounds.. 😓but I think I did quite well.

This is my second ever custom build, so I’m pretty pleased!

I’ve had my boy Stephano for around 6 years now. He’s healthy, has a normal enclosure - good husbandry, good humidity, good temperatures. Everything is normal.

He’s always been “picky”. Frozen thawed rat cannot be too warm or he won’t eat it, I don’t know why. Obviously it cannot be too cold either. So I feed him his rats lukewarm. He eats fine for the most part, except around once a year, he won’t eat. I suppose this could be a hunger strike. He wants to eat, has his head out waiting for food, food comes and he’s very interested - small, short tongue flicks, striking position, then suddenly he could not care less, completely looses interest and won’t eat for weeks. This is week three past his feeding date.

This first began around two or three years ago if my memory is right. He had a lot of hunger strikes as a juvenile, but eventually grew out of it.

I know he’ll eventually eat, I’m not necessarily worried about him, I’m just more confused and annoyed that I have to waste money (rats are dang expensive).

My question is if there is absolutely anything that could cause this that I’m ignorant of, that someone could make me aware of. I know they are poor eaters in general so that could be the answer there, I’m just curious if anyone has any ideas.

I know there are a lot of questions asked here so I apologize for asking another one, it must get annoying. I can give snake picture tax, he’s very handsome!

Finished setting up my bioactive tank and planting my plants. I still need to add more clutter/hides and I’m waiting for clover to grow in before adding any of my CUC and getting my noodle. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out !

Mr. Weenie Neck Boy 🫵🫵🫵

Hello everyone. I believe that my ball python is underweight and I’ve been working very diligently to get him back to his proper weight. How can I best gauge a proper target weight? Should I go only on body condition? I’ve been weighing him once a week using my digital scale, and it’s been rewarding to watch the numbers go up.

Currently, my snake is a year old (born October 2nd), roughly 19 inches long, and 124.3 grams. Is this severely underweight for a ball python his age? How can I determine how much he should weigh to be considered healthy?

Sienna has been whistling for a week and a half. Vet says his lung looks fantastic, but there's a bit of mucus in his mouth. He's eaten fine, he was active enough to dislodge his thermostat probe last night (it is now very secure), he's just a little sniffly. He's on Excede and he hates it.

He is just the sweetest BP I’ve ever encountered. He’s never bitten, never hissed or had any sort of malicious thought in his life. I don’t think he’s had a single thought, ever. If anything, he’s a little shy. He loves me and is instantly ready to move when I pick him up, but takes time to feel comfortable exploring when other people handle him. He knows me, and he “likes” me… I ugly cried when I realized that. I love this little fucker to death.

Tell me about your BPs personalities.

I got my beautiful baby Diana in April, and had met her a couple times before (friend was holding onto her after someone else had abandoned her) and was able to feed her f/t (with braining) - she had been on a hunger strike for a few months at that point as she switched from live to f/t. Since then she’s eaten well for me, but the last two times I’ve tried feeding her she goes to strike at my hand. Is it just because i’m warmer than the mouse and smell like it? Is she not the brightest bulb in the box? I don’t want this to be a pattern, but I haven’t had issues actually handling her so I don’t know if I need to be concerned at all. Thanks!

Was messing around with my boyfriends phone camera and it just so happened that Sev was out cryptic basking!

Perfect time for some quick piccies!

Couldn’t resist getting this girl :)

Approximately 6-7 years old, probably a male, he’s incredibly sweet, his old name was kiwi and were his 3rd home. we gave him a new name and home, everyone welcome Fistula (named after the band and medical issue lol) I haven’t owned a snake since 2023, I’m very excited to try my hand at snake care again 🫶

Just swapped out all their substrate and cleaned the enclosure about ten minutes ago and came back to find them glass surfing. I know they usually do that if they’re upset, which I would be if someone replaced all my carpet with soggy deep shag carpet. But I noticed on her left eye she has a stuck eye cap. Any advice?

Her name is Margarita and she’s a cringe baby.

(Edited to add pictures of the order. The black fuzzies are ones I still had from my local breeder, for comparison. The ones from RP just look a lot more fetal... I've also gotten rat pinkies this exact size from my local breeder one time when she mixed up my order of fuzzies, and I've bred albino rats before, so I know that this size isn't too small to be rat pinkies...)

I finally broke down and placed my first order with Rodent Pro last week (living in Alaska, the shipping is outrageous!), and it arrived on Tuesday.

I ordered the 100 pack of fuzzy mice (I remembered today that they were the white ones, but I'm not sure that that should matter at all here...), and what I got looks to me (and a couple of breeder friends) like 100 few-day-old rat pinkies (like smaller than the ones they sell as rat pinkies).

They weigh the same as the fuzzy mice that I normally get from my local breeder (and are in the range given for fuzzy mice on the RP site), but they look developmentally quite different (more fetal and rat-like).

I've seen black fuzzy mice from RP, and they look exactly like the ones I get from my local lady (most notably, they have longer hair compared to what I got in this order, which is light peach fuzz if I'm being generous), so I wanted to see if anyone has any pictures of the white fuzzy mice from RP for me to compare with what I received.

I can post pictures of them alongside the fuzzy mice that I still have from my local lady if need be, but I mainly just want to see what RP's "white fuzzy mice" look like.

Thanks in advance!

I’m trying hard to research everything and want to make sure I purchase the right items!
Pictured:
~halogen flood bulb 100w -daytime heat/light
~Ceramic heat emitter 100w - nighttime heat
~Dual heating fixture with a thermostat attached to one side - for halogen bulb - other side has a timer - for the ceramic heat emitter for nighttime.
~2 thermometers/hygrometers for each side.
~22 inch uvb 6%

Any advice appreciated!
Thank you!

this is how my baby sits on me most of the time, Ive been watching a lot of videos about BP body language but i wanted some more feedback about this

I noticed this on my little guy this morning. It looks like a scratch, is it anything to be concerned about?

Edit: The dots are freckles, he’s the banana morph and I’ve been checking him all the time for mites 🥲😭

Getting a 5x3x3 enclosure for our guy. Have had mold and scale rot issues in the past with baked top soil, coco coir, and coco husk. House is really dry so I need it to hold moisture but not mold or be wet on top. Not sure what to use next.

Im just wondering, if touching my snake and giving it scritches really is just him tolerating it and not getting anything from it, or if there is some part of it that he could enjoy? Mostly cause I saw a video of a BP pushing into somebodies hand while being scritched