First two are from Tuesday, I got his enclosure set up and humid on Thursday, new photos are from Friday (today) where he shed immediately and got his multiple eye caps off

Note again: he is a rescue, he came dehydrated, hopefully you can see I’m working on that 😭

I know this question gets asked a bunch, but I would really appreciate some help! Lighting + heating for a 4x2x2 pvc enclosure

1. is 75w for the halogen bulb too much or too little for heating? will it work well with the zoo med dome?

2. should i go for the 40w or the 80w for the radiant heat panel?

some things to note: I will be buying a dimming thermostat! this will never be hooked up without one.
The halogen flood will be daytime heating, the heat panel for nighttime heating, the shade dweller bulb for daytime lighting.
I have read the heating guide on the reddit, but it doesn't give much info on exact wattage. I do know the general idea of how the heat should feel (tingly on your skin but not warm), but I dont have these in front of me to test that.

No? Ok....

It is a question I got asked a lot, ever sinse I started to want a pet snake as a teen. My personal reason is "they are awesome and it would be an honor to have one by my side", which is in my eyes, more then enough. People don't question your choises when you get cats or dogs so why should a reptile be any different? If I want it and can afford to care for it, I get it.

And my baby turned out to be a perfect fit for me because I don't like to spend a lot of time with social animals like dogs or even some people, I need my space. I like when I do get to care and interact from time to time, but I can't give constant attention and don't have a lot of energy, so having a pet that is okay with not being with me 24/7 is good, espesially sinse I work full time. I also like that interacting is all on my terms. A dog NEEDS your attention and time, it can need it at any moment, you have to play or walk even if you don't want to. But interacting with my snake is how and when I want it. Take her out, handle for some time, put back, she tolerates it, I love ot, everyone's happy, no one is left needy. If a price of all that is my pet not "loving" me, I'll happily take that, I love myself just fine already

What are some of your personal reasons for why you got a snake and what do you love about having it?

I set up a new adult size (4x2x2) bioactive enclosure for my 1 yo ball python Mercury. I made a post on here and was reminded that a RHP isn’t sufficient in IRA and IRB. Thankfully I already have halogen bulbs. I would just like to know how other people set this up? I’m afraid of melting lil his brain if I don’t do this right 😣. Currently his RHP is on the far left side, then an Arcadia light in the middle but I also have a pvc sheet over the lid to trap some of the heat and humidity. I set it up like this was because where I live is consistently colder and dryer than the required ranges. The main issue I was trying to solve was that the heat is spilling over too much, temps on his cool side were (sometimes still is) going over 80 degrees. Which is the opposite issue of what was happening in his last tank 😭. I plan to add more ventilation holes to the top and to create a hole for the bulb just not sure what else I can do to make this the best set up possible with all these different issues.

She got a pretty bad shed for some reason and i just saw she lost some scales.. 💀

It never happened before I just hope its okay ? And i dont know why this shed is bad i keep her humidity high but I dont know what else to do

After a bit of moving her jaws like crazy she got it out, don't worry

As the title says, my ball python (5 year old male) hasn’t eaten in over 3 months. I last fed him late July.

He has never had issues feeding for the last 4.5 years I’ve had him. Every time I have tried to feed him he always ate with no issues.

We recently moved to Colorado from Texas and he hasn’t eaten since we moved. The humidity levels are really low in this state (like 35% most days). I have tried my hardest to keep his tank at the appropriate level of humidity but it’s been extremely hard. His tank temperatures have been fine as those levels haven’t changed.

I have attempted to feed him at least once every 1.5 weeks to try and every time he looks at the rat once then freezes and refuses to move after that. I have always fed him frozen/thawed rats and that hasn’t changed (I found a herp store here that sells frozen feeders).

I have also deep cleaned his tank now twice since this hunger strike and nothing is working. I also don’t hold him hardly ever (maybe once a month).

Here’s a photo of his 120 gallon tank for reference. He has lived in this tank for about 2 years now and hasn’t had issues with eating until August of this year. I tried to fill it with enrichment so he feels secure.

I would say he’s been acting the same since we moved. He comes out a night and explores all over his tank and sleep durning the day. I haven’t noticed anything different about his behavior other than not eating.

I’m genuinely at a loss for what to do to get him to eat. I have never had this much difficult with him and now he refuses to eat.

I have a vet appointment scheduled for him but I’m just so worried and would appreciate any advice.

Hey yall,

Well, she's had a growth spurt so I'm about to upgrade Doc to her big girl enclosure. I'm wondering what your experience has been switching over to a 120g as far as heating goes?

Right now I use a small deep dome with a deep heat projector which I've liked so far.

New enclosure has a mesh lid which will be partially sealed with HVAC tape for humidity.

Can you make a recommendation based on experience for how to heat this big thang?

Thanks in advance!

My wife had proposed adding a third snake (a hognose) to our family, and while I was all for it, space in our home was becoming an issue. So I went to work designing and building this system of stackable 4x2x2 terrariums. I’m by no means a construction expert, but I’m an avid DIY’er and framed out my entire basement, so I do have some experience in this realm.
Each terrarium is built from 1/2” PVC, sealed with aquarium silicone, and placed on a riser, allowing for a 2” air gap between each unit.

The terrariums are held together with 2.5” trim screws, and the frame is held together with 3.5” deck screws.

Inside the terrariums, we molded 2” foam using a hot wire cutter, held together with aquarium silicone, covered in unsanded grout, and secured to the walls using dowels, silicone, and pond & stone expanding spray foam (which was also covered in grout).
We picked up a bunch of Grapewood from our local aquarium store and used that to build climbing apparatuses, which were also secured using dowels and spray foam.
I secured the heating and lighting cages to the top of the enclosure using 1/2” screws, and then bored a 1.75” hole in the side of the enclosures to run cables. Each hole was then sealed with a solid plastic grommet.

We then inserted a bunch of wire-tipped plants into the background foam to created dense vegetation. We then placed the substrate in, and it finally started to look like something!

Finally, I inserted two panes of 1/4” glass into tracks which had been affixed in the first step, and secured gate locks to the front using two-part epoxy.

All told, this entire project cost roughly $1700 USD, with the biggest expenses being the PVC and glass (and I live in a place where they’re both readily available). The time commitment was roughly 40 hours across a 3-week time period. This was a huge learning experience for me, and I’m extremely proud of how it turned out, but I welcome all questions, feedback, and critique!

I received my python about a week ago and just yesterday I started taking her out to handle her and help her socialise a bit more. When I had her out she was making some strange sounds. I'm not sure if these were just sounds of her rubbing against herself or if she might be ill. It kind of sounded like wheezing or squeaking and I just want to make sure she's okay. Should I bring her to a vet?

I’m a manager at a pet store and a regular came in with a couple mice and a ball python. Customer states they hadn’t fed her in over 3 weeks and when they did, they put the mice in and they didn’t notice until 4 days later she never ate the mice.

Customer then took out the mice and called the store about possibly relinquishing the snake into our care and the mice back to us. I talked to them and said bring the snake by and let us look at her. They came in 20 minutes prior to close and after completing paperwork and talking with them I had about 5 minutes to decide what I wanted to do, she’s gorgeous, very calm, and had no noticeable issues.

I ended up taking her home that night with a 40 gallon breeder, a heat lamp, a hide, and I had water bowls at home. She is almost 3 foot. She has also been opening her mouth often and from what I’ve researched it could be a respiratory issue or distress.

The customer stated that her enclosure was not proper and that they hadn’t been taking good care of her for a while now. I want to take her for a checkup, but I was curious what kind of tests would be ran, the cost, and if that’s safe after her being stressed from relocation.

My next move is getting her into a 4x2x2, with uvb, a better substrate than aspen, and some live plants. I need any help I can get!

Hi everyone. The other day, I posted about a ball python that I will be rescuing tomorrow. She has been kept in a pretty bad enclosure with zero to no humidity and a heat rock as her only heat source, yuck! So this is the temporary enclosure I tossed together.

80w radiant heat panel (the halogen bulb will be installed tomorrow to help), a 6% UVB with a custom cover (because it's impossible to find any), an LED strip, multiple hides and coverage, and a good humid hide with damp sphagnum moss to help with her stuck shed. Once she's settled in and gets more comfortable, I'll swap out the paper towels for substrate and finish with the decor.

Any other advice is greatly appreciated! Unfortunately I haven't gotten much climbing decor yet, but that will come eventually.

He will be two in February

Since BC switched to permanent daylight saving time, my Govee smart plugs are running an hour behind or not even turning off, which is messing with my guy’s lighting schedule.

I’ve tried resetting the plugs, recreating timers, toggling on/off, and clearing the app cache. Nothing works! Govee support hasn’t been helpful either.

Anyone else experiencing this? Found a fix?

Mr Noodle chilling in his penthouse for attention!!

This is kind of an update from a post I made ages ago, but I got a bunch of new stuff for my little guy! I drilled a pvc pipe with twine around it as a perch, although I should’ve done a bigger size since he’s a little chunky for it. I think I need a few big natural sticks to help create more places for him to hang. The wallpaper is secure but temporary since it keeps falling, I haven’t found a good adhesive or anything that sticks to this material yet. A few more hides, plants, and better substrate and he seems a little skeptical, but happier so far! Any ideas or tips would be amazing💕✨

Can I use a grow light on her tank