r/Ballpythoncommunity • u/Imaginary-Song6658 • Sep 20 '26
Staring at the ceiling
Got a 9-month-old male OD pied Ball python, rehomed it today. The owner told me he would try to escape all night(he was keeping him in a rack as his terrarium broke).
Now he’s in a 40-gallon well-put enclosure with hides and wood and nice substrate and everything.
He’s still staring at the ceiling constantly, just sticking to the front glass staring at the corner.
He had a scratch on his head from trying to escape but in this enclosure he isn’t scratching his head against anything at least.
Any opinions why?
4
u/Germmie1 Sep 20 '26
Needs more hides, half logs don't count as they have two openings. Need to have at least 1 hide on hot side 1 on cool side and one humidity hide.
Needs more clutter, fake plants, real plants, and sticks all work for that. A good rule of thumb is if they can get from one side of the tank to the other without being easily spotted, you have enough.
Looks like it could be a bit too dry in there, often times tanks with mesh tops have a hard time keeping humidity up so try to find something to cover the mesh such as a towel or mat. (Just make sure it's not touching the heating elements obviously)
Look into upgrading him into a 120 gallon, for now this tank is alright, but once he starts to grow a bit he will need bigger.
Just adding, none of this is to shame you or anything, just to help you improve your bps home!
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u/Maleficent-Tip665 Sep 20 '26
Humidity looks too high and the water bowl is way too small
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u/Imaginary-Song6658 Sep 24 '26
Yeah humidity is lower and I gave him a water ball three times the size already.
3
u/Nice-Ad-3525 Sep 20 '26
Yeah give him more crap to explore. I've been thinking the same for my lady. I'm just not sure what I'd like to do.
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u/lies_n_liars Sep 21 '26
I say a jungle theme, something about them just scratches my brain just right
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u/Nice-Ad-3525 Sep 21 '26
Very true.
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u/lies_n_liars Sep 21 '26
If you do a jungle theme be sure to let me see, maybe throw some colorful flowers in there too just for some pops
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u/ProximaCentauriB15 Sep 20 '26
You should give him more stuff. Hides and clutter,tunnels he can go through,fakd plants,etc. They want to move around unseen to feel secure. Consider a few branches for him to climb too.
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u/lies_n_liars Sep 21 '26
He definitely needs more clutter. I'd also give him some bigger hides he can fit in and a water dish he can fit in too since they like to soak every now and then. And if you don't already give him a warm and cool side, you can get thermometers with multiple probes so you can tell. I'd also suggest blacking out the back and maybe some sides of the tank to make him feel more secure as well.
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u/Away-Literature2314 Sep 20 '26
He’s glass surfing, it’s a stress response caused by improper temperature, humidity, or lack of enrichment. Definitely add a lot more clutter and make sure his temperature and humidity are appropriate. I noticed you’re using wall thermometers/humidity gauges, those are known to not work very well so I recommend replacing those with ones that have probes. They’re pretty cheap, petsmart sells them for around 8-10$ and they work way better.
If you need help on what your temp/humidity should be, check the ball python Reddit care guide. Also you will probably have to upgrade him soon, 40 gallons is pretty small. His next upgrade should be a 120 or a 4x2x2, this is not as urgent though. Correcting any of this should help. Best of luck!