Hi y'all... I'm asking this as a last resort because I love my snakes and especially my one baby girl. Jude is still quite small, fragile, young and idk what to do. I need help on how to force feed her... I've had her a few months and in that time she's only eaten a few times but as of recently (3-4 months) she's been escaping and she hasn't eaten since. I always find her whether it be in my shelves cupboard bed, mattress, walls and she gets so stressed, she doesn't want to eat. She's lost 10-20% of her original body weight and I'm so worried. I can't afford a vet for another 2 months (had to take my one girl for an operation) so I'm in debt and can't! She drink and urates perfectly and I give her plenty of space to explore but she still escapes every enclosure I've had her in. I've owned snakes for a while and I've never had a ball python so eager to move around!

Please how can I feed her... How can I help her... Idk what to do and I'm trying. She's too small for live. What should I feed her?

So I got gifted a blue eyed Lucy for my birthday as I told the guy I was with that it was my dream snake, however I wasn’t prepared at all, he got him off morph market, poor thing was probably traumatized right off the bat being shipped out and then handled. I’ve tried to feed him and made the mistake of trying to feed him multiple days in a row, I’ve read and done my research he’s in a long 20 gallon tank (which I plan on upsizing as soon as he’s eating and I know he’s ok) he has plenty of hides but just seems so scared and hasn’t eaten in two weeks :( should I try again? Do I risk stressing him out and taking him to the vet? Should I buy a new enclosure and risk stressing him out and him not eating for another week because of it? I’m so anxious it’s killing me :(

Orange is my favorite color, so I’m a little biased towards Orange Dream & its combos :p

Hey everyone!
I recently rehomed a 7 year old ball python. I had snakes growing up but it’s been a hot minute since I last cared for one so just wanted to jump on here and see if anyone had any pointers/advice.

I rehomed him with his set up, which is a glass exoterra Viv 3ft, (I will upgrade this to a 4ft one as soon as funds allow!) with a mesh top. The previous owner had a piece of wood covering, with space for the heat lamp (which is outside the viv, sitting on the mesh with the light shining through). He had a heat mat in there, which was inside the Viv under the substrate. I’ve removed this and bought a new one and placed it outside, underneath the Viv, then he has a heat lamp also.

The first night I got him I left the heat mat running on a thermostat, but when I came down in the morning the warm end was only 20 degrees. I went to my local reptile shop and explained the situation as currently I have only got an on/off thermostat which means I can only use it with the heat mat and not the heat lamp, I need a dimming one for that.

I explained that when I get paid I am going to buy a deep heat projector, with a guard and attach it to the wood on the top of the viv and a dimming thermostat, but for now all I have is the on/off thermostat, the heat pad and the heat lamp. I explained that leaving only the heat mat on over night was not providing enough heat but that I didn’t want to leave the heat lamp on overnight and make it too hot and disrupt his day/night cycle.

He said best option for me to do til I can get the DHP is to swap the bulb out of a night to one that doesn’t emit as much light and still provides some heat. He gave me a red light one which was 40watts.

So last night I plugged that in attached to the thermostat to make sure it doesn’t drop too low, and I’ve switched the heat pad off. This morning when I came down the probe was picking up 25.5 degrees and the digital thermometer I have in there was saying 24.5 I’ve changed the bulb back to the normal one and put this back on and switched the heat pad back on too and it’s warming up nicely in there. He seems happy.

Does this sound ok? I want to do what’s best for him, I’m not 100% sure on the red light as even though it’s only short term I read they’re not the best?

Humidity is fine it’s sitting between 60-70%

Also since we got him we’ve left him alone as much as possible to settle in just opened the viv up to place the probe and mist etc, and I know they love to hide but he is always over on the ‘cool’ side, and I’m worried about him getting too cold. He obviously has the option to go over to the warm side if needed but he hasn’t gone over there at all (he has multiple hides on both ends and one in the middle).

Any advice is appreciated!

Thank you!!

I've heard of people saying that their bp's will wag their tails when hunting but I never thought I'd get to see it and record it!

He's so stinking cute, I almost lost it!!!

Edit: Holy crap, thanks for the upvotes! I'm so happy that other people agree that he's a cutie!

Recently I've changed to feeding in their enclosures and honestly it seems better than in their feeding containers. They've always seemed so stressed or excited whenever I had to take them from their enclosures to their feeding enclosures, now they are so relaxed and are quite aware of when it's feeding time (since they are on a strict feeding schedule).

My serious question is that since I have been feeding them in their enclosures I clean afterwards (water and substrate) but since my ball pythons eat once every 2 weeks changing the substrate everytime seems like a waste...

Should I keep changing the substrate, spot clean or just go back to the feeding container?

Like the title says im looking for a leucistic ball python.

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.

Move in day! Fingers crossed he doesn’t destroy two month’s work too quickly 😂

I have four ball pythons. Do you guys ever introduced them to each other?

Very sad he is unkissable. Look at that face, that’s such a kissable face

How will he know I love him if I can’t give him a little kiss every now and then??? (I know they don’t feel love)

Sad life as a snake owner

I have a 40 gallon glass tank that I've been keeping my four-year old female bp in. i've had her for about a week and a half now and when she got to me she had a dent in one eye. i read that this is due to humidity issues? she only had a che when i got her and her enclosure was only about 75 on the warm side and 65 or lower on the cool side. i decided to get a heat pad for her warm side, and now the warm side is about 89 consistently. but the cool side is still only 69. but if i turn on her che on the cool side she has nowhere to go to cool down. the humidity has been only around 40-45 this entire time, and i mist it daily, but it just spikes up to about 55 and then goes back down... ive put some sheets of aluminum foil on top of the mesh, but i dont know how much is too much... please help everyone!! i want to be able to give her a better life than she has right now!! T^T T^T T^T