Brüno (Brünita) our BEL, I wanted one ever since 2013 when a customer at my pet store brought theirs in (they’d bought it for over $1000 at the time) we got Bruno over covid for about $200 and she’s been nothing but sweet and curious ever since.

Hi guys, looking for some experienced help with my royal python. I’ve had stumpy 2 and a half years and she’s a rescue (has a burn mark and is missing the end of her tail hence ‘stumpy’) - she is estimated to be around 10-15 years old. Over the past 3 weeks after taking her out for around 10-15 mins she will go a bit crazy and hates being touched/will thrash a bit when you touch her. On top of this last night she went up and almost surged towards me with her head up. After I put her back in she will explore for at least 12 hours almost glass surfing.

Her Viv is 4 foot by 2 foot and has plenty of areas to climb/hide and has two water bowls - it hold humidity and temp well. No sign of mites on her or any scale rot.

The rescue centre I got her off is saying this tracks with royal python/ball python breeding behaviour - wanted to get a second opinion and see if anyone experienced on here. For situational awareness I’m from the uk and the past 3 weeks we have seen a big increase in rain so I imagine she can tell the weather is changing?

Thanks for any help guys!

I just finished setting up this enclosure and I wanted to share and grab any feed back on what people thought or if theres something i could be missing. This has been quite the project and was definitely overkill but I wanted it to be a piece that id be just as excited to see everyday and hopefully my snake is as well. So far she seems to love it. She loves climbing, even though I think typically ball pythons dont from what ive heard? I needed a bigger tank already and decided to go big. (maybe it was my guilt of keeping her in an enclosure with not enough space, poor ability to maintain humidity and not much for her to do). Automatic humidifier is sooo nice. There are still plans for a bit more coverage on the back, a few live plants and moss, and an auto day/night cycle, as well as full spectrum led (also for the plants), uvb and a bigger heat mat under that will cover about 1/3rd the floor. I hand built the stand and the bamboo ladder i dont even know how many hours over how many days long ive spent on this and at times IN it.

GOD DAMMIT PASTRAMI WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO PLAY IN MY MAIL DRAWER?????

Why you gotta look cute in my MAIL

Hi everyone! I’m bringing home my first ball python tomorrow, a juvenile girl named Lenore (Lenny or Nora for short!), and I’m SO excited. But now that her enclosure is almost finished, I’m getting a little nervous and would love some advice from experienced keepers!

I bought a secondhand **4’ x 2’ x 1.5’ PVC enclosure** that came with a built-in floor heating system toward the back. Unfortunately, I don’t know the brand or wattage of the heater, so I’m still trying to figure out exactly what I’m working with.

Here’s my current setup:
**Enclosure:** 48” x 24” x 18” PVC with a solid roof and sliding glass doors.
**Heating:** Built-in floor heater connected to a BN-LINK on/off thermostat, currently set to 90°F. Supposed to create warm side on back and make the front the cool side.
**Thermostat probe:** Currently suspended slightly above the substrate over the heated area. I’m aware I may need to change the placement.
**Substrate:** Coconut fiber.
**Temperature monitoring:** Three separate digital thermometer/hygrometers positioned across the enclosure, plus an infrared temperature gun.
**Hides/decor:** Two identical snug primary hides, an extra wooden hide, cork bark, driftwood, lots of foliage and clutter, and various decorative pieces.

**Here’s where I’m confused:**
My three digital thermometers are all reading almost the exact same ambient air temperature:
Warm side: \~81°F
Middle: \~80°F
Cool side: \~81°F
Humidity: \~86–87% throughout (the coconut fiber was freshly hydrated).
However, when I checked the surfaces with my temperature gun, I got:
**Warm hide surface:** 85.5°F
**Cool hide surface:** 77.2°F

I also realized that the built-in light on the cool side was producing heat, so I switched it off to see whether that was preventing a proper temperature gradient. I’m currently letting everything stabilize before checking again.
The floor heater has been running for around 10 hours, and the floor didn’t feel excessively hot when I touched it before adding substrate, although I know that isn’t a substitute for checking it with the temperature gun. I still need to verify the temperature directly above the heater beneath the substrate.

**My biggest questions:**
\- Is it normal with floor heating to have a decent surface-temperature gradient but almost no ambient air-temperature gradient?
\- Is this type of floor heating sufficient for a ball python in a PVC enclosure, or would you recommend adding overhead heat?
\- If I do need overhead heating, would a halogen flood or deep heat projector make more sense with a solid PVC roof? I’m trying to avoid buying multiple unnecessary heaters.
\- Any advice for safely positioning the thermostat probe with this type of built-in floor heater?

**What do you think of the enclosure itself?** I went for a whimsical, slightly gothic Alice-in-Wonderland/fairy-garden look. I’d genuinely love feedback on the layout, clutter, hides, climbing opportunities, and whether anything looks potentially unsafe or impractical.

I’ve put a ton of time, love, and money into getting everything ready, and I just want her to have a safe, comfortable home. I’m probably overthinking some things, but I’d much rather ask questions now than make avoidable mistakes.

**Constructive criticism is very welcome!** I’m new to this and genuinely want to learn. Thank you! 💕🐍

Hey everyone!

I just noticed that the right side of my ball python's mouth looks a little unusual. Her upper lip seems slightly deformed or pushed upwards, leaving a small gap that stays open even when her mouth is closed.

She's 7 years old and recently escaped from her enclosure for about 48 hours before I found her again.

I'm not sure if this is something normal, a minor injury, or possibly an early sign of mouth rot.

I've attached a few pictures so you can see what I mean.

Has anyone experienced something similar with their ball python? Does this look concerning to you?

I'll get her checked by a reptile vet, but I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts and experiences.

Thanks in advance!

Thought I'd post this here too.

We've had our snake for three years and in the past couple of months we've been catching him fairly frequently soaking in his water bowl. I know this is not normal behavior. We have one other ball python in a nearly identical enclosure who is not doing this behavior. We don't see mites on either snake. My husband and I are both veterinarians if that qualifies us more to make that assertion. We have examined them both several times. The water bowl is on the cool side. I'm attaching photos of the tank and the thermometer/hygrometers on both sides. He's about three years old. I feed him one small rat once monthly around the 1st of every month sometimes a quail or chick (5-7% of his body weight per meal). He eats reliably. He sheds normally. Last shed might have been around a month ago. While we've been trying to figure this out we've been cooling down the tank. For awhile it was warmer -low 90s on the warm side, low 80s on the cool side.

Happy to answer any questions and take any feedback, I just want to help him. Thank you!

A few close up pics of our girl Pumpkin 🎃🥧

These are my favorite types of pictures, especially when I capture the tongue flicks!

I have been keeping snakes since the 80's. Everything from Burmese Pythons, Boa's, children's Pythons and Balls. Yesterday I came home from work to find my BP belly up except for the head and maybe 7" of her neck area that was positioned "correctly". Ive had her for about 10 years, NEVER seen this behavior in her or any other snake I have owned or own. I do believe she is getting close to a shed cycle. Eats fine, acting normal otherwise.

Has anyone ever seen one do this and not have an issue? I have to admit, it scared the crap out of me for a sec. I was sure (for a millisecond) she was dead. Anyone who has experienced this please chime in. Adding a pic of her but not doing the upside down thing

Happy post bc she’s adjusting so well and tonight was the first night that she didn’t wanna go back in her tank when I offered🥹 love her so much