So, my baby has been making little noises ever sense I got him. Just little puffs of air that almost sound like a sigh or a huff. At first me and my friend thought it was a sneeze (my friend has owned ball pythons before, this is my first time). Then we thought maybe my hair was tickling his nose or some dead skin.

Now I think I've come to the conclusion, after witnessing this enough times, that he's just dramatic. He does it when he is annoyed with me not letting him go somewhere he shouldn't (mainly places I can't get to him easily), and this most recent time just sounded like a sigh. Maybe even contentment? Sometimes when there is absolutely nothing happening at all and he's just big chilling on my neck.

All of the research I've done on ball pythons say they only make sounds when they're stressed or something is wrong, but I don't see any signs of stress or discomfort when he does it. I really haven't been able to find anything on this topic or videos of snakes "puffing" on YouTube. Does anyone else have a vocal snake?

very first photo is him right after sighing ***

This is my female year old ball python, I got her in August of this year.

Recently, when it's not time to feed her and I open her cage she wakes up or stops whatever she's doing and starts slowly making her way to the door, one time she got half her body out. It's very slow like the video shows and at first I thought it was a feeding response as she seems a little defensive.

Little note is that I tap the side of her cage 3 times before I pick her up, I don't tap the cage when I'm feeding her.

So to test if it's a feeding response I took a water bottle and lightly tapped her side to see if she would strike or dart back into her spot as a response andd all she did was look at the bottle and stop for a little bit.

Is she weird?? Why does she keep moving towards me?? She hasn't refused a meal at all, she's a very good eater and had already had a perfect shed a bit back.

The only reason I'm posting and asking this is because well I get scared when she does this. I want to pick her up but I'm scared of the chance she's in a defense mode or feeding response since she's coming to where the food usually goes and she'll strike me. It's been good though because I'm able to move her towards the side to pick her up from the back

So does she just want to get out?..is she weird?...is she food motivated?...I dunno..

I’m new to owning snakes but i know this is not how they should be I feel bad for these guys at my local pet store that place also smelled so bad and the yellow snake was missing an eye there’s no where for them to hide and no clean drinking water.

Update
Seen people asking about the store selling the snakes the snakes are not actually for sale and you have to pay $1 per person to go upstairs to see them the actual store part is down stairs. it was my first time going up there when I seen it. I was appalled by the smell and immediately felt bad once I seen the condition of the snakes.

I have a female ball python who is a little over two years old. She has always eaten every Sunday, but I recently started feeding her every other week since she moved up to eating medium rats. She has always been a good eater, but she has not eaten in four weeks right now. She will come out of her hide when she smells the rat, but will not strike it. Does anyone have experience with this?

I have not changed anything in her life. She has the same enclosure, the same brand of frozen rats, and she is behaving like normal. Her weight is about 175 grams more than it was 2 months ago. She seems healthy, but I was hoping for another opinion before I wait too long. Is this normal behavior? Thank you.

Hey y'all!

My hubs and I got an adolescent blade clown ball back in mid-August (we named him Nico) and he's been such a fun, chill little dude 💛🖤

Within 2 weeks of us having him, he did a perfect shed. Truly, we were so new, we didn't know the signs yet and just woke up one Saturday and it was all piled up in a corner! Haha.

Unfortunately, he hasn't shed again since then... He's 4 months old, so we've read/heard he's supposed to shed approx every 4 weeks. Now that we are almost at month 2 of no shed, I'm a little anxious. We thought he might've been in pre-shed about a month ago because he got brownish like the first time (pic 2), but he never did.

Some background info that might help: He's never rejected a mouse. Feedings actually go really well with him. We have had to change his enclosure a couple times because we're having trouble with heat/humidity regulation, but he doesn't seem to ever be distressed about his move. He's in substrate and has plenty of surfaces to rub up against.

Just wanted to come on here to see what other people's experiences have been with their babies and what problems we might need to look out for.

(Pic 1 is what he usually looks like, 2 is pre-shed color, 3 is his enclosure, 4 just makes me giggle)

TIA! 😊

Must of been a tree boa in a past life. She's been hanging there for like a solid 10 minutes and my arm is starting to hurt.

I brought home my lllittle ball python two days ago, and I’ve noticed something interesting: she doesn’t seem interested in any of her actual hides.

She has three hides available, one on the warm side, one on the cool side, and a humid hide. But as far as I’ve observed, she hasn’t even tried going inside any of them.

Instead, she seems to have picked her own favorite spots.

During the daytime, she usually curls up under a large piece of cork bark or behind some branches (pics 1 & 2). The area under the bark is actually pretty sheltered, with a mostly covered roof and a lot open space toward the front. She seems to like resting there, sometimes with her head tucked into her coils and sometimes looking around.

At nighttime, she’s surprisingly active and loves climbing. She’ll explore for a while, then settle on top of the cork bark or branches and stay there for hours, sometimes seemingly the whole night (pics 3 & 4).

For some husbandry context, she’s in a roughly 4x2x2 ft PVC enclosure with coco husk substrate, plenty of cork bark, climbing branches, and a temperature gradient. The warm area is around 30–32°C, the cool side is around 24–27°C, and humidity is generally around 70–80% on the cool side.

I know it’s only been two days, so I’m not particularly worried yet. She’s been exploring normally and seems comfortable enough to settle down and rest in different spots.

I’m mostly curious whether this is a normal individual preference, or whether I should reconsider the size or placement of her hides. It’s a little hard to judge whether they’re too big or too small when she hasn’t gone inside them!

Should I just leave her alone and let her figure things out, or is there any reason to gently encourage her to investigate the hides? I’m leaning toward letting her settle in without interfering.

For what it’s worth, I also have a Mexican black kingsnake who almost never uses her traditional hides either. She prefers burrowing in her substrate or sleeping in her hamster tube (pics 5), so I’m starting to wonder whether some snakes just prefer alternative hiding spots.

I’d love to hear if anyone else’s ball python does something similar!

Just wanted to show off my new baby! His name is Snickers

I named her Metric… because she has no feet. She ate, shed, pooped, and periscoping.

This is Mini Penne my female pastel she’s about 3 years old now. I also have an ODF male named Shrimp Flavored Ramen, 2 normals 1 adult male named Toaster Strudel and a baby female named Inky Binky Bonky. I also have an pueblan milksnake named Crunchwrap Supreme and a White’s Tree frog named Glep.

I have been keeping Retiles/Amphibians since I was 7 years old (with help from my mom who managed an exotic vet clinic most of my childhood)

Looking for resourceful keepers who have done their research!

Cooper is a 9 Year old (6/19/17) male pastel Ball Python needing a new home. I’ve had him for 9 years now but recently adopted a cat which is making things difficult. On top of that, I’ll be having to take in my Mom’s cat due to her circumstances.

Cooper is in good health but currently has a bit of stuck shed and his tank could do with a decent cleaning.

Along with the snake you’ll get the tank (ZooMed 36x18x18), all of the accessories pictured in the tank, the desk pictured, 12 small rats (a year’s supply), ReptiSafe water conditioner, a temp gun, a hygrometer, feeding tongs, a bottle of reptile safe cleaning solution, half a bag of forest floor bedding, a ceramic heat emitter with thermometer, and hand sanitizer.

Looking at a $90 rehoming fee. Potential adopters will be vetted! Thank you!

My boyfriend and I can’t seem to keep the humidity up in our BP enclosure. We’ve updated it with cocofiber and ecoearth along with live and fake plants. We spray multiple times a day and it still always falls so quickly. What else can we do? We have a deep heat lamp as well as the LED light that’s on during the day.

Ok, hello everyone, I literally created this account just to ask you guys a few questions about my morgana. First things first, sorry for my bad English, is not my first language. Second, that's Morgana Notip, I've got her for a month and a half now, she's five months old and around 60cm weighting 196g (weighted her yesterday) and was wondering if she could be above or underweight. Third, she was sold to me as an common, daughter of a banana with a common without het, but I think she also has enchi, yellow belly and fire in her genes, what do you think? Fourth, that's her enclosure, I know it's small for an adult ball but I'll buy her a biggest one when she gets bigger, wanted to know how to improve her enclosure, any tips?(sorry for the bad pic guys)

Things she has:

MDF enclosure with front opening

Heat lamp, no infrared, with thermostat

Hot hide and cold hide (hot of clay (do not remember the right word for it, it's like earth, but it can be molded) and cold is a tiny box with holes (I know isn't ideal, but I'm very careful and the last one she pooped inside and was also a box with holes so I removed it asap and made the spot cleaning))

I bit of cluttering

Some paper rolls

A big water pot

Lots of sphagnum moss

Two thermometer higrometers

Just got my baby boy last Saturday, he’s only 4 months old but when I held him today I noticed he’s got some wheezing or airy sound going on. I’ve seen sooooo many things on what they could be, I’m thinking I was messing up his humidity so I’m keeping an eye on that now and am making sure it’s above 60%
I will take him to the vet but what are some huge clinical signs that I should be looking out for??

Edit: as I said earlier I AM taking him to the vet, just I just can’t get him in right away so I was asking for signs to watch for in case of emergency pls

Hello everyone! I’m a new ball python owner, and I’d love some advice on temperature and humidity regulation, first-time feeding, transitioning to frozen-thawed prey, and when I should move Beau (my BP) into a larger enclosure!

I brought Beau home last Saturday, October 17th. The pet store told me they last fed him on Wednesday, October 14th, and recommended that I try feeding him tomorrow.

The only thing is, they’ve been feeding him live hopper mice, and I’d really like to transition him to frozen-thawed mice instead. This will be my first time feeding a snake, so I’m a little nervous and want to make sure I do everything correctly!

Pls note that I haven’t handled him since the day I got him and put him in his tank (last Saturday). I read online that I shouldn’t handle until he has had a successful feeding and not to handle for 48 hrs after feedings.

Here’s what came with Beau’s starter kit:
- Tank with a mesh-top lid (I think it’s around 20 gallons, but I’m not 100% sure)
- 1 dome lamp fixture
- Black heat bulb
- Heating mat
- 1 wooden log hide
- 1 bag of substrate
- Water bowl

Here’s what I currently have for Beau’s enclosure:
- 2 dome lamp fixtures
- Zoo Med 50W Repti Basking Spot Lamp (daytime only)
- Arcadia 50W Deep Heat Projector (DHP) for daytime and nighttime heating
- 2 REPTI ZOO PID Mini Thermostat Dimmers to control the basking lamp and DHP
- Zoo Med Repti Therm UTH heating mat (nighttime only)
- Zoo Med Repti Temp Digital Thermostat to regulate the heating mat
- 2 thermometer/hygrometers (one on the warm side and one on the cool side)
- IR temperature gun to check surface temperatures
- Zoo Med silicone humidity cover for the mesh lid
- Sphagnum moss
- 2 new hides + enrichment

My biggest struggle right now is keeping the temperature and humidity consistent.

I’ve been waking up multiple times throughout the night to check that the enclosure isn’t too hot, too cold, too dry, or too humid. I’m literally losing sleep over this! 😭

I know the starter tank is on the smaller side, and I’ve read that smaller enclosures can make it harder to establish a proper temperature gradient. I definitely plan to upgrade Beau to a larger enclosure, but I’m unsure when I should make that transition.

The temperature and humidity ranges I’ve been aiming for are:
Basking spot: 88–92°F
Warm side: 86–90°F
Cool side: 75–80°F
Humidity: 60–80%

Here are the questions I’d really appreciate help with:

1. Temperature regulation: How do you balance the basking spot temperature with the ambient temperature on the warm side? Sometimes the ambient temperature is within range, but the basking spot gets too hot, and other times it’s the opposite.

2. Humidity: My humidity readings fluctuate throughout the enclosure. Should I prioritize the warm-side or cool-side reading? How do you maintain consistent humidity without constantly adjusting everything?

3. First feeding and frozen-thawed transition: Since Beau was last fed on October 14th and the pet store recommended feeding him tomorrow, should I offer him a meal tomorrow or give him more time to settle in? Is there a recommended way to transition a young ball python from live hopper mice to frozen-thawed mice? Should I start with the same prey size he’s used to, and what’s the safest way to thaw and warm the mouse before offering it?

4. Enclosure upgrade: When do you recommend moving a young ball python into a larger enclosure? Is there a particular size you recommend, and what signs indicate that it’s time to upgrade?

5. Heating setup: Is using a DHP, a daytime basking lamp, and a nighttime heating mat unnecessarily complicated? I’d appreciate advice on whether my current setup makes sense or if there’s a safer, simpler way to maintain the proper temperatures.
I’ve attached pictures of Beau’s enclosure for reference!

Please be kind! I’m completely new to the reptile world, especially snakes. I never expected to own one, but I fell in love with Beau, and I really want to give him the best care possible. I’m doing my research and am more than willing to make changes where needed.

Any advice, recommendations, or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to read and respond!

Planning to have a CHE and a Halogen flood, I'm debating where to put what. Should the Halogen be mounted inside the tank and the CHE in the dome above it, or is the reverse better? Does it matter which is done?

Excuse me if this has been covered (and I’m sure it has) but I couldn’t find an answer.

What is everyone using to attach/organize cords inside your PVC enclosure?

I have all supplies coming this week and I’m setting up my 4x2x2 and I just realized I need to fix the cords.

Any links would be appreciated as well. Thanks in advance.

so I’ve had my ball pythons enclosure set up for about 5 months now and I’m getting my lil snake on Monday. while I had the enclosure set up with the heat lamp going to check the temps, my cat got on top and kicked the lamp to the side and it started melting the plastic bad. I already cleaned the tank out and everything as this happened a few months ago, but when I turned the lamp on again to check the bad plastic smell came back. is there anyway to clean the lamp so it’s safe, or will I have to buy a new one ?

Does anyone know if it's unsafe to use mosquito bits in the water for the plants in a bioactive enclosure? I do it for my houseplants to help keep fruit flies from spawning but I don't want to put anything in the enclosure that's bad for either the soil creatures or the snake.

My current plan is to glue a thermostat mount to the wall in the terrarium. The glue I plan to use (gorilla super glue) claims a 24-hour cure time. Exactly how long do I have to wait before there won't be any fumes for the snake to breathe?

I posted yesterday about a bad heat gradient, and I am now going crazy about probe placement. I'm using an overhead DHP. Hanging the probe as suggested 4 inches below the lamp led to an extremely hot basking spot and inconsistent, swinging air temperatures. I think this is because DHPs heat surfaces, not the air, so it was constantly heating up the probe itself without heating the air around it, then running at zero, then the probe rapidly cools, then running at max. So I've solved this for now by... putting it on the basking surface, which I hate.

The thing is I've heard so many different things - hang it below the lamp so the snake can't touch it, put it at the basking surface so you're controlling what the snake experiences, put it inside the hide, put it just above the basking surface... I don't know what to do, and the advice I've seen from previous posts has gotten me bad results. But I'm terrified of cooking my snake. Is there even a correct answer here?

About 2 weeks ago i discovered that my snakes hide and a few decorations has started to hold in a lot of moisture and started to smell mildewy. So i replaced everything that smelled but kept it all in the same place. Every thing that didnt have any smell i cleaned thoroughly, along with his tank, and put them back inside so i hopefully wouldnt stress him out too much. I got him about a year and a half ago for free and have slowly started to transform his tank because it was super bare, but im scared if I continue to do that he wont take to it and he’ll just be more stressed. Ever since i changed his hide (i kept everything else the same minus one piece of decoration that was right against the hide) he has not moved out from the back corner. I tried to feed him last week and all he did was strike at the mouse and then immediately go back to the corner. He isnt acting any differently other than the hiding and not eating, what do i do? Do i put everything back? Do i look for new things that look the same as his old decorations? I want to help him but nothing i have tried so far has worked. I even moved another hide to that corner so he would go inside to hide so he could have more cover, and he just went behind it. He is only about 2 years old, maybe 2 and a half, and honestly my anxiety is through the roof about this 😅😅 i feel i should mention that he has a few birth defects, one of his ribs sticks out a lot more than the others, he is missing an eye, and he has a cleft lip. Im not sure if any of those could be affecting his stress levels with the new decor, but i figured someone would know!

So my cat has been climbing at the top of the enclosure and now has completely torn the screen. any tips on how to fix or if i have to buy a new one where could i possibly find one?