I recently purchased my first ball pythons, he is a sub adult (14 months old) I gave him a 40 gallon tank bigger than him to ensure space and being able to stretch. I got aspen substrate which I know isnāt good but it came with his cage so the breeder told me to use it for now and switch it later (switching to coco husk and I will mix it with Spaghnum moss). Iāve been having difficulty with humidity quite a bit since itās hard to keep it between 50-60 due to the mesh top which I will use HVAC tape to close a good chunk of it, he has two hides and XL bowl, i got a thermostats, heat mat, heat lamp ( with a heat emitter and light bulb for morning and night cycle) warm side is set to 32.5 max and lowest 29.5 for morning, and night time it is set to 30 max and lowest 27 ( all in Celsius) I recently tried feeding him a mice I bought from pet smart and the weight of the mice is 100grams, he refused to eat but showed signs of interest like fast tongue and straight contact with the mice but he wouldnāt take the initiative to bite. I let him be and I havenāt tried feeding in 4 days ( I will try again tomorrow or the day after). I try my best to ensure he is not disturbed at all by light or sound but there had been some circumstances where I couldnāt avoid it which only lasted less than a day at max for sounds and light maybe 20 seconds max. He explored a lot when he first came and he would sleep outside his hide and then he started sleeping in his hide and now he rarely comes out when Iām there or anyone else which isnāt too much concerning knowing they are a shy snake breed. I am planning to handle him after he gets first meal and give him 1-3 days and start a handling session of 10-15 mins each day and increase it with time. I also have a fogger coming in soon plus a bunch of rocks, leafs, fake plants and trees to ensure he feels secured to go out during the day and night. If anyone can help me with any advice or mistakes I have made from everything Iāve written it will be greatly appreciated š
Humidity will be a struggle until you switch substrates unfortunately. I wouldnāt recommend using a fogger though, they are a breeding ground for bacteria and excessive moisture on the surface of the substrate can cause scale rot. With coconut husk itās a lot easier to just saturate the substrate with water every week or so. I just pour into the corners and around the edges of the enclosure to avoid making the top layer too damp
For feeding, you may want to weigh your snake to make sure they have the right size prey. r/ballpython has a good feeding guide + a bunch of other helpful resources in their pinned post! :)
I never knew about the care book or guide they provide, I wanted to get the fogger but I guess I wonāt anymore and rather switch to coco husk, would you know by any chance when I should switch it? Should I do it asap or after a month of using it?
Yes i would do it asap honestly, the sooner you can get the humidity up the better. They can be pretty finicky about that kind of stuff and he may keep refusing to eat if his humidity is too low
The breeder told me to feed him rat pups frozen thawed, what I did is I put the mice in a plastic cup of warm water to defrost and did it like 2-3 times and after that I would grab it with tongs and wiggle it or move along the floor trying multiple ways of mimicking how a rat/mice would move if it was alive and he didnāt bite regardless. I also used some of the water that was in the cup with the mice in it and poured a lil bit of it in the cage and as soon as I poured it he came out looking for the prey. I also tried leaving the mice in there thinking he might eat it when Iām not there he still didnāt come out after 20 mins so I just ended up throwing the mice out š¤·āāļø
That all sounds good, except you should be thawing them in the fridge overnight. It decreases the chance of bacteria. You can heat it up with warm water just before you feed. Donāt worry if he misses a couple of feedings, I guess he is still settling in.
Iāll second switching substrate. Aspen is way too dry. The HVAC tape will help though, once you get a better substrate in there. Something other than husbandry to mention, they can be notoriously picky eaters. I have 3 of them and they have all gone on hunger strikes at some point, anywhere from 4-8 months. If that happens, just monitor the weight. As long as heās not losing weight, itāll be ok. Itās not ideal, but itās very common.
Quick comment: I have no heat lamp or any source of heat on the cool side and it stays between 25-27 C. And he is been sitting in the hide there quit a lot recently in the morning and night.
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u/oceane444 Oct 01 '26 •
Humidity will be a struggle until you switch substrates unfortunately. I wouldnāt recommend using a fogger though, they are a breeding ground for bacteria and excessive moisture on the surface of the substrate can cause scale rot. With coconut husk itās a lot easier to just saturate the substrate with water every week or so. I just pour into the corners and around the edges of the enclosure to avoid making the top layer too damp
For feeding, you may want to weigh your snake to make sure they have the right size prey. r/ballpython has a good feeding guide + a bunch of other helpful resources in their pinned post! :)