I just got my ball python on March 23. I have had her for almost 2 weeks And she has not eaten yet, while my fiancés snake has eaten 2x so far. I have her in a nice enclosure Repti chip & sphagnum moss(very little) as substrate Warm side is 80-82 Cool side is 75-80 Humidity stays around 40% sometimes reaches 60%. I’m having a hard time keeping the humidity up. She is in a 40 gal terrarium with heating mat & thermostat on cool side under tank, and warm side has CHE. I weighed her the other day, and she was 342g I weighed her again today and she is 340g. Should I be concerned? And how long do I wait before I take her to the vet? I did have to redo her enclosure a week into having her so maybe she’s stressed? But I’ve tried different ways of thawing the mice and different times of day.. she just won’t eat. Please help. I’ve been driving myself crazy for almost 2 weeks I just want her to be happy and healthy. And I would die if anything happened to her. I’ve always wanted a snake. She is my first snake so please don’t judge. I’m just a venous noodle mom.

Ok so I've read through the guides posted here and I'm still fairly confused about heating...

My husband is building me a custom enclosure with a solid top, 4'x2'x2'. I will be rescuing an adult male BP in a few days and planning on a temporary tub enclosure with UTH until the main is ready. Two UTHs - I think the cool side would be too cold without an extra one there. And a two channel inkbird thermostat. That's not ideal, I know, but it would be for a week or two at most until I can get all the heating elements for the main enclosure (hubs says he can have the enclosure itself built by this Thursday).

So my main question is about heating the solid top 4'x2'x2'. How do you heat it at night? If my ambient temp is 70ish in the house how do I keep the cool side up above 75? My thought is three heating elements, two radiant panels (one on the cool side all the time and one on the warm side for at night) and one UVA/UVB lamp for during the day on the warm side. Is this correct? Do I need any UTH in the main enclosure? And then how do thermostats work because I was planning on getting a herpstat 4 but the RHP recommended on the shopping list says it isn't compatible with the herpstat 4... So what should I be getting? Am I overthinking this? Maybe there's a simpler way I'm not seeing. Also how should everything be mounted inside? I'm having a hard time visualizing what this will look like.

Any help greatly appreciated

Anyone else have a cat whose obsessed with their snakes food? My cat is always trying to steal it off the tongs before I can get it into my snakes enclosure! She begs as soon as she smells them being thawed. She's a menace for cheese bois. I'd say her appetite for them could surpass all of my snakes'.

this is my shy boy Riddle!! I've been seeing so many beautiful snakes posted recently, I really wanted to show off mine! he's about 2yrs old. his morph is super phantom! his name is Riddle cause of the question mark in his scales :) he's really given me such a huge appreciation for snakes! I never thought I'd love them as much as I've ended up loving them.

One thing I've been come across researching for my first snake is that balls are boring because they're always sleeping, is this true?

I think they are beautiful but I don't want to get a pet rock. No disrespect.

Ollivander likes to see different parts of the house while wrapped around my wrist. Did a little chauffeuring after work 🥹

i got a mojave pastel at an expo last month and within the month that i’ve had her, i’ve only been able to get her to eat one f/t pinky (force fed). i found out after getting her that the store manager (at a local breeder) had to force feed my particular snake multiple times. she was about 7 months when i got her, so she should be about 8 months now. the breeder that i got her from, feeds his snakes live (i know personally because i bought a baby from him when she was 3-4 months old, he bred her himself).

i have 3 ball pythons, and i recently fed my other two live rats (i understand the risks of feeding live, one of my balls eats f/t or live). i decided to try to give her a live as well, that was on Monday and today is Saturday. The rat is still alive and my snake is still hungry. i don’t think she’s on a hunger strike due to before feeding, she was searching for food.

i tried the brown paper bag method (even though i also know most are against this method) and failed. i also know that she’s literally lived in a tub container her whole life before i bought her at an expo, so this is her first time in a tank (she’s actually still in her quarantine tank). i added a picture of my baby above, her name is McQueen lol. Also, i know aspen isn’t good for them, i’m in the process of setting up her permanent (until she grows out of it) tank as bioactive.

any tips would be greatly appreciated!

My ball python is 5 years old and is 1100 grams. How much should the food I feed him be. I think I’ve been feeding him too big of rats and he is only eating every 6 weeks now. I think I will try smaller. What % body weight should it be.

My girl has always ate super well. The other day she refused a feeding for the first time in like almost a year. She showed some interest but not much. I’m wondering how long I should wait until I offer her another?

I'm so embarassed to post this, but I really need advice please. I often worry about her being overweight whenever she eats, but when she poops, she looks back to normal. This time was not the case and she still looks like this... I haven't weighed her yet until I get home tonight, but she has been eating large rats for a couple of months now ever since she reached the 7-10% rule. I think I bought her rats too large this time, or she is no longer supposed to be eating weekly anymore (she is a little over a year old now and it says they should be eating every 14-20 days)

I need help on this. Do I feed her less often? Smaller rats? I take her everyday (I don't for two days after feeding). Anything I should do? I'm worried, I messed up somewhere and I'm not proud of it...

Hey everyone! I have had my ball python for approx 5 years. For the first time about 2-3 weeks ago he bit me. It seemed to be a defensive bite, strike and release. Didn’t hurt, was a super minor bite. I’ve fed him since then and handled him once about 3 days after his feed.

Since then I’ve found that not only am I lacking confidence now in handling, but he also seems to be on the defensive more often than not. He seems to be ready to strike every time I open then enclosure to clean in there. If he seems super apprehensive I don’t force handling. I did find that when I handled him a few days after his last feed he was quite relaxed so not sure if maybe he’s just hungry? I am going to feed him again tonight.

I’m just looking for some advice on rebuilding my confidence and more importantly building him up again to be a little more relaxed.

She’s always been a great eater and we’re very blessed for that but for last maybe six months she won’t strike and wrap her food up, she’ll come out of her hide for it and get right up on it and smell it but won’t grab it anymore, now I just leave it on top of her log and in the morning it’s gone, I feed her a medium rat every 15-20 days

Please help. My friend has three ball pythons and due to a health emergency he cannot keep them for now. I cannot keep them due to financial circumstances so I was wondering if there was a website for fostering snakes for a while? I can care for the snakes when I am financially stable but until then I cannot help. Are there any websites to meet snakes fosters until I can get financially stable?

I have a decently cluttered tank the hot side stays around 85 to 90 and the cool side stay between 75 to 70 with a humidity of 65 to 80 depending on time of day and she refuses to move around alot anymore until i removed alot of the clutter and climbing opportunities for cleaning i left them out and shes been thriving and having fun exploring her tank with no issues and the stuff thats in their she actively avoids can someone help explain this?

I got Power here about 5 weeks ago, and she was only on live rat pups from the breeder. I’ve tried so many tricks for her to take frozen/thawed from letting it defrost overnight then blowing it with a hair dryer to letting it heat up under her heat lamp, literally nothing works. She got fed right before I got her, so she’s slightly over a month without food. How long should I wait until I feed her live? How long can she go without food as a juvenile? (July ‘24) Should I try and feed her live just to get her established, or should I wait longer and keep trying? I’ve been handling her very minimally as well. My warm side is around 89-94 and her cool end I’ve been having trouble keeping warm so it’s around 72 near her hide, will also take advice on how to help with that aspect. Humidity is always above 60%, closer to 70.

There’s still a few methods I could try, like putting the rat in a plastic bag to defrost instead, or putting it in gerbil bedding or something. I know pre killed is a last resort but I really, really don’t want to do that. I’m just at a loss and need some advice from people who have switched. I feel like I’ve educated myself as much as I can but who knows, maybe one of you out there has a better idea for how to switch her. If you have time please take a minute to throw some advice my way, thanks.

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a new Q & A thread will be posted every day at noon eastern time. this is the place where you can ask that question that might feel like it isn't a big deal but it's been on your mind, or ask basic questions that probably have a simple yes or no answer, or maybe you just want to have a casual chat and get some quick opinions on something. these threads are a group project, everyone is invited to both ask and answer questions here.

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Hello! My friend said to stay away from spider morphs so I was wondering if anyone else had morphs I should steer clear of

Hey guys!!! Just got my beautiful enchi bp Nagini on Tuesday. Making an appointment soon to get the little ones gender figured out. He/she just had their first feed Tuesday night (live as thats what they were eating before. Plan on making the switch to f/t). Had no issues with their first feed. He/she seems to be content with the enclosure setup, has been exploring a few times when they think no ones watching. But for the most part has been coiled under the hide on the warm side. We have the humidity around 60-70 during the day and around 99-100 at night. Temp stays around 85 on the warm side during the day, and 70-75 at night. We cant seem to get it higher than 85 degrees in the daytime, any recommendations on heating?? We have an acadia 100w basking bulb, light hangs about 1.5 inches from the tank lid, but its a mesh top tank. We are intending on upgrading the tank in the near future. Currently in a 20 or 30 gal (unsure of which one). We are using forest floor and reptisoil for the bottom substrate. We have a UVB strip above the tank, flat on the mesh. Im adding photos of the tank we would like to purchase. Has anyone else used this tank? If so, how do you like it? And should I be using aquarium silicone to waterproof the bottom? Are the dimensions too large or too small? What would be a good lighting setup for a tank of this size? Any other information would be GREATLY appreciated. I just want to make sure im doing everything right for my little nagini.

Hi! I recently got a ball python (maybe) a month ago. His name is Nosferatu, and he’s roughly 4/5 months old. He’s been a little feisty since I got him, but at night loves to roam his enclosure and climb. He doesn’t mind when I handle him on his terms, but he loves to explore and climb.

Recently, I assumed he was shedding, he had milky eyes (seen in the photo), so the upped the humidity to 75-80% to help. However, for the past few days (maybe 3), he’s been in the same spot. He no longer climbs or explores, and it looks like he’s about to strike me.

The temperature is 75 on the cool side, and 85 on the hotter side.

He eats a live mouse once a week, he actively cringes and spits out frozen mice. Am I doing something wrong? I know snakes physically can’t feel emotions, but I can’t help but feel like he hates me.

It's become an addition. I love them so much 💓 This is just a photo dump of my babies. Hope you enjoy!

I have two boys and a girl.

My first male is Rengoku 🔥 . He's a Banana, Enchi, Yellowbelly, Fire, Pied. He was my first and is my special boy. He loves to climb and I try to give him every opportunity to do so outside of his enclosure.

My second male and newest addition is Connor (He's the android sent by Cyberlife 🔫 ). He's an VPI Axanthic, Trick, Pinstripe possibly Het Pied. He's still new and in quarantine (which is why he's on paper towels), but he's so curious about everything.

My last baby is my female. Her name is Seras Victoria 🦇 and she's an Albino, Fire, Pastel, Het Pied. Beautiful girl and super confident. She ate after only 2 days living with me and she's always checking me out whenever I open up her enclosure.

I got my beautiful boy around a week ago and he successfully has been feeding every Friday. He had eaten good last Friday and this past Friday as well. Tomorrow is feeding day and I have not seen a single poop lol, should I be concerned 🫣 does he need a laxative lol Also he spends all day in the cold/fresh side and at night comes out to the hot side, normal as well?

Un raton aruño a mi piton, y se le formo una pequeña bolita al instante se puede ver en au franja Blanca, algo que me recomienden hacer ademas de eso no lo comio!

My son lieutenant Jr needs a bigger enclosure for he has grown... On a serious note though, money is tight and I need recommendations for a good (and affordable) pvc enclosure for him. He deserves more, and I want to give it to him because he deserves it.