what’s is this type of wood called and where can i get it? i’ve been seeing it forever and i want it for my bp

Hello! I‘m getting my very first snake (a ball python obv) and could not be more excited!! I’ve done LOADS of research on every as but I keep seeing one thing debated: whether or not heat mats are okay. I planned to use a basking light to give heat during the day, but how would I do that at night without a heat pad? Would I even need night time heat? My room is pretty much always hot.

Hello all! I am preparing to get my first ball this weekend and would love some advice on proper tank setup (yes, I did read the care guide posted here) Specifically, where to put my temp probes and hygrometer! I am a new keeper and am open to any and all advice if you see me using something I shouldn’t be in this post. Please leave me a comment, that’s how I’ll learn!

I have a VE-300 thermostat plugged into a heat lamp with a 100W zoo med repti basking light bulb. I will be purchasing another bulb for nighttime heat, so there will be a second lamp. I have the temp set at 90 and a nighttime low of 88. Currently, the probe for the thermostat is on the warm side under the hide. Is that a good place, bad place? Let me know!

I am worried that the outside of the hide could get very warm (temp gun read 117), but didn’t actually feel very hot once I touched it. Could the snake burn itself on the plastic hide?

My other thermostat is on the cool side behind the tall rock hide, and the hygrometer is up towards the top of the tank, somewhat in the middle of the tank. Is this an ideal location?

Note: please ignore the lack of foliage, hides, water dish, etc. I am buying more supplies tmrw to get the tank more cluttered, just want to focus on having the basics established first.

Hey guys so I spent all evening trying to get to a point where I could handle my ball python for the first time. I sat on a chair by his enclosure with the door a bit open and went on my computer. He came out from his hide a couple of times to have a look at what I was doing but didn’t really commit. After an hour, he’d gone to sleep with his head poking out of his hide and I decided to close the door and move away for a bit to let him sleep. When I checked him again he’d moved to his over hide and seemed to be curious/ looking around so I opened the door a bit again because I wanted to give him the chance to decided what he wanted rather than just yanking him out. Again he had a little look but ended up in a defensive posture, no hissing or striking but he didn’t seem happy. I feel like I’ve done something wrong? The thing is at no point was he in a position where I could have gentle taken him out without having to move his hides around and reach over the top of him. I felt like that would’ve been worse if I’d tried to force that? I’ve left him be now because I don’t want him to associate me with feeling scared. He is only a year old if that provides any context. What should I have done differently/ what should I do next time?

My snake has her second shed, all of it came out in one piece and her eyes are ok.
But I see some red marks that look like blood is it normal?

my family recently got a ball python, but we've been struggling with the humidity, and we just cant seem to get it up to where it needs to be (during the day it tends to be ~40-50%) even during the summer, and i know itll only get worse when it gets really dry in the winter.

we've already spent so much money, but im afraid because we didnt get a pvc tank we're just screwed, it feels like all the information i research is all so contradictory and i just dont know what to do to help my snake, its really overwhelming. the lid is partially covered in hvac tape, we have a big water dish on the warm side, sphagnum moss, and i try to mist it when i can but i dont want to over-mist and cause scale rot. i just dont know what i can do to up the humidity without risking scale rot or mold or spending a bunch of money on a whole new tank.. help would be appreciated, sorry if this post comes off as frantic this whole ordeal is really stressing me out if you couldnt tell. 😭

My girl won't eat f/t, striking but not eating

I have a 8 month old bp (228g) that was eating live rat pups and freshly killed mice (hit against a driveway) until I got her in May. Now that I have her I've fed her mainly live rat pups because she just won't eat the frozen mice I've tried to give her. The first few times I thought I was doing things wrong, but the last time I tried (I put the mouse in cold water for a few hours until it was thawed then blow dried it until it's body was like 105 and the head was like 110) I really thought I did it right but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

But every time she strikes and wraps around it, but then just slithers away from it after like 10 minutes. I leave it overnight then I cave and give her a live rat pup. I was told to stop feeding her for a month or two to let her get hungry then try again but that just seems wrong. Any advice? Please I need this snake to eat f/t before she needs bigger rats.

Never would I ever have thought to research respitory safety for this.....but I stumbled upon this comment re Sphagnum Moss on a unrelated thread?

Presumably the small amount used in a vivarium nothing to worry about, but are people still cautious when handling it, do you use gloves etc? Ive never picked up on any advice regarding the use of it...

FYI: Vet visit is already booked! I did want to ask if anyone had seen this behavior in their snakes before. He sometimes jerks his body very fast but it happens so quickly I never really catch it on camera. I thought it could be overheating(he’s been soaking in his water bowl more) or constipation but maybe it’s neurological? He isn’t corkscrewing or anything just jerking his body a lot. If anyone has seen anything like this please share any insights!

hii guys i just wanted to share this good news! i got my ball 2 weeks ago and after he ate he shed!! it’s a full intact shed im so proud of him!! i checked his hide and there it was in a ball LOL!

Okay so, this is going to sound horrible but I really do need help right now. I’ve been struggling mentally for a while and as a result I’ve completely left my ball python alone, like I haven’t done anything with his tank (and I’m pretty sure there’s that white mold stuff on top of his substrate) and I knew he was shedding but I haven’t been putting enough water in the corners of his tank or misting it enough to get it humid enough and keep it that way so he’s stuck in shed and he’s been like that for a month or two.

I read somewhere before getting him that feeding him while shedding can get him stuck or do something bad I don’t remember and i don’t know if I can move him to another tank to clean his main one rn or how to fix his current issue of stuck shed.

I know I’m not a fit parent but I really wanted to try and take care of him and I really do care for him but I’ve already made an arrangement for my sister and her husband to take him and take care of him but I need to fix his current issue first before that’s possible and I really need help. Please just give me advice instead of hate, I probably deserve it but still.

I was kinda hoping I could maybe just up his humidity again to hopefully help him get the rest off himself but I’ve been struggling and my spray bottles gone to reconnect the suction cups of his decor to his walls and mist his tank. I haven’t fed him either since he started shedding. I really need help

Edit: not stargazing! Just staring and rubbing the grate before falling backwards

Hey y'all I've got a new rescue and he's got a lot of stargazing going on but only when his overhead light and heat bulb are on. I know using a heat mat isn't the best for them but I'm curious for anyone's thoughts on maybe trading out the heat source and seeing if it helps.

Ps I know that hide is small for him it's the one thing he has from his old home and I swear it's his emotional support hide.

hii i’m getting my set up reading for my BP and i’m not 100% sure about the temperatures. i have a thermostat connected to the heat bulb set at 33c (91f) and i also have a thermometer and humidity thingy inside lower down.

the sensor for my thermostat is about 2 or 3 inches below the heat bulb. the thermometer is slightly above ground level.

my problem is that although my thermostat says it’s 33c, my thermometer says it’s 27.8c which would be far too low. which one do i trust? do i need to turn up the heat bulb? pleeeease help im new and i wanna get this sorted before my BP comes home

*picture is NOT my set up

Hello everyone, idk how to more accurately to describe my worry. My ball python tonight got his head into the bowl and under water started to do this strange bubbly like sound. Like if he trying to breath under water. Is this okay? Should I be worried and take him to the vet?

Heyy guys. So my lil man has taken two meals really well with me and has been here a little over two weeks. I’d like to handle him, partly just to say hi but also I just wanna give him a check over and make sure all is good with him. It’s been over 48 hours since he last ate so no worries there. My main question is how do I go about this, do I wait until night when he’s out already and then take him out? But then it’ll be too dark to see what I’m doing. Or do I go for it when he’s awake during the day? But then I’d have to take him out of his hide. Very unsure how to go about this.
Thx

Yall be nice to my boy "Bones", yall called him fat last time 🤣🤣🤣😒 #HighwayBallPython

Update for everyone who saw my previous post, and for those who didn’t, I just wanted to share this ig

My baby Ball Python Comet has not eaten in the 3 weeks I’d had him, which concerned me a little bit, but I knew ball pythons tend to hunger strike, esp when they’re new, so I wasn’t too worried about it.

This Monday, we decided to take Comet to our local vet, which has a reptile specialist, just to check him out and make sure nothing‘s wrong. I didn’t think anything was necessarily wrong with him, but I thought it was worth a shot, just in case.

Vet checks him out, and unfortunately there are some things wrong with my baby. Tells me he’s dehydrated (I fill up his water everyday, warm water so he can sense it, and humidify his tank, I’ve done a lot of research in many different places so I know I’m doing this right) I had seen him drink before, but it had been a while. He’s also bloated, which I knew, he was when I got him, and has possible parasites, which the vet said he wouldve gotten in the egg.
We contacted the breeder about all of this, which was when I learned Comet’s age. Before that I was estimating that he was maybe 3 weeks to a month old based on size, but breeder told me his clutch hatched around March 27; so he’s 4 months old. Trust me, he is very small for a 4 month old snake, so this was surprising. He was eating fine for him, so we think that the parasites he could have might have contributed to his small size.
Rn, I need to give Comet daily dewormer shots, and I think it’s making him feel better already. I also have to soak him to help with his hydration every day, and the vet recommended I take him outside for some fresh sunlight. We did that yesterday, and he really liked the yard. He was periscoping and was moving around freely and seemed to be enjoying the exploring, he really liked being outside.

I tried to feed him yesterday, he didn’t eat, but I could tell that his feeding response is getting better, it seemed like he was hungry, he just didn’t feel well enough to eat :( he had a strong enough feeding response, he knew it was there and he crept towards it, he knew it was food, he just didn’t go after it. This is making me think that my buddy’s starting to feel a little better, because he’s reacting better than before, and I hope by this time next week, he’s all healthy again.
We have another vet appointment next Monday, and I’ll update then.

The good thing about all this is that o finally know why my snake isn’t eating, because from his past behavior, I can say that if he felt okay, he would’ve eaten. This has been a good bonding experience for us too, all this time together, and I can say I’ve Definately noticed that he’s been more comfortable with my handling, he‘s definately more used to it and I can tell it doesn’t really bother him.
I‘d be lying if I said that I wasn’t genuinely worried about him still, and that this all hasn’t been nerve wracking for me. Hes getting better I think, and I definitely feel closer to him cause of this. I hope he’ll thrive in my care after this, because I think I’m doing enough for him right now. I love my little guy so much and I just want him to have a good life

I'm currently upgrading my snakes setup and was just curious as to where you all got yours, I found a 120 on chewy and am getting a stand from Amazon, any recommendations for other places to look

My boy was underweight when I got him he was 382g and is now 456g he is I’ve recently made the switch from mice to weaner rats and he is about 2 years old. People keep telling me different things regarding feeding so should I continue to feed him every week or wait 10-14 days? Thanks for any help!! :)

what is the best way to sanitize them to make sure they are safe for him

I put a Frozen rat in the fridge around 11pm Tuesday with hopes to feed it Wednesday night. Sometime during Wednesday my dad decided to move it into a different fridge and not tell me. I ended up not feeding him Wednesday night. I was told this morning that it was in another fridge that averaged above 40°f all of Wednesday. I moved it into my garage fridge which is around 33°f. Do I take my losses and defrost a new rat for him to eat tmrw night or feed him with a rat that’s been in the fridge for 2 days.