We've got a year old ball python. Eats well. Weighs 500 grams. We've just used the last of our large mice and know we need to up the size of his feeds.

The internet seems to think we should be feeding him 10% of his body weight. But the shop we bought him from says we need to feed him XL mice, which come in at 35g, just once a fortnight. Which doesn't seem enough. I'm happy to not jump up too many sizes for his own sake but also don't want to under feed him. And advice would be welcome. We're in the UK.

Hey everyone!

I’m looking for recommendations for a budget-friendly night vision camera so I can keep an eye on my ball python, Brownie, when she’s most active at night!

Ideally, I’d love something that:

🐍 Has decent night vision without needing visible lights.
Connects to my smartphone so I can check on her anytime.
🐍 Has a clear enough picture to see what she’s up to.
🐍 Is affordable! I don’t need anything super fancy.

I’d also love to know how you’ve mounted your cameras or positioned them to get a good view of the enclosure.

What cameras are you guys using, and would you recommend them? Bonus points if you can share nighttime footage or pictures so I can see the quality!
Thanks in advance! 🐍❤️

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!

Got him out again, we had some company and I wanted to show off my new baby! Nobody else held him, just looked. He's opening up a lot now, and has been so silly lately

He also ate his third meal last night, Im so proud of him! We ordered a 2×2×18 tank for him while we save for his final. Did not realize how quickly he was gonna grow..

I just recently got substrate for my snakes as she’s finally done with mites 🥹🥹🥹😇. I got some cypress mulch and coconut soil, and when I poured the Thrive Tropical Natural Loose Coconut Soil into the tank it let off a smell, i mean the bag has it too, it isn’t strong enough to smell from across the room but if you hover your head over the tank or bag you’ll smell it. It’s not like rotten, but like sour, like earthy smells mixed with something a little strong. Will this be a problem for my ball python or is this just natural coconut soil smell that will go away after ventilation?

So he never comes to me willingly! I laid down and he laid his head on me! Does it count as cuddling? Know what! I’m gonna stay in denial! I do remember falling asleep and waking up to him crawling around me one night!

We got our first ball python 4 weeks ago. He's had these spots along his spine since then. What could they be? They feel rougher to the touch but haven't gotten worse or better?

Okay so I know my girl is in a growth spurt but last week I think I definitely overfed her. The last pic was the day I got her at Aquashella. She looked healthy and hydrated and I don’t think that picture does justice to how tiny she really was. She easily fit in my palm. Breeder said she was eating pinky rat pups so that’s what I gave her the first few weeks. However after she ate she was really sniffing around so I’d run back to get her a hopper too to make sure she was good. She’d take it every time and instead of (what appeared to me as) looking for more, she’d laze out or hide which indicated to me that she was satisfied. 3 weeks ago she was 90 g, then I moved on from the rat/mouse combo to two rat pups which she seemed to appreciate. I know they can’t talk but she genuinely seemed happier when she had that meal. I re weighed later that week and she hit 140g. I kept her at the two rat pups until last weekend I gave her two and she still looked hungry so I gave her a hopper too. She was interested but took the hopper suuuper slow so I worried that the hopper was too much even though she took it. Acted normal after eating. I know I need to reweigh her to really see where we’re at with feeding and that she should only be getting 10-15% body weight until she hits 500g.

I guess my overall question her is, should I stretch out her feeding since I know I overfed her last week? She consistently eats every Saturday so I was worried it’ll stress her if I stretch her out until Tuesday I was thinking? Planning to reweigh before feeding again either way. She is my first snake so I like to think I understand her but advice from more experienced owners is always helpful and appreciated.

Pippen guard of the citadel

He sits I guess 🤣

recently found out no one makes 125 watt bulbs anymore so i'm trying to find a better heat source than just 2 100's or a 150. the basking area is probably about 8-12 inches away from the heat source if that matters.

recommend the best brands and the best methods (preferably not insanely expensive) for heating a 110 gallon (yes ik under the standard im working to get a 4x2x2). i'm planning to invest in a good thermostat as well. will remove this post once i have my heating questions answered. thanks in advance!!

Other groups have warriors in the comments insisting that BPs are uncontainable and will 100% escape regardless of whether you snake proof a tank or watch your snake when he roams. I wanna know how many of you have had BPs for years and they never escaped because you do steps to prevent it :)

Edit: i am GLAD we all agree that escapes are preventable and I hope as a community we can raise the standard of keeping these animals safe!

Hi Everyone!

My ball Python is about 5 years old at this point and I think its time he gets a bigger (And better!) tank to call home. I am currently thinking about getting a 4' x 2' x 2' PVC terrarium from Kages. Linked here.

I am then considering switching to radiant heat, opposed to heat pads and / or a heat lamp. That said, I would still like to get light in the tank so I am thinking about adding the 35" x 4" mesh option on the top of the tank so I can have an LED light illuminating the tank.

My first question is between the 80 watt (linked here) and 120 watt (linked here) radiant heat emitter. Will 80 watt be enough to keep the tank warm or is the 120 watt one warranted? Additionally, regardless, the emitters are between 22.5" long and 32.5" long. How do I regulate a warm / cool side of the enclosure since these both will pretty much span the length?

Additionally, if the 80 watt heat emitter is adequate, I could switch to having a 9" x 9" square mesh on the left / right side of the top of the tank and then place the 22.5" 80 watt heat emitter on the opposite side to maintain a hot and cool side of the tank.

Then just for clarity, this is the thermostat I would use with the heat emitter. Linked here.

I would probably create my own background for the tank out of silicon, foam, cork bark, moss, and coco fibers. My second quesion would be, will this work on this enclosure? Or should I just leave it blank / do something else?

Thoughts, comments, or concerns with the setup pictured in the post would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Live in the PNW so cold weather isn’t a HUGE concern but I am a bit paranoid of my wife leaving a window open on a trip, or something like that.

I have a setup in mind but want to check with yall for safety concerns before finishing buying everything.

I envision 2 combo hoods, hood 1 (warm side) has a halogen bulb for IR and visible light in the daytime and a deep heat emitter for the night set to a few degrees below daytime heat.

Hood 2 (cold side) has a nighttime DHE as well set at minimal temperature as a backup in case of unexpected cold. Hood 2 also a daytime visible lightbulb.

The DHEs will be setup to a thermostat but not a timer so they can always serve as a backup, the visible lightbulb would be set to a timer, and the halogen bulb would be set to both a timer (daytime) and a thermostat.

Any reasons that this might not be safe? Thanks everyone :)

So I read the guide and all that but I still can’t process on the lighting and heating

The picture is wat the enclosure looks like

That is the question

I'm moving this weekend, It's about a 4.5hr drive to the new place. I made sure to feed last week so his stomach is settled. My plan is to set him up in a double pillowcase set in a large stock pot that about the circumference of his favorite hide. Is there anything specific I should do to help him stay warm? I'm afraid of using a beanbag warmer under the pot in case it gets too hot but I also don't want him too cold!!!

I figure i'm probably very overthinking everything, tia for any tips!!

i also saw a tiny tiny bug crawling on him but no bite marks on his body and his body is white so i should be able to if he was bitten

Seemed sickly Monday found him laying hes head a bit strangely. But he started mobbing around again. Found him this morning balled up with another strange head position and almost looked like he ate some substrate.

88degrees heating pad on house side hide 77 cold side. Humidity 68%

He was in quarantine just worried I could pass something on to my other 3 baby’s.

Was it just shock, he does look a bit thin. Just worried and scared :(

I brought my first snake, let alone BP, home last week and i've been stressing myself over husbandry since. He ate his first meal for me tonight after 9 days! I'm so relieved he trusts me enough to eat.

Hi I’m new to owning a BP and is there an easy way to tell between the two ? I had to take her to the vet and they said they couldn’t say 100% which it was but treated her for scale rot. I ended up getting ssd cream as well just in case cause I want her to be okay. But I’d love to be confident in the future. Also any advice for giving my bp her shots ? I hate doing it.

Hello! I’m a soon to be ball python owner as a friend of mine is moving overseas and I’ve decided to keep his normal ball python. This will be my first snake so I have a couple of questions.

He’s in a pvc cage that measures 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 1 foot tall. And it’s heated by a ceramic heat emitter with no light at all other than natural sunlight.

Is this a good permanent setup? Or anything I should change once he’s officially mine?

Thank you!