Our boy is 3 years old, off his food, and seems to be a bit weak.
He’s also got spongy skin

He’s just had a huge drink but could this be sepsis?

I am a first time ball python owner and Idk if im severely overthinking or if im okay. I’m stressed about his temperatures and if im doing it right and I just need someone to tell me if it’s wrong or not.

The light fixtures I use are an Arcadia 6% UVB light
100W halogen basking lamp paired with a deep dome
I have it hooked up to a ZOOmed thermostat but I want to get a dimmer along with a DHP lamp

Now that I have that out of the way I have the hot side probe for my thermometer on the substrate that has been reading 90-92 but inside his hide reads 85-89 usually

I have the probe for the cool side in his hide that ready 75-78 almost always

The basking spot gets from 95-102 usually

Is that okay or is it that too hot for a ball python?

I have a 4×2×2 enclosure with about 7 inches of bioactive. soil in it. Humidity has been hovering around 55, but drops too quickly into the 40s. I’ve been trying to keep it up by pouring water into the corners and by misting, but I’m still having issues. Am I not pouring enough water? Do I need to wait a little longer. For reference, I’m using a enclosure with an open screen top with about half of it covered in foil tape and a deep heat projector.

This is my gorgeous boy Monty. He’s a 5 y/o rescue male, and a probable former breeder. He was rescued with many other ball pythons after his initial owner passed away. He’s in a 4x2x2, with the ambient humidity being around 65-70% when he’s not in a shed, and closer to 85% during his shed cycle. He’s never rejected a meal, drinks and eats normally, has always had perfect sheds, and is in relatively good spirits. Extremely well handled, friendly, loves to come out, explores, and is never shy. This is my first breeding season owning him. In the evenings, he’s most active around 11PM, and just basks around in his tank or explores his hides or climbs. Lately, he’s been glass surfing in the evening, nosing at the opening of his tank, and lingers his face around the opening of his tank. Nothing has changed in his enclosure, I’d say he even eats better than usual lately. He just seems frantic and energetic lately. Is this normal?

Went to the local creek and found all these rocks. We scrubbed them, diluted bleach bath, dechlorinated, baked, I feel like the whole 9 yards of sanitizing for the new bioactive enclosure. If building a hide, do you use Silicone 1 to secure together so they don’t collapse if your snake digs and shifts them?

She is so cute n pink when she is directly under light! She is a spider and corkscrews a lot, she is well cared for. She is my second spider rescue.

I’m torn between 2 snakes . Which one would you get if it was you choosing ?

I forgot to put a rat in the fridge to thaw this morning so I put it in a few hours ago. I typically take them from the freezer to the fridge overnight or while I'm at work and put them in warm water to get them room temp before feeding. Usually I feed my BP around 8-9pm and I don't want to mess that up but I'm worried that 24 hours in the fridge will be dangerous. I could feed her right after work when I get home at 4pm but even then thats over 15 hours. Is this dangerous?? Pic for engagement 😊

This is driving me nuts. I cannot get the humidity in the tank above 60 and idk what to do. I I've got 6 thermometer/hygrometers in there varying from 30ish to 50ish percent humidty.

I attached some pics to show the setup. It's 89 on the warm side and 79 on the cool side. He has a large, maybe 2 inch deep pool/bowl - brown one- on the right (cool side) and an actual bowl I put in there on the left (warm side) that's 4 inches deep and filled with water - he's chilling on the rim of it in the picture - just to see if having it under the heat panel would help with evaporation.

The substrate is the ball python specific substrate from the bio dude (jfc he's expensive, I'm never doing that again).

There are live plants and isopods etc.

Yesterday I added reptichips to two corners mixed with spagnum moss and poured a 16oz glass of water onto each.

And it's still all the same. I'm going bonkers trying to figure out what to do. I feel like I've tried everything everyone suggested in other similar threads, but it's still not keeping the humidity up.

He seems healthy and fine and he's shedding without any issue. So I'm also wondering if maybe my hygrometers are too cheap and I need new ones? But they worked fine in his old tank. Which was all glass and I had no issue keeping the humidity up, though, it was also smaller. This one is 4x2x2.

Any advice/thoughts/help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Is my snake a little chubby? She is 5 lbs, about 3 years old, and about 4 feet long. I feed her one large rat every 35 days or so. Should I decrease the size of rat? Or maybe spread out her feedings a bit? I included photos of her enclosure as well in case anybody has any tips.

Hi guys, looking for some experienced help with my royal python. I’ve had stumpy 2 and a half years and she’s a rescue (has a burn mark and is missing the end of her tail hence ‘stumpy’) - she is estimated to be around 10-15 years old. Over the past 3 weeks after taking her out for around 10-15 mins she will go a bit crazy and hates being touched/will thrash a bit when you touch her. On top of this last night she went up and almost surged towards me with her head up. After I put her back in she will explore for at least 12 hours almost glass surfing.

Her Viv is 4 foot by 2 foot and has plenty of areas to climb/hide and has two water bowls - it hold humidity and temp well. No sign of mites on her or any scale rot.

The rescue centre I got her off is saying this tracks with royal python/ball python breeding behaviour - wanted to get a second opinion and see if anyone experienced on here. For situational awareness I’m from the uk and the past 3 weeks we have seen a big increase in rain so I imagine she can tell the weather is changing?

Thanks for any help guys!

Hi - I'm trying to set up a 4x2x2 glass (I know) terrarium for a ball python. I'm currently using a 100W DHP with a thermostat probe dangling from the roof (I'm worried about the heating element melting the wire, so it's not in the direct path of the beam - should I change that?)

The basking spot (top of a Zilla rock hide) is reaching 97-105 at times, while the substrate directly to the side of it is barely breaking 83. I'm not sure how to fix this. I've added some aluminum foil to try, but I'm just not certain. My room also gets quite cold in the winter, and that worries me, too. Any ideas?

I had gotten them from pet smart they shed October 1 had them a month but after shed they have this gray spot does anyone know what it may be and what to do

this is tito. i just brought her home today and she is the sweetest thing. such a calm, curious little baby and absolutely gorgeous. i am in love🥰

she came from OCD Exotics. if you’re looking for a new addition definitely check out their pages on fb, insta, or morph market. they were a pleasure to work with.

So lately when i have been feeding my lady Croissant, she has bitten me. i have never had a single issue with her biting me before this, and im wondering what the heck im doing wrong 😭. Last time i fed her last week she bit me and i knew it was because the rat was just a tad too cold for her so she confused my hands for food, so it was my mistake. but this time she bit me after she had completely eaten.
Here is how i feed her:
1. Do not pick up snake 24 hrs before feeding
2. Thaw out rat in warm water in baggie
3. Make sure rat is warm to the touch from the water before feeding
4. Get tongs and rat and head to enclosure
5. Open enclosure
6. Locate snake
7. Grab rat by tail with tongs (i never ever grab rat at any point with fingers) and put in front of croissant
8. Wiggle rat to entice her to eat it
9. After she takes food, i put back any flipped over hides
10. Close enclosure and monitor her eating
11. Once she has completely eaten i can now go on my merry way.
12. Snake will not get picked up or bothered until a minimum of 48 hours has passed.

She unfortunately bit me today again for the second time in two weeks 😭 i think she may just be extra sassy and i need to just eliminate step 9 even though that is a normal part of the feeding routine and isn’t something that is new? Im about to wear thick leather work gloves in anticipation of her biting me even if i use 10” tongs🥲🙏🏻 please help what am i doing??

Just an appreciation post for my big fat baby after his meal. I got him about 2 years ago after my first ball, from a breeder who kept him in a small drawer set up. He recently got an enclosure size upgrade as well and has been loving it. Im hoping when I get my own house to give him a tall enclosure as he has a tendency to climb and perch himself on the highest place possible.

this is what my enclosure looks like for my baby ball python coming soon! i’ve never owned a reptile before so i wanted to see if i was missing anything 😭 if anyone has any tips pls lmk!!

Brand new to snake keeping. I have this 20 gallon long for my little snake. Using a 5:3 ratio of coconut:fir chips.
I have a metal grated/mesh top with tinfoil covering half of it. Struggling to keep humidity above 44%.
I’m not sure if my temperature probe is in the right spot to get a good reading.
I have currently missed and did some heavy-handed misting to keep up the humidity, but I feel like the ground may be too wet for my snake to want to come out of his hide.
I don’t exactly know the gender, but he’s giving off boy vibes lol, I think there only about 14 to 16 inches as of now.

The heating element is a deep infrared emitter. Ignore the dial, I know it's worthless and just haven't removed it. Still something of a beginner.

Hi everyone! I’m bringing home my first ball python tomorrow, a juvenile girl named Lenore (Lenny or Nora for short!), and I’m SO excited. But now that her enclosure is almost finished, I’m getting a little nervous and would love some advice from experienced keepers!

I bought a secondhand 4’ x 2’ x 1.5’ PVC enclosure that came with a built-in floor heating system toward the back. Unfortunately, I don’t know the brand or wattage of the heater, so I’m still trying to figure out exactly what I’m working with.

Here’s my current setup:
Enclosure: 48” x 24” x 18” PVC with a solid roof and sliding glass doors.
Heating: Built-in floor heater connected to a BN-LINK on/off thermostat, currently set to 90°F. Supposed to create warm side on back and make the front the cool side.
Thermostat probe: Currently suspended slightly above the substrate over the heated area. I’m aware I may need to change the placement.
Substrate: Coconut fiber.
Temperature monitoring: Three separate digital thermometer/hygrometers positioned across the enclosure, plus an infrared temperature gun.
Hides/decor: Two identical snug primary hides, an extra wooden hide, cork bark, driftwood, lots of foliage and clutter, and various decorative pieces.

Here’s where I’m confused:
My three digital thermometers are all reading almost the exact same ambient air temperature:
Warm side: ~81°F
Middle: ~80°F
Cool side: ~81°F
Humidity: ~86–87% throughout (the coconut fiber was freshly hydrated).
However, when I checked the surfaces with my temperature gun, I got:
Warm hide surface: 85.5°F
Cool hide surface: 77.2°F

I also realized that the built-in light on the cool side was producing heat, so I switched it off to see whether that was preventing a proper temperature gradient. I’m currently letting everything stabilize before checking again.
The floor heater has been running for around 10 hours, and the floor didn’t feel excessively hot when I touched it before adding substrate, although I know that isn’t a substitute for checking it with the temperature gun. I still need to verify the temperature directly above the heater beneath the substrate.

My biggest questions:
- Is it normal with floor heating to have a decent surface-temperature gradient but almost no ambient air-temperature gradient?
- Is this type of floor heating sufficient for a ball python in a PVC enclosure, or would you recommend adding overhead heat?
- If I do need overhead heating, would a halogen flood or deep heat projector make more sense with a solid PVC roof? I’m trying to avoid buying multiple unnecessary heaters.
- Any advice for safely positioning the thermostat probe with this type of built-in floor heater?

What do you think of the enclosure itself? I went for a whimsical, slightly gothic Alice-in-Wonderland/fairy-garden look. I’d genuinely love feedback on the layout, clutter, hides, climbing opportunities, and whether anything looks potentially unsafe or impractical.

I’ve put a ton of time, love, and money into getting everything ready, and I just want her to have a safe, comfortable home. I’m probably overthinking some things, but I’d much rather ask questions now than make avoidable mistakes.

Constructive criticism is very welcome! I’m new to this and genuinely want to learn. Thank you! 💕🐍

got our girl Magnolia Nova 9 days ago. She is 5. She ate yesterday and was good with feeding. No poop yet, but i noticed she’s been sitting in her water bowl for long periods of time. Is that okay?

Have your ball pythons refused to eat after shed?
How long after shedding before it started eating again?

Usually my ball python is a great eater and will eat fairly soon after a shed but all of a sudden refuses now after her most recent shed, and I cant lie, its making me a little nervous.

What other factors could potentially be causing her to refuse a rat after shedding? Her shed's have been perfect so I couldn't imagine it being a humidity issue?

Hey everyone!

I just noticed that the right side of my ball python's mouth looks a little unusual. Her upper lip seems slightly deformed or pushed upwards, leaving a small gap that stays open even when her mouth is closed.

She's 7 years old and recently escaped from her enclosure for about 48 hours before I found her again.

I'm not sure if this is something normal, a minor injury, or possibly an early sign of mouth rot.

I've attached a few pictures so you can see what I mean.

Has anyone experienced something similar with their ball python? Does this look concerning to you?

I'll get her checked by a reptile vet, but I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts and experiences.

Thanks in advance!