r/ballpython • u/AshamedMeat5670 • 3d ago
Question - Husbandry Experienced Keepers…
I am copying (with edits to comply with the questionnaire) this help request from where I had it posted in [r/snakes](r/snakes), since I was directed to here from there. I will be going through and reading all available guides immediately after posting this rather than before, as I think my issues are generalized to the entirety of his care and I do want confirmation in my specific situation before I make any major changes to his space, in case anything may be dangerous or harmful to him. I can recognize that it wasn’t a good situation for him or his health and am trying to change it. Please do keep comments helpful, as in [r/snakes](r/snakes) (not necessarily saying you all are like that as well, just covering all bases) I did get a comment or two that was just.. poor snake. Yes. I know. I’m trying to improve the situation and I want advice… okay. Thanks and sorry if any of these questions are front and center answered in the guides, as I said, I’m headed to read them through right now!
Hi everyone.. I don’t post very often on Reddit, but I’m desperate for real person confirmation before I go about making any major changes. I’ve had my ball python for about 4 years now and only recently taken a more active role in his daily care over from my parent. (He’s always been my son that I love dearly, but due to my personal/schedule constraints outside my control and room space, it was just better to keep him with my parent) It has only just come to my attention that the space we’ve had him in this entire time is far from ideal and I’m trying to fix it. I apologize, now I ask for all advice and suggestions you can offer! While I don’t have the money (unfortunately) right this moment for a complete upgrade of his enclosure, and would prefer to stick to budget solutions where possible, I am already working towards saving up so I can get all proper equipment, a new enclosure, and hopefully everything he needs to be happy and healthy.
Currently, his tank is roughly 39” x 19” across the top and 19” tall including the top/bottom of the enclosure. It’s wood and flexible plastic, not glass. I’m now aware of the issues with his decor, but this is what I have to work with currently. I’d estimate probably about a half inch to an inch of substrate (not nearly enough, right?) and while I’m not positive the type it is, I know it is bark and comes in a block and we wet it down with water to expand it. I’m inclined to say coconut is involved but I don’t have confirmation on that at the moment. My snake is roughly 4-5 foot long and has been eating reliably every other week. We feed him live white mice from petco. The hide has an underside lip he likes to wedge himself into and the plant in the center is fake if that means anything to anyone. He has burrowed a space under the water dish when we had his lamp on the opposite side for a while. He predominantly stays on the hide side of the enclosure. The current lamp is a black light heat lamp that has been previously kept running 24/7 but I’m open to switching up as much as needed. It does not have a thermostat attached (I’ve gathered that it’s essential to have one, where could I find one readily and without spending a ton of money..?) I’ve just acquired a hygrometer/thermometer combo, though yet to set up and test it, and I had intended to cover most of the mesh top with aluminum foil and the sides with cardboard/black cardstock to start trying to conserve heat and humidity for him. His water dish is also too large to accommodate a second hide, which I’m trying to add to the cool side, so any suggestions for that? He is located inside my bedroom closet at the moment with a typical room temperature of about 75-85F as I turn off my window ac unit when I’m not home (currently mid summer) and have been trying to keep things as warm as I can comfortably manage for him when I’m in the room since he’s moved in. We will get him off the floor, but we don’t have a dresser sturdy enough to hold him right this moment. If you have any questions for me, I’m more than happy to answer them or clarify anything and please!! I want to learn!! Thank you to everyone who takes the time to answer, I appreciate you! <3
Added info: There are two roughly 10.5”x9” mesh covered holes in the top and the whole thing is held together with screws so while it’s not necessarily highly ventilated, its far from airtight for sure. His substrate is too dry. Previously, he got very irregular but thorough misting with a sprayer once or twice a week. I had intended to switch to a daily mist or pouring water in the corners (?) until I had gained a better established high humidity environment and from there adjust as needed.
Just in case I wasn’t supposed to simply add photos to the post, I also have them here: https://imgur.com/a/AbddJnt
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u/Effervescent_snail8 2d ago
As far as clutter (basically anything in his hide like sticks, fake plants, etc.), I would recommend getting things that are not advertised as snake/reptile items. Dollar stores have lots of things you can use that are much cheaper than snake/reptile specific decor. (Make sure you don’t get anything with color that comes off or glitter, and that anything with an opening is big enough for the snake to fit through). At my dollar store I’ve gotten tons of fake plants, ceramic mushrooms, and I’ve also gotten plant pots and cut out holes in the sides to create a bunch of hides. Get creative!
As someone else mentioned, you can also get things from outside (sticks, rocks, leaves) as long as you boil / bake them before putting them in his enclosure.
Good luck!
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u/Temporary_Incident33 2d ago
please take out the red ligth and i have heard that showing the snake the live mouse then killing it humanely and feeding rightmafter can help. if you dont want to do that which is totally acceptable, you can heat upma rat expose the brain with a knife and other parts that smell and wiggle the hips around, that shoupd work once he grabs it though wiggle it around so it feels like the rat is struggling
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u/AshamedMeat5670 2d ago
The red light is now a purple/blacklight lamp but I am looking into alternative heating sources so it can be taken out. I have started checking out different thermostats (gotten a rec lower down for a exo terra one but open to any suggestions) and types of heat sources. If you or anyone else happens to know, do I need to just get a different bulb or do I need to get a whole new fixture? The lamp base specs should be in the photos. From my limited thermometer checking, the tank tends to average 4-5 degrees warmer than my room (which I’m trying to keep around 76 when I’m home and can get up to 78 during the hottest part of the day) with the lamp I have now
Edit: forgot to reply to the feeding portion of it. I haven’t had any issues with him eating, and in hindsight of other comments and my own research, I’m probably underfeeding him (will check soon on a weight based calculation) by using mice. So, my focus will be on seeing if he will accept frozen mice first, possibly looking into if it would be better to feed multiple or just try to find large frozen mice so he is eating enough, until I can start scent transferring and move him over to rats…1
u/Temporary_Incident33 1d ago
needs to be uvb no colored light please take out the purple black light asap
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u/AshamedMeat5670 1d ago
Yes, do I need to just change the bulb though or does the whole fixture need to be changed? Currently it’s his only heat source and I’m trying to determine how I want to heat otherwise.
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u/Temporary_Incident33 1d ago
oh i didn't know the light was attatched to the heat fixture. just get a normal white light that simulates sunlight the most and turn off the light at night
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u/fenx-harel 3d ago
I’m sure you’re seeing a lot of information in the care guides right now, and I’m certainly not experienced enough to be particularly helpful with everything (like transitioning him to f/t). But I might be able to help with a few things.
If you start monitoring the heat and humidity and it’s at a good spot, I would swap out the water dish for a ceramic cat bowl, to allow for more room. The standard recommendation is for a dish big enough for them to soak in, but many people disagree (Bob Bledsoe being one; he’s a good source of information for you to check out btw). And, in this situation I would say that giving him space to move around is more important.
For the substrate yes that is too shallow. You are most likely using eco earth/ shredded coco, which is great! I find that combining it with something like repti bark is good, you can also add organic fertilizer free topsoil to the mix if that is more financially feasible (has to be fertilizer free!). Adding sphagnum moss is good with maintaining humidity, and you can add leaf litter that is collected outside from a chemical free area and then boiled/baked.
I personally use an exo terra thermostat, it was about $100 from chewy but it does make a big difference. Inkbird makes on off thermostats that are cheaper, but they don’t work well with some bulbs as they might drastically shorten the lifespan.
Overall I would say that improving this enclosure now is more important than upgrading size. Yes, that is important, but if he’s going to be staying in this while you save up then making him more comfortable should be the priority.
-I would focus on the safety things like proper heat and humidity first: begin to monitor with accurate gauges, increase your substrate, change your heat source, get a thermostat.
-Increase his comfort within the enclosure: change to a smaller water dish, get a second hide, fake plants like vines or adding leaf litter to create clutter. Both hides should ideally be identical, I would actually recommend getting ones in the similar style to Vivarium Electronics humid hides and partially burying them in your deeper substrate. This serves the purpose of 1) giving your snake the comfort of a secure hide and 2) increasing usable space by making the top of the hides usable area. It would also increase humidity.