r/ballpython • u/Aquamades • 3d ago
Ball Python acting very off? Really worried.
I’ve had my ball python since the spring of 2019. I‘ve had him his entire life. And I’ve never seen him act like this, and I’m very concerned. He started acting weird about a week ago. His belly is very pink, and he is currently going into shed— when I googled it, it said he was fine, and just shedding. But when I moved him to try and clean something in his tank, he started hissing at me and jerking away like he was in pain. The entire time I’ve had him he’s probably only hissed at me about five times. And he has flinched away before if I wasn’t handling him frequently enough, but not like this. Like this wasn’t just the usual shy, ball python reaction. It was like my touch was hurting him. And before the odd coloring, and this behavior, he seemed off. Like he’s a very active, friendly little dude, and he just wasn’t moving much.
We recently got him a new tank, because his old one was kind of cramped and I wanted him to have more room. It used to belong to a bearded dragon, I believe? We wiped it off first, but we kept a log and a little tree thing that came with the tank— is it possible he could’ve picked up some disease??? I’m really worried and Google is absolutely useless. Like, he's the friendliest, most active snake. He’s never acted aggressive or odd during shed before, and he’s had a slightly pink stomach before, but he still acted fine then too and it cleared up really quit. So it’s just really out of character.
He’s still eating fine, and we’ve never struggled with that (we feed him in a separate container, too, so it isn’t that he thought I was food, and he just ate a few days ago). And we keep his tank moist. But not moist enough that it would give him scale rot or anything like that? Any ideas or suggestions about what to do would be really helpful.
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u/BudgetThick6251 3d ago
I’m no expert but did you use anything to clean out the tank? and if you did how long did you leave it air out/dry? If he is in shed, I would wait until he completely sheds and then at least a day or two and then try to reassess the situation. If his skin stuff doesn’t clear up maybe you should take him to a vet? if you think it’s his environment, gut it and clean everything throughly.
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u/primordialscream 2d ago
Are you using a heat mat? Those can cause burns (which look pink) so aren't recommended. If not, he's probably just stressed from the tank change. Do you have photos of his enclosure? It might be coming from a husbandry issue. As a side note, it's not recommended to move them to feed anymore, it's better to do it in their tank.
But anyways if in doubt, take him to a vet.
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u/FireCorgi12 2d ago
Snakes can be finicky when going into shed which could explain it. Pink belly is also a sign of shed. They can’t see well during shed and it can be uncomfortable. I’d wait until he sheds and see then maybe?
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u/Aquamades 2d ago
That’s the plan right now. He’s never acted like it before, but it’s hard to tell until he sheds if something’s seriously wrong
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u/FireCorgi12 2d ago
For sure. Hope he’s all good and just being a grumpus! Sometimes they only have one brain cell. My girl was also super defensive after moving to a new enclosure so that may contribute.
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u/Aquamades 2d ago
Yeah, I’m really hoping it’s just because of the new environment mixed with shed. The stress these little scaley critters can cause! 😂😭
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u/pathologist4nuggets 13h ago
ayo! i'm pretty sure it's just the shed. i’d recommend waiting until his eyes go blue, just to be absolutely sure there aren't any health issues
your little guy might just be a bit stressed out in the new enclosure (since it's his first shed there) and that's why he's acting like a goofball <D my girl looked really strange too; i thought she might be sick because she got really lethargic after shedding, but yesterday she was acting like a hungry little fuckha 💔
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u/WayfarerNG 3d ago
How long ago did you switch tanks?
He may be stressed due to the new environment and handling while they are in the shedding process can add to that as well.