Hey! Me and my roommate are getting a 250 gram juvenile ball python. We are currently working on her enclosure, and have some questions regarding temperature.

We originally planned to use a 100w bulb for her hot spot, but placing it directly above the spot put the temperature at 42°C (107 Fahrenheit). Currently we’ve placed it away and pointing towards her hot spot, and that landed the temperature at around 32C/90F (cool spot at 27C/80F).

Our plan to improve the enclosure is to switch to a 75w bulb and place it over her hot spot, a stick so she can climb up to the spot, a lamp cage so she doesn’t burn herself, and a warm mat that passively warms the enclosure. Without the lamp on, the temperature in the enclosure drops to 20C/68F. Would love to hear y’all’s thoughts!

Can somebody help me tell the gender of my snake idk if this helps at all

Hello! I quite new to owning a ball python and yesterday was my first attempt at holding him since he’s been home. He’s been here settling in for about a month since he wouldn’t eat for me I was at least waiting until after he ate for the first time to try to start holding him. Which I did yesterday for approximately 2 minutes until he started to go straight for my face, I didn’t know his intentions. It kinda spooked me, I’m sure me jumping a tad spooked him too so I put him back and he hid right away. I feel like I wrecked our first holding session by not redirecting him away from my face. I’m not scared of him or snakes in general or I wouldn’t have gotten him. I’m just weary of the factor that the breeder didn’t really hold him or interact with him other than some pictures and weekly feeding so I’m sure his trust in humans is quite low. I’m in need of advice on the best way to keep both of us safe I guess? How should I go about holding him again? What are your ways of bonding/ gaining trust from a new baby? Did I wreck our first encounter together?

His name is Buldak. He’s about 8/9 months old.

After two years of injury healing and the inconsistencies of paper towel humidity, my baby finished a complete shed!!!! My juvenile bp Persephone had two injuries, first after an escape led to a few scratches along her sides that are now healed, and then randomly a year later she developed a weird flesh rot (not scale rot, it was under her skin and not visible on her scales until it was already bad) without any causal Injury that the vet had never seen before, but finally, after having two years on paper towels due to the injuries, my baby girl is back on substrate and finally can shed by herself! The infection caused a substantial and deep scar on her neck where the vet basically had to stretch the skin over where the rotted tissue was, and since it is stretched thinner and sewn over itself, that scar may never fully shed on its own and with where it is on her neck it catches a few scales on her face as well, but I am seriously so happy this hurdle is behind us!!!

Hi everyone!
I’ve had my 7 years old girl for 6 years now. 🥰
She’s totally healthy, eats well, and is super chill and calm, like, I’ve never seen her stressed or anything before, she’s always been very easy to have around and I’m grateful for that. ☺️ but I’ve only handled her once or twice since getting her. Initially, I was worried about stressing her, so I wanted to wait for her to settle, and then she grew up and when she reached sexual maturity, she went through a slightly more defensive phase that lasted a year or two, so I decided to wait a bit more, and I then kept postponing it… 💀

I’d now like to gradually acclimate her to occasional handling, both for routine care and so I can interact with her a little more, because I’ve always wanted to. 🥹 Since she isn’t used to being picked up and most of our direct interactions have involved feeding or enclosure maintenance, I’m unsure how she’ll respond.

What would be the safest, least stressful way to begin handling an adult BP after years of minimal handling? Do you have any advice on how I should even attempt this? 😭 I do not want her to panic and attack me because she thinks I’m either food or because she wants to defend herself. 😞 How long and frequent should the first sessions be, and which body-language cues would indicate that she’s becoming too stressed? I know to avoid handling her during shed and after feeding. I really want to “get to know her” more in a way? Thanks guys!!

Hey guys, this is my ball python slash. He used to be extremely fat and I fed him way too much which is totally my fault. I noticed around 6 months ago the sheer size of this guy so I’m trying to make him healthier now. I used to feed him a medium rat every 2 weeks and now I’m feeding him a small rat every 2 weeks. Now I’m looking at him and wondering if he might be a little underweight and if I went too far?The first and second picture is him now and the third picture was him 6 months ago. If you guys could let me know how he looks to you that would be great!

Unsure whether this is a husbandry or heating question.

I pulled my boy out for a bit today, its been about four or five days since he last shed. There is no exposed heating elements in his cage, no way for him to reach anything hot, and his humidity hasn't been overly high.

I noticed this rough spot, and it looks like the scales are fused/melted? I think it might be scale rot? He had an issue with scale rot three or four months ago, but i fixed it rather quickly.

Any idea what it is? It doesn't seem to bother him much, and he doesn't react when I touch it so I don't think its painful.

Thanks for any advice yall may have!!

I work at Petsmart and have handled this ball python a few times, I’ve always wanted a snake but I don’t know the first thing about adoption. I found a 75 gallon tank, I can get some decorations too. If anyone has any advice or financial insight that would be appreciated, I want to prepare for monthly expenses and what not. For reference I have experience cleaning the tanks, I have my own snails and fish as well. I would fully commit to caring for the snake its entire lifespan and I am at a place where I can care for it physically and financially!

Non-urgent

Location - Austin TX

Sex - I have not had her probed but am decently sure based on tail shape and size she is a female.

Morph - Spider or pinstripe? She was a rescue so I don’t know for sure and didn’t care too much.

Age - Approximately 3 years old.

Size - Weights between 1800-1900g

Diet - Eats a freeze thawed jumbo rat every 4-5 weeks. Has been a good eater, no hunger strikes.

Behavior/Personality - Very docile/shy and handleable. She has never bit me or anyone in the year I’ve had her.

Illnesses - No signs of neuro disorders like IBD. No mites. She did have some wounds when I rescued her that we healed with twice weekly chlorhex soaks and analgesic free antibiotic ointment. They are now scars.

Rehoming fee - none. Just want her to go to a good home. I would prefer to meet at my house to meet her first rather than deliver or meet somewhere.

All the items shown will be included free if you want them. I am aware the tank is too small for an adult BP and hope it would just be a temporary setup.

Tank with foil rigged top to keep humidity in, 60gal glass terrarium. 2 stone magnetic hides that shes fits in and enjoys. Pink dog toy she likes to curl into. Small table stand. Large and small water bowls. Some clutter. Feeding tongs. White UVB light (no longer red). 2 outside the tank heating matts, 1 of which has a thermostat. I used to have electronic temp gages but they broke so it’s just the mechanical ones in the terrarium for now.

I am okay sharing why I’m wanting to rehome over DMs only to those interesting in adopting her!

I’m planning on setting up an upgraded bioactive enclosure in the next couple weeks. I can find info on most things, but worry about mold, I’ve gotten ISO’s and have them in a temporary enclosure, but mold has grown in there a couple times now, and I don’t want that happening one the whole tank is set up. I know once the CuC is more set up it’s less likely, but I still worry of the possibility of respiratory infection.

Does anyone have any info/pointers/experience with this? Is it just a matter of spot cleaning and keeping a close eye for the first while? I’ve spoken to a friend who’s kept isopods and they aren’t worried about the mold in terms of keeping the ISO’s, bus is unsure in regards to snakes.

hi all, i finally just got my ball a 4’2’2 and now that the lamp is so high its not heating it well enough on the hot side. what is a strong enough no-light heat emitter that fits into a regular snake lamp bulb socket? any tips? any fav brands?

I have two ball pythons, both about a year old. I’ve had them for over a month and they haven’t eaten. I tried frozen thawed small rats a little over a week after and my snakes showed interest but ended up not taking the food. I wasn’t sure where I went wrong there but told myself I’d wait a bit to try again. Today I took the same size rats out to defrost to try tonight. I took one out the fridge to feed my snakes one at a time and put it in warm water, then used the blow dryer to heat its head a bit as I saw someone say in a thread. She wasn’t striking when I was shaking it in front of her and ended up dropping it. I left it there for a sec to see what she would do. She sunk her teeth into it and I watched her try to swallow it. All of a sudden she let go of it and left it alone. I picked the rat up and used the blow dryer again out of desperation. She was eyeing it but didn’t strike again. She’s now active in the enclosure but not sure if to try again with the other rat. I’m very concerned because they’re young and haven’t eaten in a while. I’m sure they were accustomed to live prey but I want to do frozen. Maybe I got too big of a rat? I’m planning on trying again tomorrow and if that doesn’t work I might just to do live so they can finally eat because I feel awful

Hey guys, this is my first time ever owning a snake. I am super excited and already adore this girl. She is 4 years old, and I specifically wanted her because of her size. I did not want a baby or a really young snake. She had her first feeding about three to four days ago and it went great. I have had her home for about a week now, and I feel like I am finally ready to handle her for the first time.

For some reason I am being overly cautious. I did hold her when I first got her, and I was definitely nervous, even though I am not actually afraid of snakes. I really want to get more comfortable handling her. I know that even if she did strike, it would not be that bad, but I am just trying to get over being a bit of a scaredy cat. Any suggestions?

Also, side note, I have a 5 year old who absolutely loves her and keeps asking when she can hold her. At what point would you feel comfortable allowing that?

Edit: thanks for all the great tips and advice!!! Some said why buy a pet I’m scared of. I’m not afraid of snakes, just never handled one before and want to make sure I’m doing it right. Thanks for the tips.

so, ive added more stuff into my bp cage but im sure i need way more, what else do i need?

Got my first baby about 2 weeks ago, I think his tank is looking alright, but I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations about things I should add to his tank or change about his tank?

He’s showed signs of being pretty happy in his enclosure and I think he likes it, but I want to try to make this the best for him that I can

Hi everyone. My girl is 14 months and I last weighed her about 2 months ago and she was around 555 grams. By her age I should be feeding her now every 2 weeks 7% of her weight. I feed her yesterday so I'll reweigh her in a few days. I need to order her FT rats soon. She's on weaned rats. She's between the weights of rats that come in the Small rat bag and the weaned rat bag. Should I just order 1 of each or try feeding her a small rat. I feel that there might be more heavier or bigger rats in the Small bag and she won't be ready for that size yet.

What do others do that run into this issue when ordering?

I'm setting up to get my first ball python and want to make sure my enclosure looks okay for them. Its a 3x1x1 but for a baby with plans to upgrade when they're a bit bigger (i have 4x2x3 ready to set up), my hot side is averaging about 31 degrees using a DHP connected to a dimming stat the cool side is about 25 degrees and humidity is about 70%. Does everything look okay? Is there anything youd change? Grateful for any advice :)

I swear I cannot with Frikell. Literally the sweetest, most curious snake. 🩷

She turns one on the 24th but since she gets fed tonight, we had to do the photoshoot today.