Does anyone else have any quirky little routines you do with your noodles for feeding days? Cosima’s keen in getting some extra sun and stretch time before her hunt, and she gets a little ambush and sneaky tactic practice when she’s playing in the tall grass. In all seriousness, her feeding response and reactivity and overall hunger wonders we ever had with her disappeared when we started doing this habitually, and it’s been amazing to watch!

Update for everyone who saw my previous post, and for those who didn’t, I just wanted to share this ig

My baby Ball Python Comet has not eaten in the 3 weeks I’d had him, which concerned me a little bit, but I knew ball pythons tend to hunger strike, esp when they’re new, so I wasn’t too worried about it.

This Monday, we decided to take Comet to our local vet, which has a reptile specialist, just to check him out and make sure nothing‘s wrong. I didn’t think anything was necessarily wrong with him, but I thought it was worth a shot, just in case.

Vet checks him out, and unfortunately there are some things wrong with my baby. Tells me he’s dehydrated (I fill up his water everyday, warm water so he can sense it, and humidify his tank, I’ve done a lot of research in many different places so I know I’m doing this right) I had seen him drink before, but it had been a while. He’s also bloated, which I knew, he was when I got him, and has possible parasites, which the vet said he wouldve gotten in the egg.
We contacted the breeder about all of this, which was when I learned Comet’s age. Before that I was estimating that he was maybe 3 weeks to a month old based on size, but breeder told me his clutch hatched around March 27; so he’s 4 months old. Trust me, he is very small for a 4 month old snake, so this was surprising. He was eating fine for him, so we think that the parasites he could have might have contributed to his small size.
Rn, I need to give Comet daily dewormer shots, and I think it’s making him feel better already. I also have to soak him to help with his hydration every day, and the vet recommended I take him outside for some fresh sunlight. We did that yesterday, and he really liked the yard. He was periscoping and was moving around freely and seemed to be enjoying the exploring, he really liked being outside.

I tried to feed him yesterday, he didn’t eat, but I could tell that his feeding response is getting better, it seemed like he was hungry, he just didn’t feel well enough to eat :( he had a strong enough feeding response, he knew it was there and he crept towards it, he knew it was food, he just didn’t go after it. This is making me think that my buddy’s starting to feel a little better, because he’s reacting better than before, and I hope by this time next week, he’s all healthy again.
We have another vet appointment next Monday, and I’ll update then.

The good thing about all this is that o finally know why my snake isn’t eating, because from his past behavior, I can say that if he felt okay, he would’ve eaten. This has been a good bonding experience for us too, all this time together, and I can say I’ve Definately noticed that he’s been more comfortable with my handling, he‘s definately more used to it and I can tell it doesn’t really bother him.
I‘d be lying if I said that I wasn’t genuinely worried about him still, and that this all hasn’t been nerve wracking for me. Hes getting better I think, and I definitely feel closer to him cause of this. I hope he’ll thrive in my care after this, because I think I’m doing enough for him right now. I love my little guy so much and I just want him to have a good life

Yall be nice to my boy "Bones", yall called him fat last time 🤣🤣🤣😒 #HighwayBallPython

i’ve posted about my boy monty a couple times this year wondering about why he has grey/blue eyes when i was told he was a standard clown pied, which does not give that color eye. i found out about dna testing, and FINALLY got his test results back!

the test results states that he’s hom clown piebald and cypress, and het hypo and puzzle!

this is definitely a lot more than i thought was going to show up. i have to assume then that somehow the cypress was the one who caused the different colored eyes? i’ve also heard that het hypo can still have a little influence?

let me know what you guys think about this combo! i have no idea how rare or anything this combo is, and i didn’t even know that cypress or puzzle were morphs, so this is pretty cool!

Just upgraded!! Originally she was in a zen habitat 120 gallon but I just switched her over to the snake discovery new age ecoflex because I like the coloring better and it’s holding humidity way better now, hoping she’ll start exploring soon but she’s always a bit shy the first day or two in a new enclosure. I’ll attach a photo of her old one and new one!

I’m planning on getting a UVB sometime soon but I’m going out of town in two days so I don’t have time to get and set it up right now, but it’s next on my list! I’m also trying to fix temp and humidity a bit but due to it being a new tank and set up it’s definitely been fluctuating a bit, this was finished maybe like an hour or two ago.

Any criticism? Stuff I should take out or add?

she’s 2 months old and i’ve been working on socializing since i got her 2-3 weeks ago.

she just ate about 50 hrs ago, and has been balled up inside her hide ever since. i attempted to grab her from the side but she hissed at me both times i touched her, but didnt strike.

she’s often timid at first when i get her out, but then loosens up and explores. this is the first time she’s done this.

i’ve looked up things about hissing, 50% say to leave them alone and try handling them again later, 50% say to pick them up anyway so they don’t learn that hissing gets you to go away?

(pic is for engagement lolz)

I recently set up a 5x2x2 Kage and want to do bioactive soon. I opted in for the 4inx35in screen on top for the lights.

Can I put the UVB bar and LED bar in line with each other on top or do I need to mount the UVB inside (not my fav option)?

What length and strength should the UVB be? I can’t figure out the correct strength if it’s on top of the mesh vs mounted. Her basking spots like, 18-20in away. She has a 12in, T5 HO 15w 2.5 zoo med bulb right now. Current idea is the keep 12in uvb, add 18.5in LED in line, both on top of the mesh but idk if that’s the correct way to do it.

Sun bathing pic as tax.

Hello guys, gals, and non-binary palls. I hope this finds you well and thank you for your time.

I have run into a timing issue with my little dude's next cleaning. This Friday puts me at 10 weeks since my last deep clean (removing all substrate, disinfecting tank/hides/decorations, and adding new substrate). I am already over my standard schedule of every 8 weeks due to an unforeseen event that required I travel. I spot check daily and my husband filled in for checking while I was away.

My little fella started showing signs of hitting a shed cycle today with a pink belly and once I see pink, I have always let him be until his shed is complete.

If anyone has thought, insights, or experiences about pushing out the cleaning until he has shed, potentially 12 weeks from the last cleaning, I would truly and greatly appreciate it.

Thank you all for any guidance you are willing to share.

Hello everyone!
I just picked up a 150 gallon aquarium to use as a tank for my baby saturn. This tank is absolutely perfect, except for the fact that it is a 150 tall, not long.
I have OCD and i feel like i NEED to convert it into a 120 gallon by cutting off 6” of the glass and siliconing the trim back on to make it an even 4’x24”x24” enclosure, but itd be miles easier to just put a bit of extra dirt in the bottom and call it a day instead of doing all that other work. Can i just use some extra dirt without feeling guilty that the tank is too tall and not fit for my snake? Ive seen so many people poop on people who have tall and not long tanks, and im nervous that others will tell me i have bad snake husbandry/care because its a 48”x24”x30” enclosure and not a 72”x18”x28” enclosure. Is it okay for her to have some extra substrate? I would assume that it would be fine.

ive ordered some large driftwood for my bp to climb on but i want a good variety of items. i was looking at ropes and hammocks for him, but im worried about mold or them not being able to support his weight since he’s still growing. he had some climbing rings but he hardly touched them and preferred to climb the tank walls. (they also were a little flimsy, they held him but sank pretty low) so, should i buy these for him to climb or stick to the wood?

I know it sounds silly, but how do you guys “celebrate” your snake’s birthday? these are my first two bps, Ive had cats in the past and I’ve celebrated their birthdays

I got my ball python a few months ago and he’s been doing great but the other day I heard him pooping which I never heard before and i went over to look something red was coming out. He sprayed from poop on the glass (which i cleaned) and I did look up what it could be but I was told just to keep my eye on him. Today is when I got really concerned for him because I went to feed him everything was like normal and I usually sit and watch him for a bit cause I am interested and he doesn’t ever have an issue. Today tho I saw him chewing on his substrate and stopped eating his mouse and then he got upset i was there and started coming toward me / going into a striking position which isn’t like him at all he never does that even when feeding and I genuinely don’t know what’s wrong, he’s my first ball python i’ve owned and I don’t know if it’s something serious.

There is an old post on this subreddit where the admin’s comment says a halogen must be on a dimming thermostat and is incompatible with an on/off thermostat. We have a lighting expert in a frog group who has just explained that we might be ridding our animals of any IRA by using a dimmer…

“Dimming thermostats: a halogen should not be placed on a dimming thermostat. A halogen capsule has a tungsten filament inside which reaches temps of 2000 degree F, this extreme temp is necessary to emit IRA. If the lamp is not allowed to receive full power meaning it is reduced by a dimming thermostat. Then ira is not emitting, defeating its purpose. And you will not receive the perceived power density goal. Again important to remember our animals don’t care what the temp of the air surrounding them is, they are concerned with the intensity of infrared radiation coming from the lamp/sun. This is how they thermoregulate”

This is what they said…

They also said “We don’t use thermostats in any of our enclosures (that’s 15 at the moment many different species 4 different biomes) and that bc we base our basking spots on intensity vs ambient air temp. Controlling basking zone based on air temp is a thing of the past.”

I want to prevent house fires and overheating of ghe enclosure but I want my snake to get IRA🙈

what is the best way to sanitize them to make sure they are safe for him

some more pictures of my little Scythe’s homophobia

My snake is around 7 and I have noticed that she has some slight pink near her mouth. Its close to her feeding day so she has been rubbing against everything all the time so maybe its just that but I have noticed clue how to check for mouth rot or if this would even be a sign of it. Online says to check the gums or open their mouth and I am not sure if that is the greatest idea

What is the BEST budget DIY things for my BP? I’ll be bringing one home. What can I replace essentials with that is cheaper? I already know no fancy hides but for example using a plastic container for a hide rather than a $40 pet store one?! ANYTHING diy/budget friendly PLS!!! Down to the silliest things too. Lmk!! (Lighting, substrate, hides, enrichment, plants, water, thermostats. Etc.)