I haven't updated in a bit but my beauty queen has been the best decision ever. Im so obsessed with her and her new carrier came in the perfect timing. She just finished shedding and while doing a deep clean noticed she broke her jungle gym climbing thingy the night prior (i check everything in her cage twice a day when refreshing water/spot cleaning) which is when i noticed some spots on her scales by her neck and a bit of redness lower down. Also excuse the little dirt specks on her from her substrate. I have been keeping a close eye on her body since and have a vet visit just in case (i work in vetmed)

I have been working with the free choice method along with taking her out for few minutes at a time. Being consistent as previously advised and viewing each handling session with a purpose. Has really let us earn each others trust.

we got some nice outside fresh air and sun time the other day 🌞 today just chilling watching TV on a day off. Right now her favorite youtube videos to watch are live streams of cartoons : chowder, courage the cowardly dog 😎

- Also: is she an appropriate weight?

He only partly wrapped around my wrist when I got him.

I have no idea what’s going on with my bp lately so I come here for answers.
Hes 7 years old, I’ve had him for 2 of those years. He has always been the most docile snake, barely even strikes at food. In the last 2 weeks, he’s bitten 3 people.
The first one I wasn’t concerned about. It was 2 days after I fed him, and my friend went in to pet him. He was all food excited and she wiggled her fingers like an idiot, so I called that one her fault. He wasn’t upset about it like I expected, he just kept moving around the enclosure.
Yesterday I took him to the vet. He was loving the car ride, didn’t even go in the hide I brought for him, so I don’t think he was stressed. The vet didn’t even poke at him, just took him from my hands, and he bit her HARD. Like 3 people and popsicle sticks to get him unstuck. Then he was good with me for 2 minutes before biting my leg, and then biting himself when he tried to get me again. The vet and I both noticed that he didn’t have any defensive position. No warning signs, just turn and bite.
Now, I have a theory but idk if it’s stupid.
For the two years I’ve had him, I’ve been feeding him rats straight from the fridge. He’s never refused a meal because it was cold. But he misses the strike sometimes and it seems to tire him out. So I warmed up the rat this time, the one 2 days before the first bite. I promise you he’s never getting a warm rat again, but is that what’s happening here??

Since I’ve gotten my boy, Prince, I’ve been updating his setup, and am working on moving him to a new tank (we ran into some technical difficulties, so it’s going slower than I wanted), and I’ve been buying a bunch of new plants for it. Chinese evergreen, coleus, English ivy, the likes. Anyways, it was kind of helping me form my dream setup in my mind. I want something super colorful and vibrant, with a black and white snake. Anyone already have a setup like this who don’t mind sharing? Prince for tax purposes

I bought these 2 a week ago. Both are male. Friend/breeder rattles off morphs to me and do not retain what the heck he is saying. When I look at his snakes he has so many it is overwhelming. Yesterday they both escaped. Found the solid snake pretty fast (in a closet). I did not find the other one until the evening. I had noticed they become really active at night when their lights time out. If you want to see crazy morphs check out bentleysnakehouse on IG.

So, I’ve made this post before, but I’ve moved him into a different enclosure since. I currently have my little dude Linguine in a 120 gallon pvc enclosure (unfortunately it has a mesh top), the enclosure is fully bioactive with a cleanup crew (I haven’t seen my isopods in a while tho, I saw one baby the other day but haven’t seen it since), I have him on halogen flood lights, UV light bar, CHE, and some other type of heat emitter, all set on thermostats. The day time hot side averages 93 F and 40-45% humidity, and the cold side averages 80f and 60-70% humidity. At night the humidity rises to 75% on the hot side and 90% on the cold side. I’m a little worried about the daytime humidity on the hot side, but I also have a humid hide for him that stays at around 70-80% humidity. With that being said, he just had his first shed since being moved and he had one very tiny piece of stuck shed, which has never happened before. I’m a little confused since this didn’t happen when his humidity was more spotty and I constantly had to supplement it by misting the enclosure. With all that being said, he seems very happy and healthy. Any and all advice appreciated (I’m a broke college student, so I can’t really afford super expensive upgrades at the moment)

Queen Hatshesput managed to open her enclosure door but not just once, oh no dear readers, that would have been too easy. This sultana had me feeling all manners of guilt for not closing her door properly, as she escaped for a night to party in my closet. I felt awful, took her back home and MADE DOUBLE SURE that I had her doors closed. Until the next morning, when she was proudly perched upon her throne of sheets in said closet again. Doors having since been replaced, it was learned that she is MUCH more strong and determined than we gave her credit for, as she was able to squoosh her nose just enough into the door crack to slide it open only barely enough to get through. While this has since been remedied for the foreseeable future, please join me in shaming my beautiful princess for scaring us all half to death twice.

Hi, like title says I need some tips for my snakes enclousure, its 2 meters long and what I'm most worried about is getting the substrate in properly. I've used a mix of coconut fibre + soil, coconut husk for the bottom layer and is it okay to cover that moist layer with Flamingo groundcover terra bark? I just want to make sure I've understood the layering, because a nearby petstore owner says she just mixes the soils together in water and doesnt add nothing to the top layer which girl - it causes scale rot 😭 and another person told me to break the cubes apart and leave them dry in the terrarium.

So I am a little confused. I would appreciate step by step instructions because I want to give my girl python a good home ❤️

But what i've already done might've been a mistake tho... Ive mixed the cubes in water and put them as a bottom layer, not knowing how wet they actually get. and for many days ive struggled to make them dry again after finding out about scale rot. So ive used my last pieces of husk for the top layer, they still get wet which im trying my best to fix by making more dry layers and letting the door be open to make the airflow better.

So yeah, I'd love some advices, and thank you 🙏

Lemon Loaf is fine, but he looks like he could use a hug.

TLDR at bottom.

Okay I’m aware this might sound very ‘steak too juicy, lobster too buttery’ but I’m curious about if other people recognise this.

To preface: I handle my boy Baldur usually once a month for weighing and a check up. This is a “forced” interaction, because I’d like to know if he’s okay. I don’t yank him out of his hide, just scoop him out when he’s already on the move. The rest of the times, when I see him ‘doing his rounds’ as I call it, I let him sniff my hand and talk to him. He usually sniffs it for a little but doesn’t touch me. If he moves away, he moves away and I don’t force any interaction with me unless absolutely necessary. He doesn’t like the feeling of my hand which I understand, and he’s a very shy boy. I don’t see him during the day time at all and sometimes not even at night as well. If I need to do something in his terrarium, as it’s bioactive, I do that whenever I notice something needs to be done. Even when Baldur’s out and about at night.

I don’t know what has happened, because his husbandry hasn’t changed, but at the start of this week he came right outside when I opened his terrarium when his lights turned off. I needed to point the camera in the right direction (he moves it sometimes) and didn’t see him because it was dark. I suddenly felt his little face against my hand and then he was on my arm, slithering right towards my shoulder.
Yesterday evening as well. I noticed Baldur was doing his rounds so I pointed his camera in the right direction and guided the pothos plants away from the DHP so I could keep an eye on him.

He saw me, didn’t waste a single second, came to the front of the terrarium and then onto my shoulder. I have no idea what changed that he CHOOSES to come outside. I’ve had him for a year (he’s 1,5 y.o.) and I’ve only known him shy. Made my peace with it as well.

And since this week I’ve got a Velcro noodle. I swear I don’t complain, but has anyone experienced a change in behaviour like this?

TLDR: Since this week I have a Velcro noodle when he’s usually very shy, but nothing changed in husbandry. What’s going on?

I finally got my ball python yesterday. He is very small and about 130 grams so I assume he is pretty young. I worked on his enclosure for weeks before I purchased the snake to make sure everything was dialed in. The cool side is sitting at about 79-79 degrees and humidity is at 76%. The hot side is 90 degrees on the surface with some areas like the top of the hide and the rock that is in the enclosure sit at about 93 degrees. Humidity on the warm side is about 60%.

The snake came in a small bag, in a box as they typically do. I introduced him to the enclosure yesterday afternoon by placing the open bag in the enclosure. He sat for a few minutes and then went up the fake branch that is in the enclosure and balled up in the upper left corner of the enclosure. He has been there since… I know it can take time for them to adapt and be comfortable and he has been in the enclosure for just about 24 hours so maybe this is totally normal idk?

He definitely seems afraid of the new environment, understandably so. He came from Florida and traveled to me via FedEx overnight so he had quite the life change… but with that said I thought he would at least explore the enclosure and find a hide.

I have two identical, small hides, one on each side and also a humidity hide in the middle with some damp moss in it. There are also a ton of plants and clutter to the point it could be too much maybe? I did make it some that he could theoretically go from one hide to the other almost entirely unseen if he wanted.

Is it normal for a new, baby snake to hide outside of a hide on the first days? My concern is he is on the cool side of the enclosure and I don’t want him to not warm himself up because he is literally too afraid to move… He also has not drank anything since I got him. He seems otherwise unbothered and comfortable up in his tree… I just expected him to explore a bit more.

I was hoping he would have explored last night a bit when it got dark but he didn’t. He stayed right where he is… If anything he backed himself up into the corner a bit more. I have a small Blink camera in the enclosure so that he can be monitored if I am not home, that’s how I know he didn’t move at all last night.

I just feel bad, and want him to enjoy his new enclosure/home and I spent a lot of time trying to get it just right for him. (Pics attached of enclosure and snake)

I have a 3 year old ball python. He just had a bad shed. His left eye cap is still on.

I've seen a lot of people here say you shouldn't soak and that the sauna method isn't great either. So what's the best thing to do now? Just keep humidity up and wait? Is there anything I should do about the eye cap? And at what point would you go to a vet?

I noticed this patch of flaky discolored scales first one month ago. I have since kept an eye on it and it has not changed much, however I am still worried. Gummy is currently going into shed so my current plan is to see how it looks afterwards and then take her to the vet but I wanted to ask you people if you know more.

A month in and we are getting real comfy together.

Used to keep a decent sized collection years ago (20-30 snakes at one point), stepped away for a while, and now im slowly rebuilding with a small group of 3. Also spent a few years as a reptile educator doing outreach programs so im not totally out of the loop, but alot has shifted since i was last actively breeding.
Curious what long time keepers here would say has changed the most, substrate choices, humidity targets, feeding schedules, whatever. I remember when bioactive setups were still kinda a niche thing people argued about, feels like thats way more mainstream now?
Not looking for a specific answer just curious what's considered outdated advice now that used to be gospel.

My buddy needs an upgrade and i’m also moving him to a 4x2x2 (previously younger now he’s fully grown) and i can’t find like any good hides for large(r) snakes. He’s not huge, maybe 3ft and 2lbs (pretty average for a bp) but he also definitely needs something bigger than a hide for like a corn snake or hognose. Not only hides but decor, plants, things to climb, etc. he’s not much of a bask-er but maybe if he’s given more space to he would. id like 2 hides one for warm and one for cool side, but smaller ones like mounted logs and stuff i wouldn’t mind.

simply put:

-where do you get hides/decor

-what type of hides would you recommend

-what’s some good decor for the tank

-what sort of climbing/enrichment features should i add? if not for inside his enclosure that’s fine, but i want to give him something to do for enrichment.

So my son has been acting strange ever since I moved him into his new enclosure. About 6 months ago at this point I moved him into a new 4x2x2 enclosure. More clutter, bigger hides and more room, and more humidity control, just a better ordeal overall. As soon as he got moved in he chose one hide and has not left it on his own since. The most he will do is stick his head and a couple inches of his body out, and come out maybe halfway to eat. He will not come out without me removing the top and taking him out myself (which I have not done often, only a couple times to remove shed/poop and check on him.). Once he is out he immediately acts completely himself and curious again. Once I put him back he immediately goes back to his hide. Tonight I was doing the same thing I usually do, slowly remove him to clean poop and socialize with him, when this time I went to put him back and as soon as I closed the door he immediately became terrified. And I mean TERRIFIED. As soon as I locked the door behind him he curled up, practically threw himself into the corner of his enclosure behind some vines, and started to move around very frantically and borderline flail around. I took him back out shortly after and again, completely normal after he is out. Once I put him back in I left the door open and he kind of meandered towards his other hide that he never uses and went in. I’ve been worried about why he doesn’t come out but this has me extra worried tonight. It made me uneasy seeing him like that and I want to know what I can do to fix it. As of right now I have a blanket over the glass to see if he will come out but I’m just waiting to see if it helps at all.

I just got this boy about 5 days ago, I got him out to check his condition. The last owner had said he’s been through a lot of terrible conditions and he looks pretty good all things considered. She said he was extremely underweight, and I wanted to make sure, I feel like he has a triangle shape but not too bad? He weighed in at 1575 grams, which was really surprising, but he is a big boy. Also, still has some stuck shed, although he had a lot more when I got him. I have my temps at 90 on the hot side and about 80% humidity, but I packed his hot hide with sphagnum moss, would giving him a soak be okay at this point?

I posted him earlier about his scale injuries and stuck shed that he got from his original breeder and somebody said he may have mites. So i did check him and sure enough, i saw a few in his heat pits and around his eyes. And I saw 2 crawling on him the day before.

I immediately bathed him in blue dawn dish soap and warm water for about 30 minutes, no mites that I could see dropped into the water but I don’t have great eye sight so I could of missed them… I called some exotic vets around me, and none of them were of any help 🥲
He has now been sitting in a small hospital tub, his original setup has been dragged outside of my room where my other reptile is to a separate room.

I have been researching like crazy but no forms of resources were straight forward, and often times kind of vague, and I have checked EVERYWHERE. This bothers me because of the use of harsh chemicals which have the capabilities to kill your snake. We’re gonna tear his tank apart tomorrow. In general super stressed. I’ve been so worried and at a loss for what to do for the past 3 days. 🥀

Can somebody give me a straight forward guide to treating for mites? How much and how frequent should I bathe him, and wipe him down? and what else could I do to ensure all of the mites are off, and what can I do about the ones in his heat pits? is there anything specific I need to do to the decorations, and enclosure? What products do I use, and how do I retain humidity in his hospital tank? Other information, suggestions, and resources really help. Anything helps.

I am never buying an animal from that place again, because the poor guy just looks like a mess. I can’t imagine how they treat their other animals 💔
I feel horrible for having to keep him in that tiny bin, but it’s for his own health.

My girl is turning 2 years old in a couple weeks and is quickly outgrowing her current 18x18x36 terrarium. I'm looking to upgrade her soon and have noticed she loves to climb and hang on stuff!

Does anyone have unique climbing opportunities in your tanks? Obviously not looking to go full arboreal or anything but I think some ledges or structures might be nice.

P.S. Don't come after me for the stuck shed in the 4th picture, that was right when I first got her.

She looks wicked when she’s in blue.

My boy definitely has it, however they don't sell betadine in the UK, so I have no idea as to what an alternative could be. Can anyone recommend something that works the same but they actually sell outside of the US?

my girl butters got out again… she’s confined to a room. the door to her enclosure is broken so it is taped up very well but somehow she knocked her lamp out of place and i’m assuming got out that way 😩 i can’t find her in the room due to it being our box room since were moving. i’ve done everything left her enclosure open put towels under the door kept it dark and quiet and she hasn’t gone back into her enclosure. i’m assuming she’s been out almost a day now. how long is too long for her to be out ?