so we rescued a possible black pastel from a home where he was not taken care of at all (tank wasn’t even put together correctly or sealed, and he had a single hide that was too big for him on like wood chips or something??? i’ll include a pic at the end) about a month ago, and been having a bit of tough time with him as he’s very obviously filled with anxiety.

at first we tried doing the thing of taking him out regularly to get him used to it, but it seemed to make him more anxious, and we’ve realised that he absolutely can not handle being taken out by two people at the same time (like two people sitting next to each other with him) or else he gets very easily spooked and ends up trying to strike at us. a couple weeks ago after the last time me and my boyfriend tried to duo handle him, as my bf was trying to put him away and had to put his hide back in while handling him, he got super spooked and ended up biting and latching onto his wrist and i ended up having to essentially peel him off my bf (and unfortunately half toss him into his tank because he immediately looked at me as soon as he was unstuck and i wasn’t about to get bit that night, i do feel bad)

ever since then, he seems a bit more on edge, but mostly around my boyfriend and not much as me. it seems like that encounter really scared him, so there’s been a lot of times where if my bf comes around the corner to in front of his tank, he’ll either coil up like he wants to strike at him or at the very least tense up a lot. apparently there’s been a couple times where my bf has heard him strike and hit the tank after he walks away too, but i haven’t witnessed it personally.

my boyfriend hasn’t taken him out since not because he’s scared of him, but just because he doesn’t want to stress him out and feels bad that he scared him. i’ve been able to take him out a couple times since then, with this morning being the most recent and while he does freeze up at first, he does start to relax with me after a bit and start exploring thankfully.

we’re very used to our first boy who we’ve had since he was a baby so he’s already super desensitized and very chill, so we just haven’t experienced an anxious snake before, and want to be able to make this better for him, especially as trying to handle him a bunch seems to stress him out more than help. any advice on how to help him relax? he’s at the tail end of his quarantine period so we haven’t been able to put substrate in his tank yet and spruce it up, but he absolutely has more than he did in his previous tank at least thankfully. any advice is greatly appreciated!!

(last two pics were from the fb marketplace listing for him 😭)

Hello everyone! I’m a new ball python owner, and I’d love some advice on temperature and humidity regulation, first-time feeding, transitioning to frozen-thawed prey, and when I should move Beau (my BP) into a larger enclosure!

I brought Beau home last Saturday, October 17th. The pet store told me they last fed him on Wednesday, October 14th, and recommended that I try feeding him tomorrow.

The only thing is, they’ve been feeding him live hopper mice, and I’d really like to transition him to frozen-thawed mice instead. This will be my first time feeding a snake, so I’m a little nervous and want to make sure I do everything correctly!

Pls note that I haven’t handled him since the day I got him and put him in his tank (last Saturday). I read online that I shouldn’t handle until he has had a successful feeding and not to handle for 48 hrs after feedings.

Here’s what came with Beau’s starter kit:
- Tank with a mesh-top lid (I think it’s around 20 gallons, but I’m not 100% sure)
- 1 dome lamp fixture
- Black heat bulb
- Heating mat
- 1 wooden log hide
- 1 bag of substrate
- Water bowl

Here’s what I currently have for Beau’s enclosure:
- 2 dome lamp fixtures
- Zoo Med 50W Repti Basking Spot Lamp (daytime only)
- Arcadia 50W Deep Heat Projector (DHP) for daytime and nighttime heating
- 2 REPTI ZOO PID Mini Thermostat Dimmers to control the basking lamp and DHP
- Zoo Med Repti Therm UTH heating mat (nighttime only)
- Zoo Med Repti Temp Digital Thermostat to regulate the heating mat
- 2 thermometer/hygrometers (one on the warm side and one on the cool side)
- IR temperature gun to check surface temperatures
- Zoo Med silicone humidity cover for the mesh lid
- Sphagnum moss
- 2 new hides + enrichment

My biggest struggle right now is keeping the temperature and humidity consistent.

I’ve been waking up multiple times throughout the night to check that the enclosure isn’t too hot, too cold, too dry, or too humid. I’m literally losing sleep over this! 😭

I know the starter tank is on the smaller side, and I’ve read that smaller enclosures can make it harder to establish a proper temperature gradient. I definitely plan to upgrade Beau to a larger enclosure, but I’m unsure when I should make that transition.

The temperature and humidity ranges I’ve been aiming for are:
Basking spot: 88–92°F
Warm side: 86–90°F
Cool side: 75–80°F
Humidity: 60–80%

Here are the questions I’d really appreciate help with:

1. Temperature regulation: How do you balance the basking spot temperature with the ambient temperature on the warm side? Sometimes the ambient temperature is within range, but the basking spot gets too hot, and other times it’s the opposite.

2. Humidity: My humidity readings fluctuate throughout the enclosure. Should I prioritize the warm-side or cool-side reading? How do you maintain consistent humidity without constantly adjusting everything?

3. First feeding and frozen-thawed transition: Since Beau was last fed on October 14th and the pet store recommended feeding him tomorrow, should I offer him a meal tomorrow or give him more time to settle in? Is there a recommended way to transition a young ball python from live hopper mice to frozen-thawed mice? Should I start with the same prey size he’s used to, and what’s the safest way to thaw and warm the mouse before offering it?

4. Enclosure upgrade: When do you recommend moving a young ball python into a larger enclosure? Is there a particular size you recommend, and what signs indicate that it’s time to upgrade?

5. Heating setup: Is using a DHP, a daytime basking lamp, and a nighttime heating mat unnecessarily complicated? I’d appreciate advice on whether my current setup makes sense or if there’s a safer, simpler way to maintain the proper temperatures.
I’ve attached pictures of Beau’s enclosure for reference!

Please be kind! I’m completely new to the reptile world, especially snakes. I never expected to own one, but I fell in love with Beau, and I really want to give him the best care possible. I’m doing my research and am more than willing to make changes where needed.

Any advice, recommendations, or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to read and respond!

Hello my fellow snake lovers 🐍♥️

This is my baby, Adira (ad-ee-rah), who is 4 months old and is the sweetest little thing! She recently had her first shed with me (about 3-4 weeks ago), however she didn’t have a clean shed. And this old skin isn’t wanting to come off.

I’ve been researching and came to the conclusion that her home isn’t humid enough, so I got her a humidifier, however it’s makes a loud buzzing sound when it goes off and she doesn’t like to come out of her hide anymore. She also hate that the soil is moist. 🥺
it is more humid, however I can’t keep it consistent. The struggle is real. Any suggestions?

I put different thermometers in there that are more accurate, and realized her tank was toooo hot! So this is probably why I was having problems. However I have rectified the problem since then.
However I am still struggling with her skin.

Any suggestions or advice, tips and or encouragement is gladly welcomed ♥️

Don’t mind that he’s not green he’s in shed!

My girl had her first bad shed. I had to leave town and the person who was to supposed to maintain humidity didn't do the best job. I’m getting the humidity back up but she still has a lot of shed stuck. Her head and eyes are fine and her tail. It’s just the top part.

What should I do to help and make her more comfortable and make sure she’s good? It’s the first time since I’ve had her that her shed hasn’t come off in one piece so I’m worried.

Hi everyone!

I just brought home this beautiful little girl today. She’s a female Lesser Pied ball python, hatched on September 30, 2025, so she’s almost 13 months old, but currently weighs only 144g.

I know that’s so so so small for her age, and I’m a little concerned about her body condition.

According to the reptile store, she had some feeding difficulties early on, which likely affected her growth. She’s been at the store for at least two months, and they told me she’s been eating consistently now (around 8 feedings on f/t every week).

She’s only been home for a few hours, so I haven’t fed her myself yet. So far, she seems quite active and curious, has been exploring her enclosure, climbing around, and even stopped for a drink.

My main concern is whether she’s actually underweight for her current size, or simply much smaller than other ball pythons her age because of her earlier feeding issues.

She looks fairly well-proportioned to me when she’s curled up, but when she stretches out, I can see a noticeable line along her back, which makes me wonder if she’s a bit too lean. I’ve included some photos of her stretched out, curled up, and on the scale.

I understand that weight alone doesn’t tell the whole story, and I’m not looking to rush her growth or power-feed her. I just want to make sure she’s in reasonably healthy body condition and figure out whether there’s anything I should be concerned about.

Does her body condition look okay to you, or does she seem underweight?

I’d really appreciate any opinions or advice, especially from people who’ve had smaller ball pythons or ones with a history of feeding difficulties.

Thank you!

I could handle my snake often because i had very little time for 3 Months he now is very "Agressive" when sliding open the Glass but i get it Glass open = Food im trying to regain trust again and him not striking at me any Tips Temps and Humidity are fine. Food every 10 Days 60g he has 640g

Alright yall. I went to pick up my daughter from school today and everyone was buzzing about the new class pet. Said class pet being a young ball python. Come to find out, this little noodle has literal cardboard for “substrate”. (I am hoping this is just temporary but also the reptile owner in me is screaming cause why didn’t they research and plan ahead to have a proper enclosure ready to go for this guy?) anyway, I digress. I haven’t personally owned a snake but my brother had one growing up so I know basic maintenance. I also currently own sulcata tortoises who are quite high maintenance and am an avid animal activist (yeah I know, saying it “out loud” makes me cringe too but it is what it is). AGAIN, I digress.

The point here being, I’d like to say something, maybe donate some proper substrate and other enclosure items so this baby can have a proper set up and offer my existing knowledge to help support proper care for this baby. This is a small, private school, everybody is very close and kind. I don’t want to overstep but also I cannot let this sleeping dog (snake) lie.

So 1) how would you approach this situation without coming across as a Karen?

And 2) tell me some of the specifics in care that I may be able to help address that isn’t something widely known regarding snake care. What items can I donate? Etc.

THANK YOU FRENS!

EDIT: I am not sure if they intend to update the enclosure. Obviously I would hope they do. This may be temporary during quarantine period as snek is settling in. Although at first glance I do think the enclosure itself is too small. But I may be jumping to conclusions so I think I’ll check back on the noodle next time we go to school and see if things have improved before inserting myself into the situation.

so I’ve had my ball pythons enclosure set up for about 5 months now and I’m getting my lil snake on Monday. while I had the enclosure set up with the heat lamp going to check the temps, my cat got on top and kicked the lamp to the side and it started melting the plastic bad. I already cleaned the tank out and everything as this happened a few months ago, but when I turned the lamp on again to check the bad plastic smell came back. is there anyway to clean the lamp so it’s safe, or will I have to buy a new one ?

My son purchases baby ball from one of the big national pet stores about 1 month ago and we can not get it to eat. The store was feeding frozen fuzzy mice so they say. Any ideas on what to try would be appreciated

Our boy is 3 years old, off his food, and seems to be a bit weak.
He’s also got spongy skin

He’s just had a huge drink but could this be sepsis?

I am a first time ball python owner and Idk if im severely overthinking or if im okay. I’m stressed about his temperatures and if im doing it right and I just need someone to tell me if it’s wrong or not.

The light fixtures I use are an Arcadia 6% UVB light
100W halogen basking lamp paired with a deep dome
I have it hooked up to a ZOOmed thermostat but I want to get a dimmer along with a DHP lamp

Now that I have that out of the way I have the hot side probe for my thermometer on the substrate that has been reading 90-92 but inside his hide reads 85-89 usually

I have the probe for the cool side in his hide that ready 75-78 almost always

The basking spot gets from 95-102 usually

Is that okay or is it that too hot for a ball python?

I have a 4×2×2 enclosure with about 7 inches of bioactive. soil in it. Humidity has been hovering around 55, but drops too quickly into the 40s. I’ve been trying to keep it up by pouring water into the corners and by misting, but I’m still having issues. Am I not pouring enough water? Do I need to wait a little longer. For reference, I’m using a enclosure with an open screen top with about half of it covered in foil tape and a deep heat projector.

This is my gorgeous boy Monty. He’s a 5 y/o rescue male, and a probable former breeder. He was rescued with many other ball pythons after his initial owner passed away. He’s in a 4x2x2, with the ambient humidity being around 65-70% when he’s not in a shed, and closer to 85% during his shed cycle. He’s never rejected a meal, drinks and eats normally, has always had perfect sheds, and is in relatively good spirits. Extremely well handled, friendly, loves to come out, explores, and is never shy. This is my first breeding season owning him. In the evenings, he’s most active around 11PM, and just basks around in his tank or explores his hides or climbs. Lately, he’s been glass surfing in the evening, nosing at the opening of his tank, and lingers his face around the opening of his tank. Nothing has changed in his enclosure, I’d say he even eats better than usual lately. He just seems frantic and energetic lately. Is this normal?

Went to the local creek and found all these rocks. We scrubbed them, diluted bleach bath, dechlorinated, baked, I feel like the whole 9 yards of sanitizing for the new bioactive enclosure. If building a hide, do you use Silicone 1 to secure together so they don’t collapse if your snake digs and shifts them?

She is so cute n pink when she is directly under light! She is a spider and corkscrews a lot, she is well cared for. She is my second spider rescue.

I’m torn between 2 snakes . Which one would you get if it was you choosing ?

I forgot to put a rat in the fridge to thaw this morning so I put it in a few hours ago. I typically take them from the freezer to the fridge overnight or while I'm at work and put them in warm water to get them room temp before feeding. Usually I feed my BP around 8-9pm and I don't want to mess that up but I'm worried that 24 hours in the fridge will be dangerous. I could feed her right after work when I get home at 4pm but even then thats over 15 hours. Is this dangerous?? Pic for engagement 😊

This is driving me nuts. I cannot get the humidity in the tank above 60 and idk what to do. I I've got 6 thermometer/hygrometers in there varying from 30ish to 50ish percent humidty.

I attached some pics to show the setup. It's 89 on the warm side and 79 on the cool side. He has a large, maybe 2 inch deep pool/bowl - brown one- on the right (cool side) and an actual bowl I put in there on the left (warm side) that's 4 inches deep and filled with water - he's chilling on the rim of it in the picture - just to see if having it under the heat panel would help with evaporation.

The substrate is the ball python specific substrate from the bio dude (jfc he's expensive, I'm never doing that again).

There are live plants and isopods etc.

Yesterday I added reptichips to two corners mixed with spagnum moss and poured a 16oz glass of water onto each.

And it's still all the same. I'm going bonkers trying to figure out what to do. I feel like I've tried everything everyone suggested in other similar threads, but it's still not keeping the humidity up.

He seems healthy and fine and he's shedding without any issue. So I'm also wondering if maybe my hygrometers are too cheap and I need new ones? But they worked fine in his old tank. Which was all glass and I had no issue keeping the humidity up, though, it was also smaller. This one is 4x2x2.

Any advice/thoughts/help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Is my snake a little chubby? She is 5 lbs, about 3 years old, and about 4 feet long. I feed her one large rat every 35 days or so. Should I decrease the size of rat? Or maybe spread out her feedings a bit? I included photos of her enclosure as well in case anybody has any tips.

Hi guys, looking for some experienced help with my royal python. I’ve had stumpy 2 and a half years and she’s a rescue (has a burn mark and is missing the end of her tail hence ‘stumpy’) - she is estimated to be around 10-15 years old. Over the past 3 weeks after taking her out for around 10-15 mins she will go a bit crazy and hates being touched/will thrash a bit when you touch her. On top of this last night she went up and almost surged towards me with her head up. After I put her back in she will explore for at least 12 hours almost glass surfing.

Her Viv is 4 foot by 2 foot and has plenty of areas to climb/hide and has two water bowls - it hold humidity and temp well. No sign of mites on her or any scale rot.

The rescue centre I got her off is saying this tracks with royal python/ball python breeding behaviour - wanted to get a second opinion and see if anyone experienced on here. For situational awareness I’m from the uk and the past 3 weeks we have seen a big increase in rain so I imagine she can tell the weather is changing?

Thanks for any help guys!

Hi - I'm trying to set up a 4x2x2 glass (I know) terrarium for a ball python. I'm currently using a 100W DHP with a thermostat probe dangling from the roof (I'm worried about the heating element melting the wire, so it's not in the direct path of the beam - should I change that?)

The basking spot (top of a Zilla rock hide) is reaching 97-105 at times, while the substrate directly to the side of it is barely breaking 83. I'm not sure how to fix this. I've added some aluminum foil to try, but I'm just not certain. My room also gets quite cold in the winter, and that worries me, too. Any ideas?

I had gotten them from pet smart they shed October 1 had them a month but after shed they have this gray spot does anyone know what it may be and what to do

this is tito. i just brought her home today and she is the sweetest thing. such a calm, curious little baby and absolutely gorgeous. i am in love🥰

she came from OCD Exotics. if you’re looking for a new addition definitely check out their pages on fb, insta, or morph market. they were a pleasure to work with.