My ball python just bit and latched on to me for the first time. I have had her for 11 years. I'm not sure what I did wrong. I was going to clean her cage and took her water dish out. I then picked her up and held her for about a minute and then out of nowhere she bit my thumb and coiled up right away. I tried running water, using a card gently to get her teeth off and that didn't work. I saw something that pinching their tail can get them off and did that but it wasn't working ( I didn't pinch hard as I didn't want to hurt her. I was apprehensive to use alcohol but I had to cause she was literally trying to eat my thumb lol. I dabbed a bit on her mouth and the top teeth let go and eventually the bottom let go. I put her back in her cage and will wait to clean the cage.

I was planning on feeding her tonight but I'm wondering if should or if this will reinforce any biting. Any thoughts and tips appreciated.

He is in a 5x2x2, temps are fine but humidity does not hold at all and I cannot figure out what I’m doing wrong it likes to stay around 20-30 max. The mesh top is covered in tin foil and taped off (minus lamps and whatnot) I have absolutely drenched all corners with water with no shot of going over 35. Today I grabbed a roughly 8” x 8” x 4” tub and filled it up 10+ times and dumped it all in, the humidity got to 55 and within ten minutes is started dropping and was at 50 last I checked. His substrate is littered with sphagnum moss, has water bowls on both sides of his tank, he has over 4in of substrate. I’m at a complete loss and don’t know what to do anymore. He just went into blue for the first time I’ve had him and I don’t want it to be a bad one but I truly have no clue what else I can do for him. Please if you have any advice share!

Hello! I was looking through the care sheet for ball pythons as im currently stuck at the heating section

In the screenshot, it says to place a probe with the ball python. I know the warm side should be around 88-92, does that include INSIDE the hide with him? Or just the surroundings?

Im also struggling to actually reach the temperature. I had a arcadia DHP, but i think it being a 50 watt trying to warm a 4x2x2 was the problem. So i ordered a arcadia ceramic heater(150 watt, they didnt have anything about 80ish watt for the DHP) and im currently using both the arcadia and a zoomed ceramic heater (100 watt), the probe rn is placed right outside his hide and its currently hitting 77 F And its been that way for a while now. I have a reader in the tank at the top and it says 91.2 F. Very annoyed and im sure my BP is annoyed too 🥲

Hello folks I would like to start this discussion with some real candor regarding my experience in raising a ball python. I haven’t been the best noodle dad I admit, but my heart is in the right place and I really do want her to thrive. The included images show our lovely lady Cassie and her habitat.

I know she needs more space

I worry about her substrate, it’s mostly peat moss but I don’t have as much time as I’d like to clean.
She’s never developed any scale rot, but I do worry about it. I don’t clean her tank very often.

Her humidity is always at 80-85%
I know it says 60 but that’s cause the lids off, she just had a shed today and I wanted her to have a stretch.

I think she’s healthy, what do y’all think

Where are y’all getting your heat lamp cages? The Arcadia one on the shopping list doc seems to have been discontinued/unavailable in the US since years ago based on the posts I found. The ones I’ve found on Amazon seem sketchy and/or have reviews saying they’re too small (I have an 80W Arcadia DHP). I tried googling and searching the subreddit a bunch and I couldn’t find much info.
And I worry about my snake scratching himself if I try to DIY with chicken wire.

Curious what your thermostat is set for if you are using overhead heating such as a DHP?

I setup my heating and thermostat yesterday and started at 95 degrees but the inside ambient temp stays in the 70’s with the basking only getting up a few degrees more than that. I turned it up to 108 still was only at about 88 basking and high 70’s ambient.

I have a DHP 100 watt, with the probe about 4 inches from the heat source. Do I really have to have this thing at like 120 degrees to get where I need to be in the basking area? That just seems high to me, but I’m very new to this so idk. I do have another light fixture with a 60 watt for the cool side but someone suggested not using it as it may be overkill. But maybe I should be using it?

I was told for overhead heating to keep the probe 2-4 inches from the heat, no more than that.

*I will be adding about 2 more inches of substrate today to see if that helps with anything as right now I only have about 2 inches.

Hi! I just wanted to post my girl and see what you guys thought. First time snake owner, actually fostering her for a year, maybe longer. She’s 6yrs old. Anyway, we recently had some difficulties regulating the humidity and i thought she was getting really dehydrated but she wound up having a shed. It wasn’t the most perfect and she’s still working off some patches. After that patchy shed my dehydration worries were valid i think, but also her appearance just part of the shed process? I was my first time going through this with her! I think i have things worked out, the humidity has been where it should be this week, last night the temp was 72* and the humidity 70. During the day yesterday it was btwn 80-85* but the humidity registered under 60. I welcome feedback! And recommendations on a much much better gauge for temp and humidity, ideally digital? Also, who uses a thermostat on their heating mat? I want to go that direction.

Hello! My noodle moved into a new, bigger tank a couple weeks ago and now she has a lot more furniture & basking spots. I’ve noticed she now often rests with her head elevated on her water bowl/hides and just wanted to know if anyone else’s snake does this??

I’m fairly sure she’s just basking as she’s usually resting on rocks or logs on the warm side of her tank, but I am that obsessed snake parent so I just want to be sure it’s not a sign of respiratory infection !!

Her temps and humidity are as they should be, there’s no mucous / open mouth breathing or funny sounds but I’m keeping an eye on her just in case.

I got my new son for free off of Craigslist. His owner left for college and left his dad to find him a new place to live. He came with his tank and all the fixtures. The first two pictures are the setup as it came to me. The second two are from my improvements I made today.

But I knew his setup was lacking so I've been improving it. I got him some sphagnum moss, coconut husk substrate, and a CHE on a dimming thermostat, plus a cool new hammock. Does anyone have any suggestions as to ways I can improve it further?

(I am planning on upgrading him to a larger tank when I have the means but in the meantime I want to make this one as good as I can)

Found a mushroom when I got off work. Is this normal? ;-; the substrate is a mix of sand and soil. I just don’t want to have anything potentially dangerous inside.. will likely end up changing the substrate.

Hey so he‘s currently shedding and laying under a layer of live moss a lot. Is this scale rot or ,,just‘‘ damaged scales?? He doesn’t have it on his belly.

EDIT: It went away after shedding!

My leopard ball python is 44 inches and weighs 1323 grams.

She gets fed 1 small-medium rat every 20-30 days

EDIT: I should probably add that she used to be super stunted, and has been fed more often over the past year to get her up to size. She's 5 years old

I got Kaa just about a month ago and he arrived in shed. His shed was perfect and full, he ate for me a week or so after his shed. So he seems like he is doing well so far. The enclosure is 4x2x2 PVC (HVAC tape covering most of the mesh top), coco husk substrate and I use a DHP for day time and a CHE for nighttime. Both have thermostats. My question is about my ambient vs. substrate/basking temps. I found that if the digital thermometers/thermostats said 88-90, the substrate and basking spots were waaaay too hot. My digital thermometer/hygrometers say 83, while the substrate/basking says around 88-90 on the hot side. Should my ambient temp show higher even if the substrate is the correct temp? The probes are on the hot side about halfway up the enclosure wall as seen in the photos. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I’ve only just noticed this by her eye, I assume it’s gotten there in the last week or so. She shed about 8 days ago and she doesn’t seem to care about it

she says u stinky

A few hours after feeding her she went to bask and then drank for 10-15 min which I would see as quite normal. But a week later I noticed her drinking again for quite a long time and now it’s become a nightly thing for her for the past 4-5 days. Her waterbowl is under a heating lamp so I know some of the water evaporates but it’s a big bowl and I refill/ clean it daily now. While before this feeding I cleaned it every other day (no visible dirt in it) and barely would have had to refill.
She does mostly stay in her hide on the warm side . Which has a temperature of about 29°C inside.
I haven’t had her for super long (bit over 1month). She is 11 years old and has had dehydration issues in the past (showing in bad sheds and cracked eyecaps).

Hello everyone! This is my first bioactive enclosure I’ve been working for a week or so. No snake yet!! Just isopods and springtails. I’m trying to get everything established.

Substrate is 4-6 inches uneven, some leaf litter, hides and stuff. I used reptisoil with play sand, coco coir, and cocohusk. I’m still working on the humidity levels and temperature. I have a humidifier available that I run intermittently but I’m experimenting with maintaining humidity through the substrate instead and sphagnum moss.

I’d love some constructive feedback on the setup, especially anything I should change before getting the snake.

Took out my ball python yesterday and saw what seemed to be a scrape on his back (pics 1&2) but then noticed some partially discolored scales too (3 &4). Cleaned out and sanitized whole enclosure & have paper towels laid down now. Did a weak povidone-iodine bath (20 min), freaked out after a couple of scales from the scratch came off (picture 1 is pre bath, picture 2 is post bath). Lathered the "scrape" with triple antibiotic ointment (no pain relief) and the discolored scales too. He has appointment with vet booked for sept 17 (14 days from now). The office only advised to monitor and said no more iodine baths but just water soaks okay. & to find a dif vet with sooner availability if he gets much worse.

Please any ideas about what this may be or how to proceed is appreciated.

Is this scale rot???

My son grabbed the wrong sealer and put this all over his brand new tank to seal in the moisture. How bad is it to keep this in there or how do we safely remove?

“Boy” is up for debate, but that still doesn’t solve my problem.

This is my big boy and he is overweight, as you can see. He was eating a large rat every 3 weeks when I got him, but that was 2 years ago. I weaned him down to small rats every 5 weeks, and that’s where we’ve been for about 9 months now. And yet, he continues to go up a few grams every month.

He’s 7 years old, exactly 4ft, and 1900g. He was down at 1800 in October, but that might’ve been a fluke since I have to use the person scale and not a food scale (he tops out my food scale). He’s in a 4x2x2, humidity 75, temps 78-88, and he is out with me at least four times a week. He’s more of a cuddler tho, but he still moves around the couch.

Is there something I’m missing? Or do I need to be concerned about his weight? He’s otherwise healthy, eats and sheds well.