Hides

[alexrls]

when do u upgrade ur hide size?

[daniel1983]

When you bp can almost not fit in there...

They really like tight spaces so I try to keep my hides snug. The general rule is that you want the ball python to be able to touch all sides of the hide. If the bp can't touch the sides then your hide is too big and will not serve its function. It is always good to check how the new hide will work for a day and observe.....then if everything is ok...just leave it in there.

Hope that helps.

[Adam_Wysocki]

When you bp can almost not fit in there...

I actually try not to do it at all if I can help it.

If your snakes eating, leave it alone ... it's happy with the way things are!! ... I have some hides that "teeter" on top of the snakes and I'm not changing a thing because the snakes eat!!

If you have a snake that starts refusing food, then it's time to "dink" around ... new hides, bigger/smaller enclosure, etc .... but if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!!

-adam

[Smynx]

Good advice, Adam, but this past weekend I did buy two new hides for my brown water python who had grown so much that his hides just kind of sat on top of him, not touching the substrate, like a big hat. I knew him well enough to know that the change wouldn't bother him in the least (he's really laid back), and he ate for me the very same day. I also recently did the same for one of my BPs who is equally unflappable, and he's still eating like a champ. So I guess the key is to know your snakes. If you have one that's easily freaked out by change, then don't mess with the enclosure, but if you have an easygoing snake, it shouldn't hurt to give it a little more room, just don't overdo it. Make sure the new hides are still snug enough to make it feel secure.

[Adam_Wysocki]

Good advice, Adam, but this past weekend I did buy two new hides for my brown water python who had grown so much that his hides just kind of sat on top of him, not touching the substrate, like a big hat. I knew him well enough to know that the change wouldn't bother him in the least (he's really laid back), and he ate for me the very same day. I also recently did the same for one of my BPs who is equally unflappable, and he's still eating like a champ. So I guess the key is to know your snakes. If you have one that's easily freaked out by change, then don't mess with the enclosure, but if you have an easygoing snake, it shouldn't hurt to give it a little more room, just don't overdo it. Make sure the new hides are still snug enough to make it feel secure.

I agree totally ... you MUST know your animals. I certainly wasn't telling anyone what to do, just stating what I do and my reasoning behind it. Each person must make their own decisions based on their own feelings. I for one am just not the type of person to make a change just to make a cage "look better" ... I've the snakes are fine with it, then who am I to say otherwise LOL .... I've got lots of teetering hide boxes and my snakes LOVE EM!!!! LMAO@"big hat"

-adam

[daniel1983]

My hides have bottoms now.....they were lifting up the hides so much that I could not slide the tubs in the rack. I use old butter tubs as hides...but I think I might have to find something new in a while. My female weighed in at 800 grams this morning...that large butter tub keeps getting smaller. My male does not even use hides anymore, when He had a hide he would still go under the newspaper in his tub...dont know why he just likes it. when he had a hide he would go under the newspaper...under the hide....go figure.

[gncz73]

i agree with Adam if your snakes eating its fine. i have one female thats has a hide bigger than any other hides and she swims in it but its dark in there and i tried to chage it but she went off feed for two weeks so i place her big old hide back in there and she ate two days after that so like Adam said if it ain't broke don't fix it. that has got to be the best advice.

[alexrls]

thanks you guys Monty still fits in the hide but sometimes it "hikes up on him" and part of him slides out



so i put the top half of my humid hide in (i only put it in during shedding) cause its a lot bigger and i have yet to see if hes going for it

on another not a lot of the times he seem to thermoregulate by getting out of the hid and staying on the warm side under the shade of the fake tree thingy it backed up against the wall and pretty shadowy back there is that just Monty's way of thermoregulating or does it mean somethings wrong?

[frankykeno]

Well we haven't changed hides yet with ours but we've had to enlarge her entrances, she's growing so fast. She doesn't teeter her hides quite yet unless she's just eaten. Hopefully the weight of the terracotta won't bother her overmuch or we'll go with a bigger hide. She's another very, very laid back snake.

I don't know about Monty but ours uses both her hides and sometimes she just snuggles around her water dish or lays with most of her body on the floor and about 1/3 and her head on the flat top of her hide. I figure if she's eating, pooping, peeing and not biting me every other second....we're good to go and she knows where she wants to hang out LOL.


~~Jo~~

[alexrls]

well said my fellow herpological fiend