How to tell if my BP is stressed?

[Janus]

I've only had my snake for 3 weeks, but I care for him very much, and will do whatever it takes to ensure his wellbeing. However, this is my first BP so I don't really know how to interpret his behavior.

I was wondering what are some signs that he is happy/content and what type of behavior would demonstrate that he is stressed/upset?

[Adam_Wysocki]

Stressed ball pythons don't eat.

-adam

[elevatethis]

Soaking, non-feeding, and failure to thermoregulate (staying in one place and not moving for abnormal periods of time) may be some signs that your bp is stressed. Bad sheds can be another sign that your bp is stressed, but this time of year in North America makes shedding a chore for them anyway.

A happy bp will feed normally, move around from hide to hide (you may or may not observe them doing this), and shed in one single piece. Give you bp a thermal gradient starting at 94 on the warm side, and 80 on the cool side, with a hide on each side and a bowl of fresh water in between, with humidity around 55%, you'll have a happy healthy ball python.

[new2BP]

[QUOTE=elevatethis] failure to thermoregulate (staying in one place and not moving for abnormal periods of time) [QUOTE]

is this true in every case? i have had my BP for 7 months and she rarely goes into her hot hide. my temps are 82 cool and 92 hot, humidity is where it should be and my BP feeds regularly, sheds very well, all good signs that she is not stressed.

[Adam_Wysocki]

Bad sheds can be another sign that your bp is stressed,

Can't say that I agree with that one.

-adam

[ddbjdealer]

is this true in every case? i have had my BP for 7 months and she rarely goes into her hot hide. my temps are 82 cool and 92 hot, humidity is where it should be and my BP feeds regularly, sheds very well, all good signs that she is not stressed.

Are you using identical hides both hot/cool? Try switching the hide that your BP is always in with the one that it's "never" in. See if it gravitates to the same hide. If so, then provide identical hides to the one it likes the most.

[new2BP]

Are you using identical hides both hot/cool? Try switching the hide that your BP is always in with the one that it's "never" in. See if it gravitates to the same hide. If so, then provide identical hides to the one it likes the most.

hey now that i think of it, that makes a lot of sense. the cool hide is not as tall as the hot hide. my BP always moves its cool hide around. sometimes lifting it right off the floor of the cage. I know that BP's like tight spaces. I will go switch the hides and see what happens.

[Jonny2184]

I can't tell you if my BP is happy or not!
She seems kinda happy!
She sticks her head up now and then to see what is going on and who is in the room but she is ALWAYS in her corner! I put fake leaves in the corner and she likes to hide in them but she never ever moves from that side of the tank!... Unless I put her on the other side but she finds her way back to the corner again! She sits in the hot side with a temp of approx 90-95F and Humidity of 50% but that can change depending on how often I mist!

Do you think my ball is stressed???? I hope not!

[recycling goddess]

first of all, they do a lot of their movement in the night... so unless you set up a camera which can see in the dark, you don't really know how much they are moving about!



from what i understand... as adam stated... if they are eating, they are not stressed. they will not eat when they don't feel safe... cause they need to be very vulnerable while they eat and digest...

so if they are eating... you are good to go