Hides.

[snake_lady83]

If I choose to create new hides should I try making them smaller? Is something around 3 inches wide too small? I've heard many times (especially if a snake has gotten loose) that if a place looks too small, that's where your snake will be.

[Jahbeard]

If I choose to create new hides should I try making them smaller? Is something around 3 inches wide too small? I've heard many times (especially if a snake has gotten loose) that if a place looks too small, that's where your snake will be.

I had one of my girls get out and found her in the back of my '74 Fender Bass amp. THe funny thing is the space is almost four feet off the ground, and there was nothing for her to climb on to get to it.

[JLC]

Without actually seeing the snake in person, it's really hard to say how big your hides should be....but here's a neat illustration of just how tight they like 'em. Keep in mind, the bowls in this picture are small ones (about 5" across at the base) and most of that space underneath is taken up by the actual water bowl itself.


http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=35212

[snake_lady83]

That helped. It was cute too ! I'm seriously thinking about using the bottom of a plastic cup turned upside down (the kind you get from McDonalds and such) with an enterance cut into it. It looks about the right size. Should I try to weigh it down somehow?

[snake_lady83]

Do you think it might work? Any advice is a help. I'm really not sure what to do. She's in the hide that she's been using off and on right now, but she's been active in the early part of the day. I really can't tell if it's just her personality or something, or if some changes need to be made.

[JLC]

I dunno....I'm not really sure what you mean about a plastic cup from McD's. And I don't know what kinds of hides you're using now, so it's hard to say what would or wouldn't be better.


Really, anything from around the house that meets these requirements:

--small enough for the snake to sqeeeeze into
--plastic or some other washable material
--has an entrance opening, or you're able to cut one in it
--able to be lifted straight off the snake from above when he's in there
--something opaque

Plastic bowls turned upside down.
Sour cream or small butter tubs.
Old tupperware containers that aren't clear
Plastic drainage plates for flower-pots. (you can see one in my "2 hides" thread)...usually run about 50-75 cents from Wal Mart

There's LOTS of things you can use. Just pick something and give it a try. Make two identical ones (at least) and then set them in the snake's home....and then give him/her a good week or more to figure them out and decide if he likes them or not. Chances are he will.

They don't have to be heavy. I weighed down that one bowl with rocks because I wanted it to be just like her water bowl (as much as I could make it w/o water in it)....but she likes the little plastic flower-pot plate as well...and it doesn't weigh anything at all.

[snake_lady83]

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...=3&userid=4158
Old hides

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...=3&userid=4158

New hides.

Her new hides are very light weight and she is able to move them around if she wants to, should I keep it that way?

[frankykeno]

They'll move hides anyways, light or heavy. The only concerns I can think of with really light hides is that a lot of snakes like to laze about or use the "roof" of the hide to hunt from. Lighter hides might collapse or tip over which isn't a nice experience for your snake. The hides you are using are light in color. Hides are better contructed of dark material to keep as much light as possible from filtering in to your snake while it's inside (makes the snake feel more secure...secure snakes are happy snakes...happy snakes eat better). Tall hides leave a lot of useless head space the snake neither needs nor wants. They also allow heat to rise in the hide above where the snake can effectively use it. They also are more likely to tip over being both light and tall in construction.

[frankykeno]

Just took these pics to show examples:

This is what we use for snakes from about 100 grams until they can't fit in the doorway with a full belly anymore or they turtle the hide (it raises up off the floor when they curl up in there). These are untreated terracotta planter saucers from WalMart for about $1.00. The plastic ones are better though and as soon as I can get some I'm switching over. These terracotta ones break easily when chipping out the doorway (and you have to sand the edges too). The baby snakes do love them though and use the flat roof a lot.


This is what we use for snakes from about 400 grams to around 1,000 grams or so. It's just a plastic bowl from the dollar store. You get 2 or 3 in a pack for a buck. These are super nice, dark, easy to clean and the snakes seem to love them. You can put the entrance in the side like this or in the roof with a circular drill bit.


Our adult hides. Just a very heavy rubber dog dish from the local farm supply store (costs around $4.00). Hard as heck to cut an entrance in though, we had to use heavy wire cutters on the thick rubber but they last forever, the snakes love the darkness and the flat roof and you just can't destroy these things. Side benefit is even the biggest females have a hard time dragging these suckers around. The rubber construction seems to help them "stick" even to newspaper so they don't shift around as easily as hard plastic hides. They seem to fit our snakes from about 1,000 grams to around 2,000 grams when the females just get too fat to fit inside anymore.


Hope these examples helped.