A few question about my ball python.

I was just looking at my python and i noticed i can see him breathing.Just like we do,Inhale and exhale.Is that normal? I never noticed this before.I have only had him a few days.Hes so friendly and seems to be enjoying his new home.I just never noticed his breathing.


Also i just had to buy a heat lamp for him.The heat pad did not heat that side of his tank enough.Right now its about 94 cool side 84.Is 94 okay for him or is that o hot? I alway have night time light i use for him as well.I wasnt sure if the heat pad and light are okay to use together.

Welcome to BP.net :). You will notice him breathing more, if he's a little startled or stressed, like when you first take him from enclosure

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Originally Posted by llovelace

Welcome to BP.net :). You will notice him breathing more, if he's a little startled or stressed, like when you first take him from enclosure

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Well i haven't really been bothering him today.He seems lazy and sleepy.So i thought i would let him rest today.Hes just in his cave breathing away.Kinda made me worried at first.I wasn't sure if he was having a hard time breathing or if that was normal.

If it sounds "weezy" then there might be a problem. If just regular air inhale/exhale then no worries.

Watch the humidity with that heat lamp. It normally causes humidity to drop.

94 hot side is okay. But, I'm not sure if you're measuring the air or the substrate. If the substrate is 94 it's okay. If the air is 94, then the substrate might be hotter which wouldn't be okay.

Yeah. if you have one of those stick-on thermometers, don't trust what they say on the hot side. A thermometer that measures air temp is okay for the cool side, because the substrate should be the same as the air. If you're measuring with a thermometer with a probe, and it's reading 94, it's okay.

Some of my snakes get used to desensitize friends and co-workers who want to overcome their phobias of snakes...and when they get to the point where they can touch them and even hold them, there's predictably a lot of shock and delight that they aren't gross and slimy, that they're kinda smooshy instead of like cold iron, and that they can see/feel them breathing. If you get lucky sometimes you can feel their little hearts beat. :) Never ceases to amuse me how stunned people get that snakes breathe. ;)

You know, when I got my first ball, I was the same way. It was amazing to me I could see her breathing, her sides moving slowly in and out.

Now that I'm more of a veteran with 12 balls to my name, I am still fascinated by watching them breathe.

Gale