Help! New Ball Python mommy here.

Alright, so I have this huge terrarium, a few hiders, some fake plants and a bunch of wooden log type things. Her terrarium is in my bedroom. Anyway I will admit that I rushed into this (getting a snake) and I've even searched the forums and can't find an answer to my questions!


First question: Heat lamp. Does this have to be on all the time? I've had her for three days and it's been on constantly. I also have one of those UV lamp things (the fake sun) and it's been on during the day and I've been turning it off at night. It came installed in the terrarium.

The first night I got her, I held her for a moment and then put her in her terrarium. She looked happy and was exploring and being freaking ADORABLE. That was it really, She has not really moved since then and it`s been three days. Last night I moved one of her hiders just to see if she was alive and that seemed to piss her off because she tried to bite me. It was fast and scary. I have a few water dishes (3) in there and i'm using the bedding the breeder gave me until the stuff I ordered comes in the mail.

Second question: Why is she trying to bite me? Is she scared or is she trying to teach me a lesson for bothering her?

Third question: She is three months old. She has been eating live rat pups so far. I feel like I should feed her live one more time (Just so that she actually eats) and then try switching her to frozen thawed. What do you think? I would really appreciate anything you have to tell me.

Hi and welcome to the forum. Regarding her biting. She's a baby and you are a big heat emitting predator to her. She was scared. With time, shell learn to trust you.
Others will be along soon who can help you with your other questions, but if you can post pictures of her enclosure, that would be a good way for folks to help. I can tell you a huge enclosure doesn't help babies feel safe..

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She is also shedding. She is probably really angry at me. I have more stuff coming to fill up her terrarium as much as possible.

Ball pythons like to feel secure that terrarium looks huge even for an adult. An adult python is perfectly happy in a 36x12x18 space. I'd definitely clutter it up more and add a lot more hiding spaces so she feels secure.

Ball pythons need a hot side with a average 90 degree temp at all times and a ambient/cool side temp of 80 degrees at all times. And a secure hide on both sides. You should be using a thermometer to measure and control these temps. The humidity should range from about 50% normally to around 70% during a shed and they should have a water dish with enough water/space to soak in if desired. Over 95 and under 75 degrees will become dangerous for your snake. They also need a day/night cycle. I don't use white light, I use red heat bulbs as they can't see red light and it doesn't disturb them.

The biting is from fear, her naturally instinct is telling her that giant thing coming towards her is going to hurt her and regular handling and age will calm this.

Also, ball pythons tend to be more skittish during sheds due to the "blue eyed" stage when they are mostly blind. Handling during this time may induce stress which can cause bad sheds and poor appetite.

On a side note, giving your new bp a week to settle in and get used to her new surroundings with out being handled or bothered except to change water, remove poo etc. Will help calm her and reduce her stress. I personally wait to handle my newbies until 48 hours after they have eaten their first meal for me.

I hope this helps.


1.0 ball pythons - Koba
0.1 pitbull/lab - Cinnamon
0.1 collie/elkhound - Fluffy
0.2 children
1.0 boyfriend

Tremendous help! Thank you so much. I have two lamps so I can put the red bulb in one of them and just alternate! Do you think I can feed her this week, even if she's still got the blue eyes implying that she's still shedding?

As long as you are measuring your temps alternating between the two is fine.

My baby bp is in a shed right now and I'm not feeding him this week since he hasn't left his hide or shown any interest in looking for food.
If you are feeding f/t offer it to her, the worst that can happen is she refuses it.
If you are feeding live you can also offer her food, but make sure you supervise the entire time, don't leave her alone with the mouse/rat even for a moment. The rodent can attack her and injure or kill her just as quickly as she can strike the mouse. It only takes seconds. You can leave the f/t over night for her, but remove a live mouse or rat if she hasn't shown any interest in 10-15 minutes.

1.0 ball pythons - Koba
0.1 pitbull/lab - Cinnamon
0.1 collie/elkhound - Fluffy
0.2 children
1.0 boyfriend

Some snakes will eat in blue, some won't. Considering the fact that yours is new, and obviously scared, I would just leave her be. Let her settle in for a few days, complete the shed, then offer food. Then if she eats, you can work towards handling. About your heat lamps, hard to tell in picture, but make sure they aren't inside the enclosure. Also, that enclosure is huge for a baby. Try to give her snug, secure hides, preferably the same hides, one hot side one cold side. Those half logs don't provide much security. These hides, can be found at Reptile Basics, along with a lot of your other snake needs. These hides are used by many of us here.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/21/ju3y9eqa.jpg

As for her hiding, that is good. Cruising around generally means they are stressed out. We have a saying, "A hiding ball python, is a happy ball python".

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by XoKarma

Ball pythons like to feel secure that terrarium looks huge even for an adult. An adult python is perfectly happy in a 36x12x18 space. I'd definitely clutter it up more and add a lot more hiding spaces so she feels secure.

Ball pythons need a hot side with a average 90 degree temp at all times and a ambient/cool side temp of 80 degrees at all times. And a secure hide on both sides. You should be using a thermometer to measure and control these temps. The humidity should range from about 50% normally to around 70% during a shed and they should have a water dish with enough water/space to soak in if desired. Over 95 and under 75 degrees will become dangerous for your snake. They also need a day/night cycle. I don't use white light, I use red heat bulbs as they can't see red light and it doesn't disturb them.

The biting is from fear, her naturally instinct is telling her that giant thing coming towards her is going to hurt her and regular handling and age will calm this.

Also, ball pythons tend to be more skittish during sheds due to the "blue eyed" stage when they are mostly blind. Handling during this time may induce stress which can cause bad sheds and poor appetite.

On a side note, giving your new bp a week to settle in and get used to her new surroundings with out being handled or bothered except to change water, remove poo etc. Will help calm her and reduce her stress. I personally wait to handle my newbies until 48 hours after they have eaten their first meal for me.

I hope this helps.

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Great advise right here.

The "day/night cycle." is something that really isn't necessary. There are a lot of breeders, like BHB or Justin Kobylka(sp?), that use colored tubs all the time and have no day/night cycle at all. Some discussions on here have shown that keeping the BP in as dark an environment as possible has actually helped their problem feeders. I guess it really a matter of preference. I keep my BPs in a four tub rack system that faces away from any windows and don't give them any special type day/night cycle other than what comes into the room.

Congrats and welcome to the addiction.

I just find it so bright. She is in my room with me so the lamps being on makes it difficult to sleep, but I work a crazy weird shift (11pm to 8 am) so I sleep weird anyway. So far I only have two hiders and a half log thing as mentioned above. Her lamps are indeed on the outside. Thank you folks so much for the help! I`ll try and fill up that tank as much as possible.

If you don't like the lamps you could always use under tank heating pads. Those work fine. :D