Signs of stress

Just for everyones information, as well as my own, what are the signs that a ball pythons is stressed?

Balling, hissing, striking, constant "exploration", refusal to feed, attempting to escape a situation. Some of these may be signs of something else as well, such as improper temps or humidity, hunger, parasitic or other illnesses.

but couldn't "exploration" also be curiousity.......my bp does that a lot and i'm pretty sure he's not stressed

Keyword in Marla's succinct list is constant - if it is continual it is more than mere curiosity.

My Ball Python actually escaped two days ago for the first time.
Shes been trying to escape ever since the first time.
Everytime she climbs onto the top of the lid.
Is this do to stress?
My temps are range from 88-91.6 on the basking spot.
Around 85 degrees in the middle hide, and 77.8 degrees on the cool side.
Humidity is 54.

Do you think shes stressed because I didn't feed her last week on her usual day?

But, I know Marlas snake escaped before too, along with other folks here.
So I don't really know if that'd leading towards stress.
I think if you give any snake a chance to get out, they will.

When I said "escape a situation," I had more in mind when you have your snake out for handling and it starts trying to go into the couch rather than its trying to repeat a successful escape from its enclosure.

I do think, though, that there is some level of stress just from being in captivity. I mean, if you were kept in a room with your preferred temp range and a nice comfy bed and food you couldn't really complain about and plenty to drink and adequate sanitation, but every time you left the room you had to hold hands the entire time with Nancy Reagan and sometimes you'd look up to find a grizzly bear towering over you (like a household dog), don't you think you would still have some stress? I realize that's anthropomorphizing a bit, but if there were no stress from captivity, why would they try to escape at all?

I'm sure that if you gave any Ball Python a chance to crawl into the couch it would do so.
I agree with stress from handling though.
Personally I don't like when strangers touch me at all.
Like patting your shoulder, and such. :shock:
I've been keeping handling my BP to a minimum.

I'm just surprised at how smart Ball Pythons actually are.
I was watching her last night as she was trying to push the lid open again from exactly the same corner as she escaped from. :shock:
It's just amazing.

From what you've said Marla, it seems that our Ball Pythons are stressed out, no matter what we do we can't fix it because at the end of the day, they'll still be captive.

Well, there's stress and then there's stress. If you have a relatively mellow ball, the stress of captivity shouldn't be unbearable -- like the stress of going to work or class, getting done the things on your to-do list, managing your money, etc., the day to day stresses. But if you have a snake that is inclined toward stress or has a lot of stress for other reasons (overhandling, inadequate temps, etc.), then I think the stress of captivity just adds to that snake's stress burden and can be part of the problem.

Every creature with the capacity for stress lives with it to some degree, and some are more successful than others, both as species and as individuals. It's our job as keepers to control the stress factors as much as we can for our snakes' benefit, but we cannot eliminate it altogether.

my snake "explores" alot, like climbs on his branches occasionaly tries to get out, drinks water all the time, climbs on his fake leaves... etc...basically like a little kid on a playground...it like plays on its "jungle gym" but then eventually it settles down and just sits there for a few hours....then goes out for more activiy...but it has never hissed striked balled up....or done anyhting defensful...and i have only had him for a week (since the 3rd) and he does kinda try and get on the couch when I sit down....but so does my redtail if I give him the chance here is some info on his tank
warm side: 90
cool side:80
humidity :55%
hides: 1 half log, false leaves complety surronding it, and a little full log.
Branches: thick smoot branch that fits perfectly to his cage
Tank Size: 10gal.
Snake size: 14inches
substrate: green indoor outdoor carpet

go to these and see pictures.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ulookingat.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...hedupsnake.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...oodpicture.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ecupidtank.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...hotofcupid.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...pidssetup3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...Cupidandme.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ballpython.jpg

well if most of u are like any other snake owner and like to let ur python out for a lil run and to check things out, he/or she is gonna get stressed due to the same surrounndings all the time. if u handle ur snake alot and let it out alot the chances of trying to escape are more then if u dont let him out. thus creating stress. they get use to getting out and ppl tend to get side tracked and not let him out so they get stressed..who wouldnt. i let him out quite frequently and handle him alot and he seems to love the attention.. i can take him all ove and he'll stay on my wrist content to be out in the fresh air but u can bet the moment i put him away he gets antsy and wants back out but settles after a bit...he tries to escape but that will never happen due to small clamps on the lid....one thing ive noticed is that pythons like ppl are not the same. one thing can stess a 1 python and the same thing wont stess another python. thats where the owner has to pay attention and notice these things and learn their pythons wants and needs...