Pillow hide for ball python?

Hi guys, I recently picked up a 3 year old male ball python from a breeder. It's really nice and tame, but it had never lived in a terrarium before. Basically, it did not seem interested in the hides I made for it (green walmart bowl, then tried a cardboard box). It would sit outside or on top of the hides, but never in it, which worried me because it's heat pad is underneath the hide. He seems restless and stressed.

However, when I had taken him out of the cage, he seemed to love hiding under the pillows and blankets of my bed - so I'm wondering if I may use a small pillow as a hide, or if it will cause some sort of respiratory damage or some other negative effects. Using the search function pulled nothing up, other than people using wet pillow cases during shedding.

Thanks!

Your heat pad regulated with thermostat?

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Originally Posted by Felidae

Your heat pad regulated with thermostat?

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Yep

My daughters spider likes to hide under a pet bed we placed in the terranium. Is soft and she can bully her way into the bottom as she sees fit

If the temperatures ok, try to put crumbled newspaper balls in his hide. Maybe just he feels too big. In the other hand he can feel the hides too small too. Most of the times when one of my ball don't use anymore his hide what was his favorite place before, he just grown out and I need to change to a bigger one.

About the pillows.. :) I never tried, but I think if you use your regular snake bedding sewed (with no openings nowhere) into a pillowcase, seems it cannot hurt (clean it regularly).

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Originally Posted by Katiecat124

Hi guys, I recently picked up a 3 year old male ball python from a breeder. It's really nice and tame, but it had never lived in a terrarium before. Basically, it did not seem interested in the hides I made for it (green walmart bowl, then tried a cardboard box). It would sit outside or on top of the hides, but never in it, which worried me because it's heat pad is underneath the hide. He seems restless and stressed.

However, when I had taken him out of the cage, he seemed to love hiding under the pillows and blankets of my bed - so I'm wondering if I may use a small pillow as a hide, or if it will cause some sort of respiratory damage or some other negative effects. Using the search function pulled nothing up, other than people using wet pillow cases during shedding.

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A pillow is getting to peed and pooped on and be a pain to keep clean. You'll be throwing it out within a couple of weeks.

How are you measuring your temps? If your BP refuses to go into the hides, there's a decent chance the temps are not what you think they are on the ground where he makes contact. If you have a temp gun check the temps inside his hides using that. If you don't have a temp gun, you might want to consider one, it will save you a lot of time troubleshooting temperature related environment issues.

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Originally Posted by 200xth

A pillow is getting to peed and pooped on and be a pain to keep clean. You'll be throwing it out within a couple of weeks.

How are you measuring your temps? If your BP refuses to go into the hides, there's a decent chance the temps are not what you think they are on the ground where he makes contact. If you have a temp gun check the temps inside his hides using that. If you don't have a temp gun, you might want to consider one, it will save you a lot of time troubleshooting temperature related environment issues.

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Well I've only had him about a day and a half now and over night he knocked my probe thermometer into his water dish so we were using that to verify the temp of the UTH (I also have a thermostat regulating that) and the cool end was a little cooler than I'd like when we were last able to check it before the drowning of my thermometer.. as for the bigger hide we are currently also working on getting him a larger tank because I feel he does not have enough room in his current setting with the water dish and hide theres not much room to wiggle around and I also feel that he's stressed due to the new setting.

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Originally Posted by Katiecat124

Well I've only had him about a day and a half now and over night he knocked my probe thermometer into his water dish so we were using that to verify the temp of the UTH (I also have a thermostat regulating that) and the cool end was a little cooler than I'd like when we were last able to check it before the drowning of my thermometer.. as for the bigger hide we are currently also working on getting him a larger tank because I feel he does not have enough room in his current setting with the water dish and hide theres not much room to wiggle around and I also feel that he's stressed due to the new setting.

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Where you placed the thermostat probe? Maybe a photo from the setup can help digging out if something wrong with it.

Thermostat probe should be between the heat pad and the bottom of the tank. The reason it's not using the hide Is its probably way too hot in there.