plants...

Hello everyone, I just got a new 40 gal. tank for my BP and I have everything but plants in it. I noticed that the BP doesnt like to come out when the light is on and just stays in the hide. When I turn off the light at night, the BP usually comes out and explores around the tank. I know snakes usually tend to be more active at night, but could it be that the light bothers it? The temperature in the tank never passes 90 degrees and more often than not stays around 82-85 degrees. So what I'm thinking is that by adding plants to the tank, it will provide shade while still keeping the temperature the same. So what type of plants should I get? A friend of mine has a BP as well and he has some plants that he got at Home Depot for cheap, but I thought I'd ask here for everyones advice.

And just incase i have the wrong light, which bulb is the one that i should have?

Live plants can be a real handful in a BP tank - and that's an optimistic view :P I don't think you'd find it doing much in the way of coaxing your nocturnal bud out in the daylight hours either. If you can ensure the potting medium if parasite free and don't mind cleaning it up every time the BP knocks it over (inevitable) it might serve to make the tank setup more aesthetically pleasing to you. It may well be the sheer volume of the tank dwarfing the lil guy and keeping him feeling secure in the tighter confines of his hide. If I were you I might experiment with some plastic plants first just so see how things go.


(EDIT: also unless the light is also a heat source try keeping it off during the day - the less harsh ambient room light ought to be fine)

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Originally Posted by IlBLaZel1

Hello everyone, I just got a new 40 gal. tank for my BP and I have everything but plants in it. I noticed that the BP doesnt like to come out when the light is on and just stays in the hide. When I turn off the light at night, the BP usually comes out and explores around the tank. I know snakes usually tend to be more active at night, but could it be that the light bothers it?

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Ball pythons are nocturnal animals that is one of the main reasons that your bp is in its hide all day and moves around at night. If you are using a regular reptile bulb and it is not putting off temperatures greater than 95 deg. then everything should be ok.

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Originally Posted by IlBLaZel1

The temperature in the tank never passes 90 degrees and more often than not stays around 82-85 degrees.

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Do you have a warm side and cool side of the enclosure? The warm side of a ball python enclosure should be between 92-94 degrees and the cool side should be between 82-84 degrees.