Ball python has decided he'd rather be a tree python

My BP has recently become very active at night. He has started using the climbing branch in his enclosure a lot, whereas when he was smaller he never used it except to hide under it. When I take him out in the evening, he is very enthusiastic about climbing anything he can reach. He will climb the rungs of chairs, railings, the bed frame, the couch, or even climb up me onto my head or neck. He reaches for lamp posts and tries to climb them as well.

This seems unusual to me since I remember as a baby he would usually try to climb down instead of up and wasn't particularly fond of heights. Now he seems to actively seek out heights and opportunities to climb. He is about 750g and close to 2 years old. What could have caused this change? Is he just more confident now that he's bigger? Is this behaviour normal?

I think I read about how when they looked at ball pythons in the wild, males were waaaaay more likely to be prey on birds and hunt in trees, whereas females were more likely to feed on mammals and do their hunting on the ground. A climbing ball python is normal, most of them just get too big to comfortably climb AFAIK.

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Originally Posted by Absololol

I think I read about how when they looked at ball pythons in the wild, males were waaaaay more likely to be prey on birds and hunt in trees, whereas females were more likely to feed on mammals and do their hunting on the ground. A climbing ball python is normal, most of them just get too big to comfortably climb AFAIK.

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Thanks for the input! I'm glad to hear it's a normal behaviour, I was worried it might be due to stress.

Mine does that too he’s usually looking for food lol

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Originally Posted by Los

Mine does that too he’s usually looking for food lol

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Makes sense lol, everything is about food for them :D

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Originally Posted by Absololol

I think I read about how when they looked at ball pythons in the wild, males were waaaaay more likely to be prey on birds and hunt in trees, whereas females were more likely to feed on mammals and do their hunting on the ground. A climbing ball python is normal, most of them just get too big to comfortably climb AFAIK.

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This is true. In the wild ball pythons climb WAY more often than most people expect, and a decent portion of their diet is actually birds. They are found in trees fairly regularly. Both males AND females, but males more than females. Sometimes they just like to climb - my young female does, but my male shows no interest.

IF your husbandry is on point, temperatures are fine, snake isn't hungry, etc and he is still climbing, he probably just is exploring and is a climber :)

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Originally Posted by Spoons

This is true. In the wild ball pythons climb WAY more often than most people expect, and a decent portion of their diet is actually birds. They are found in trees fairly regularly. Both males AND females, but males more than females. Sometimes they just like to climb - my young female does, but my male shows no interest.

IF your husbandry is on point, temperatures are fine, snake isn't hungry, etc and he is still climbing, he probably just is exploring and is a climber :)

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Good to know, thank you! Yes temps, humidity...etc. are all within the correct ranges and the same as they have always been. The only thing that's changed is that my BP is bigger now. I'm looking to upgrade him to a T10 or T12 AP cage soon so he'll have more room to climb :)