random aggression

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

What kind of thermometers are you using?

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2 digital one on each side and a temp gun to check the surface temps. Hot side 85-90 cool stays 75-80


our enclosure is very big though... 18" x 39" x 18" with lots of clutter

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Originally Posted by proballo

2 digital one on each side and a temp gun to check the surface temps. Hot side 85-90 cool stays 75-80

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You should need a light and a UTH on the same side. The UTH will provide the hot spot, and the lamp should increase the ambient air temperature to around 80*. Just try one lamp on the cool side and just the UTH.

Stick one of your probed thermometers right on the glass where the UTH is.

that would be the way it is at night as the basking light is only on during the 14hr day cycle however the temp on the "hot side"* get to only 75 with just the UTH. The probe is on the glass with the UTH. The red light stays on all the time whenevver the temp gets below 80ish (it tends to read 77 at night)

*At night our "hot" side becomes our "cool side"

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Don't think of ball pythons as aggressive, they really aren't. They are either hungry or scared.

Well, its sounds to me like you have some husbandry to fix first of all. I would start by getting him some new snug fitting hides. I use plastic bowls from the dollar store with a small entrance cut out of the side.

Next, temperatures and humidity. Unless you have this snake outside in Alaska, you shouldn't need three strong heating elements. Your temps lead me to believe that you are not correctly measuring and monitoring your temps. Are you using those round stick on gauges? You should try using digital thermometers with probes and a digital hygrometer. You will get much more accurate readings. The accurite weather station from the home depot, lowes, or walmart (about $12) will measure everything you need to in his enclosure. Hot spot temp, ambient temp, and ambient humidity. Make sure you get the one with the wired probe.

As for your heat sources, you should really only need the UTH unless your house gets below 75*, then you may need a low wattage CHE or red light. Remember that any over head heat will remove humidity from the air. If you just use a UTH, humidity shouldn't ever be an issue.

There is absolutely no reason to feed outside the enclosure. It will not prevent "aggression". It will only make the snake less likely to eat in a strange new environment. Feeding in the enclosure is acceptable. I feed all 6 of my snakes in their enclosures and I have never had a problem with this "aggression".

The next thing to address is how much you are feeding him. I have a feeling that you aren't feeding him quite enough. An 8 month old snake should be eating either two full grown mice or an equally sized rat. None of this hoppers, fuzzies and pinky business. Those are like popcorn for a heavy bodied snake like a ball python.

Also, you should refrain from interacting with your snake on feeding day, and two days after to allow for digestion. It is not unheard of for a snake to still be in "feeding mode" the day after feeding, even if they were given an appropriately sized meal.

Don't worry about the no-poop business. Ball pythons can go a long time with no poops. As long as the area around his vent doesn't feel hard, he will be fine. I have had snakes hold their poo for as long as 6 weeks. Just get ready for when that poo does grace you with its aromatic presence.

I hope this helps shed some light on the situation. Don't be concerned about his behavior, it is most likely something that you can change with a few husbandry adjustments. :)

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first off, thank you for all the advise.

His hiding spots seemed to be pretty snug. He used to have this hollowed out skull that was ment to go in aquariums thy we just put in for decoration and he LOVED hiding in there. We took it out because we were actually scared he would get stuck in there, and we couldn't get him out of it if we wanted to. We had to wait for him to come out.

I am using the stick on round thermostat/ hygrometer. I'll definately get a wired one from home deep. I had a feeling 3 heat sources was a bit extreme. It's wierd though, the UTH never seemed to give off any ambient heat. All it seemed to do was make the ground warm. It seemed to be alot harder to heat the tank than I read in books and on the net.

I just bumped up to feeding him an Arctic Mice brand "small mouse" (the one that is a step up from fuzzies) every 5 days instead of once a week. It does make the most sense that he is hungry. Is there a good rule of thumb on snake to prey size proportion or something? Or should I just give him bigger prey and see if he'll eat it? Would he try to eat something too big for him to handle? I do refrain from handling him on or after feeding day.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by proballo

that would be the way it is at night as the basking light is only on during the 14hr day cycle however the temp on the "hot side"* get to only 75 with just the UTH. The probe is on the glass with the UTH. The red light stays on all the time whenevver the temp gets below 80ish (it tends to read 77 at night)

*At night our "hot" side becomes our "cool side"

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wait, so your probe on the glass where the UTH is reads 75*? Something is wrong with that.

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Originally Posted by Big Wayne

first off, thank you for all the advise.

His hiding spots seemed to be pretty snug. He used to have this hollowed out skull that was ment to go in aquariums thy we just put in for decoration and he LOVED hiding in there. We took it out because we were actually scared he would get stuck in there, and we couldn't get him out of it if we wanted to. We had to wait for him to come out.

I am using the stick on round thermostat/ hygrometer. I'll definately get a wired one from home deep. I had a feeling 3 heat sources was a bit extreme. It's wierd though, the UTH never seemed to give off any ambient heat. All it seemed to do was make the ground warm. It seemed to be alot harder to heat the tank than I read in books and on the net.

I just bumped up to feeding him an Arctic Mice brand "small mouse" (the one that is a step up from fuzzies) every 5 days instead of once a week. It does make the most sense that he is hungry. Is there a good rule of thumb on snake to prey size proportion or something? Or should I just give him bigger prey and see if he'll eat it? Would he try to eat something too big for him to handle? I do refrain from handling him on or after feeding day.

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So what kind of hides do you have now? Picture perhaps?

The UTH does only heat surface temperature. The lamps are used to increase ambient temperatures. As long as your ambient temps are above 75* and you have a hot spot (surface) temp around 92*, your snake will be fine.

If you can, purchase a gram kitchen scale you can weigh your snake and track its growth. You can also use it to determine how much you need to feed him. I feed 10-15% of the snakes body weight until they are 1500g.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

wait, so your probe on the glass where the UTH is reads 75*? Something is wrong with that.

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at night it does, during the day it's 85-90 (due to the lamp) There is a good 1&1/2" of substrate which is probably why it's so low. i check the surface temps all the time with the temp gun and the tank was set up and stable for a good month before we got the snake.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

...Do you have a picture of this snake. An inch round, 2 feet, and 8 months old sounds like a seriously underweight snake.

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I don't have a pic atm, I've herd that if you can see their spine clearly than the're underweight, and I can't see his. I don't think he's underweight. He seems pretty well proportioned. Like I said, those aren't exact measurements, and I'm not sure he's 8 months.

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Originally Posted by proballo

at night it does, during the day it's 85-90 (due to the lamp) There is a good 1&1/2" of substrate which is probably why it's so low. i check the surface temps all the time with the temp gun and the tank was set up and stable for a good month before we got the snake.

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Yeah that is way to much. A UTH should heat up to 120* unregulated (it should be connected to a reptile thermostat to prevent it from over heating).

Try reducing the substrate to about 1/2" or less.

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Originally Posted by Big Wayne

I don't have a pic atm, I've herd that if you can see their spine clearly than the're underweight, and I can't see his. I don't think he's underweight. He seems pretty well proportioned. Like I said, those aren't exact measurements, and I'm not sure he's 8 months.

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I would get that gram scale and weigh him. 8 months, 2 feet, and one inch thick doesn't make too much sense unless he is underweight.

You can tell if they are under weight if they have a pronounced spine and a triangular shape. A healthy ball python will have a completely round midsection.