BP fell from climbing perch!

Anyone that says Ball pythons don't climb has never given them a perch.

When they are younger they climb a fair amount, but once they are a couple years old and a couple thousand grams, I feel like they become less adventurous.

Sure they can climb fairly well, but what they lack is a good grip like arboreal and semi arboreal species. They just don't seem to "hang on" very well. If you want to throw them on a perch, cool, just make sure it isn't too far off the ground and maybe make a "landing pad" in case they do fall. Perhaps a towel or something.

Ball pythons aren't super fragile creatures. A short fall shouldn't be too bad, worst case scenario being a broken rib or two (ouch). They are tough little guys.

Thank you all so much. I checked on her this morning and she looked okay.

No problem :) I'm sure we all know what it's like to worry over a pet

You can see pictures of my pets in the Updates On Everybody thread I made!

The CITES group found 1:75 in a tree, "searching in every opening". The italian predation study has commented that they have started thinking of sub adult royals as semi arboreal. As Skip said there is lots of evidence they climb naturally.

They do seem to slow down after they hit the 1000gm mark as Karote mentioned not all however but most.

Ball pythons love climbing perches, and they fall all the time. If she didn't fall from any height greater than the size of the tank, she's fine. I bet she went right back to climbing her perch and falling off it again, didn't she?

Ball pythons are terrible climbers, but they are expert fallers. A good rule of thumb for adults is, as long as the fall isn't much higher than they are long, they actually do have some control over their landing. Even it it looks totally crazy and out of control. You know how martial artists smack the floor with their hands when they fall to distribute their energy? That's what ball pythons are built to do. And they're well-padded.

I'm a big fan of giving them climbing perches because it gives them something to do at night. And yeah, from 11pm until 2am all I hear is THUMP. Scrabble scrabble. THUMP. I think the West African savannah and forests must be filled with the sound of pythons falling out of low branches in the evenings. Because it's not like wild pythons have someone to take their perches away. I don't know why they do this, but they sure do like doing it. (Go on, I dare you to tell me climbing is a stress response. My climbers eat like pigs and I have the BEST, most hysterical counterargument to the "stress" argument. Go on. Tell me.)

If she ever falls off of your neck onto a hard floor, that's something you might want to worry about and consider X-rays. I had a baby enchi drop off of my neck onto a concrete floor. Now she's an adult, but she still hisses whenever I pick her up. And any height above that is also a potential concern.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by loonunit

i think the west african savannah and forests must be filled with the sound of pythons falling out of low branches in the evenings.

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lol!!.......

3000 gram thump in the night, it happens but not often.


http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...g_for_food.jpg

Arialmt, you have a beautiful normal :) Luckily my pastel girl is just a baby (130 g ) and she didn't show any signs of injury/shock.

Now this is my real climber! Sorry for the burry Pic he WOULDN'T STOP MOVING! LOL.
Please note this wasn't the same perch my pastel fell off of, it is much higher.

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...tings/4356.jpg