I need help with my new ball python please

I just got a new ball python three days ago.
I just dont understand why she has been in her hide ever since I got her.

I know that she is about to shed because her eyes are chrome,
but she still never comes out unless i take her out of it to hold her or something...
and as soon as I put her back in her cage she slithers around for like 30 seconds then goes right back to her hide...

could someone please help me with this???

thanks.

and if you have any other helpful tips please add them too.

thank you.

They typically prefer to be seclusive during shed, it's normal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by travis_1989

I just got a new ball python three days ago.
I just dont understand why she has been in her hide ever since I got her.

I know that she is about to shed because her eyes are chrome,
but she still never comes out unless i take her out of it to hold her or something...
and as soon as I put her back in her cage she slithers around for like 30 seconds then goes right back to her hide...

could someone please help me with this???

thanks.

and if you have any other helpful tips please add them too.

thank you.

---

When they are inshed they are unable to see clearly.So just leave her alone until she sheds,also its good to leave her be for the full week anyway to settle in ;).I would leave her be until she sheds ok :gj:

okay well that helps.

let me tell yall about my set up and let me see what yall think about it also.

I got a fifty gallon tall aquarium, and i use the snake bedding that looks more like hay to me that I got from the pet store, and I got a piece of drift wood, kinda small water bowl and a hide.
I have a clamp on light on the side and thats all for the heat really. I am not sure if that is enough though because every time I take her out of the cage her body is cold to the touch.

I have a beadie and he has a heat mat under his cage but I was thinkin about taking it from his cage and putting it under her cage, do you think that this would be a good idea?

Her eyes have been chrome ever since I got her from the pet store, but she still has not shed anything... is this bad, and I got her from the pet store three days ago now. is this bad??? what do I do to help her shed, I havent seen her in her water bowl or anything... i have tried to put her in it but she didnt stay in it for very long.

lol
I guess I just need alot of help or maybe even get rid of her or something
please please please help!

How old or big is your BP? I forgot to mention about your first post, there is nothing you need to do to help the shed, but you need to bump the humidity up somewhere around 70% or a bit more during shed (I prefer higher but thats just MO)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by travis_1989

okay well that helps.

let me tell yall about my set up and let me see what yall think about it also.

I got a fifty gallon tall aquarium, and i use the snake bedding that looks more like hay to me that I got from the pet store, and I got a piece of drift wood, kinda small water bowl and a hide.
I have a clamp on light on the side and thats all for the heat really. I am not sure if that is enough though because every time I take her out of the cage her body is cold to the touch.

I have a beadie and he has a heat mat under his cage but I was thinkin about taking it from his cage and putting it under her cage, do you think that this would be a good idea?

Her eyes have been chrome ever since I got her from the pet store, but she still has not shed anything... is this bad, and I got her from the pet store three days ago now. is this bad??? what do I do to help her shed, I havent seen her in her water bowl or anything... i have tried to put her in it but she didnt stay in it for very long.

lol
I guess I just need alot of help or maybe even get rid of her or something
please please please help!

---

Please read this info. http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules/...warticle&id=59

and how would I turn up the humidity? lol You have to remember I dont know nothing about any of this, I am completely new.

sorry.
but thanks for all of everyones help

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...204001738a.jpg

this is my snake if it helps any.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by travis_1989

and how would I turn up the humidity? lol You have to remember I dont know nothing about any of this, I am completely new.

sorry.
but thanks for all of everyones help

---

Welcome :)

You can always get a cheapo spray bottle and mist a few times a day.

If you have a mesh top, you can soak a towel and lay it across the mesh.

You can also place the water bowl near the heat source.

well since i have a tall tank i do not have a lid on it, and the heat source is clamped to the side at the top so the heat source is not exactly close to the bottom of the cage... but i will try spraying her...

thank you again.


please give me more advice.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by travis_1989

well since i have a tall tank i do not have a lid on it, and the heat source is clamped to the side at the top so the heat source is not exactly close to the bottom of the cage... but i will try spraying her...

thank you again.


please give me more advice.

---

Uuh the snake will escape without a lid on the tank ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by joepythons

Uuh the snake will escape without a lid on the tank ;)

---

I guess that depends on how tall the tank is.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nate

I guess that depends on how tall the tank is.

---

I guess time will tell :P

In most opinions you'll find on bp housing, a 50 gallon tank can be extremely overwhelming to a bp. This can cause stress, and feeding refusals. These guys really dont require a huge amount of space and tend to do alot better in smaller enclosures. In the wild they spend the majority of the time burrowed. Judging by the size in the pic I would downsize to a 10 gallon with a locking screen top and get 2 appropriate size hides (place 1 on the hot side and 1 on the cool side) and purchase an appropriate size UTH and a thermostat ( on the lower priced thermostats the zoomed 500R should do the job of controlling the UTH) from a reputable pet store and place the UTH on one end of the tank to create a "hot spot" . You will want the hot spot on the inside of the tank to read in the lower 90'sF. you may also want to cover 3 sides of your tank with black construction paper or some other dark material, this will typically make the snake feel more secure.

I do not get the "do not use a large tank" thing for ball pythons. I have successfully used 40 gallon tanks a lot. Do ball pythons not go beyond the area of a 10-20 gallon tank in the wild? Nor have I ever covered the sides of my tank....I guess I just have weird snakes who don't know they are supposed to be stressed out over these things...LOL

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BiggBaddWolf

I do not get the "do not use a large tank" thing for ball pythons. I have successfully used 40 gallon tanks a lot. Do ball pythons not go beyond the area of a 10-20 gallon tank in the wild? Nor have I ever covered the sides of my tank....I guess I just have weird snakes who don't know they are supposed to be stressed out over these things...LOL

---

What was explained to me, and that made sense, was that snakes, like most animals, have different temperaments. Some may be perfectly fine in a large open tank, some may be stressed out by the size. The ones who are ok with a large hide, are not going to get stressed out by a smaller size. So I believe the consensus is to get a setup together before you get a snake to accommodate a wide array of different personalities a snake may have.

As to the "in the wild" question, I would venture to stay most ball pythons aren't cruising around in the open plans of Africa, but are entrenched in brush, rocks, crevices, etc. I could be wrong, but it makes sense to me lol.

As for the OP, I don't want to be mean or anything just being constructive, before you get another animal please ensure you do the proper reading beforehand. I can tell you really do care about your snake and that is great. You care enough about her to ask for advice. There are a lot of helpful articles on this website and others to help ensure you can successfully keep a healthy and happy snake.

So you just got your snake a couple days ago and it is shedding; yet, you are still messing with her lol. This may be stressing her out. The best thing you can do is let her be. Usually you want leave your snake alone the first week you get it, so it can adjust to it's new environment. And also, while it is shedding, you may want to leave it alone. Both can be stressful times for a snake!

Please review that Ball Python care sheet linked above, it will answer many of your questions! Good luck to you and your snake! Keep us updated!

I'd honestly say you've bought the wrong species.


you'll pretty much only see the thing if you get it out or when you feed it. Royals pythons spend 95% of their times doing just that, hiding. Out of all the royals we have here (under 100 so not a huge collection, but big enough) there are only a handful who you will ever see (if you leave them to their own devices and dont disturb them for handling)]

The best way to help a royal of that size to shed is to provide it with a wet hide as well as it's current hide. Justy use something like a cricket tub, cut a hole in the lid, fill with spagnum moss (or similar, anything that is both safe and holds water well).

Give the snake to opportunity to and he should manage his own humidty levels all by himself, give him a warm dry area AND a warm wet area and he'll choose the one that suits at the time. This way you're not forcing the snake to live in a very high humidty environment but he can choose to put himself in the high humidity AREA of his environment.


Going back to the top again, royas generally are shy, retiring creatures and if you see them out and about they either want feeding or watering.

I did alot of research on the snakes, but i was just worried cause i never read anything about them being so scareed all of the time,

but everyones information helped alot.

oh and his cage was setup three days before i got him thank you very much.

I would recomend getting another heat mat to put under your snake and leave the one on your beardie. You can also get moss to help raise the humidity in the cage since its so tall. Great looking snake!

If you are only using a heat lamp and have no covering on the tank, chances are you are going to be dealing with a very bad shed.

You really need to either get a smaller tank for the little dude, or get some sort of top for the tank. A piece of plexi-glass with holes drilled for ventilation would work.

Also, only use lamp heat as a supplement. Belly heat should be your primary source of heat. You should be measuring your hot side temperature with a digital thermometer with a probe. If you are using anything else you are not getting an accurate reading.

You also need something digital to read humidity. Your snake will need between 60-70% humidity during the shed cycle.

Honestly, the cheapest and easiest option would be to put the snake in a tub until it is older.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by travis_1989

I did alot of research on the snakes, but i was just worried cause i never read anything about them being so scareed all of the time,

but everyones information helped alot.

oh and his cage was setup three days before i got him thank you very much.

---

The way you came across to everyone was not good. If you did actual research you would have a smaller tank with a lid, a uth and a thermostat. I feel bad for your snake.

I didnt know that it was absolutely necessary for me to have a smaller cage.

I just thought that it was necessary to have atleast a ten gallon tank to start off, but I had a bigger one so i thought it was okay to have one bigger.

but now i have learner and now I am going to put her in a plastic tub for right now until she gets a little bigger i guess...

That is probably a step in the right direction :)

While tubs aren't really that pretty to look at, they are a BREEZE to clean and they are easy to maintain temps and humidity in.

Maybe when she is a year or two you could transition her into the big tank. By then you will know so much about ball pythons you will have an amazing set up for her :)

I agree you should really study the caresheets that are stickied at the top of this forum page.

I am glad you are trying to do what is right for your new snake, but you do have a ways to go.

Ball pythons are different than many other snakes that like/need large open areas and minimal heat. Balls pythons are by nature burrowers, so they prefer small, tight spaces and need belly heat to help them digest food and maintain proper temperature. It also means you aren't going to see a ball python much. They spend 95% of their time in the smallest, tightest space they can squeeze into, hiding. A hiding ball is a happy ball, so it's not fear, it's their nature. I have 8, and 90%of the time, except on feeding day, all I see of them is their heads poking out of the hides when I'm in the room.

You little one is trying to shed, so it needs high humidity, peace and quiet until it can shed. The fastest way to do this with your current setup would be to get a small hide, even a cereal bowl turned upside down with a door cut in it will work, then fill the bowl with damp moss and place it in the cage.

If you want to keep the large tank, you'll need to crowd it with hides and other things to help your ball feel secure. They really do better with smaller spaces when young, remember a baby anything is always in danger from predators in the wild, and that instinct is not gone in your pet. The more open the cage, the more danger the snake feels. I've seen this firsthand.

I always thought keeping snakes in tubs was wrong and cruel. How can a snake be happy crammed into such a tiny space? That was before I got my own. I had to deal with constant stress, bad feeding, bad sheds, general crabbiness, and a whole lot more. Eventually it got so bad, I had to give my adults up because I had to face the fact that I didn't know how to care for them.

So, when I got my babies, I did a LOT, I mean a LOT of research. When I discovered the people I would be buying my babies from used tubs, I decided I'd start with tubs, then move them to the big, open tanks I knew they needed later. Guess what? When I moved them, I started the whole cycle over again. Stress, not eating, bad sheds, etc. I moved them back to the tubs, and had happy snakes again. So, lesson learned. I don't always know as much as I think I do, and ball pythons really do like small enclosures.

Gale

Well, ball pythons don't really burrow, they just take over termite mounds or small animal burrows :P

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bman123

The way you came across to everyone was not good. If you did actual research you would have a smaller tank with a lid, a uth and a thermostat. I feel bad for your snake.

---

I feel bad for the snake too, but let's not blame the OP. It is entirely possible he did research, just at the wrong places. It is quite easy to research by interviewing pet store employees and/or going to numerous online sites and end up with totally inappropriate info regarding BPs. That isn't the OP's fault, and he is now at a place where he can get some good help for his snake, so let's help him.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kaorte

Well, ball pythons don't really burrow, they just take over termite mounds or small animal burrows :P

---

I thought that too, until I looked up the word burrow. According to dictionary.com:

Quote:

---

bur⋅row
–verb (used without object)
3. to make a hole or passage in, into, or under something.
4. to lodge in a burrow.

---

So they do burrow, just by the 2nd definition of the verb rather than the first. (I left out the noun definitions.)

OP - It seems like you are getting off to a bit of a rocky start, but I think it is great that you are here seeking betters ways to care for your BP. Once you get everything straightened out, I'm sure you'll find you and your snake are both happy and that he is a joy to own. I know I love mine!

Your snake is staying in its hide most of the time because that is what BPs do. They are even more likely to stay in their hide for the 48 hrs after they eat when they are digesting, or when they are in shed. I have one BP in a 20 gallon tank in our computer room (the rest are in tubs in a rack system in a room with less traffic). She is almost never seen during the daytime, staying completely hidden. She does come out almost every evening though, so we get to see her roam her tank for a while.

To help her adjust to her new home and realize it is a safe place, it is best if you do not handle her for at least a week (except for the minimum required for tank maintenance). What I do when I bring a new snake home is let it settle in a week, then offer food, and if it eats, give it 48 hrs to digest. Then I feel it is ok to begin handling it. If it doesn't eat, I wait another week, and continue that cycle as long as necessary. It was very hard with our first snake not to get her out, especially since we had her for about a month before she ate, but I just kept reminding myself to be patient because we would have her for years to come if we treated her right.

You mention that her eyes are "chrome," and that choice of words makes me wonder if she is in shed, or has retained eye caps. If she is in shed, the eyes should clear up within a few days, and a few days after that the snake should shed. The exact timing varies from snake to snake, and shed to shed. If it is retained eye caps, that means the last time the snake shed, the protective covering over the eyes did not come off with the rest of the skin. A single layer of retained eye caps should not be a problem, and should come off with the next shed as long as the snake has enough humidity.

You have already been given a lot of good advice, so I won't repeat it all here. Please do take the time to read the caresheet on this site if you haven't already. It is very good and should help you a lot. I think someone already gave it to you, but here is the link again just in case:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules/...warticle&id=59

Good luck with your new BP, and please don't hesitate to post more questions as they occur to you!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kc261

I thought that too, until I looked up the word burrow. According to dictionary.com:

So they do burrow, just by the 2nd definition of the verb rather than the first. (I left out the noun definitions.)

---

Semantics :rolleyes: