My tank is too high?

My 20gal tank is a foot and a half high, and my bp keeps on reaching upwards and trying to climb up .. and now he's gotten himself into a precarious position where he's wedged himself at the top with no way of getting down and I'm scared that he's gona do this all the time and keep on falling (is a fall of 1 and a half foot dangerous to a baby ball?).

So what should I do? I have a climbing vine thing for him already.

I doubt that kind of fall would hurt him unless he fell on the edge of a water bowl or something like that, then it might hurt him. BP's are pretty tough though, their not nearly as fragile as some people make them out to be.

Even with that said though I personally wouldn't want mine that high, I'd prefer to move him into a 20 long.

I have kept small BP's in 24 inch tall cages in the past, they have fallen a good number of times and there hasn't been any issues so far.

A fall that far while usually won't result in anything bad could result in damage to the snake depending on what and how (s)he hits.

Yea, I think after a few falls he'll realize that it's not a good idea to climb up there.
These past few days he's been really active and quite aggressive, he's started burrowing alot on the hot side where my ufh is (I have a hide there but he's not too keen to go in it, I should get a new one soon)
When I try to handle him he freezes up and then just makes a few really sudden movements, and looks like he's gona strike me so I been nervous to hold him :( any tips on handling baby bps?

Thanks!

What are the cage temps/humidity?

What type of hides are you using?

Temps : Air temp is 79F, Warm side is 91 (got a thermostat plugged in with my heatmat) humidity is 57

Hides : I've got a cave hide for the colder side, it's his favourite one, he squishing in the far corner. It's about 9 inches by 9 inches. On the warm side I have a black plastic overturned bowl
with a cutting for the entrance, its about 3 inches by 3 .. he seems to like it now tough, after picking him up and placing him infront of it now he goes in by himself occasionally..

He's also started burrowing alot more..

I fed him 2 pinkies on saturday night, was planning to feed him a hopper mouse tomorrow.

Hatchling bps should be started on hoppers, or so I read :/ so pinkies are way too small


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Yup, gona start him on hoppers tomorrow

How big is he? I've seen that the recommended amount of food is 10-15% of their weight.


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He's 70 grams, and the pinkies I last fed him were 1g each and I only gave him 2, gona start feeding hopper mice

hoppers will be much better, he needs 10 grams of rodent. Most BP's won't even consider pinkies food

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

hoppers will be much better, he needs 10 grams of rodent. Most BP's won't even consider pinkies food

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This. Sounds to me like he doesn't feel secure in his enclosure and is looking for ways to escape.

If you are judging your temps by what you have your thermostat set to, it's not going to be accurate. It still has to heat through the glass and substrate.

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Yea gona start him on larger mice asap.

Could it be that he's gona start a shed cycle? His belly has been red ..

The temps are all perfect, thermostats censor is lying on the substarte where the ufh is.

Seems like he's just being a curious snake :)

If you have proper screen locks, flip your cage over on its side like this.

http://i49.tinypic.com/2cyfk0i.jpg

You gain considerably more floor space, you eliminate your falling distance issue, it's easier to reach in and grab your snake etc. The only Issue is keeping the substrate in the cage but this can be remedied by hot gluing something as long as the cage and "L" shaped near the opening so nothing gets out. The glass tank in my picture is a 55 Gal. Aquarium I did this too. Somewhere in the DIY section here a member wrote a GREAT guide for effectively using glass tanks on their sides instead of how they normally are used.

Edit: Here's the thread I was talking about Aquarium Solution

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Originally Posted by adum

Yea gona start him on larger mice asap.

Could it be that he's gona start a shed cycle? His belly has been red ..

The temps are all perfect, thermostats censor is lying on the substarte where the ufh is.

Seems like he's just being a curious snake :)

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Some BP's won't eat right before or during shed. That may be part of the equation... going into shed and rodents that are too small. so give him a week, and some bigger rodents. hopefully things will work out.

I would raise the humidity to at least 60% if you think that he is going into shed.

Best of luck.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by adum

Yea gona start him on larger mice asap.

Could it be that he's gona start a shed cycle? His belly has been red ..

The temps are all perfect, thermostats censor is lying on the substarte where the ufh is.

Seems like he's just being a curious snake :)

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A happy ball python is one you rarely see out and about. A stressed one is constantly roaming, climbing and burrowing.

How do you keep your thermostat probe in place if it's sitting on top of the same substrate that you report he's burrowing in?

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@twist .. That seems like a great idea. Think I'll try do it over the weekend and see if it's plausible with my setup, great advice, thanks!

@theserpantmerchant .. yup, I'll try raise the humidity. Would you attribute the increased activity to a shed coming on soon?

@rabernet .. He did the first few days in his hide, but after I introduced to him the new hide on the warm side he's been abit more active .. he doesnt really seem stressed, but he sure is more active in that he's roaming around everywhere. And the probe is under about 1cm of substrate, it's pretty secure.

Thanks guys! Gona try handling him later on today :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by adum

@twist .. That seems like a great idea. Think I'll try do it over the weekend and see if it's plausible with my setup, great advice, thanks!

@theserpantmerchant .. yup, I'll try raise the humidity. Would you attribute the increased activity to a shed coming on soon?

@rabernet .. He did the first few days in his hide, but after I introduced to him the new hide on the warm side he's been abit more active .. he doesnt really seem stressed, but he sure is more active in that he's roaming around everywhere. And the probe is under about 1cm of substrate, it's pretty secure.

Thanks guys! Gona try handling him later on today :)

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A shed normally decreases activity, stress increases it.

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ohh I see .. well he's only really active at night and in the early morning, during the day he's always in his hide

Quote:

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Originally Posted by adum

ohh I see .. well he's only really active at night and in the early morning, during the day he's always in his hide

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That is completely normal. BP's are nocturnal, so they will come out at night. (mine are most active between midnight and 3:00 AM)

Yea, but then he's really active till about 11am.. and when I handled him he was abit nippy, though I'm a massive newb to handling snakes and I'm really nervous when I try handle him (I only try once a day - every 2 days). I feel that because I'm agitated he gets agitated too and then I fear that he'll bite me and I don't know tbh .. Have any good tips for handling him? Like how to pick him up if he's facing away from me pr straight towards me?

Be confident, hesitation only gives him more time to take a swing at you... and even if he does, a bite from a Bp doesn't hurt very much at all. it is far more surprising than painful. (in fact the first time I got bit I didn't even realize what had happened until I looked down at my hand)

Picking him up when his head isn't facing you is generally a better idea, but it really doesn't matter either way.

Be careful and don't grab him, rather pick him up and sit him in your open palm. If you restrict his movement too much he will get defensive. You want to support as much of his body as you can. This will help make him feel secure.

Over time you will learn to read your Bp and that will help with handling. Before you know it you will be able to reach into the cage without a second thought to grab him.

Thanks man, yea I just gotta be more confident :) Is it fine to just lift the hide and pick him up, or should I lift it and give him a few seconds .. or should I wait until he's out and about in his tank?

I lift the hide up, and grab the BP... as I said before the more time you give them the more time they have to take a swing at you.

You do have to judge every situation, as time goes on you will gain experience (sometimes that hard way) and that will let you judge what's best better. Just remember that worst case he bites you, and that really doesn't hurt (a cat/dog/rodent bite, even a mild one is far worse than a BP's worst bite) Trust me once you get bit for the first time you will laugh at how worked up you got about it lol I think everybody in this hobby has to have that moment at some point.

Great advice, thanks man :) yea, I'm just waiting for the moment when he bites me xD just want to get it out of the way and get him to bite me to be honest haha

I strongly advise to secure your thermostat probe. If it's just laying there it will be easily moved and will in turn cause temps to spike and me inconsistent. I always prefer to secure the probe directly onto the UTH and then read temps from within (UNDER the substrate...as it would be the hottest) and adjust as needed, however if temps in your house are consistent then it shouldn't need to be altered at all. The hottest spot in the entire tank (which would be above the glass above the UTH) should not exceed the normal 88-92 degrees for ball pythons. You'll find yourself with a burnt snake if you don't secure that thing. If you insist on putting it inside the tank, then hot glue it to the bottom so that it cannot move (NOT tape or anything sticky).