Why is he burying himself?

Since it has gotten a bit colder here in Maine I have been fighting to keep the husbandry in my 2 year old ball python's tank correct. He has been roaming his tank day and night but has refused to eat for over two months so I was getting concerned. I have 2 identical hides, a water dish, logs to climb and plenty of greenery to hide under, and logs to climb on but was struggling to keep it warm and humid, and was concerned that this may be adding to his restlessness. I was struggling to get the warm side of the tank above 75 degrees and the cool side was about 63 (way too cold). Recently I purchased a piece of plexiglass cut to fit the top of my tank with 2 holes that i cut out with a wood burning kit for the lights. I put black foam board around the sides and back of the tank as well for some insulation. Humidity is staying around 50 now and on the hot side of the tank during the day runs around 90-95 and the cool side around 80-85. At night about 10 degrees cooler on both sides. Today i noticed for the first time that he has kind of dug down into the substrate under his hide on the cool side of the tank. I just want to know if that means that he is hot and is trying to get cooler by digging down. I don't want to be making him too hot now so Any assistance would be great! Thank you!

If anyone would let me know how to put a picture on here I will gladly post a picture of my tank, I just don't know how to.

Thank You
Maria

Sounds to me like he is to hot, being on the cold side and trying to dig down away from the heat source.or he might just like burrowing it is something they do. What are you using to get your temps?

How to post pictures:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...with-pictures)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tunechi

Sounds to me like he is to hot, being on the cold side and trying to dig down away from the heat source.or he might just like burrowing it is something they do. What are you using to get your temps?

---

Terrarium Hygrometer Thermometer by Zilla

He's either too hot, not enough humidity, or he is stressed and trying to hide.

Do you think the temps are too high?

Or you using a UTH or just lights to generate heat? Where is your temp probe reading the temp at in the tank?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jclaiborne

Or you using a UTH or just lights to generate heat? Where is your temp probe reading the temp at in the tank?

---

I am using UTH on the warm side of the tank and i have the temp probe on the hot side of the tank and a regular zilla thermometer/humidity gauge on the cold side.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MariaLHodge

I am using UTH on the warm side of the tank and i have the temp probe on the hot side of the tank and a regular zilla thermometer/humidity gauge on the cold side.

---

Is your UTH hooked up to a thermostat? Your temp probe on the hot side, is it sitting directly on top of the UTH or is it up in the air?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jclaiborne

Is your UTH hooked up to a thermostat? Your temp probe on the hot side, is it sitting directly on top of the UTH or is it up in the air?

---

I do not have a thermostat and the probes are about 2 inches above the bedding...

he's probably used to the cold and now just reacting to the drastic change in temps. like if your hand was really cold and then you rinse it with warm water and it feels super hot. try gradually getting his body heat to warm up instead of just introducing him to high temps right away


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hope you get ya problem resolved,I feel bad your snakes flipping out...get him comfortable ASAP..good luck

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by alykoz

he's probably used to the cold and now just reacting to the drastic change in temps. like if your hand was really cold and then you rinse it with warm water and it feels super hot. try gradually getting his body heat to warm up instead of just introducing him to high temps right away


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

Thank You I agree... I am going to keep the plexiglass off and see how that works for the time being and gradually work him up. I think he's happier because he's actually staying under his hide. For such a long time he was out roaming his tank constantly day and night. I hope it's a good thing that he's staying put :) I guess It'll be a waiting game. I do need to invest in a thermostat. Maybe I'll ask Santa for one ;-) :gj:

If your thermometer probe is 2 inches above the substrate and reading 90-95*F then on the substrate it's way to hot for your snake. With no t-stat on that UTH it's going to be hot enough to burn him badly, and the subsequent vet visit will cost several times what a thermostat does. You need one ASAP.

You need a thermostat to properly control the heat from the UTH or your snake will become burned.

I agree with a couple of psters on here. If the probe is up on the glass 2 inches above the substrate then that is ambient temp not real uth temp. You need to put the probe in the substrate right over the uth. If you can't get a thermostat then get a rheostat at least. If you are using both lights and uth then you need to turn off the light. Poor little guy is probably boiling. Also don't cover the whole top with plexiglass. You need air circulation also. I have saran wrap with a piece of foil between covering 2/3 of the top. I also have 3 sides insulated with a blanket and a towel over part of the top and half the front. I can't get a plug in thermostat here in town so I need to order one. I do have a rheostat set on low and my girl is switching between the cool and warm side hides. It is a matter of experimenting to find what level to set the rheostat though. My probe from an acurite indoor outdoor temp humidity guage is right over the uth and the body is on the cool side. Temps and humidity is right on. You can get one for about $12 at walmart. You don't need to buy an expensive reptile one when these work exactly the same, and are cheaper.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Phantomtip

I agree with a couple of psters on here. If the probe is up on the glass 2 inches above the substrate then that is ambient temp not real uth temp. You need to put the probe in the substrate right over the uth. If you can't get a thermostat then get a rheostat at least. If you are using both lights and uth then you need to turn off the light. Poor little guy is probably boiling. Also don't cover the whole top with plexiglass. You need air circulation also. I have saran wrap with a piece of foil between covering 2/3 of the top. I also have 3 sides insulated with a blanket and a towel over part of the top and half the front. I can't get a plug in thermostat here in town so I need to order one. I do have a rheostat set on low and my girl is switching between the cool and warm side hides. It is a matter of experimenting to find what level to set the rheostat though. My probe from an acurite indoor outdoor temp humidity guage is right over the uth and the body is on the cool side. Temps and humidity is right on. You can get one for about $12 at walmart. You don't need to buy an expensive reptile one when these work exactly the same, and are cheaper.

---

The UTH is on the hot side of my 55 gallon tank and he is on the opposite side burying himself into the substrate and is happy, so why would that make you think that he is too hot? I moved the probe to the cool side of the tank under the substrate near where he is and it's reading 82... So... he's not burning up, so I just don't know... i'm frustrated.

If he's in a 55 gal then you need 2 thermo hygros with probes. So the temp on the cool side is what he likes right now. He will go to the hot side if he gets too cold. I know when I was getting temps just right my girl buried herself on the hot side. Right over the uth. Scared me because I thought she was going to get nasty burns. Don't be frustrated. You will get it right. I promise. Relax a little, he just likes the cool side right now, or maybe the hide is better to him.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Phantomtip

If he's in a 55 gal then you need 2 thermo hygros with probes. So the temp on the cool side is what he likes right now. He will go to the hot side if he gets too cold. I know when I was getting temps just right my girl buried herself on the hot side. Right over the uth. Scared me because I thought she was going to get nasty burns. Don't be frustrated. You will get it right. I promise. Relax a little, he just likes the cool side right now, or maybe the hide is better to him.

---

Thank you! I know that the last two days were strange because he wasn't out roaming his tank throughout the day but I know that a happy ball python doesn't venture during the day so obviously the temperature and humidity are more to his liking. I just had never seen him move the substrate at all so that threw me for a loop....

My only other question is what should the ambient temp be in the tank. It's reading 90-95 during the day with my probe 1-2 inches above the substrate and a 100watt bulb (cost me $60 but not sure what kind it was). is that too warm on the hot side for ambient temp?

My ambient temp is around 85 during the day. Remember though my girl is in a 20 long until I get the brain power to build her a nice enclosure. I would put the probe right over the uth . Bury it into the substrate. The only time I ever saw my girl burrow was right after I fed her the first time in months, and he had heat and water. I had to really beg for my friends who were watching her for me to give her heat. She is in her hot hide and has been for a few days now but not burrowed down. I need to go today and get her some food. I need to haul her out of the hide and measure her lol. Hope shes in a good mood. Balls do like to be underground so maybe the light is too bright, or he doesn't feel secure enough. I don't know I'm not there and can't see everything myself.

What should the temp be when placed above the uth?

Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

if you are measuring directly on the UTH it should be 90, that is why we said she is too hot, you need to hook up a TSTAT to your UTH.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MariaLHodge

Thank you! I know that the last two days were strange because he wasn't out roaming his tank throughout the day but I know that a happy ball python doesn't venture during the day so obviously the temperature and humidity are more to his liking. I just had never seen him move the substrate at all so that threw me for a loop....

My only other question is what should the ambient temp be in the tank. It's reading 90-95 during the day with my probe 1-2 inches above the substrate and a 100watt bulb (cost me $60 but not sure what kind it was). is that too warm on the hot side for ambient temp?

---

An ambient temp of 90 to 95 is kind of hot. My hot spot (on the substrate...where the snake's belly makes contact with the substrate) is 89 to 90. The ambient temp is around 84 to 85 at that end of the tub.

Well then I don't know what to say because my ambient temp right at this moment is 93 and the temp in my substrate is 84 and the UTH is definitely warm and working... So at this point I'm going to say that contrary to what people are saying he is not burning up, the temps are fine and I think he was just burying himself to bury himself. He seems more content now than he has in months, so I'm going to keep monitoring the temps, get a thermostat and keep on doing what I'm doing.

Thanks again! I greatly appreciate all the advice! :bow: