Why is my 5 month old ball python so active?

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and a new ball python owner. William is overall quite an active snake. Lately he's been on the move casing his 10 gallon terrarium. Should I be worried about him being too active?

Here are a few details about William: he is 5 months old, just under 2ft long, very friendly and relaxed when held and seems to have a great temperament.

A few details about his environment: the tank has a hide on the hot side (90F in the hide) and one on the cold side (75F) and a climbing branch. The ambient temp is btwn 80 - 85F during the day. I have an under heating pad that covers about 1/3 of the tank on the hot side as well as an over head heat lamp on the outside of the tank, which is on a timer and a night heat lamp comes on during the night. In other words I'm pretty OCD about his environment!

His eating: He eats a small frozen mouse once a wk. the mouse is thawed and warmed. So far he has taken his mouse every week with no fuss and seems to be a good eater.

I'm wondering if maybe he is hungry but his activity seems to happen a few days after he's eaten, not just when it's time for his next feed which makes me think it might be something other than hunger.

Bottom line, should I be worried about this overactivity?

Is your Uth hooked up to a thermostat? If not, your snake could get badly burned.

If he's new, it's understandable for him to be a bit active. Make sure he has two snug hides with one entrance, and had lots of plants. Baby balls need cluttered up cages to feel secure.

I'm not an expert, and someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think a 10 gallon tank might be too small, a content bp should in his hide most of the time. Do you have a hide on each side of the tank? What kind of substrate do you use? He might be uncomfortable if he is that active, but that might just be his personality.

Just my two cents, so I hope others will chime in soon! :)

How small is the mouse?

How much does your snake weigh and how much does the frozen mouse weigh?

A small mouse seems to me to be too little food for a 5 month old BP. I would guess he's hungry and looking for food.

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Originally Posted by 200xth

how small is the mouse?

How much does your snake weigh and how much does the frozen mouse weigh?

A small mouse seems to me to be too little food for a 5 month old bp. I would guess he's hungry and looking for food.

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x2

Sounds like your husbandry is spot on. I agree that he is likely looking for food. A small mouse isn't enough. Prey should be 10 - 15 % of the snake's body weight. My young ones take F/T rat pups easily. I feed every 5 days until a year old and then move to every 7 days.

The 10 gallon will be big enough temporarily, but he will need more space soon.

He is probably hungry. This happened to me a while ago so I switched mine from hoppers to adult mice. My bp is 5 months old and eats fuzzy rats.

I have to agree, he sounds like a hungry snake searching for food.

Adhd :d

Thanks for all the replies!

We've had him for over 6 wks and he used to go into his hide all the time. I have 2 snug hides, each w one entrance. I've use coco husks since we've gotten him. When he's resting he is staying outside his hide. I check the temp in the hot hide all the time w a probe. It's around 90F.

We feed him fussies, so maybe it's time to switch to rat pups or adult mice? I haven't weighed him. Will go and get a little digital scale today - seems like a good idea.

I do not have a thermostate. Where can I get one? They don't seem to have them at the pet stores.

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Originally Posted by Debra

Thanks for all the replies!

We've had him for over 6 wks and he used to go into his hide all the time. I have 2 snug hides, each w one entrance. I've use coco husks since we've gotten him. When he's resting he is staying outside his hide. I check the temp in the hot hide all the time w a probe. It's around 90F.

We feed him fussies, so maybe it's time to switch to rat pups or adult mice? I haven't weighed him. Will go and get a little digital scale today - seems like a good idea.

I do not have a thermostate. Where can I get one? They don't seem to have them at the pet stores.

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I would say rat pups at least. If you don't have a scale, you can eyeball it. The food should be about as wide as the snake is at it's widest part. If you haven't seen a snake eat before, don't let the slender neck fool you. If something can fit in the wide part of the snake, it can fit down the mouth and through the neck.

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Originally Posted by Debra

I do not have a thermostate. Where can I get one? They don't seem to have them at the pet stores.

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Wal-Mart

I purchasd the digital scale and our snake weighs 5.2 oz (147 grams) and the hopper weighs 0.8 oz (23 grams). Which is approx 15% of his body weight. Should the rat pups be 15% of his body weight or the mice hoppers? I have heard that rat pups are more filling. Is that true?

Inside the hot hide it's approx 87F

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Originally Posted by Debra

... I do not have a thermostate. Where can I get one? They don't seem to have them at the pet stores.

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Most highly recommended low end one(hydrofarm):
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_sa...m%20thermostat

Most highly recommended high end one:
http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Debra

I purchasd the digital scale and our snake weighs 5.2 oz (147 grams) and the hopper weighs 0.8 oz (23 grams). Which is approx 15% of his body weight. Should the rat pups be 15% of his body weight or the mice hoppers? I have heard that rat pups are more filling. Is that true?

Inside the hot hide it's approx 87F

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That should be enough to keep him from being hungry. If you're doing once a week, you might want to try every 5 days if you can. That'll keep him a little more full and help with the growth...147g is a little on the small side for his age, IMO.

My understanding is there is no definitive report on python nutrition needs. Some people claim rats are better, some claim either rats or mice are fine. When your snake reaches adulthood, I can say, you will find it much more convenient to feed him one rat than multiple mice, so you might want to switch him over for that reason alone.

The temps look good in your setup, what's the humidity at?

My guy will hide for 2 days after he eats a rat but on the second or third day he would poop and then he would be very active. I'm thinking he might be hungry, but I thought a rest will last them a week?

Sent from my HTCONE

If they're hungry, then they're hungry lol. When my snake is out and about, he's definitely hungry, and has eaten every time he's been offered food.

Humidity levels range btwn 50 - 60%. I usually spray the tank once in the morning.

I usually feed around 10% every 5-7 days. More often than not, it's a little more than 10%. HOWEVER, I have a freak of nature who has absolutely no problem sleeping stretched out across her tank without a care in the world. When she starts doing laps at 3am, it's because she's hungry. I'm betting yours is hunting as well.

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Debra

I do not have a thermostate. Where can I get one? They don't seem to have them at the pet stores.

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There are many places online, here is a place I like. The VE-200 is the model I prefer.
http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermostats

A cheaper option is the hydrofarm thermostats that you can get at Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...ords=hydrofarm

Thanks, I just picked up the rat pups, each about 15% of our BP's body weight. Will try offering it to him and hopefully it will sustain him better until his next feed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pyrate81

Most highly recommended low end one(hydrofarm):
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_sa...m%20thermostat

Most highly recommended high end one:
http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

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yea that's what I meant, I was thinking thermometer...I have hydrofarm

William was definitely hungry. He took the F/T rat pup (15% of his body weight) no problem and his now content relaxing in his hide w his head peaking out. Will see how many days it satisfies him for. If he starts casing the tank before the wk is up I'll go for a bigger rat, as this one, after measuring it's circumference was slightly smaller than William's.
Thanks for all your help!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Debra

William was definitely hungry. He took the F/T rat pup (15% of his body weight) no problem and his now content relaxing in his hide w his head peaking out. Will see how many days it satisfies him for. If he starts casing the tank before the wk is up I'll go for a bigger rat, as this one, after measuring it's circumference was slightly smaller than William's.
Thanks for all your help!

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He's small and growing. If he's casing the tank before the week is up, feed him those rat pups every 4 or 5 days for a while.

Babies that small can eat a lot lol. I fed my girl every 4 or 5 days at hat age depending on how hungry she was. She went through a ton of growth spurts and the shedding wow. She shed almost every other week, at least thats what it felt like. Rats do fill them up better than mice because od the higher fat and protein in them. Good luck with him. They are amazing creatures and so much fun at time figuring out what they want.

I feed my 5 month ball python 1 fuzzy mouse once a week and is active to should I be feeding more she is a great snake just want to make sure she is growing good and well fed.

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I feed my 5 month ball python 1 fuzzy mouse once a week and is active to should I be feeding more she is a great snake just want to make sure she is growing good and well fed.

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As in previous posts for this thread - you probably should be feeding larger meals and/or more often.
I feed my babies as often as every 3-5 days. They won't eat anything they can't swallow - although I've seen some pretty long struggles getting some meals down!