kinda of a problem here

ok my ball python hasn't moved from under his water bowl/hide since he got here and that was 4 days a go. the only time i saw him was when i changed the water in the morning an that scared him so i stop changing it yesterday to give him a day of peace but he still won't come out. any help.
P.s all the temps are right on each side. the heated side is 86 and the other side is 78 and the humidity is 72%. so please give me some suggestions on what to do. because this can not be that normal even at night! :(

Ball pythons like to hide!

And yes it is normal. My bp stays in her warm hide for a little while after a meal, and then goes back to the cool side. If you have a gradient with the proper temps in place, just let your ball python do its own thing. Nothing's wrong.

First off, I'd lower the humidity - I have a mild case of scale rot that might be attributable to keeping it at 67% - ish, and while it's easy to treat, it's never a good idea to expose your pets to infection.

As for your problem - just give your snake time. Moving is very, very stressful, and your snake neds to feel secure in his new environment before he ventures out. Don't handle him, don't disturb him (i.e. by cleaning the cage - unless cleanliness really is a problem, but it shouldn't be) and don't offer food until he's a bit more active. Patience is your best bet.

Pythons are shy. Don't worry. Really.

PS> I'd also raise the heated-side's temperature about 5 degrees.

ok so um how exactly would i raise the heat on the other side of the tank

Welcome to the site, norm. It's not at all uncommon for a BP to be chilling out of view - especially if he's in a new environment. Even when they do get acclimated some are more reclusive than others - I have a young male who NEVER comes out during the day - won't even feed unless it's dark. If you have him in a glass tank you might even want to tape some newspaper or something up around it so he feels less exposed and might be more inclined to explore and get to know and feel secure in his new space.

um he won't come out at night either. and thnx for the welcome also i have a nice background taped(which he inspected when i first put him in the tank. so guys what u are saying is don't check to see if he's alive or do anything wahts os ever to him until feeding day (which is tuesday)?

Are you sure he's not out at night? Check in sometime between 2-4 am. Thats when mine are pretty active. I would definitely leave him alone to get used to his new surroundings for at least a week.

ok well i've had hi for four days so i guess another 4 days won't hurt but i satayed up till 4:30 night before last and he didn't come out at all. i'll try again tonight to give u guys detail but othe rthan that i will leave him alone. thnx for all the advice but can some tell me how to raise the heat on the hot side of the tank which is already 86 degrees. thnx

Yeah, Led is 100% correct (As Always! :P)
Check at 2-4 am ... thats when my ball python is most active.
During the day, he is in his hide chilling/or napping.

If you said your ball python is running around all day, then I'd say something is wrong! :shock:

If you don't see him at ALL during the first week I wouldn't worry about it at all - seriously, they are not the boldest of species.

As for the heat on the warm side .. what are you using to heat the tank? If you are using a human heating pad, you could try turning it up a setting. Just be careful it doesnt get too hot. What are you using for a substrate? If you are using something like Repti-Bark or some other kind of loose substrate you could try removing a little bit of it so more of the heat gets to the surface rather than dissipating before it reaches the surface.

What are you using to measure the temps/humidity in the cage?
Hopefully a digital thermometer hygrometer!

i'm using a four paws thermometer and humidity gauge

they are seperate but came together in one pack

and a uth heatinpad and paper toel for substrate

i bet that it is warmer on the substrate than you actually think because the analog gauges tend to be pretty innaccurate. sometimes so much so that it is dangerously hot. get an accurite digital thermometer/hygrometer from walmart. they are only $15 and well worth every penny.

alright well if this is the case i will have to buy one next weekend cuz i'm kinda short on money. heh

just spent 50 bucks on fuzzie rats

yeah, definitely get one. your little guy will thank you for it. :D

ok, oh yeah do u reccomend a night light to give him more comfort,got advice from some one on another site says this calms them down.

they don't require any type of lighting at all. a lot of the time they are more comfortable in a dimly lit or dark room since they are nocturnal. you can use a nightime bulb such as a black light or a red infrared bulb so that you can see him at night but it is not necessary for the sake of the snake.

you could use a low wattage ceramic heat emitter on a dimmer switch too. i just replaced my dimmer tho with a thermostat and it rocks. it goes on and off as it needs and keeps it at the perfect temperature. since i put that in too and raised the ambiant temps he spends much less time out of his hides and more time just sort of laying about the tank. which is nice.

thnx u guys i can pick that up tommorow since i can get it for 4 bucks(which is all the money i have) i will have tones of it next weekend. well i'm off to make a new humid hide for his cage just in case he wants to come out doubt it but we'll see. thnx again and happy herping!

Good luck man! Definitely switch to a digital thermometer that mlededee suggested. I've got 3 of them and was really suprised at the difference in the temps and humidity between it and the analog ones. I was almost cooking my snake until i got the true readings :shock:

Yeah sadly Led, the same thing was happening to me until I got a digital thermometer. My infared light made the basking up raise to 100 degrees!
Thank God, I found this forum.

i wqas reading in another forum and it said to put a peice of suran wrap over the top of the tank to caontain humiduty is this nessecsary for a BP(the humidity is already 62%) so is it nesscary or should i actually lower the humidity and if so how. thnx

62% sounds fine, I wouldn't do anything if that's the case. But wait and see until you get the digital thermometer/hygrometer. Because right now your gauge probably is not giving an accurate humidity reading.

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Originally Posted by gen

62% sounds fine, I wouldn't do anything if that's the case. But wait and see until you get the digital thermometer/hygrometer. Because right now your gauge probably is not giving an accurate humidity reading.

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Exactly gen :)

u really think it isn't accurate a guy i know has bgeen using the same thermometer and humidity gauge for 9 years and thats how long he's been breeding he's the one that made me go around looking for theses specific kind. he hasn't jhad any problem wth his BP's.; but i still will buy it. just for the snakes sake but i think the ones i hve actually work.

Is it digital or is it analog .. maybe i missed it somewhere. I know from personal experience that the analog ones are usually dead wrong when it comes to temp and humidity. Just make sure that your humidity is in a good range and you should be fine, and that you are using something that measures temps and humidity differently. Remember, every snake and keeper is different.

yeah every snake keeper has their preferences and husbandry techniques. i myself hold firm to the need for a digital thermometer/hygrometer. even if you put the analog thermometer on the cage floor or substrate it still isnt going to be as accurate as a digital one. my analog gauges were 15 degrees off on temperature and 10% off on humidity. i was heating the tank floor up too hot and trying to acheive too high of a humidity level because i thought it was really low. i spent the extra money on the nicer analog gauges too because i thought they would be better. that's why i'm all in favor of the accurite.

my plan worked dudes. i didn't like him being under the waetr bowel so i made him another hide and steralized it and put in the atnk and mocved the other hide all the way to the hot side then i put the water bowel in the middle and then i put him in the tank in top of the new hide. he wasn't even breathing hard. first he went and looked around for about ten minutes and then he found the opening to the new hide and went in and then came back out and then went around his tree and then went back in the new hide. so i never seen him stay out that long so maybe he's cool and comfy now. i'm so happy. i wanted to take some new pictures but i didn't want to rin the moment or scare himhalf to death. this is really cool. i'm gonna check him out tonight and if he comes out then i will really be content.