Snake play gym???

Sounds silly lol but has anyone made a play gym type thing for their snakes with branches and stuff for them to excercise and stuff?

Am really tempted to make one. We don't have the weather in uk for them to be outdoors more than maybe one or 2 days throughout summer so trees etc are a bit of about go xx


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BP's are terrestrial snakes but occasionally climb. i've seen plenty of pix and posts of BP's climbing branches in their enclosures. but these are 1-2 feet climbs on branches and perches and not full size tree climbs. that said, i was just scrolling through the forum and there's a new DIY jungle gym thread in the Morelia (arboreal python) forum - http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ungle-Gym-help!

A ball python will just feel exposed on a free standing 'play' gym and do what it can to get back to the ground and the safety of a hide.

If you give BP's something to climb on, they will use it and it's probably good for them.
If the snake has only ever lived in a tub with minimal head room or no climbing opportunities, it might take awhile before it figures things out and builds up the muscles. So platforms or hammocks can be a good start because they give the snake something to climb on but also another stable place to hang out. A platform that's fairly close to the ceiling actually has some aspects of a hide too (as long as the lid is on, lol), since it's sort of a narrow crevasse, so it gives the snake more options for sitting around as well as for climbing. But dowels, PVC, branches, etc, can all be used to make climbing structures. You can buy cleaned-up branches and driftwood kinds of things at pet stores, although they're often overpriced IMHO. I've heard of using perches meant for birds, too. If you're using a tub, you just make a hole in the side to mount it to. In a tank you probably have to be more creative at either building free-standing structures or using branches that can go diagonally from corner to corner and not fall.
Another method I've seen that looks neat is to wrap PVC pipe with rope or twine so it isn't so slippery. You could even wrap fake plants in along with it if you want.

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Originally Posted by piedlover79

A ball python will just feel exposed on a free standing 'play' gym and do what it can to get back to the ground and the safety of a hide.

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If you are speaking for all bp's you are mistaken. Our spider female thinks she is a chondro.[IMG]http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...4_10.05.39.png[/IMG]

If you put the play gym inside their own enclosure, they may utilize it once in awhile when exploring/"hunting". But when I take my bp's outside their enclosure, they basically just want to find the closest warm or dark place, even if they have to travel across a room or under a bed to get to it. :P

Ball pythons can climb and wild ones may actually be quite capable of climbing even tall trees, having been recorded in trees hunting for prey in a few studies. But it is majorly for hunting/feeding purpose... Ball pythons don't just chill in a tree for relaxing/digesting like GTP or JCP species would.

Inside an enclosure is fine. I was thinking they were speaking of one of those big tree like gyms you put parrots on.

My 14 yr old climbs whenever the opportunity presents itself.

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Another arboreal-BP owner here. This is my girl on our snake "tree" (built mainly for the carpet pythons).
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My Morelia and husband's VBB also have PVC, rope, and artificial vine jungle gyms in their cages.
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Looks like we are crushing stereotypes left and right.

Cinnamon Roll climbs up stuff each time I take her out to roam about for an hour. Sometimes she goes right up the front of my dresser, which has hardly any sort of grip for her but she finds a way, and lately she has climbed up the pile of paper and boxes in order to get back to her tub when she decides she's done for the day. This ranges from 15 minutes to the full hour in today's case.

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This is actually two separate days of this, she used to do it very often until she decided it wasn't worth the trouble. She always got put back down very quick (and I sat beside her just in case she slipped). She finds climbing to her tub or up onto my bed is more rewarding as she gets to go sleep or roam for awhile longer. c:

Unlike the male, my female seems to have no fear of being seen. Yesterday I left the cage door open so she'd get out and I could clean it while she roamed around. Instead of the usual downward climb to the floor she surprised me and went up.


Something I noticed when I picked her up off this stand, they seem to be able to use their bottom (dorsal scales) not just to move, but to cling or grip with.
http://i.imgur.com/mY73zGX.jpg

There was never really an question whether a ball python can climb or not, there are plenty of pics floating around the internet to see that, but I don't think a ball python is thinking "oh snap i'm getting a little chubby, better go climb something and get some exercise". If you put a jungle gym in the middle of the yard, 9 out of 10 times it goes right by it, now if you add a hide box on it like they do for cats or put some kind of cover over it like leaves in a tree, then it might peak their interests a little bit more.

I asked this question because 2 of my royals absolutely always head for anything they can climb on. They don't care if it's a leg or a chair etc, they just want height. Choosing between going under a cushion/hiding area and going up on the to cabinet or anything, they head skywards.

Also, one of my royals came to me as a former breeding project female. She is about 1900 grams but her muscle tone is very sloppy compared to my other larger girls. I didn't know if being in a rub set up her entire life with little stimulation and areas to move around would have factored in this so figure I may make something she can excercise on xx


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It's worth a try, It is a possibility that life in a tub 24/7 with regular meals probably attributed to the appearance of a lack of muscle tone or she could have been just under fed.

She has been refusing food since she came to me in June but her records are very good for feeds. I got her from someone I trust hasn't just faked them.

She is very girthy, I thought for a while she may have been gravid as sh is that swollen.

Oddly though, she was 1650g when she arrived and despite not eating she is now 1909 today x


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Originally Posted by embrit345

She has been refusing food since she came to me in June but her records are very good for feeds. I got her from someone I trust hasn't just faked them.

She is very girthy, I thought for a while she may have been gravid as sh is that swollen.

Oddly though, she was 1650g when she arrived and despite not eating she is now 1909 today x


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Unless she drinks water all day long and was severely dehydrated this is highly unlikely and probably impossible. Matter cannot be created or destroyed, it just changes forms. The snake cannot gain weight without putting something inside it.

Well my scales are accurate and it's only her that it's happened with so I am clueless. She wasn't dehydrated when she arrived and has visibly gotten quite round. Hence her name Pandora cos who knows what she contains hahaha xx


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Originally Posted by Aztec4mia

............... but I don't think a ball python is thinking "oh snap i'm getting a little chubby, better go climb something and get some exercise". .

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Don't tell my Boa, Elenore that! She uses the Stairmaster quite a bit. :D:D

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