New Ball is not active at night

I got my new adult ball python a week ago and am worried she is stressed or ill. I am pretty confident that she is not coming out at night. She has been in her hide (on the cool side) since day one and has not left it, even at night to explore the cage. The first few days she had a red light at night and I never saw her out when I would woke up throughout the night. I was thinking the red light was bothering her so I replaced the heat with a ceramic bulb. I saw her out once the night I switched it but she has not moved since that. I thought maybe she was shedding but her color looks normal.

She lives in a 20 gallon long with one hide on each side and some plants to provide cover. The temps of the cage are pretty good (I have the ceramic bulb on a thermostat and it is the only source of heat). The hot side is at 95 and the cool side is at 83-84. At night the cool side drops to about 78. The humidity stays right around 50 all the time. The only source of light she gets is from my dragons cage on the shelf next to her that turns on and off at 9 so there is never a blaring light above her. As far as I know, these are good conditions for a ball.

I am worried that she isn't adjusting or is getting sick? It makes me nervous that she seems to be sleeping through the day and night. Any advice or experience with this would be great!

Please take what I say with a grain of salt , are you sure your snake isn't making its rounds in its enclosure? I just got my first today (like I said no expert by any means) first roamed around, probably checking to make sure he belonged there, a bath (oops!) , off to the warm side were he planted himself. If I had not seen him moving I never would have known either way, maybe it's the same for yours. Hope someone with the knowledge and experience chimes in. Best wishes to both of you..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by C.Marie

Please take what I say with a grain of salt , are you sure your snake isn't making its rounds in its enclosure? I just got my first today (like I said no expert by any means) first roamed around, probably checking to make sure he belonged there, a bath (oops!) , off to the warm side were he planted himself. If I had not seen him moving I never would have known either way, maybe it's the same for yours. Hope someone with the knowledge and experience chimes in. Best wishes to both of you..

---

I wake up quite often during the night and I feel like if she was active at night, even if just a little, I would have seen her at least once over the past week. My last ball python that I owned would be out all night long and I saw him every time I woke up during the night. I guess it is possible I am just not seeing her move around, though.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by A2Lackey

I got my new adult ball python a week ago and am worried she is stressed or ill. I am pretty confident that she is not coming out at night. She has been in her hide (on the cool side) since day one and has not left it, even at night to explore the cage. The first few days she had a red light at night and I never saw her out when I would woke up throughout the night. I was thinking the red light was bothering her so I replaced the heat with a ceramic bulb. I saw her out once the night I switched it but she has not moved since that. I thought maybe she was shedding but her color looks normal.

She lives in a 20 gallon long with one hide on each side and some plants to provide cover. The temps of the cage are pretty good (I have the ceramic bulb on a thermostat and it is the only source of heat). The hot side is at 95 and the cool side is at 83-84. At night the cool side drops to about 78. The humidity stays right around 50 all the time. The only source of light she gets is from my dragons cage on the shelf next to her that turns on and off at 9 so there is never a blaring light above her. As far as I know, these are good conditions for a ball.

I am worried that she isn't adjusting or is getting sick? It makes me nervous that she seems to be sleeping through the day and night. Any advice or experience with this would be great!

---

Sounds like a Ball Python to me. Ball Pythons generally are in one spot for long periods of time. Even when they are awake they don't need to go out unless they really want to. 95 for the hot spot seems to be a touch on the higher end. Might try dropping that down between 90-94.

Since you only had her a week, I'd say just continue to give her her space for a while, she may still be adjusting to her surroundings and doesn't feel confident to explore yet.

That being said 95 sounds too hot. You might wanna dial back to head so it's closer to 90-92. For the hot side, is that the ambient temp or the actual hot spot/surface temperature?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MissterDog

Since you only had her a week, I'd say just continue to give her her space for a while, she may still be adjusting to her surroundings and doesn't feel confident to explore yet.

That being said 95 sounds too hot. You might wanna dial back to head so it's closer to 90-92. For the hot side, is that the ambient temp or the actual hot spot/surface temperature?

---

That's the ambient for the hot side. The only reason I have it like that is because it helps keep the cool side from dropping too low. I have a screen top so I struggle with temps. I'm currently using tin foil to help with keep heat and humidity in.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by A2Lackey

That's the ambient for the hot side. The only reason I have it like that is because it helps keep the cool side from dropping too low. I have a screen top so I struggle with temps. I'm currently using tin foil to help with keep heat and humidity in.

---

You may want to check how the surface temp is (do you have a temp gun?), because whatever the ambient air temp is on the hot side, the surface may possibly be a few degrees hotter (or colder) just to make sure it's not entering the realm of dangerously hot (95+), since that's where your snake will be making contact.

As for the screen top, you could always try using foam boards in addition to the tin foil.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MissterDog

You may want to check how the surface temp is (do you have a temp gun?), because whatever the ambient air temp is on the hot side, the surface may possibly be a few degrees hotter (or colder) just to make sure it's not entering the realm of dangerously hot (95+), since that's where your snake will be making contact.

As for the screen top, you could always try using foam boards in addition to the tin foil.

---

I say "ambient temp" but my thermostat is actually resting on the ground of the enclosure. I will definitely lower it a few degrees though.

One more question that I've been wondering, how much of the screen lid can I cover and still allow good air circulation. I probably have over half of the screen lid covered (including where the light sits). Is that too much? Could I cover even more than half?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by A2Lackey

I say "ambient temp" but my thermostat is actually resting on the ground of the enclosure. I will definitely lower it a few degrees though.

One more question that I've been wondering, how much of the screen lid can I cover and still allow good air circulation. I probably have over half of the screen lid covered (including where the light sits). Is that too much? Could I cover even more than half?

---

Hoping someone with more experience can chime in because I'm not too sure how much ventilation is enough and what is too much for a screen top set up.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MissterDog

Hoping someone with more experience can chime in because I'm not too sure how much ventilation is enough and what is too much for a screen top set up.

---

Well looking at a rack set up with tubs, they don't seem to have a ton of ventilation. Just a few holes right?

You don't really need much circulation. The fact that the air inside is warmer than the air outside the enclosure will promote plenty of circulation as the warm air vacates the top of the enclosure and cool air replaces it. My 3x2x1 PVC enclosure only has two slots about 3 inches long and 1/4" thick on the top back sides, plus whatever air gets past the "seal" of the acrylic hinged window in the front. Plus, it's not as if snakes breathe large volumes of air, they have itty bitty little lungs compared to us. A few square inches should be more than enough circulation.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by A2Lackey

I say "ambient temp" but my thermostat is actually resting on the ground of the enclosure. I will definitely lower it a few degrees though.

---

the thermostat probe needs to be OUTSIDE the enclosure sandwiched between the UTH and the OUTSIDE bottom of the enclosure. a UTH DOES NOT affect ambient temps and is not an ambient heat source; you need supplemental heating, i.e. a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) to raise ambient temperatures if you're struggling to maintain temps.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by A2Lackey

One more question that I've been wondering, how much of the screen lid can I cover and still allow good air circulation. I probably have over half of the screen lid covered (including where the light sits). Is that too much? Could I cover even more than half?

---

you can cover the whole thing; stagnant air won't have any affect on the snake. if you're worried about circulation, use tinfoil or saran wrap to cover the entire mesh top and cut two slits into it with a box cutter or other knife and that will allow air flow.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

the thermostat probe needs to be OUTSIDE the enclosure sandwiched between the UTH and the OUTSIDE bottom of the enclosure. a UTH DOES NOT affect ambient temps and is not an ambient heat source; you need supplemental heating, i.e. a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) to raise ambient temperatures if you're struggling to maintain temps.


you can cover the whole thing; stagnant air won't have any affect on the snake. if you're worried about circulation, use tinfoil or saran wrap to cover the entire mesh top and cut two slits into it with a box cutter or other knife and that will allow air flow.

---

I only have a ceramic heater that sits above the screen. My thermostat is set on the ground directly under the bulb

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by A2Lackey

I only have a ceramic heater that sits above the screen. My thermostat is set on the ground directly under the bulb

---

i apologize for misreading your posts. i would recommend getting a UTH for your enclosure and placing the CHE in the middle of the mesh top if possible. you stated your CHE hot side was 95° (which is TOO HOT) but if it were lower, the cold side drops too low: my solution would be getting a UTH + thermostat which would ensure a proper hot spot temp without affecting the cold side temps, then you can use the CHE for solely maintaining ambient temps.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

i apologize for misreading your posts. i would recommend getting a UTH for your enclosure and placing the CHE in the middle of the mesh top if possible. you stated your CHE hot side was 95° (which is TOO HOT) but if it were lower, the cold side drops too low: my solution would be getting a UTH + thermostat which would ensure a proper hot spot temp without affecting the cold side temps, then you can use the CHE for solely maintaining ambient temps.

---

Would I need a thermostat for the CHE too?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by A2Lackey

Would I need a thermostat for the CHE too?

---

all sources of heat must be regulated. with my CHE i actually just use a rheostat. i took time to dial it in and it works great, although i check temps often when it's running. if the room the snakes are in has a consistant temperature then a rheostat will work fine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

all sources of heat must be regulated. with my CHE i actually just use a rheostat. i took time to dial it in and it works great, although i check temps often when it's running. if the room the snakes are in has a consistant temperature then a rheostat will work fine.

---

Thank you! I will get a UTH right away!

You can cover up most of the screen top with something like a plastic garbage bag or something similar. That is what i do for over 3/4 of my screen top.