My Ball Python is a little brat

So the other day I cleaned my girl's tank and moved a few things around including her cold hide so it was next to her water dish, thinking maybe that would stop her from going under the water dish itself and knocking over all her water. Well, the brat took it a step further.
I went to take her out so she could get some exploring done and to my horror I could not find her. I picked up her cold hide and there she was... crammed into the hollow part of the hide. I didn't realize she could fit into there nor did I expect her to go up there in the first place. She can get out on her own just fine as she has shown me several times by sticking her head out and staring at me with her smug little eyes, but she still stubbornly refuses to come out. Luckily I don't have to take her to a vet or anything but once she comes out that's that hide gone!
Here are a few pictures of my little Copernicus being an absolute awful child:
https://scontent.fbed1-2.fna.fbcdn.n...e8&oe=5C8D28CDhttps://scontent.fbed1-2.fna.fbcdn.n...60&oe=5CCE04EA
https://scontent.fbed1-2.fna.fbcdn.n...57&oe=5CBF8849

That’s funny

:rofl::rofl::rofl: Yup, that's a snake for you! That's so cute...and actually, you don't have to throw it out, just fill it with something non-toxic that fills the space
& hardens.

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:rofl::rofl::rofl: Yup, that's a snake for you! That's so cute...and actually, you don't have to throw it out, just fill it with something non-toxic that fills the space
& hardens.

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Oh that's actually a very good idea! I didn't even think of that lol, thank you!

You could use silicone seal made for aquarium use...it's non-toxic when fully dry; while it's drying it off-gasses vinegar-like fumes, mostly annoying but dry
completely before you put it back in. That will actually help to weigh the hide down too.

That hole would take an awful lot of sealant to fill, so what I'd do is first wad something else into the hole, to fill it most of the way. (Silicone that deep would
also take forever to dry.) Just paper wadded in there should be fine...then just seal it in there with silicone so it sits flat.

Thanks for the tip! That will be my next project when that stubborn girl finally leaves the hide!

An option for a harmless filler is the Great Stuff brand gap/crack filler.

It gets used for backgrounds in cages and stuff, and silicone adheres to it well if you scrape off the outer shiny layer once it dries. I'd add the silicone to keep it extra water-proof, but some people have carved it and just painted with acrylic paints and had it work out fine from what I can tell.

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Alright! So that's two different brands I can try. Sounds awesome :) Thanks again for all the great advice

You aren't the first & only one with a "snake brat", lol...

Alternatively apoxie sculpt works very well for filling stuff in/covering the hole or even sculpting over. It self cures in 24 hours and once it does it's pretty much as hard as steel. Waterproof, non-toxic and non porous. One of my favorite mediums to work with for DIY projects.

That is awesome. Looks comfy.

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You aren't the first & only one with a "snake brat", lol...

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Oh I'm sure I'm not lol Ball pythons have quite the personality!

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Alternatively apoxie sculpt works very well for filling stuff in/covering the hole or even sculpting over. It self cures in 24 hours and once it does it's pretty much as hard as steel. Waterproof, non-toxic and non porous. One of my favorite mediums to work with for DIY projects.

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That one sounds really good to use, I like that its non porous. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by hvactechgreen

That is awesome. Looks comfy.

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Yeah, you can almost see the smirk on his little face too. :D Like a little kid playing hide & seek...

She is certainly smug about her accomplishment lol

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Yeah, you can almost see the smirk on his little face too. :D Like a little kid playing hide & seek...

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Reminds me of my 2 year old. He gets that little grin and just as I try to grab him he takes off.

While it worked out this time, décor with fully-enclosed holes should be avoided in snake enclosures as sometimes snakes get themselves wedged into something like this and then they can't back themselves out. There are some members here who had to destroy the piece to free the snake.

If you look at the design of hides specifically for snakes, the access holes are never fully enclosed.

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While it worked out this time, décor with fully-enclosed holes should be avoided in snake enclosures as sometimes snakes get themselves wedged into something like this and then they can't back themselves out. There are some members here who had to destroy the piece to free the snake.

If you look at the design of hides specifically for snakes, the access holes are never fully enclosed.

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Yeah this is very true, luckily she isn't stuck stuck, would have been very scary if she did. None of her other hides or decor are hollow, just this one that I used for a cold hide and never had problems with her getting into it until now. I certainly will avoid things like this in the future.

Also: since these spaces aren't intended for the snake to get into, they may also have sharp edges exposed that a snake can get injured on.
Just like little kids, we have to do the thinking for our snakes because they just don't know any better. ;)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Just like little kids, we have to do the thinking for our snakes because they just don't know any better. ;)

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Or like horses, 99% of taking care of them is preventing them from killing themselves.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Or like horses, 99% of taking care of them is preventing them from killing themselves.

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Oh that is SOOOO true! LOL!

tail wagging the dog?

She finally came out of the hide and I've removed the hide from her cage so she can't do it again :)
https://scontent.fbed1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...da&oe=5CC29E5Dhttps://scontent.fbed1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...5a&oe=5CD93F91

She sure has a guilty look on her face...;) Pretty little thing, don't be too hard on her.

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She sure has a guilty look on her face...;) Pretty little thing, don't be too hard on her.

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She's quite the little brat! Such a smug little look on her face! Haha don't worry, she gave me a little bit of a scare but I can't stay mad at that little face!

Yeah we had this problem with one of ours. My daughter got a fancy waterfall for the enclosure and she pretty much got stuck inside of it after knocking it over and spilling all the water out. We finally got her out by putting ice packs and bags of frozen veggies all around it and making it cold enough that she was uncomfortable and got out.

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Originally Posted by FollowTheSun

Yeah we had this problem with one of ours. My daughter got a fancy waterfall for the enclosure and she pretty much got stuck inside of it after knocking it over and spilling all the water out. We finally got her out by putting ice packs and bags of frozen veggies all around it and making it cold enough that she was uncomfortable and got out.

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Well 'that was then' & I'm glad it worked, but a better way might have been to [nearly-] immerse in water of a kinder temperature; feeling the water rise should work too.

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Yeah we had this problem with one of ours. My daughter got a fancy waterfall for the enclosure and she pretty much got stuck inside of it after knocking it over and spilling all the water out. We finally got her out by putting ice packs and bags of frozen veggies all around it and making it cold enough that she was uncomfortable and got out.

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Oh wow! Glad your snake got out okay in that situation

I'm glad she's out safely, but she is just too cute, this whole picture saga made me chuckle. Did you already know she was going to be a troublemaker like this when you picked your username? ;)

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...159ba3bd59.jpg

Just an FYI those tiny hole they can become stuck because they will try and double back and eventually get stuck....this happed almost two years ago and let me tell you that was the SECOND python to do that. We got lucky.


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Those decorations are hella cool, been tempted so many times to get them. But the reason why I never did was because they have super sharp edges. And some have holes they not only can disappear into but go through and get stuck tearing themselves up trying to go through. Remember these snakes will literally burn themselves. Many years ago I bought a plastic half long with a hole, the little boa I got it for kept right on pushing when going through the hole he no longer fit in, tearing himself up really good in the process. Painful lesson learned for both me and my reptile.

Lmao this post cracked me up.. 'little brat' :D