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  • 01-20-2021, 12:11 AM
    ryleyb
    Ball Python Active and Trying to get out all Day
    Hello everyone, I’m new to reddit so bear with me, but I just needed some input. I have a 5 year old ball python that I recovered from a family who take poor care of him, and I currently remodeled his tank to be more suitable for a ball python, by giving him a UTH and better humidity and such. He has a 40 gallon breeder as I am in the process of building him a 4x2x2 enclosure, his humidity is about 65%, basking temp of 89-91 degrees, two hides and some long sticks for enrichment, and cypress mulch as a substrate. For ambient temps, he’s at about 86 on the warm side, and 80 on the cool. He still is roaming around nonstop and not going into his hides, and has been doing this for 3 days. Why is this? I feel his husbandry is good, I’m wondering if maybe for 5 years he got so used to being in cold, low humidity conditions.
  • 01-20-2021, 12:18 AM
    Bogertophis
    Look at it from his viewpoint: he's scared! His entire world just changed to a place he doesn't recognize (no matter how nice or suitable it is) so he's confused & trying to find familiar territory.

    Be patient, give him time to settle in. You say he's 5 years old, so it's even more disruptive to him than if he was a hatchling that just changed hands. Snakes learn their way around in the wild- otherwise they don't survive- they're more at risk from predators & unfavorable weather if they can't find their safe places quickly & reliably. It might have helped somewhat to have raised his temperatures more gradually, but at this point, you might as well stay the course. I hope he does well for you, I've taken in my share of snakes needing help too.
  • 01-20-2021, 12:30 AM
    nikkubus
    65% is touch on the high end but I don't think that would be doing it. Do you have females around? This time of year my males are all acting like that, in the evening especially because they smell all the females in season.

    Could simply be that the changes make him feel like he isn't at home and he is confused and trying to find his home. If he was kept for 5 years a certain way, and you went and changed where his basking spot is, what type of substrate he has, removed some of his old smells, etc it is probably pretty jarring to him. In the long run, the changes are going to probably help him a lot, but in the short term might be pretty overwhelming and he just needs some time to get used to it.

    Was the 40g what he was already in or is that an upgrade from what he had before?
  • 01-20-2021, 01:34 AM
    ryleyb
    Re: Ball Python Active and Trying to get out all Day
    The 40 gallon is what I was given to him in, what do you think I should have the humidity at? I covered some of the screen with aluminum foil and plexiglass so I can take some off to tone it down some. Also, I do not have any females around.
  • 01-20-2021, 02:03 AM
    Bogertophis
    Humidity about 50-60% unless he's in shed, then a little bump up can help. You're not far off & even nature isn't that consistent either. ;)
    I don't think his restless behavior has anything to do with the humidity anyway.
  • 01-20-2021, 02:11 AM
    ryleyb
    Re: Ball Python Active and Trying to get out all Day
    Oh that’s good to hear, luckily with a glass tank and screen lid reducing the humidity is the easy part ;)
  • 01-20-2021, 02:15 AM
    Bogertophis
    For sure. I hope he settles down before too long, but you can imagine waking up in another house with none of your stuff and not knowing where you are, right? With no one to ask...I'd be weirded out too.
  • 01-20-2021, 02:22 AM
    ryleyb
    Re: Ball Python Active and Trying to get out all Day
    He hasn’t eaten for a couple months and as of right now he only eats live, which i’ve offered to him about a week and a half ago in his original set up and I offered it to him today, no luck. Let’s just hope he gets settled down soon. Some days I do see him in his warm hide for just a little bit of time.
  • 01-20-2021, 02:46 AM
    Bogertophis
    Re: Ball Python Active and Trying to get out all Day
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ryleyb View Post
    He hasn’t eaten for a couple months and as of right now he only eats live, which i’ve offered to him about a week and a half ago in his original set up and I offered it to him today, no luck. Let’s just hope he gets settled down soon. Some days I do see him in his warm hide for just a little bit of time.

    How long have you had him? Is his weight currently good? When you first get a snake from any source, & especially if it's an adult, it's best not to offer food for at least a week or 2, because at first, they'll be too nervous to accept, or if they do, they might regurgitate it, & that's worse than if they didn't eat at all. (Because then you need to wait a couple weeks before offering food again, to give them time to replenish their digestive enzymes- otherwise they can regurgitate again, & that's a health risk & best avoided.)

    Offering too frequently may get more refusals too- it adds to their stress, because they're basically shy. For an adult snake, offering about every 2 weeks is fine. This time of year, many BPs go on a fast anyway.

    HOW you offer makes all the difference: Wait until evening, dim the lights- BPs are ambush predators, meaning they wait from a hiding place for clueless prey to walk near enough to grab. Never try to feed a snake that's roaming their enclosure, they instinctively avoid feeding in the open & likely to refuse. (In the wild, other predators may catch them while they're distracted with feeding.) Wait for them to be peeking out of their hide in the evening hours...that's usually your signal that they're thinking about prey.

    While we favor feeding dead prey (safer for the snake & more humane for the prey), it's better to feed a new snake what they're used to eating at first, & after they've accepted a few meals with you (once they've "settled in"), then work on changing to either fresh-killed or frozen-thawed prey. We can help you when you come to that point, many tips will improve your success.
  • 01-20-2021, 02:59 AM
    ryleyb
    Re: Ball Python Active and Trying to get out all Day
    I’ve had him for about a little over a month now, I left everything in his enclosure the same when I first got him for a couple weeks just to let him stay settled in his familiar home and then offered to feed him. After he refused, I let him be for a few days and then redid his tank, which was almost a week ago. I believe he is on a fast for the winter but sometimes when he is in his hide he’ll actually sleep with his head poked out, I’m not sure if that’d mean he’s hungry or not. Also, is it far fetched for him to prefer a certain color and gender of rat? From what I was told by the previous owner, he’ll only really eat white rats with brown spots, I’m not sure if that’s true or coincidence. Also, he was always fed in a feeding tub, should I keep doing that or try from inside his enclosure from now on? I also have not had a chance to weigh him, but I’m starting to see a tiny tiny bit of his vertebrae on his back so I’m really hoping he’ll eat soon.
  • 01-20-2021, 03:21 AM
    Zincubus
    Re: Ball Python Active and Trying to get out all Day
    Hi .. what kind of thermometer are you using to take the two surface temps ??


    Over the years I’ve have two that were incredibly restless and both times the it was down to the temps being far too high so they couldn’t thermoregulate - one time the stat had failed.


    This type are very popular but totally useless ..

    https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...de5a4c4297.jpg


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
  • 01-20-2021, 03:32 AM
    Bogertophis
    Hard to say what that means (sleeping with head out of hide)? Are you sure he's sleeping?

    BPs can be very fussy snakes- I've heard of some snakes preferring certain color rodents & refusing all others. It makes sense when you're talking about a snake that eats live rodents- sooner or later, whether or not you notice, your snake gets bit (or pinched- a bloodless bite that nonetheless hurts) when he's making a kill, & he learns to associate that color rodent with something to fear. White rats with brown spots are not common (I used to breed rats for years.) so that could be a real problem as far as availability. Another good reason to feed f/t rodents.

    We don't advise removing snakes from their home turf to feed in a side container- mostly it adds stress for the snake (handling them distracts from their feeding instincts), & it serves NO purpose- it's actually MORE likely for you to get bit this way too. Hungry snakes are more likely to make a mistake with your hand, & once they eat, you have to put them back & snakes can stay pumped up (ie. ready to grab anything as prey, aka "feed mode") for hours or even a day+ after eating, so you're more likely to get bit after their meal too. That doesn't sound like a winner to me...how about you? But, it's hard to advise you- it's usually better to continue the same feeding routine at first, with a new snake- whatever was successful. The choice is yours, you might have to try it both ways, but personally, I'd try feeding where he lives first, a few times, before resorting to using a "feeding tub". He's 5 years old, so surely he knows how to eat, but at his age, fasting is pretty common, & especially combined with rehoming.

    Do you know how long it's been since his last meal?

    Is this your first snake, btw?
  • 01-20-2021, 03:45 AM
    Shauri413
    Re: Ball Python Active and Trying to get out all Day
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
    HOW you offer makes all the difference: Wait until evening, dim the lights- BPs are ambush predators, meaning they wait from a hiding place for clueless prey to walk near enough to grab. Never try to feed a snake that's roaming their enclosure, they instinctively avoid feeding in the open & likely to refuse. (In the wild, other predators may catch them while they're distracted with feeding.) Wait for them to be peeking out of their hide in the evening hours...that's usually your signal that they're thinking about prey.

    This is great info to have. I re-homed Shauri after the previous owner could no longer take care of her. She used to be taken out of her habitat to be fed. (The previous owner shared other things done to care for the danger noodle that are at odds with the information you and others have been sharing). I understand now this is incredibly stressful to my scaly sweetie.

    Since acquiring her, I've been feeding her in her habitat, but wait for her TO be active (thinking she's hungry and looking for food).
  • 01-20-2021, 05:22 AM
    Zincubus
    Re: Ball Python Active and Trying to get out all Day
    .... and try the hairdryer method with a thawed Rat sometime ;)

    I’ll send you the details ..


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
  • 01-20-2021, 09:44 AM
    Gocntry
    Re: Ball Python Active and Trying to get out all Day
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
    ..........BPs are ambush predators, meaning they wait from a hiding place for clueless prey to walk near enough to grab. Never try to feed a snake that's roaming their enclosure, they instinctively avoid feeding in the open & likely to refuse......

    Not to go off track, But I think I have the 2 exceptions to that, Bean & Bitey are both in glass tanks with screen tops. When they figure out it's feeding day I have to have my daughter lift the lids off while I feed them, They literally go to the top of the tank to the screens and when daughter removes them and backs up they stretch up to the top of the tank to get their rat :O, None of my other snakes do that or have done that. Their really polite and calm otherwise.
  • 01-20-2021, 12:32 PM
    Sonny1318
    I would also suggest dropping that hot spot a couple degrees. I always tried to keep my upper temperature no more then 86/88 degrees. I have one that’s constantly active and one that graces me with an occasional outing. And yes three of them have no problem sleeping either with their head just out, or pretty much out in the open (they like to “relax” and “spill” out the bottom of their hides. I’d definitely double check your high end temps if he is moving around excessively. ✌️
  • 01-20-2021, 12:42 PM
    nikkubus
    The preference for a certain color is something I have experienced with BPs but that seems incredibly specific. You probably could get away with any darker colored rat, regardless of pattern.
  • 01-20-2021, 12:53 PM
    Bogertophis
    Re: Ball Python Active and Trying to get out all Day
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gocntry View Post
    Not to go off track, But I think I have the 2 exceptions to that, Bean & Bitey are both in glass tanks with screen tops. When they figure out it's feeding day I have to have my daughter lift the lids off while I feed them, They literally go to the top of the tank to the screens and when daughter removes them and backs up they stretch up to the top of the tank to get their rat :O, None of my other snakes do that or have done that. Their really polite and calm otherwise.

    This goes without saying...our snakes never "read the manuals" so there's always some that just "do it their own way", lol. So keep the general advice in mind, but always try to read what your own snake's body language is telling you...and modify techniques accordingly. :snake:
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