newspaper trick..

Lately ive been noticing that Eve is really not active at all, during the night i usually cover her viv with a black t-shirt or something. I was curious do you think adding newspaper balls to the enclosure would benefit her, although its been alittle more than a week since i got her and her stay in that viv. If it would, how do you properly do it.. cover the whole floor space? and should they be tightly crumbled or no?

Eve should be inactive during the day for the most part, and active at night. The only reason I see Salina active at all is because her viv is next to my desk. I see her start coming out at night and cruising her cage looking for a way out. I am aslo up to 1 am every night and see her start moving around 9 pm or later.

because shes in a pretty large viv for her size, times that i would see her out of her hide is late at night and she would pop her head out stare at the ceiling for ah hour or so and then go back into her hide.

If she's in a viv with a large floor space, she probably stays in her hide because she feels less vulnerable there. Add some more hides, and the newspaper will probably help her settle in better since you've only had her a week.


Loosely crumble it (not even into balls) and fill the viv to the top with it. In about a week, offer her a hopper mouse (I don't remember how old she is, so I'm assuming she's a baby or juvie?) and leave the paper in there. Just walk away and don't worry about witnessing her eat - you'll hopefully have 30 more years with her to watch her feed. Check back in about 1/2 an hour and the hopper should be gone. If he's not, just remove it and try again in another week.

well she already ate a full mouse .. last wed, i handle her regularly awesome girl very calm. Maybe i just dont catch her at the right time..

Ball pythons are shy secretive animals ... it's the exception rather than the rule if you see them out and about ... they are definitely not the right pet to have if you're intersted in a "display" animal.

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Ball pythons are shy secretive animals ... it's the exception rather than the rule if you see them out and about ... they are definitely not the right pet to have if you're intersted in a "display" animal.

-adam

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there was nothing in this whole thread that had any relation to displaying anything.. Im aware what do expect from a ball, my intentions where clearly to see if it would be possible to make eve feel more comfortable in her enclosure.

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Originally Posted by denisthemenace

there was nothing in this whole thread that had any relation to displaying anything.

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But you did say ...

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Originally Posted by denisthemenace

Lately ive been noticing that Eve is really not active at all

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Many people get a ball python with the expectation that they will "see it" crawling around the cage ... this is really not the case with p. regius ... I made the statement that I made if not for your benefit, then for the benefit of others that might read the thread and think that there might be something wrong with an "inactive" ball python.

Hope that helps.

-adam

Dennis, I hope you aren't taking offense when people respond to your threads. I don't believe Adam was out of line but rather was trying to educate in a general way as he and many others always do on this forum. Many very new keepers/owners come here and read threads and it's good for them to know that ball pythons are as Adam said, a shy secretive snake. I rarely see our ball pythons to be quite honest, most of the time they prefer their hides and move back and forth between them at will and often I never see it happen.


~~Jo~~

I agree with Jo, Dennis. I do see a trend that you seem to be rather sensitive to any constructive criticism someone offers here in a manner of good will. It appears you don't "hear" what they are trying to offer you, but see it as a criticism if they don't agree with you. Try to be open to the fact that no one here is here to pick on you, but to help you offer the best care possible to your snake! :)

im sorry that my response came off aggressively defensive. Its not how i pictured it coming off. Sorry about that Adam

Adding the newspaper certainly wouldn't hurt. Ball Pythons, as has been mentioned before, are very secretive animals and aren't necessarily accustomed to having large, open floor space in their homes. Whether or not you use crumpled pieces of newspaper really shouldn't be such a difficult decision - there's no harm in it, and if anything it helps the snake feel more secure and hidden like it should. I've noticed an improvement (if you could call it that) with Mr. Bojangles since I've added newspaper crumples to his enclosure. He's not forced to choose between two hides, and he really seems to be more comfortable anywhere in his home now, as opposed to comfortable in only a couple of areas.

im going to give it a shot .. i just filled the viv up with newspaper balls im going to give her the rest of the night to explore.

When I first came here and was told about the newspaper trick - I must admit I was very skeptical - it does sound so strange. But I went off and stuffed her viv with these little untidy balls and she loved it :) She still hides quite a bit though - but, like they say - it's them ;) If I feel I need a cuddle with her I'll remove her hide in the evening and she comes out then.

It is a strange little trick LOL. When I first heard of it I thought "well okay, guess it's worth a shot, nothing to lose" and tried it with the adult female Brannagh that we had just taken out of a pet store where most of the employees were nervous of her. She was at the time highly agitated by everything and would constantly "pace" her enclosure, not even secure enough to use the hides provided, in other words the opposite of normal bp behaviour.

In went the newspaper balls and within a very short time she was able to retire to a hide and finally get some rest. Since she is an adult it wasn't even a case of a large open area and a small snake. She was just very very stressed and ready to defend herself from some perceived threat. That little trick with the newspaper balls was the first constructive step in her rehabilitation and to me is an absolute gem of an idea.

One thing to remember though is to remove the newspaper balls gradually once the snake adjusts, not suddenly pulling them all out or the snake may go right back to the stressed stage and you are back at step one again.


~~Jo~~

2 things that are more informational than anything else ...

1. I don't "ball" the newspaper, I just kind of crumple it. The idea is only to add some "fill" the the cage to make it feel darker and safer to the snake ... 30 tightly crumpled "balls" isn't the same as a bunch of loose crumpled up sheets of paper which in my experience is more effective.

2. The trick was taught to me by Kevin McCurley from NERD probably 7 or 8 years ago now and is also covered in his new book "The Complete Ball Python" .... To this day, everytime I crumple paper I think about how much everyone owes the pioneers of this hobby like Kevin for blazing a path for us to follow! ;)

-adam