A Tale of Two Hides (OR How Small is Too Small???) (DU Warning)

When I was getting ready to buy my first BP, I figured I'd be getting a little baby. I started setting up her enclosure beforehand. I got two little plastic flower-pot-bottoms and cut holes in the sides for hides. I also thought it would be cool to have some empty space beneath the water bowl for a third hide. So I chose a small dog-dish that had openings on the sides and some empty space underneath it.

When I actually got my girl, she was already about 360g...not a tiny baby. I switched to bigger flower-pot-bottoms, but kept the water bowl, even though I knew there was no way she'd fit under it. Oh well.

Her first day in her new home...exploring....she pokes her little head under the opening, but its obvious (you'd think!) that she can't fit that big ol' body of hers in there:
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2/kisasa-4.jpg

She backed right out and eventually made her way into the "proper hides."

But darned if a couple weeks later, I can't find her beneath either of her hides....the waterbowl is tipped up at an angle and she's crammed underneath it! Over time...she learned how to squeeze her whole body under it without tipping it at all! And she LOVED it!

Eventually, I realized the glass tank wasn't going to work, so we switched to a plastic tub and newspaper. Same hides and waterbowl. The waterbowl has to stay on the cool side, otherwise condensation builds up inside and it gets very wet.

Well, that silly snake....she likes that hide SO much that rather than sleep beneath her "normal" warm hide...she would scootch her waterbowl over to the warm side and curl up under it! Needless to say, this made a huge mess that had to be cleaned up right away and her warm, toasty hide moved back to the cool side.

I got the message...and today, I took out one of the flower-pot-bottoms and put in a new waterbowl...with rocks (cleaned and sanitized!) to weigh it down for her...so she can have one on the warm side as well:
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2/new-hide.jpg

Kisasa has gained 200g since she first started cramming herself under that bowl but she still does it...with more grace than ever...
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/files/1/0/5/2/560g.jpg

And here is proof for all of you skeptics that want lots of room for your snakes...for all you folks who wonder if your hides are big enough.......

Going.....going......gone........without so much as a ripple in the water.....
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../2/hide-01.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../2/hide-02.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../2/hide-03.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../2/hide-04.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../2/hide-05.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../2/hide-06.jpg

I know my tale has been a long one....but I wanted everyone to see, not only how goofy our snakes can be....but just how tight they love their hides!!!

Haha! Great pics, Judy! She's lookin good, and it never ceases to amaze me what snakes can fit themselves into! :colbert2:

great pics haha, funny little story too. May I ask why the glass tank didn't work out?

:eek: That seems impossible! Crazy...

Yup! My big kids still prefer their small bowl hides that they got when they first arrived - granted, the hides basically sit on top of them like little top hats (they can't even fit in them any more) - but they are attached to them, so they get to keep them! LOL

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Originally Posted by mm91187

great pics haha, funny little story too. May I ask why the glass tank didn't work out?

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A couple of reasons: One, the temperatures in the room its in fluctuate too much. Even with a UTH on a t-stat, I couldn't keep the temperature stable enough and it would swing as much as 10 degrees each day...and the "cool" side was always too cold. And Two, I live in Arizona where it is dry dry dry. At first I was able to keep the humidity up because of the type of substrate...but once that completely dried out, humidity became an increasingly difficult thing to maintain.

I might have continued trying to work through all of that....but my sweet girl just quit eating. For two months, she refused everything I offered. One thing I learned from Adam (of 8ballpythons...where I got Kisasa) is that when an otherwise perfectly healthy snake her age suddenly refuses to eat...it's almost always going to be environmental. SOMEthing about her environment was making her feel insecure enough to go on an extended fast.

Whether it was the fluctuating temps, the lights I used to try and keep the cool side warm enough, or the glass walls of her home that made her feel too exposed......I dunno. But it was more important to me that she be happy than it was to keep that lovely enclosure.

Six days after switching her to a plastic tub with minimal "furniture"....she ate. And hasn't stopped eating since.

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Originally Posted by JasonGranger

:eek: That seems impossible! Crazy...

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I know, right? :P It's really cool watching her do that...it's like some sort of silly magic trick where she's really disappearing into a big hole in the floor....only I'm quite certain no such hole exists! :giggle:

I love the going, going, gone pics series. I would never have thought she could fit under there!


I agree with you and Adam about the environmental issues. If a healthy snake has been eating and stops for an extended period (unless its breeding time), it is usually environmental factors IMHO.

Good luck!

awesome!

Oh that's hilarious Judy! What a goofy girl she is LOL. We have a couple that have perfectly lovely hides but insist on getting between layers of their newspaper substrate. Malachi actually likes to go between his layer of newspaper under the hide so it's rather like a jaunty hat sitting slanted over his newpaper "tent".....goofball snake!

What a goof! It is cool that no water spills; that'd be a pain :)

I was thinking just this past week, we need to have more pictures of "Snakes in Hides", since like gee, that's where they spend 99.99% of their time. =)

Kisasa is such a cutie - "look Ma, I still fit!" *Squuuuueeeeeze*

Great post Judy. I've been trying to determine what hide is the best hide and this helps me out a lot. I'll be goin to Wal-mart later to pick some cheapo plastic stuff up to transform into hides :)

Repeating many others, great, great illustration of a snake's needs. Now, I'm feeling guilty. Tomorrow, I'm going to start looking for smaller hides...

Awsome Judy!!! how old was she when you first got her? Shes really grown!! What size prey items is she on? Sorry for all the questions!!!:banana:

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Originally Posted by stangs13

Awsome Judy!!! how old was she when you first got her? Shes really grown!! What size prey items is she on? Sorry for all the questions!!!:banana:

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Thanks for all the compliments, y'all!

Justin...she hatched on July 3rd, '05...so she's a little over a year old now. She was about 360g when I got her in March, and her most recent weight the other day was 560g. :D (And she fasted for about two months before I got her switched over to the tub.)

Lately, her prey size has varied a bit...it sort of depends on what the pet store has in stock the day I go in. I try and get either a really big fuzzy rat or a very small "small" rat. I'm happy if I can give her a 30g-40g rat....once every seven days.

Hey where did you get that scale?
Love it!

LOL thats adorable!

my little corn snake has two nice hides in his tank, but he also has a small fake plant decoration with a stone bottom in the middle of the tank, and he actually likes to curl up under that :P

Omg too cute. Thank you so much for sharing your story.

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Originally Posted by Chelseadagger74

Omg too cute. Thank you so much for sharing your story... 8 YEARS, 11 MONTHS, 17 DAYS AGO.

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Fixed this for you. ;)

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Originally Posted by Chelseadagger74

Omg too cute. Thank you so much for sharing your story.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chelseadagger74

Omg too cute. Thank you so much for sharing your story... 8 YEARS, 11 MONTHS, 17 DAYS AGO.

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

Fixed this for you. ;)

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lol :rofl:

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

Fixed this for you. ;)

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Sheeeesh, it's crazy how much time has passed! Still, it's nice to see it pop back up again. I still link to it from time to time when someone asks about how big a ball python hide should be. :P