Normal Behavior? Newbie

Hello All,

I am a proud new dad of a Juvenial Normal Ball. I purchased at a Local Reptile only pet store, after checking out 3 in my area, this one seemed to be the best of the 3 evils.

Anyway, When I got him home and introduced him to his new home he calmly did laps around the 40g tank checking everything out, searching up & down. He drank several times and even swam in his water dish a bit.... looked like he was still searching for an escape route in the water. After 2 hours of searching he balled up under his warm side hide and to my knowledge has not come out for 2+ days.

Would you guys say that sounds normal? And should I expect him to come out more often or is he likely to stay in the hides most of the time??? What percent of the time do the average snakes spend chillin in the hide?

Thank you to everyone on bp.net that has given me hours of great information to read.... better than the 2 books I got with the snake, that contradict each other and what the pet shop employee advised.... My set up they sold me was very poorly designed.

Nice 40g tank & stand, Pine bedding, 1 infraread heat light, 1 log hide, 1 dog dish, and 1 stick on themometer.

I am going today and getting the following items:

UTF (think 1 will do for now, summer in Inland Empire So. Calif.)
Themostat
Home depot rehostat
AcuTemp Thermometer
Cypress bedding
2 hides
Plex-glass cut for 3/4 of screen lid
and a little decor

See I have been listening.... Thanks!

Doug

Yeah his behavior sounds about right. Expect to spend about 95% of his time hanging out in his hides.

If youre using only one UTH you should be fine with a $20 ReptiTemp 500r thermostat from Petco or Petsmart.

And welcome to BP.net.

Welcome!

A hiding BP is a happy BP. They hide all day long and only tend to come out late at night.

The 40 gallon tank may be a bit large for your little guy. They don't like wide open spaces. A ten gallon tank or a small tub is best for a baby BP.

I'm only about a week ahead of you in snake ownership, and still trying to get used to how little we see our BPs. But if a hiding BP is a happy one, ours is ecstatic, LOL! Welcome! :)

I would say a 40g is way to big for a juvi. I would only put a very large female in a 30gallon long tank.

If he doesn't eat for you, I would think about sectioning off part of the 40g tank.

Hiding is very normal. I only see mine out and about on feeding day when they can smell the rodents. If you bought the little guy as a display snake, well I am sorry to be the bringer of bad news...

Is my snake just weird, I have a hide for it on the hot side (shoe box) and he spends most of his time behind the shoe box or in front of it. I used to have aspen in it and he would go inside of it but I was worried that he was not getting the proper temperatures so I took the aspen out?

Mine are hidden all the time except when they want food. I think you should change from pine shavings to Aspen shaving or newspaper.

Sometimes Ball pythons will stay in their hides for long periods of time. My Ball pythons rarely come out of their hides at night, which is when they are mostly active. I will see them go by their water dish for a drink, and maybe a little dip, but then they go straight back to their hides. They will come out at night about 3-4 times a week. They are pretty active when I handle them though. That is normal behavior for a BP, they are more of the chill snakes.. and sometimes pretty lazy lol.

When you purchased him, they had him in Pine bedding? Cedar and Pine have harmful toxic oils in them that is not good for the snake at all. Lucky you bought him (:. Cypress is a great choice, I use it for all of my BPs. A 40 gallon enclosure is just fine for the snake, just make sure you have many hiding places so the snake doesn't get stressed from having a large, open area in the enclosure. Sounds like your enclosure is going to be set up pretty nicely. I guess you did a lot of research (: Good luck with your new snake!:snake:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jblaze

Is my snake just weird, I have a hide for it on the hot side (shoe box) and he spends most of his time behind the shoe box or in front of it. I used to have aspen in it and he would go inside of it but I was worried that he was not getting the proper temperatures so I took the aspen out?

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Does the snake fit snugly (on all sides, including the top) inside the hide?

You might try offering two identical tight fitting hides and see how that works for you.

Hey Thanks everyone for the great replies.... Just got back from a mad snake goodie shopping spree. Plans our to re-set up his tank tomorrow, this time I will be doing it the BP.net way.

I got Aspen bedding, a ZooMed 40g UTH, Zilla 1000watt thremostat(same as ALife), Home Depot Lutrion dimmer, thick plastic covering for screen (keep in humidity), plant decor, new hide, Acurite Thermo/Humidiy monitor. The only thing I still want is some tiles to block off rear of tank and as decoration. I went to 2 Petcos, 1 Petsmart, and 2 Reptile pet stores to get all the goodies. I had my shopping list from all the info I have learned here on BP.net, and I did not let anyone convince to buy different stuff.

So this time I should have him set-up the right way....

Doug

My BP only comes out about an hour after I turn the light off at night. Then he just kind of roams around as well and tries to find a way to climb out or hang out under the night lamp. Completely normal behavior. Mine didn't come out for a few days when I got him, then I noticed him finally coming out at night.

While it's a good thing for a ball python to use it's hides a lot you want to allow the snake to find the right balance of being in it's hides versus it's natural need to move around and to move for proper thermoregulation. A 40 gallon glass tank is a pretty big, open environment for a very young BP.

Some issues you will likely have to deal with is regulating temps and humidity properly to achieve stability. If that tank has the typical all mesh lid that will be a big challenge for you but it's not impossible - just challenging for a new keeper.

Also you may want to have more than the typical two hides (one on the warm side, one of the cool side). Put in a couple more placed so that the snake can move from one end to the other and have those hides to get into if it feels exposed. Perhaps add in some plastic vinery making sure that it's reptile safe and has no exposed and sharp wires or that the pieces could be easily pulled off the main vine. You might want to enclose the back and sides with either dark backing or a decorative glass tank backing found at most pet stores (or print something nice off the net if you have a photo quality printer). Basically fill up a lot of the open spaces. This will allow your young snake to feel safer and encourage it to move about as it should.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Does the snake fit snugly (on all sides, including the top) inside the hide?

You might try offering two identical tight fitting hides and see how that works for you.

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Do you think that the shoebox may be to big for him? There is a lot of space in it, I might try a pot saucer and see if he prefers a smaller hide.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jblaze

Do you think that the shoebox may be to big for him? There is a lot of space in it, I might try a pot saucer and see if he prefers a smaller hide.

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A snake hide should just barely fit the snake in a coiled up position. It's entrance shouldn't be too large, just enough to fit the snake in with a full belly. The hide should be dark and it's easiest for you and more sanitary for the snake if it's constructed of a material that does not absorb feces and urine and is easy to clean/disinfect.

Normally a shoebox is made of cardboard so it's likely not only too big but it's going to get nasty fast in the humid environment of a BP enclosure with a snake that is likely to use it's hide sometimes for a toilet.