BP suddenly avoiding hide

[Azaria]

This may be a little premature, but I am still a little concerned, or at least confused.

Yesterday, I fed my ball his weekly mouse, and cleaned his tank as well. I was using this nifty black aspen that was of a nice texture for a while, but I can't find that anywhere in the stores anymore, so I had to purchase aspen with hamsters and gerbils on the package. I use it for my gerbils too, but it smells like rodents, in a way I don't remember the aspen packaged for reptiles smelling.

He spent the entire night light cycle exploring the tank, then eventually settled down beside his hot hide, and curled up in the corner of the tank, the way he did before I knew to give him two identical hides. My boyfriend told me he was sure he had seen the snake in the hot hide earlier in the evening when I wasn't home, so I figured when I put on the day light, he would be like, stuff this, and go back to the hide.

We put the day cycle on while we go to sleep, and when I got up today, he was still curled up in the same spot, beside his hide, and directly under the white light.

What does that mean!!

Is it possible that he doesn't want to be cooped up under that hide because this aspen smells so strong? That's the only thing I can think of.

The only other thing I can think of that has been different, is he accidentally bit himself when he saw me moving around with his mouse. I don't know if that can mean anything in relation to his strange new behaviour.

Should I just wait it out? or does this mean something?

Thank you in advance for any insight you can offer me. I'm just a worrying snake mama.

[Vypyrz]

First, make sure that it is 100% aspen, and not some type of mix with cedar or pine in it. Those can contain oils that are toxic to reptiles. I'm not sure about the aroma of it, but if it is that different, then as far as the snake is concerned, he is in a new environment and needs time to acclimate to the new scents and stuff...

[Azaria]

I checked, and it says 100% natural aspen. But thank you for that thought. I will keep that in mind when shopping for aspen in the future.

[loonunit]

Definitely check the bag like the poster above says.

Otherwise, he's probably just being fickle? Or he might just think it's a tad too warm in there, and he doesn't want to cook the mouse in his stomach. Throw an extra tissue box or cardboard tube in there, maybe he'll use those in the mean time. But turn the white light off and give him a break on the daylight.

If the rodent aspen is really that smelly, you can always switch to paper towels for a while.

[Azaria]

I turned the daylight off about an hour ago, and sprayed him quite unceremoniously. I thought to myself, as he flinched at the water, "Sorry sucker, if you were hiding you wouldn't feel it". He is juuuust now starting to uncurl again, which makes me feel a little better. The reason we do the nightlight during the day is so we can actually see him from time to time. Hopefully another 12 hours of nightlight will be enough for him to figure this all out. I worry too much.

[omahapied]

What are you heating the tank with? Why are you using light cycles?

[Azaria]

What are you heating the tank with? Why are you using light cycles?

I can't remember why I switched. I think it's because I had the day light, and then would just turn it off at night. I worried that was too cold, so I bought a moon light as well, so there could be some warmth during the night. I also have a little UTH because I was told under heat is preferred for digestion. But it's the rainforest one, so it's lower heat, and he doesn't always use it.

I guess I just didn't like the temp drop at night. It's only 75 watts so it keeps it at about 80.

I didn't know there was something wrong with that?

[blushingball419]

Infrared heat bulbs are the best, you can leave them on 24/7 and it doesn't disturb the natural light cycle. There's nothing wrong with what you're doing now, but it would make it a lot easier and simpler for you with just one light But yes, it is true that UTHs are preferred for digestion.

In regards to your original post, my bp does this every once and awhile too (without me changing anything), and then the next day (or next week) she decides the hide is better again. It could be the different bedding, but if it's aspen then it should only take him a day or two to get used to it. Ball pythons are just ball pythons, their behavior is inexplicable sometimes As long as he's eating and seems fine otherwise, it's nothing to worry about.

[steveboos]

I wouldn't worry about it, seems like your making it a bigger deal than it is. Ball Pythons will lay where ever they want when they digest their food. Mine will either curl up into the hide or they will just lay all sprawled out. I don't think he knows the difference in bedding.

Also i work at PetSmart and can tell you 100% there is nothing different between the colored aspen and regular animal aspen. It doesn't have a rodent smell or anything, it's just aspen.

Also i would let him have a normal day night cycle just like your used to, it would really mess me up if it was light when it was dark and everything else.

If you bought a ball python cause you wanted to see it all the time, you are sadly mistaken. You should get an arboreal snake if you want to see it all the time. Ball Pythons are supposed to hide all the time anyhow.

[Azaria]

Thanks for your input.

I know that bps aren't known for their social appearances, but that was just one of a few reasons that we switched the cycle to be opposite ours. More or less, it was just a perk. the real reason I reversed the light cycle was that it was extremely hot in my apartment during the day through the summer, so it was easier to keep the temp regulated when the apartment was cooler in the night and I had the lower powered night lamp for the day. Now that the weather is cooling down, I kind of want to keep the light cycle on nights for the same reason, cooler at night.

But I didn't know that about the infrared bulbs, as I was told there was no point for them as bps don't need the, what was it? uv? I don't remember, but still, thanks. I was wondering about that! I have friends with red lights on their snakes but I never knew why.

I think I'll switch