Clumbsy ball

[lasweetswan]

My ball likes to stretch up towards the top of her cage (while propping herself against the glass), but she tends to "fall" over and bump herself. I haven't noticed any injury but she seems stunned for a few second afterwards and then does it again. I've seen her whack her head on her hide and water bowl multiple times.

What danger can come of this and any advise?

[Vypyrz]

Hello, and to BP.net.

If you could answer these questions, it will help.

-about how big, or old is your snake?
-how long have you had it?
-how big is the enclosure that you have it in, and what are the dimensions?
-how do you have the tank set-up?
-what type of heat source are you using, and are you
using anything to control it?
-how are you measuring the temperatures and humidity?
-how often do you feed it, and what are you using as prey?
-is your snake eating regularly, or is it skipping meals?
- is it acting like this during the day, or mainly at night?
-do you have any photos of the enclosure that you can post?

[lasweetswan]

She was hatched on Oct 23, I've had her since beginning of November. I currently have her in a 10 gallon tank with wire top and day/ night heat lamps. I monitor the heat/humidity with thermometer that I got at pet smart, she is currenly eating medium size mice, which I buy frozen and thaw to room temp. She's regularly eating every two weeks, never skipped a meal. She has had two full sheds, the second being better than the first. She tends to do the climbing thing later in the day but not necessarily at dark. Seems to me like she is trying to escape and goes as high up as she can and then falls over. I don't have any pics right now.

[psychophobia]

it stress.

[KatStoverReptiles]

For a snake that young you could probably feed her a little more often. A prey item about the same girth as her widest point every 5 days would be a good place to start.

[j_h_smith]

Ball Pythons do this all the time. As far as damage, I'm not qualified to speak on this as fact. I would however think that if the snake hits it's head enough times, hard enough, some damage would occur. Kinda like a boxer, if they're hit enough times some damage will occur.

But as I've said, I've seen this a number of times. One way to prevent this from happening is to house your snake in an enclosure which is not so tall, so it cannot do this.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

[bsavage]

balls are clumsy, they tend to "lose their balance" easily. I wouldn't stress on it so much.

just keep up the good husbandry and feeding habits and there should be no problems. A light, small snake doesn't fall too hard either, so I'm sure a little bump on the noggin won't cause any significant damage.

just keep an eye out, best thing you can do, honest

[bsavage]

it stress.

very concise, sir

[Skittles1101]

For a snake that young you could probably feed her a little more often. A prey item about the same girth as her widest point every 5 days would be a good place to start.

Agreed, a snake that young especially should be eating at least once a week.

[lasweetswan]

Okay, great. Thanks for the advise. I will feed her once a week