Hiding way to much and more questions...

[Hermosa]

Hello my name is michelle.. and I just joined not even 10 minutes ago. I have a question about my new baby ball python Hermosa (means beautiful in Spanish or something)
Anyways, when I got her I let her settle down for a night, she explored her new home...and the next day I handled her for a few moments. She seemed calm and was in a Ball for 3 minutes and finally explored around my hands and seemed content. I put her back..and handle her at least once a day now..already fed her on her third night and she ate awesomely!! I didn't handle her for a good day after that..but i think you get the point that ..I handle her almost everyday.

Now I don't know if she roams around at night..but she's all set up in my room and I never see her come out..at all...period. She is just perfectly content in her little hide. Am I stressing her out ?? And also I noticed today she is about to shed. She's milky (Which is kind of cool cause my corn snake is in the exact same stage too) But yea.. She's always in her Hide..never comes out..(well not that I know of) and is it cause she's stressed??? And in the process of shedding??

And apparently she got fed a few days before we got her..and she hasn't pooped yet...is this normal..?? How long does it take them to take a poopie ??

I hope she poops soon I know everything will digest okay cause her hide is on top of an heating pad but..still... I'm just worried and new at ball pythons...so different from corn snakes, not active..just plain lazy

[purplemuffin]

Ball pythons just hide! Some more than others..They like to stay where they feel safe--all squished up in a nice tight hide is the perfect place for a long nap!

Some of my friends call ball pythons the 'pet rocks' of the snake world, they aren't very active! Pretty though!

[JLC]

A happy ball python is a hiding, sleeping ball python. You'll sometimes see a little more activity when they start to feel hungry, but they do sleep A LOT. The fact that she's eating well and sleeping 99% of the time indicates to me that she's NOT stressed out.

As for pooping...they can go weeks between poops...especially when they are young and growing. They use up the food for growing energy very efficiently and it can take a while to build up enough waste to need elimination.

Welcome to BP.net!

Hope you'll hang out lots and share pictures and let us get to know you and your critters!

[Hermosa]

oh wow thankyou so much guys. I'm relieved. I have to upload some pics of her soon.. She has this one really neat design on her that is a PERFECT heart. :3 thank you for the quick responses.

[RetiredJedi]

Yea, I hardly ever see my guys. I will see them when I check on them before I go to bed and even then I only see heads sticking out. I have one that goes a long time between poops and then I have two that seem top go about two or three days after eating. As a matter of fact, I feed on Tuesdays and tonight I was letting Memphis get comfy being handled (he's the new guy and still a little jittery) and sure enough he crapped and pee'd right in my lap... Second time that's happened to me now.

[Virus]

Like others have mentioned, it's nothing to worry about. I see mine explore at night every once in awhile, but I think that's when he's starting to get hungry. Other than that, the onlytime I see him is when his nose is poking out of his hide...unless of course when I'm doing maintenance on his set up.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Ball pythons spend 80% to 90% of their time hiding, that is just what they do and when they do this it's actually a good thing, the opposite behavior could be a concern.

When in shed they tend to spend even more time in their hide as they feel more vulnerable during that time it's often best to leave them alone.

Anyway seems like your BP has nicely settled and is doing just fine.

[Munizfire]

yes, Hermosa means beautiful in Spanish. Good Luck with her~

[Jessica Loesch]

make sure you have a thermostat on your heating source