No Hide?

[MonkeyShuttle]

Hey guys im fairly new to the herp world but I've been doing the required reading and finally ran into my first python situation. i recently acquired 2 balls one female and one male. the male is super sweet and not shy but younger and the female 2 months older seems to be very shy and very attached to hides. if i have to get her out first thing she did was search for new hide and i would have to chase with my hand to catch her. so did some research and decided to remove the hide so she wouldn't be dependent on it. couple days later when i got to get her she doesn't move or even flinch her body just lets me take her in my hands. while it feels like it solved my problem will this lead to problems later on? any insight much appreciated

[Crazymonkee]

I personally wouldn't take the hide away. But I guess you can see how she does without it. You call it dependent, she calls it security.
If she doesn't eat I would definitely put it back

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[gaplastina]

Is she eating? And where are you keeping her - in an aquarium or a tub? I've read and seen pictures of some opaque tubs that people choose not to use hides in, but if she is new, and especially if she is in an aquarium, she needs her hide. The fact that she doesn't flinch when being handled has nothing to do with a hide or no hide - it has to do with regular handling and how tame she is.

I think your biggest 'problem' when bringing home a new snake is making sure she is establishing a good eating pattern. That happens when she is secure in her setup.

[MonkeyShuttle]

i actually put her in a new home after feeding her(so she does eat) so not sure about it messing with her feeding schedule. i actually down sized her to a tub thats smaller cause the previous home was way to big i felt but now im kinda feeling like a dad whose making his baby stand in the corner or taking away there favorite toy :*(

[satomi325]

Ball Pythons are not known to be good 'display' pets because they do prefer to hide than be out in the open.
Ball Pythons naturally seek out hides and tight spaces. It's where they feel most comfortable and safe.
They don't like open spaces because they would be easy targets for predators. If she likes to hide, that means she's 'happy'.

If she's in a rack, she probably doesn't need a hide since the rack acts like a hide itself. If she's in a stand alone tub, I would personally offer her a hide, or at least keep part of it covered with a towel or something.

[MonkeyShuttle]

Ok shes getting her hide back, thanks for the input

[bcr229]

Give her two hides, one on the warm side and one on the cool side. If she only has one on the cool side she will stay in it for security, and not go to the warm side to digest her food. If she only has the one on the warm side she won't go to the cool side and thermoregulate herself properly.

[Spencer88]

My snakes don't care either way. I would say test out and see what works best for your snakes.

[MonkeyShuttle]

soo ive tested this out for about two weeks now and i can officially say if she has the hide then anytime i try to remove her for feeding or cleaning she is extremely flighty and not like a ball pythons slow get away moves no like holding a freaked out milk snake no exaggeration here. kept the hide out for a week again monitored closely and she is very chill now, still alert, not stressed and ate for me as soon as i put the steak in her feeding tub. so as long as my girl charlotte looks and acts as though she is not stressed im going with the visual ques here. i think its really her personality my boy is like Spencer said ok either way so ill give him his hides. sorry if the no hide treatment offends you and yes she does thermo regulate without the hide as i have her in a low traffic area.

[thejenius77]

You feed it steak??

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