Help

[jaso]

Hey guys I need a hand, I'm new to the site. I recently bought a 2.5-3ft female yellow belly ball python approximately a month ago. She is housed in a 40 gallon long tank with a mesh lid with tinfoil covering 70% of the top to keep in heat/humidity. Her warm hide sits at roughly 90f and her cool hide hovers between 78f and 82f. I use a laser guided thermometer to get readings. She happily eats medium frozen thawed rats weekly and seems overall quite happy. However at night she seems overly active.....roaming around and almost look's like she's looking for an escape. I was debating on upgrading her enclosure however I hear that to much space can cause them stress. Should I be worried or is this normal? When I first got her, she had missing scale's on the top of her head. She has been through one shed and the scales seem to be making good progress. She isn't handled regularly but when she is it is only for short periods of time and she is generally very sweet. She's got a nice sized water bowl and her housing seems to meet all the requirements of my research. If anyone can help it would be much appreciated. Thanks guys!

[JodanOrNoDan]

Moving around at night especially for a new animal is pretty normal. Take a look at the ball python care sheet and the cage setup stickies in the husbandry section and make sure you have everything dialed in.

[jaso]

I should add that in the day she acts perfectly normal and spends her time hiding. She has two hides (aren't identical) and seems perfectly comfortable thermo regulating between them. Is she stressed? Humidity sits between 50%-60% and jumps to around 70% during shedding.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for the fast reply....much appreciated. I'll check it out!!!!

[JodanOrNoDan]

If all your numbers are the real numbers then you are doing good. Laying around all day and doing nothing are signs of a comfortable animal. Some movement at night is normal and could also indicate that the animal is hungry. What is your feeding schedule and what are you feeding?

[jaso]

The numbers are real, unless my thermometer is off which I will double check when I get home. Humidity is also correct. I feed her every Tuesday and she gets one medium rat that weighs approximately 80-95g. The python weighs 834g at this exact moment. She's never rejected a meal for the month and 2 days that I have owned her.

[kevall1]

Just a thought. Are the sides and back covered?

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[vikingr]

My BP is ~6-months old and also recently acquired, he does the same thing at night roaming everywhere & climbing/stretching upward to check out the top canopy. I've read up on this and it appears to be common as long as they're not behaving erratically and/or hurting themselves...

Not sure how you're providing heat but I can tell you that I am already ready for a cage upgrade from my glass cage, yeah it didn't take very long! I have an Exo-Terra with 3 sides covered and Plexi covering 3/4 of the top screen. While the ET heat & moon lamps do an awesome job maintaining high/low temp gradient, I don't think my BP is a fan with the misting bottle morning and night to stay above 50%. Eco earth and moss help but this lamp method of heating dries them out in no time. I don't want to go the tub route but I am checking Craigslist daily for an AP or Boaphile PVC, and will definitely go with a RHP & UTH only (and maybe some LEDs for viewing).

[JodanOrNoDan]

If all your numbers are the real numbers then you are doing good. Laying around all day and doing nothing are signs of a comfortable animal. Some movement at night is normal and could also indicate that the animal is hungry. What is your feeding schedule and what are you feeding?

Everything sounds fine. The only other possibility I can think of is that the animal was underfed before you got it and it is playing catch up. I would not worry too much.

[jaso]

First off, thank you all SO much for the help and fast replies. What an awesome online community. I use a large heat pad under approximately a quarter inch of coconut mulch. Temperature sits between 89f and 92f. And it is certainly possible she was underfed prior to my purchase, the "breeder" I bought her from seemed kind of sketchy.....I'm glad what she is doing is normal. However I'm unsure of what is meant by the sides of the tank being "covered". Should it have the graphic stuff that goes around fishtanks or just covered with fake plants? At this point, none of my sides are necessarily covered....

[vikingr]

Any paper to cover the sides will work, I found some forest type backing on Amazon






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