New Owners, New Snake, please help

[Thelittlecoggirl]

Note, I have a language disability so there will be writing mistakes

My boyfriend and I are new owners of a 6-ish month, 6-8" young ball python.

we have a 53 gal tank

100 infared heat bulb with 150 light fixture (also have heat mat, tank is on marble so switch is safe)

mesh top with clips

Paper towel substrate

4 hides, 1 skull hot side, 1 generic hut cool side, plastic container and paper toilet tube middle

large but shallow ceramic water dish

we use an infa red thermomiter

humidity where we live is at the right level but we'll still be getting humidifier and humidity measurement asap

(photos when I get on a computer)

Questions;
1. We currently keep the tank in our bedroom which has blackout curtains over shut blinds full time. We love the infa red light. Does our snake need regular light? Can we stay dark full time?

2. Our snake is spending time in the corner of the tank curled with head out. Is this a sign of stress? Resources on snake stress are needed.

3. Do we need to devide the tank to give him a smaller environment? If so will he ever need the full size?

4. Can the cat be in the room with the snake in the tank? What about just at night so we can sleep with our cat?

5. Any advice for first time owners?

[BluuWolf]

First off do you have a thermostat for the UTH? A thermostat is necessary to control the temperature of the heat pad.

1. No ball pythons do not require natural light. Too much harsh light on them will actually stress them out. He will be perfectly fine with just the infa red

2. By this do you mean he spends a lot of his time in his hide? If so then this is perfectly fine/normal. Movement means stress for ball pythons. They should spend a vast majority of their time hiding, only coming out a bit at night to move around and explore.

3. Now this really depends on how he is acting. If he doesn't seem to stressed in the large tank (Not moving around a lot and trying to escape and eating fine) then he might be just fine. I personally keep mine in a 20 gallon. I tried to move him over into a 40 but he didn't like all the extra space. Just make sure that there isn't a lot of just open room. Fill it with lots of foliage and stuff for him to go through so he doesn't feel to exposed and he may be just fine. I know plenty of people who have had success with a larger tank.

4. As long as the tank is out of reach with them it should be fine. My two cats have never shown any interest in my snake or tank but I would keep an eye on them at first just to make sure.


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[Ragtag]

By sitting in the corner, he might be trying to feel secure. Are your hides small enough to were he has contact to all the walls and a low roof (the skull might not be likable for him). What kinds of hides do you have?(half logs with two openings won't make him feel secure enough). He might also be trying to stay cool, so do you have a temp gradient going across the tank (I keep mine with the air temp being 80-82 across the whole tank, and the hot spot being 90, it works just fine for him, I have the lights on dimmers). Finally, temp control for that UTH is critical and I would turn it off until you get one, you don't want to burn your BP, temps of 92 and up is to hot.

Also since you just got him/her, it'll be trying to get use to it's environment, don't handle until a week or two goes by it you don't need to (50+ gal tank is pretty excessive for that young of a BP, depending on were you bought yours, it was probably raised in a rack, which is very confined compared to your tank. Maybe try covering 3 of the tank walls with construction paper, so he won't feel like he is being watched all the time. Good luck, any other problems you might have, there are a lot of people here to help.

[Craiga 01453]

Welcome, congrats on your new snake...

1. BPs don't need any sort of light cycle and actually prefer dark, hidden spaces.

2. I'm not 100% sure what you mean here, but based on your enclosure size and 4 different hides, your snake probably hasn't found a "comfortable" spot yet. It is advised to have identical hides of the appropriate style and size. With such a huge enclosure, you'll probably want 3 or 4 hides, preferably identical. BPs can be very finicky and will often sacrifice temps for a hide they like that fits properly, so identical hides will often remedy this situation.
-Your snake may also be hungry. What and when was your snakes last meal?
-As mentioned above, a hiding BP is a happy BP generally. But if his head is outside his hide or he's exposed at all, he's not comfortably hidden.

3. That enclosure is HUGE for a juvenile BP, so dividing it may be a good idea at some point. If you want to try keeping your snake in that enclosure it's up to you. However, heating and humidity control will be difficult, and security may be an issue. Husbandry is the most important part of keeping a healthy BP. If your BP isn't eating, it is usually husbandry related, and that starts with the enclosure itself. Temps and humidity are also extremely important and part of your husbandry.
- If you fill that enclosure with tons of clutter, get the temps and humidity dialed in properly and your snake is healthy and eating well you are probably fine using that enclosure. However, if your husbandry is off, your snake may not eat and the enclosure/husbandry will be the most likely reason.

4. As long as the enclosure is secure and the cat isn't jumping on it and what not, sure. My cat comes into my snake room occasionally, looks around, loses interest and goes on her way. Where you have your snake in your bedroom and the cat sleeps in there, I'm guessing your cat will be curious, check things out and lose interest fairly quickly.
-I strongly advise putting the cat in a separate room when the snake is out of it's enclosure though.

5. Tips for beginners: Read, read, read. Study the stickies on this forum about husbandry, study and research all you can about BPs as pets, Learn all you can about the species as a whole. The more you know about the animal, the better you are equipped to properly care for it. Watch your snake, observe the movements, mannerisms, etc...and learn what they mean...
Ask questions. The majority of the people on this site are happy to help as long as you're willing to learn. There are decades of experience on this forum, knowledge acquired through years and years with thousands upon thousands of snakes. You'll learn pretty quickly who the experienced keepers are who give good advice. These people are willing to share their experience, knowledge and time, take advantage...


Now, tell us more so we can help you more...

A) Are you regulating your temps (UTH and lights) with a thermostat?? This is probably the most important thing you can buy for your snake.
If not, your are risking serious burns or worse to your snake. Those heat mats can spike to temps as high as 120, which can be fatal. If it's not on a thermostat, please UNPLUG it ASAP.

B) You use an infra red thermometer (I assume you mean a temp gun?), but where are you measuring temps? Have you got other thermometers?

C) You say the humidity is right where you live, but how do you know that without a hygrometer? The relative humidity in the air where you live will affect your enclosure's humidity, but it will be different inside the enclosure.

Some pics of your setup will also help us help you.


Oh also.....As tempting as it is to handle your new pet, leave your BP alone to get acclimated into his new home. No handling for at least a week. I always wait until my snakes have eaten 3 consecutive meals with me without refusal before doing much handling. 48 hours after the first successful feeding it's ok to start with very minimal handling, but I like to wait until they are on the right track and eating well. With proper care, you'll have this snake for 25-30 years. waiting a few weeks to handle is in the best interest of the animal


For a beginner though, start with the stickies about husbandry. There is a lot to learn and it all starts with having the proper setup and getting your husbandry dialed in. Get your setup right and go from there...

Good luck! We're here if you have any further questions.

[Thelittlecoggirl]

2. This is what I mean by the corner (please tell me if I did the photo correctly)

[Thelittlecoggirl]

First off do you have a thermostat for the UTH? A thermostat is necessary to control the temperature of the heat pad.

1. No ball pythons do not require natural light. Too much harsh light on them will actually stress them out. He will be perfectly fine with just the infa red

2. By this do you mean he spends a lot of his time in his hide? If so then this is perfectly fine/normal. Movement means stress for ball pythons. They should spend a vast majority of their time hiding, only coming out a bit at night to move around and explore.

3. Now this really depends on how he is acting. If he doesn't seem to stressed in the large tank (Not moving around a lot and trying to escape and eating fine) then he might be just fine. I personally keep mine in a 20 gallon. I tried to move him over into a 40 but he didn't like all the extra space. Just make sure that there isn't a lot of just open room. Fill it with lots of foliage and stuff for him to go through so he doesn't feel to exposed and he may be just fine. I know plenty of people who have had success with a larger tank.

4. As long as the tank is out of reach with them it should be fine. My two cats have never shown any interest in my snake or tank but I would keep an eye on them at first just to make sure.


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1. Thank you! This is good news.
2. Not exploring, in ball in corner.
3. We haven't fed yet, he was fed Sunday we are planning to feed Wednesdays. I will definetly try to find things to go in it/material to make it smaller.
4. It is, the cat got into the bedroom this morning and didn't care or even look at the tank. So I think we're ok for going in supervised. I want to watch to make sure the cat doesn't try jumping for a mother or two.

[BluuWolf]

1. Thank you! This is good news.
2. Not exploring, in ball in corner.
3. We haven't fed yet, he was fed Sunday we are planning to feed Wednesdays. I will definetly try to find things to go in it/material to make it smaller.
4. It is, the cat got into the bedroom this morning and didn't care or even look at the tank. So I think we're ok for going in supervised. I want to watch to make sure the cat doesn't try jumping for a mother or two.

Alright, if he's just in the corner with no hide or anything then its might be him not feeling safe in his hides, too exposed, or maybe too hot


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[Thelittlecoggirl]

By sitting in the corner, he might be trying to feel secure. Are your hides small enough to were he has contact to all the walls and a low roof (the skull might not be likable for him). What kinds of hides do you have?(half logs with two openings won't make him feel secure enough). He might also be trying to stay cool, so do you have a temp gradient going across the tank (I keep mine with the air temp being 80-82 across the whole tank, and the hot spot being 90, it works just fine for him, I have the lights on dimmers). Finally, temp control for that UTH is critical and I would turn it off until you get one, you don't want to burn your BP, temps of 92 and up is to hot.

Also since you just got him/her, it'll be trying to get use to it's environment, don't handle until a week or two goes by it you don't need to (50+ gal tank is pretty excessive for that young of a BP, depending on were you bought yours, it was probably raised in a rack, which is very confined compared to your tank. Maybe try covering 3 of the tank walls with construction paper, so he won't feel like he is being watched all the time. Good luck, any other problems you might have, there are a lot of people here to help.

Thank you, I really appreciate this. Now that you mention that the hides are too big that might be why he's in the corner. I will cut down 4 identical plastic opaque containers for him and see if he likes that better. The other hides can come out when he is bigger.

Our temp is in the range we've researched according to our thermometer. We've been checking multiple times a day. What range do you recommend? Wee are within the range we were told when we got him. However, looking at a couple care sheets our temps seem high. Can I use a dimmer to better control? Or should we go to the matt?

[Thelittlecoggirl]

Welcome, congrats on your new snake...

1. BPs don't need any sort of light cycle and actually prefer dark, hidden spaces.

2. I'm not 100% sure what you mean here, but based on your enclosure size and 4 different hides, your snake probably hasn't found a "comfortable" spot yet. It is advised to have identical hides of the appropriate style and size. With such a huge enclosure, you'll probably want 3 or 4 hides, preferably identical. BPs can be very finicky and will often sacrifice temps for a hide they like that fits properly, so identical hides will often remedy this situation.
-Your snake may also be hungry. What and when was your snakes last meal?
-As mentioned above, a hiding BP is a happy BP generally. But if his head is outside his hide or he's exposed at all, he's not comfortably hidden.

3. That enclosure is HUGE for a juvenile BP, so dividing it may be a good idea at some point. If you want to try keeping your snake in that enclosure it's up to you. However, heating and humidity control will be difficult, and security may be an issue. Husbandry is the most important part of keeping a healthy BP. If your BP isn't eating, it is usually husbandry related, and that starts with the enclosure itself. Temps and humidity are also extremely important and part of your husbandry.
- If you fill that enclosure with tons of clutter, get the temps and humidity dialed in properly and your snake is healthy and eating well you are probably fine using that enclosure. However, if your husbandry is off, your snake may not eat and the enclosure/husbandry will be the most likely reason.

4. As long as the enclosure is secure and the cat isn't jumping on it and what not, sure. My cat comes into my snake room occasionally, looks around, loses interest and goes on her way. Where you have your snake in your bedroom and the cat sleeps in there, I'm guessing your cat will be curious, check things out and lose interest fairly quickly.
-I strongly advise putting the cat in a separate room when the snake is out of it's enclosure though.

5. Tips for beginners: Read, read, read. Study the stickies on this forum about husbandry, study and research all you can about BPs as pets, Learn all you can about the species as a whole. The more you know about the animal, the better you are equipped to properly care for it. Watch your snake, observe the movements, mannerisms, etc...and learn what they mean...
Ask questions. The majority of the people on this site are happy to help as long as you're willing to learn. There are decades of experience on this forum, knowledge acquired through years and years with thousands upon thousands of snakes. You'll learn pretty quickly who the experienced keepers are who give good advice. These people are willing to share their experience, knowledge and time, take advantage...


Now, tell us more so we can help you more...

A) Are you regulating your temps (UTH and lights) with a thermostat?? This is probably the most important thing you can buy for your snake.
If not, your are risking serious burns or worse to your snake. Those heat mats can spike to temps as high as 120, which can be fatal. If it's not on a thermostat, please UNPLUG it ASAP.

B) You use an infra red thermometer (I assume you mean a temp gun?), but where are you measuring temps? Have you got other thermometers?

C) You say the humidity is right where you live, but how do you know that without a hygrometer? The relative humidity in the air where you live will affect your enclosure's humidity, but it will be different inside the enclosure.

Some pics of your setup will also help us help you.


Oh also.....As tempting as it is to handle your new pet, leave your BP alone to get acclimated into his new home. No handling for at least a week. I always wait until my snakes have eaten 3 consecutive meals with me without refusal before doing much handling. 48 hours after the first successful feeding it's ok to start with very minimal handling, but I like to wait until they are on the right track and eating well. With proper care, you'll have this snake for 25-30 years. waiting a few weeks to handle is in the best interest of the animal


For a beginner though, start with the stickies about husbandry. There is a lot to learn and it all starts with having the proper setup and getting your husbandry dialed in. Get your setup right and go from there...

Good luck! We're here if you have any further questions.

1. YAY! Thats really good news.
2. I provided a photo in a reply. He was fed Sunday. We plan to feed Wednesdays. Looking at other comments I'm going to cut down some plastic containers and see if that works better. Bigger hids can come out when he grows.
3. I will pick up humidity stuff ASAP today. Both measurement and a dehumidifier for the room. Where we picked him up from didn't bring up much if anything on humidity control.
4. Thats what I've been doing! I love reading and I love animals. Mostly I'm just upset at how unprepared we are and how large the range of opinions on care are. Don't get me wrong, I knew there would be some as I grew up with dog breeders in AKC settings. Wow, reptiles have so much stuff with so many competing view points....

A. YES I would never get an animal in a tank without a thermostat. We have an infared one, is that ok? I'll post a photo on the bottom.
B. See photo below, and now we don't have others, should we?
C. I will pick up humidity control ASAP

I know that now. I feel really bad because I read about that right after I had taken him out for a little bit... My own fault for not reading more sooner.

Ok! I wlll work diligently to improve out setup.

[Craiga 01453]

1. YAY! Thats really good news.
2. I provided a photo in a reply. He was fed Sunday. We plan to feed Wednesdays. Looking at other comments I'm going to cut down some plastic containers and see if that works better. Bigger hids can come out when he grows.
3. I will pick up humidity stuff ASAP today. Both measurement and a dehumidifier for the room. Where we picked him up from didn't bring up much if anything on humidity control.
4. Thats what I've been doing! I love reading and I love animals. Mostly I'm just upset at how unprepared we are and how large the range of opinions on care are. Don't get me wrong, I knew there would be some as I grew up with dog breeders in AKC settings. Wow, reptiles have so much stuff with so many competing view points....

A. YES I would never get an animal in a tank without a thermostat. We have an infared one, is that ok? I'll post a photo on the bottom.
B. See photo below, and now we don't have others, should we?
C. I will pick up humidity control ASAP

I know that now. I feel really bad because I read about that right after I had taken him out for a little bit... My own fault for not reading more sooner.

Ok! I wlll work diligently to improve out setup.

Ok sounds like you're on the right track, however....What you're showing me in that picture and describing is a thermometer. You NEED to have your UTH (heat mat) and any heat sources (your bulbs) running through a thermostat. ThermoMETERS only measure temps. ThermoSTATS regulate the temps the UTH/bulbs can produce.
Running a UTH is very dangerous when not regulated by a thermostat. Those mats can spike to as high as 120 degrees, which, as you can imagine, can be VERY dangerous to your snake. They can be seriously burned or the heat spikes can even be fatal for the snake.
Google search burned snake and check out some pics, but be prepared some are fairly graphic.