Is my Ball Python sick or really weird??

[BelicSnake]

Hello people! I am new here and new to snake caring, I just finally bought my first snake, about 2 weeks ago, she's a 1 year old Ball python, but I think she might have something bad so I need some advise

So she's been alright till now, on the first week she was getting used to her new environment, and now it looks like she's comfortable, sleeps and hides most of the time and gets out at night to explore, the problem here is, she was happily sleeping some moments ago, then she suddenly woke up and started moving around the tank really fast like a scared puppy, never seen her move so fast, also while she was doing that her head was slightly inclined to the right, I got scared because she looked so frightened and I thought it was having a seizure or something lol

Anyways, do you guys think she might be sick? I asked someone and told me that she had a nightmare but i don't think that's even possible on reptiles lol i don't really know, I'm not an expert but I'm really worried about her she's normal now but I'm afraid it might be something bad. Thanks and hi!

[OneEyedFox]

What morph is she? A normal?


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[Craiga 01453]

Without seeing it, it's really tough to say. I would advise to just keep a close eye on the snake and watch for any other unusual activity. ...and I HIGHLY doubt it was a nightmare.

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[zina10]

Did you check (and double check) your husbandry ? Are all the temperatures correct ? No over heating anywhere?

Check the snake for mites, look like tiny black specks under the scales and around the eyes.

Can you post a pic of the snake and the setup, too? Perhaps a video of the behavior?

[L.West]

Check your heat source. I've heard this happening from some form of electrical shock in the tank. More common in fish but worth double checking any electrical equipment for damage

[Pezz]

as asked before what's the morph? bees, spiders and hg woma have a neurological disorder known as wobble. It can make them sketchy.

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[BelicSnake]

Wow thanks for the quick answer guys I'll try to answereverything you asked

As far as I know she is just a normal morph, I added somepictures for you to see.

As for temperatures everything is fine, heating pad is atgood temperature I think, they said it was specifically for this species., also the heating padlooks good and works fine, I inspected it and saw no damage so I don't think itcan be the electrical shock, but with the way she ran I wouldn't be surprisedif it was that haha.

I'll have to look for mites as you said to see if that's thecase! ( but i'm seeing a lot of black dots in her skin, hope they are not mites!)



So I uploaded the pictures in my gallery if you would like to see them

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/memb...379-BelicSnake


Thanks again!

[SDA]

No heating pad can really be used without a thermostat to control it. If you have that heating pad hooked up to the tank without a thermostat and no direct way to measure it, you are risking overheating your snake or worse causing burns.

What temperature is the heating pad measured from the inside of the glass and what if anything are you using as a thermostat?

[Momokahn]

Rule out the electric shock. Your pad is on the outside and whether the bottom is plastic or glass it ain't happening. Voltage is way to low to breakdown glass or plastic. I'm in with Zina, I would guess the possibility of mites especially describing the head tilt. Nightmare? I wouldn't totally rule it out. Unless it can be proven they can't dream why default to the notion they can't. Biggest thing just keep an eye on him and observe his actions. Close observations will tell you a lot.

[zina10]

Ok, not trying to overwhelm you, but here goes...

You HAVE to have a thermostat. Period. That is the one thing (well, there are a couple) that is absolutely non-negotiable.
There is not one heat pad that is made for any one species. All of them can easily reach the temperature that will burn a Ball Python.

They need belly heat around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, maybe 92 at the most. Think of it. We run at a internal temperature of 98 Fahrenheit. So if you touch the pad and it feels "warm" to you, it could easily be over 98 fahrenheit (even if you have cold hands)

You need to plug the heat into a thermostat, and the thermostat into a power outlet. There is a "probe" attached to the thermostat, you make sure its fastened between the heat pad and the tank. It measures how hot your heat pad is getting and sends that info to the thermostat. You set the thermostat to the desired temperature, and then it will control (turn on and off) the heat pad, making sure it doesn't get hotter then what you set it at.

After that you need to measure the temp inside of the cage, right above the heat pad (under the substrate) and make sure it reaches between 90 to 92 Fahrenheit.

It sounds like a lot of effort, but its not. There are decent Thermostat on Amazon for around $20. And you can get a decent thermometer (digital, with probe) for around $10. Don't get the "stick on" thermometers, they are worthless and they can come off and get stuck on your snake.

Now...

The additional things you can do to make your snake comfortable and happy. You need 2 hides! One over the warm side, one on the cool side. You can get a smaller water bowl and put it in the middle, put another hide on the "cool" side. This way your snake can choose between warming up and cooling off...as needed. Without giving up privacy and security of being hidden.

Another thing you can do is to use black construction paper and tape it (ON THE OUTSIDE) on the sides and back of the tank. And put something across the top. You create a "giant" cave of some sort and the snake will feel much safer and not so exposed.

As for mites, you will have to observe the snake carefully. The black dots that are mites "move". They like to hide in the heat pits and around the eyes of the snake.

You will have to get the heat regulated and right away, I can't even begin to tell you how many "burned" Ball Pythons we've seen on this forum, due to un-regulated heating pads. The burn doesn't show up right away, first the belly looks pinkish (sometimes looks that way before a shed, too, though) and then you will see blisters. By then it gets very ugly

edit to add...plug up that hole in your hide, wouldn't be the first snake getting stuck in one like that