Is my baby Ball Python ok?

[Abigail23]

Hello. Long story short. I have a baby Ball Python now. His names October and he’s a champagne morph. Such a cute little guy. Only about a month (and a half maybe) old

Hes in a 10gal to start, two hides, water bowls and leaf vines suctioned to the top of tank and fall down to the bottom. Has a heating pad underneath, thermostat etc.

When I first put him into his tank he looked around some and went into his warm hide. But after a few hours he came out (still day time) and he climbed up the vines and coiled up on top and just stood there all day. He’d stay here for hours at a time (even stood there all night his first day with me) instead of stay in one of his hides. He loves climbing but I’m not sure if this is normal or not. Here’s a picture.

https://lensdump.com/i/AT2dlF

Here coiled right on top of the vines, right under the mesh lid. (I remove that wire you see in the pic. He kept coiling around it)

also, around 8 pm yesterday my sister grabbed him for a bit while I fixed something in his tank. After she put him in. He immediately went to the top of the vines. Soon after he finally went into his warm hide and stood there until 12 am when I shut the lights off. Then I saw him coming out. Sniffing around. But he climbed right back up the vines. He did slither between them from warm to cool side and poked his head out exploring but never got on the ground to explore. He stood in the vines.

Around 3 am last night as I went to use the bathroom I saw him in this position.

https://lensdump.com/i/AT2qb3

(Those wires are outside tank**)

now it is about 9 am and he is STILL in this position.

Is he ok?? This doesn’t seem normal to me. He IS still adjusting and it’s only his 3rd day with me but his behavior seems unusual.


he hasn’t been fed bc I want him to adjust and I hear it’s best to wait 5-7 days.

Is my little baby ok??

[Lord Sorril]

Check your ambient vs. surface temperatures. Might be too hot/cold at the bottom. Use an IR temp gun for surface temperature readings.

[JRLongton]

He's gorgeous.

How long have you had him?

I find that my new BPs tend to be active for the first few days before they find a hide that they like. Once they do, I almost never see them out.

This behavior could be stress related, which may mean too few hides. Is the enclosure good and cluttered? If so, it could just be the stress of coming to a new environment. If you got him from a breeder his last home was probably a small dark tub, and your 10 gallon is going to be a big change that will take some getting used to.

Maybe provide a pic of your overall set up.

[Craiga 01453]

First off, welcome to the forum and the wonderful world ofsnake keeping.

In order to help you we'll need to know more...

- What are your temps?
- How are you measuring temps? And where?
- Is the enclosure in a high traffic area in the house?

I know its hard, and stressful, especially with a new snake, but its very important to just give him time to adjust to his new surroundings.
No handling during this time, as much as I'm sure you want to. And try to avoid peeking in and taking pics every so often, it's just adding stress to your snake (and you). Just let him settle...

But anyway, if you can answer the above questions we'll have a better idea how tohelp you.

[Abigail23]

I’ve only had him for 3 days now and his last set up was a small 6qrt plastic tub.


Just left the house but I’ll post a picture when I’m back home. But the enclosure is fairly covered. I can definitely try to make it more dark and safe feeling for him though.

Is it normal for them to hang off and stay still like the second pic? Don’t they get tired of holding themselves up like that

[Abigail23]

As of now I have the jumpstart thermo stat set to 90 for the warm side and I have a thermometer probe under the substrate to read temp but that keeps reading 94-95 (I think it could be bc my thermostat probe is off to the side and not in the middle unlike the thermometer probe inside enclosure)and the cold side is around 70-80. I’m having a hard time keeping it up to 80. I’m getting a new thermometer for that side. I also ordered a laser gun thermo and it’s coming in the mail tomorrow.

The enclosure is in my room. And I guess I have my mom and sister walk in a few times a day, noise level is average.

Could he be hanging off the leafs over the warm side for heat? Not necessarily wanting to go under the hide tho. Maybe it’s too warm?

[JRLongton]

94-95 sounds pretty hot too me! That floor of the warm side should be 90. So it could very well be that the floor is too warm for him.

I think we need more info about the set up. Is your only source of heat the under the tank heater (UTH)? Or do you also have a ceramic heat emitter (CHE) or heat lamp?

Getting an IR temp gun is a great idea. All reptile keepers need to have one.

[Craiga 01453]

As of now I have the jumpstart thermo stat set to 90 for the warm side and I have a thermometer probe under the substrate to read temp but that keeps reading 94-95 (I think it could be bc my thermostat probe is off to the side and not in the middle unlike the thermometer probe inside enclosure)and the cold side is around 70-80. I’m having a hard time keeping it up to 80. I’m getting a new thermometer for that side. I also ordered a laser gun thermo and it’s coming in the mail tomorrow.

The enclosure is in my room. And I guess I have my mom and sister walk in a few times a day, noise level is average.

Could he be hanging off the leafs over the warm side for heat? Not necessarily wanting to go under the hide tho. Maybe it’s too warm?

Ok, so it sounds to me like your new snake is exploring and unable to find a comfortable temp.

- 94-95 is too hot, drop that down to 89-90
- 70 is way to cold and can cause respiratory infection. You need to keep the temps above 75, but low 80ish is preferred.

If the temps in your room don't remain in the low-mid 80s you will need an additional heat source. You'll have to get a heat lamp and use bulbs or a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) or get a RHP (Radiant Heat Panel). Whichever you choose must also be regulated by a thermostat.

[Abigail23]

I’m using a UTH. Would you recommend also having Heat lamp source? My room stays at 75 degrees, could get cooler at night here in ny.

If i use both uth and lamp. I’d need them both connected to a thermostat AND I’d have to set temp to 90?

I was also wondering. How can I keep the cool side at 80? It’s somethkng I’m struggling with.

Thx for the replies btw. Much appreciated

[JRLongton]

In a 10 gallon I don't think both a UTH and CHE/Lamp are necessary. One or the other, and I'd lean towards the CHE.

The UTH isn't going to do anything for the cool side, I've experimented extensively with this and found that unless the ambient room temp is a steady 77F (and that's a minimum) the UTH on its own is never going to cut it.

A CHE on the other hand will be able to get the warm side to 90 and the cool to 80, and comfortably so. Plus you'll only need one thermostat.

I prefer CHE for BPs for a few reasons;

1) Light stresses them out. They like darkness.
2) The light only emits heat when its on. Do you want a light shining at 2:30 AM?
3) A switching thermostat (like a Jumpstart) is either on or off, no in between. All this on/off/on/off shortens the life of an incandescent bulbs.

They do sell red lights that mitigate 1 and 2, but not 3.

CHEs last longer than bulbs under all circumstances. I think the on/off nature of Jumpstarts shortens their life as well, but they last so long that this is less of an issue. A CHE is more expensive though and will tend to dry out the environment, making humidity an issue. I now use Radiant heat panels myself (most expensive option).

Finally, don't take my word for it. Everybody has their own way of doing things and lots of methods can be made to work perfectly well. There are many experienced keepers on this forum who will gladly give you advice that may be better than mine. Read, learn, absorb, and devise a method that will best suit your situation and goals.