do ball pythons dig/burrow.

[lamar3986]

yes, yesterday i noticed a what looks like a burrow near my snake's water bowl. this tends to be the cooler side of the cage. also i use an substrate that is called jungle mix that is intended for egg incubation,breeding,nesting,and burrowing. what promoted this beginning behavior.

[33takkun33]

to my experience, i would say no but then again bp's are supposed to be trestrial but mine love climbing in his big plant and the felxable stick, so i wouldn't count it out.

[mr~python]

no, ball pythons don't burrow. they dont burrow like say a monitor lizard or burrowing rodent.

what your snake did was he pushed into the substrate and the substrate your using happens to be able to hold a little once he's slthered threw it. in the wild he would have probably done the same thing but in dirt so all you would see is dirt thats been moved.

anyine want to explain this behaviour? ive wondered what this is to. anyone that has any theories care to discuss? possibly its the snake trying to remove stuck shed or something? i know they aren't burrowing for shelter or anything.

[SPJ]

I have one that makes tunnels thru the substrate and lies there with only it's noise pointing out. Excatly like what a dumerils boa does.
This one is odd though. None of the others have ever done anything like what this one does.

[mr~python]

does he have less or bigger hides compared to the other ones?

[MontyNSpike]

From a ball python website.


http://www.blackpineanimalpark.com/A...all_python.htm

"Ball pythons love to burrow, and are usually found curled up tight, hiding away."

From another one.

http://www.petstation.com/ballpyth.htm

"Since they burrow in the wild,"

And yet another one.

http://www.paradisepets.co.za/rep_ca...ython_care.htm

Habits:

Like many of the pythons, these are rather sedentary snakes. They hole up in burrows during the day-sometimes many in the same burrow-and emerge at night to hunt.

So yes, Ball Pythons DO burrow and I have witnessed mine trying to burrow outside in grass, and on my bed, he'll use the sheets to make a burrow.

[JLC]

In the wild, ball pythons LIVE IN burrows...but that does not make them burrow-diggers. They will move into rodent burrows or termite mounds. I don't think they are phsyically equipped to actually dig through dirt to create a burrow. They may, however, enjoy slithering through the groundcover to wriggle under it...or maybe they poke at the ground to look for burrow openings. I don't know. But I'm about 99.9% sure they don't actually dig burrows themselves.

[mr~python]

yes Brian, they do utilize burrows but they do not dig burrows themselves. they use rodent burrows. unless you can explain to me how a ball pythons is going to dig its way into the hard earth and actually TUNNEL with its soft scaley nose im holding firm that they do not.

[SnakieMom]

I've seen Loki dig a few times....usually when i put him back in the tank, he'll wander around a bit before slithering around his water dish. Then he just starts "digging" under the substrate. It's more than just nosing it around, he goes all the way down to the glass, he'll even hang out there for a few minutes, then he

goes into his hide, or on top of it, depending on his mood.

[MontyNSpike]

Show me evidence that they don't burrow and maybe I'll believe it!