Ball python enjoys being crushed by hide?

[Luvyna]

My BP Noodle has two identical hides and one larger hide in his enclosure. Recently we noticed he is getting too big for his two smaller hides, so we went and bought him another bigger one. However, I've noticed that Noodle seems to prefer his smaller hides even though they no longer fit him. (We will often find him sleeping with the hide sitting on top of him, or a bit of his body sticking out from under the hide). It doesn't look comfortable at all, but he still seems to prefer the smaller ones. If we leave the smaller hides in his enclosure and put in the bigger ones, he spends probably 80% of his time in the small ones. We've tried adjusting the positions of each hide so it isn't just the temperature or location he prefers, but the hide.

Anyone else experience a snake like this or is my BP just a weirdo?

[Bogertophis]

Lots of snakes do this, because they crave "back pressure"...they feel safer when snugged into their hide. To switch yours over to the larger hides, crumple some
paper towel (or other paper, or moss, or extra substrate) & fill up the hides a little. Your snake is normal, he's just trying to tell you what he wants.

Either that or he really IS a "weirdo" & fantasizes about being a turtle...

[Bodie]

My one BP I have had nothing to do with cave hides or the plastic black ones. His favorite spot is a long piece of cork wood that lays flat on the substrate that he will squeeze under. Whenever I go to put him back in after having him out, he loves squeezing himself underneath to the point where the cork is pretty much resting on top of him.

[Valyndris]

Very normal, my ball python always stayed attached to his hides when he outgrew them. I felt bad taking them away but it had to be done when you can see most of the snake. I did pretty much the same as you said, moved them around and of course offered a bigger hide but he always went in the little one. lol

[Luvyna]

Lots of snakes do this, because they crave "back pressure"...they feel safer when snugged into their hide. To switch yours over to the larger hides, crumple some
paper towel (or other paper, or moss, or extra substrate) & fill up the hides a little. Your snake is normal, he's just trying to tell you what he wants.

Either that or he really IS a "weirdo" & fantasizes about being a turtle...

Thanks for the tips! I've heard about the back pressure thing before but I always imagined that meant just being able to feel the top of the hide... guess they really do like the weight pressing down on them lol!

Haha well he certainly likes to imitate turtles, it seems I'm sure he would enjoy the ability to retract his head into a shell.

My one BP I have had nothing to do with cave hides or the plastic black ones. His favorite spot is a long piece of cork wood that lays flat on the substrate that he will squeeze under. Whenever I go to put him back in after having him out, he loves squeezing himself underneath to the point where the cork is pretty much resting on top of him.

That's so cute! He made his own little hideout The cork wood sounds like a wonderful piece of enrichment.

I once left a plastic container in my BP's enclosure overnight (I had just weighed him in the plastic container and he got really comfy in it and refused to come out so I just put it into his tub with him inside it) and in the middle of the night I woke up to see him crawling underneath it. BPs really seem to like squeezing into small spaces.

Very normal, my ball python always stayed attached to his hides when he outgrew them. I felt bad taking them away but it had to be done when you can see most of the snake. I did pretty much the same as you said, moved them around and of course offered a bigger hide but he always went in the little one. lol

Oh my goodness, that's exactly what my Noodle does!! Crowley looks adorable under that hide, kind of like a ball python hamburger haha. Noodle also seems to get quite attached to his hides, sometimes he will even wrap around them so it looks like he's hugging them.

[Bogertophis]

I do use a number of plastic hides from Reptile Basics, but that's one drawback to them...they aren't very heavy so there isn't much "back pressure". My snakes
aren't BPs though & don't seem to mind...they use them. BP "sandwiches" are admittedly very cute... I've read that BPs live in rock piles & termite mounds in
the wild, so perhaps that's why they instinctively want more weight from their shelters?