Accidentally solved a minor face-rubbing issue

[plateOfFlan]

I figured I would put this here since I was starting to see a face-rubbing issue and then solved it completely by accident.
My male spent the last few weeks getting up at night and smooshing his face all over the walls and floor of the cool side of the tank. I watched him doing this and he didn't seem frantic or anything, just determined to squish his face on everything - this is hard to watch because their noses are so soft and squishy and seeing them smoosh against things looks painful . He didn't seem to be going into shed and wasn't hungry, but wasn't seriously harming himself so I tried to rule things out. When he pushed on the lid I would take the lid of his bin entirely off and back away, then watch for awhile, but he would pop his head out and go back to smooshing his face against stuff, so I figured he didn't want out of the bin. Temps and humidity were fine so I was a little stumped.

While I was keeping an eye on this I happened to be making a Chewy order for the dog, and remembered I wanted better substrate for him so I added some coco fiber to the cart, then remembered I needed another hide - when I first got him I didn't know you need 2 identical hides so he'd only really had one. When it all got here I got him out of his bin, put down a thick layer of coco, and set up the second hide on the cool side. He made a beeline for it, dug out a comfy indent in the coco fiber, and settled right in - and the pushing completely stopped! In retrospect it seems obvious that he was pushing around trying to find an opening or hiding spot that would suit him on the cool side of the tank, but couldn't find one. Ball python problem-solving not being the most sophisticated, he just kept re-scouring the area with his face trying to push into any small space that looked like it might be an opening. Now that he has a whole hide to get into he seems much happier. I just hadn't seen this solution anywhere when researching reasons for face-rubbing so I thought I'd write it down! I feel bad that he was apparently uncomfortable with only his one hide and couldn't find a secure spot before, but glad that he's made such a quick turnaround

[Bogertophis]

And thank you for sharing your experience! I love it when it works!

[plateOfFlan]

I feel like it's always the most obvious things that I miss ... in any case if it had gone on I'm sure I would've asked here and someone would've said "well let's have a look at the enclosure" and spotted it immediately

[Caitlin]

Great job! It is such a relief when we find a solution for a snake that was obviously uneasy or not comfortable. Seeing them get relaxed and cozy is a wonderful feeling.

Just as an FYI - I'm a big fan of multiple hides for my snakes. Full hides, cork rounds, sky hides (attached to the top of the enclosure), Magnaturals rock caves held by magnets to the sides of the enclosure - most of my snakes seem to appreciate and use all of them. I guess it boils down to them being happiest when we can offer them the most choices.

[plateOfFlan]

Great job! It is such a relief when we find a solution for a snake that was obviously uneasy or not comfortable. Seeing them get relaxed and cozy is a wonderful feeling.

"Uneasy" is the right word for it, it was driving me nuts because nothing really seemed "wrong," but you can tell when they're feeling off. He's been here less than 3 months so I wasn't even sure his personality isn't just prone to being sulky, especially since he's probably going through puberty currently. And I know what you mean, something about the chunky soft body on a bp makes them look extra relaxed and cozy when they sleep!

Just as an FYI - I'm a big fan of multiple hides for my snakes. Full hides, cork rounds, sky hides (attached to the top of the enclosure), Magnaturals rock caves held by magnets to the sides of the enclosure - most of my snakes seem to appreciate and use all of them. I guess it boils down to them being happiest when we can offer them the most choices.

I have a few things I got for him to try out, but since he was under the weather I was backing off on enrichment type things for awhile to try to calm him down. He likes curling up in the dog's blankets so I got him some fuzzy hammocks and things intended for rats and ferrets - I'm looking forward to his sweeter personality coming back and hopefully he'll want to interact more. I've also heard of people setting up a playpen or jungle gym outside of the enclosure for them to play on - he's in a sterilite so there's not a ton of overhead space to add things, though it is easy to drill new holes to attach and hang new stuff.