Anyone seen this before?

[hardball]

He doesnt seem to want to be in his cage. After handling him he doesnt want to go back into his cage, and then this is the type of behavior he shows. I have only had him since friday, but he was only obssessed with the roof on the 2 days i have taken him out. Am I just not giving him enough fresh air, because i only had him out for about 10 minutes. Im feeding him tonight so it will be a couple days before he gets to come back out again. Is this normal?

[CeraDigital]

I've had a few climbers before. Does he have enough hides and such? Whats the Temps in the cage? If the cage is too hot, or the cage bottom/substrate is too hot, this might be why he's doing this.

[hardball]

He has 2 hides. The temperature has had to suffer because of his climbing habits. I cant turn the lamp on as high because it makes that metal hot. Currently the temperature is 86.6 on the warm end with the lamp on low to keep the metal from getting too hot. He has used both hides about equally as much and hasnt been in his water bowl unless it was to try and stretch to the top of the cage. I did witness him actually pull himself up there again last night with the lights off when i was laying in bed watching TV, so he has been up there atleast twice.

[CeraDigital]

They're nocturnal, so they are going to be out and about at night. If the metal screen is getting too hot and risky for the snake, to where the temps have to suffer because of it; then why not look into flexwatt? It's very affordable. You can order them at a few different places. Reptile Basics, and The Bean Farm both sell it. Honestly, it is something to look into

[xdeus]

He's probably just trying to get closer to the heat source. 86F is pretty cool for the warm side, but I understand your concerns about the metal top getting too hot.

If possible, I would suggest getting an under tank heater and controlling it with a thermostat or at least a rheostat in order to get the proper temps on the floor of the cage. It should have a gradient from the low 80s to the low 90s inside the warm hide. Take a look at our caresheet for more info.

One last thing... you should probably hold off on feeding him until at least this friday. It sounds like he's still stressed and trying to settle in, and until he feels comfortable you may find that he won't be interested in eating.

[rabernet]

Are those lights inside the enclosure?

[MeMe]

My Trax is a climber. The only one of my balls that will try and fit on ANY ledge. He is also the most active. He is alot of fun to watch

o and he is the one in my avi.

[hardball]

I am currently using a terrarium substrate heater. It was at 92 the other day when i had the lamp on high, and i walked in to find him right next to the metal, not quite touching it thank god (atleast when i walked in). I have had it lower ever since. You think this is a sign of stress or just the curiosity to leave his tank?

[dr del]

Hey hardball,

One thing to consider is that ball pythons are not, if we're honest, particualrly skillfull climbers.

The end result of this is they can occasionally fall - which leads to the possibility of injury.

The most ideal solution would be for you to find a way to reliably and safely increase the warm end temps to 90-95F inside his hide ( or wherever he prefers to hang out on the warm end) while using something like rolled up newspaper or similar packing material to fill the shelf he was using in the picture to deny him access to potentially troublesome areas.

The most onerous part of keeping a ball python tank is not just making it perfect for what you expect them to do but to make sure they can't hurt themselves by doing something bizzare.:eek:


dr del

[Gooseman]

The most onerous part of keeping a ball python tank is not just making it perfect for what you expect them to do but to make sure they can't hurt themselves by doing something bizzare.:eek:


dr del

Not necessarily a bp story, but I used to have a praire king that would try to climb alot and one-time got his head stuck in a small gap in the plastic where the back of the sliding lid is supposed to touch the back of the tank. Needless to say it wasn't any fun coming home from school to find your snake dead hanging from his head. Our guess is that when he was caught he kept flailing etc and eventually killed himself. And the bizarre thing was that the lid was closed all the way. I even had the lock on it. These vivariums (if your using a viv) can be pretty funky the way they make the lids connect and can be potentially dangerous if your snake decides he/she is a climber all of a sudden.