Ball Pythons & Cleanliness Instincts

[Spiritwolf]

I own several different species of snakes & have spent a long time observng & documenting their behaviors.

I have found that snakes such as garter snakes, cornsnakes, the black ratsnake, milksnakes, and the California kingsnake have a definite cleanliness instinct & tend to consistently choose a spot to defecate that is furthest from their den boxes. I know these species are ground dwellers.

In contrast, my ball python shows no cleanliness instinct at all. She will defecate anywhere in her cage, even in her den box.

Looking at other species, I've noted that most species that are "den animals" and return to the same place consistently to sleep, etc. for the most part also have a strong cleanliness instinct & defecate away from their dens. Species such as most flying birds for example, that in the wild are in a situation where they can defecate almost anywhere & their waste drops away from them, tend to show very little cleanliness instinct apart from the cleanliness instinct many birds show during nesting season. Many birds remove the babies waste from the nest & many baby birds have an instinct to wiggle their rear up & over the edge of the nest when defecating so their feces drop away outside the nest.

I've been unable to find much information at all on what sort of environment & habits the ball python has in the wild. I suspected they might be arboreal, which could explain the lack of cleanliness instinct. However, upon reading threads on that topic, I've seen it stated that ball pythons are not arboreal.

Does anyone know just what the environment & habits of the ball python are in the wild? Are they a species that tend to have specific denning spots they return to, are they wanderers, or what? Or do some ball pythos in fact, possess a cleanliness instinct as the other species I've observed?

[seang89]

I own only a few ball pythons, But I can say that mine usually do their business away from the hides. I say usually cause I have a male who will not move during shed, and he will sometimes do what hes gotta do in there.

[Simple Man]

I think the obvious point your missing is that ball pythons don't move a lot and the other snakes you mentioned do. It's simple probability that the snake that moves more will go the bathroom outside it's "den" as you refer to it. You're overcomplicating a very simple creature. Just my $.02

Regards,

B

[dragonsong93]

I don't know about in the wild, but my bp will not use his hide if it is dirty, I know it's cleaning day when he's sitting outside on substrate waiting for me to get to it.

[MasonC2K]

I don't know about in the wild, but my bp will not use his hide if it is dirty, I know it's cleaning day when he's sitting outside on substrate waiting for me to get to it.

Ditto. I came home yesterday to find my pastel sitting on top of his hide. A sign that I needed to clean. Basically, they'll poop where they are but they will move away from it.

[Cendalla]

Ditto. I came home yesterday to find my pastel sitting on top of his hide. A sign that I needed to clean. Basically, they'll poop where they are but they will move away from it.

Yup. My BP is the same way. My Boas all have to have a bath because they will move through the mess or even sit in it. They have plenty of room. They just like to have their bath time I think.

[blushingball419]

Ditto. I came home yesterday to find my pastel sitting on top of his hide. A sign that I needed to clean. Basically, they'll poop where they are but they will move away from it.

Same here. My bp will make a mess inside of her hide, but then will avoid that hide at all costs until I clean it.

I have also noticed that my colubrids almost never defecate inside of their hides (there might be urates near it, but never more than that) and my big creamsicle girl always goes in the exact same spot every time, which is in the corner farthest away from her favorite hide.

In the wild I believe I've read that bps are more wanderers, usually taking shelter in any hole or den they can find, so I suppose that could have something to do with it. It obviously doesn't have anything to do with terrestrial vs. arboreal nature, since bps are just as ground-dwelling as corns and kings, if not more so. I agree with Simple Man that it's probably the activity level, and maybe it could be that if they're kept in the same enclosure long enough they might develop preferred areas where they know they won't be laying on it later.

I guess it doesn't really matter in the end... as long as the whole cycle of feeding and pooping is going on that's the main thing

[kitedemon]

I have a pet theory, I have been doing tons of research on natural royal behaviours. I also have noticed that mine will defecate in the hide but then will not use it. I think from the little information on wild Royals I have been able to find I believe they do not 'stake' out a territory but move from place to place. If this is the case (I have not found any field work that has tracked individuals yet) they likely do not stay in a hide for long periods of time but actually leave it and hunt and take over another place and stay to digest then off to somewhere else.

[Redneck_Crow]

Ditto. I came home yesterday to find my pastel sitting on top of his hide. A sign that I needed to clean. Basically, they'll poop where they are but they will move away from it.

It's a behavior that makes sense for a creature that spends much of it's time in tunnels that other animals have made. Drop a big pile, move on. Plenty of other places to hang out down here.

It only gets complicated when we give them a little bitty hide for a home instead of a series of tunnels to hang out in. If you've used up that part of the tunnel....whoops, there is no other part of the tunnel to move to!

My het pied solves this dilemma by befouling her water dish.

[rabernet]

I would recommend picking up VPI's Pythons of the World, Volume 2: Ball Pythons. The spend a good deal of the book covering ball pythons' natural history. They are not arboreal, btw.

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