Grumpy Ball Python

[cchardwick]

You have a nice setup there! I used to keep my ball pythons in glass tanks but they hid all day long, it was like having a bunch of empty tanks around the room LOL. Ball pythons staying in their hide all the time is perfectly normal, it's one of the reasons you can keep them in tubs in a rack system, they prefer to be in a hidden spot most of the time.

Actually I don't think 87 F for the warm side is out of line. If you watch old videos of big breeders they used to crank up the hot side to 94 F, but after years of research they found that temps that high can make the males sterile temporarily. So they have been dropping the temps year after year. Most have dropped down to 88 F as the normal hot spot temp and that's what I use for all my tubs. At 87 F, just one degree under, you are just talking about the difference in the accuracy of the temp probes LOL. I do keep my ambient temps at 81 F - 82 F but 79 F should be OK too. 90 F for the hot spot should be fine. I never drop my temps for breeding season or any other reason, they seem to all breed fine and a drop in temp seems to just make a bunch of them go off of food.

[Zincubus]

They hide during the day as they're nocturnal ...

To the op - get a few branches from the local park or woods and your Royal will explore and climb all over them in the evenings..


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[Caali]

They hide during the day as they're nocturnal ...

To the op - get a few branches from the local park or woods and your Royal will explore and climb all over them in the evenings..


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He's never been outside during the day. If he had been, I would've been extremely worried.
And, yes, he loves to climb. The terrarium might not look like it but the fake plants which are stuck to the walls are specifically made for ball pythons to be able to climb on them. He has climbed them countless times and if he's at the top of the plant, he's already touching the top of the terrarium. He's also able to climb the big branch in the middle of terrarium and the back wall (the one you can see on the left). I have a few other branches but I feel like he has enough things to climb on.

The huge terrarium I bought for him is even better for a climbing ball python. It's handmade and has a few terraces as well as many branches which are screwed to the top. It looks like a jungle in there. I'm really proud of the terrarium but he's still too small for it. So I'm taking the time to make it perfect. It will be my masterpiece