Please Help. I dont want him to end up dead

[smalls92]

Well I recently got my ball python a new cage (20 gallon long) jes about 2 feet long and on one side of the tank we have a sticky heating pad stuck onto the bottom of the cage with a log hide on that side. Theres a pice of wood in the middle and then on the cool side I have another peice of wood with some leaves to make a decent hide ( he really likes the new pice of driftwood) anyways. He seems staying on the cool side of the tank all day long and is hardly active at night like he used to be. The temps are good. 90 on the hot 80 on the cool. Fresh water is given every day and I feed on live mouse every week. He eats fine and for the first time shed completly in one peice ( I tried the damp towel method ontop of the cage) Ive set my hand on the bottom of the cage where the heating pad is and its definatly not too hot for him. Ive switched the log and the new piece of wood to the opposite side countless times to see if he follows but I just cant think of why hes acting so wierd. Please, any advice would be greatly appreaciated.

[slartibartfast]

The log hides are not that secure, they like small, snug and dark. I would also think about putting your heating pad on a thermostat, since they are not immune to malfunction and can potentially get too hot.

For the rest of it, your temps look good and if he's eating weekly and shedding out cleanly, I wouldn't worry too much.

[FL0OD]

you mentioned that it is a new tank. I would ask how big his old tank was? What may be happening is if the he/she is used to being in a smaller enclosure where the heat and cool sides are very close it may not realize that there is a warm side now. any time I have had a smaller animal in a larger tank and they consistantly stay on one side I will physically move them over to the other side and keep a eye on them. balls will self regulate there heat if they are in good health, meaning if they are to hot they will look for cool and vice versa. i would agree with the above post about your temps so just show him/her that there is another side to its new enclosure.

[ZEKESMOM]

I agree with what was said above. You do not say how big your bp is. I myself moved my bp from a 10 gallon to a 20 gallon to soon. I "thought" he needed the room. It took Zeke a while to get over the "move" and to adjust to all of the space I had just put him into. Just let him be and move him physically if you have to. Do quit moving the interior of his tank around...this will just stress him out more. Good luck with the adjustment

[addsdad]

Get a thermostat and two identical, tight fitting hides. He seems to be eating well and just had a good shed. He must be regulating his temp fine. Maybe moving to the hot side when your not watching. I think you are doing fine. Most importantly, get that heat pad on a thermostat or rheostat.

[NickP]

Don't worry. My BP loves the cool side. Everytime I put him in the warmer side's hide, he would eventually move to the cooler end. I don't think he likes heat that much, but during sheds he does stay at the warmer end.

[NickP]

LoL! I just checked on my BP and bam, he's not in the cool hide. That's weird because after putting him in the warmer hide in the evening, at night I noticed he switched over into the cooler hide. I looked in the warmer hide, but couldn't see that well so I thought he wasn't there and started panicking. Maybe he was hiding in the plants? After looking for him for like 15 minutes, I finally lifted the warmer hide and turns out he had dug some substrate out that blocked his view haha. Maybe he likes the heat afterall lol