baby ball python, please help.

[blackcrystal22]

Ok, I am not as concerned about your enclosure as I was now.

hi black crystal, thanks dude for your quick reply.



ok, thats pretty cool. mines fairly similar. although whats the problem with log hides?
this isnt a circular, hollow log i have. its looks more like its from the root mass of the tree. theres basically one small entrance from the ground and another from above. he has hid in it before. do you still think i should get rid of it?

Those type of trunk/stump hides are good. But I suggest placing it in the middle of the cage and two identical hides on opposite ends so that he doesn't have to make as many sacrifices for desires. For example, if his favorite hide was on the cold end but he wanted to be warm he may go to the cold end and sacrifice the heat for the hide he prefers. Having two identical hides helps to eliminate this. The trunk log hide is a good extra hide to have in there though, I see no problem with it.

ok thanks, i thought so, but wanted to check.
i tried to get the mat out, but i cant. infact i cant figure out how they got it in there, lol. theres a small hole feeding the wire through, but the hole isnt big enough for the mat O_o.
actually, thinking again, they mustve just seperated the plug from the wire. ill have a look and see if i can do the same.

Would you mind taking a picture? I did not realize it was built into the enclosure. Since it was, there may be other steps that need to be taken. Is there a wooden floor on the cage? If not, you may want to invest in a tile slab (plastic or real tile both work) for an easier cleanable base. This way you can seal the tile above the UTH and create a false floor that won't leak onto the UTH and won't be directly heated. I've never done this myself, but I know there are a couple people I can PM about it if you need me to.
You do need some type of non-soaking floor. A pure wooden floor would just hold bacteria like no other and mold/rot and who knows what else.

ok, ive read conflicting advice regarding a night time drop and light cycle. some people say its necessary. some say irrelevant. yours agrees with my logic so ill go along with it.
maybe i was misleading when i said "tank". i dont know the correct terminology. its basically 5 sides wood and the front side glass. the wood is almost an inch thick. so i guess that wood would absorb more heat than standard glass. and so probably will be safe when placed under the box.

There is a LOT of conflicting advise about there about ball pythons in general. Balls will spend weeks in a burrow only coming out to drink and eat, though usually they eat from their burrow by waiting for food to pass (it is also a good idea to feed in the enclosure as well despite controversial info you may have heard on that, it is less stressful on the snake and ingesting substrate is not a big deal at all). They don't need UV rays of any type like tortoises and many lizards do, so light cycles are not all that important. The normal cycle of you being in the room and the sun shining through a window is fine. The only thing that is recommended, that if you do provide light in the cage (for viewing or a heat boost) then you do need to cycle it by turning it off at night.

because its a big enclosure, ive put three hides in there. do you still think i should get rid of the log? it does offer a good hiding place, not just a hollowed out branch. as for getting rid of the lamp, agree'd. but... the idle air temp with just the heat mat on, is about 77degrees.
i guess that will drop considerably when the mat is placed under teh enclosure, so would you recommend fitting a low watt fluorescant light too? something like 20w i imagine would stable the temps at mid 80's.

Thats alright. You may need to downgrade the enclosure if he isn't eating or is becoming stressed by the space. You could block of part of the cage to do this.
I have a couple tanks that I have low wattage florescent viewing lights, and they work well but don't really add any heat. If you want to try to add heat to the cage, you can get an extra UTH (that you may not need to plug into a thermostat if the base is thick) and just put that under the enclosure for a bit of added floor heat. I suggest just putting it under the cage and elevating the cage slightly so it's not pressed up on the cage or counter (which would create a fire hazard).
You can also insulate the sides of the enclosure more, there are multiple insulation methods that we can recommend for you if you'd like to try that.

ok, so actually, when i handle him and he constantly tries to explore, thats a bad thing? its actually a sign that it is happier if its just curled up? if thats the case then im quite pleased, as he never tried to slip away when i handled him.

it slithered in my pocket the other day, lol. searching for a dark place. he popped his head out when the rest of his body was inside, and just sat there for ages, looking like the cutest thing youve ever seen - basically until i put him back in the enclosure, lol.

Handling behaviors can differ from snake to snake. If a snake is severely thrashing and trying to get away, that is stressful, but a little bit of movement is not so bad. Exploration is usually only bad if it's constantly roaming around a cage, in which means they are looking for a more secure place to be.
Being in a ball while handling is a younger ball python thing. It will get better with age and is completely normal.

ok, cool. ill pick up one of those lamp dimmers when i can. in the mean time, ive turned the 'UTH' off, until i get it out of the enclosure, and ive turned the light on. but ive put a cardboard partition up so the snake cant get to the light. the partition will also make him feel more secure, i hope. as his effective new enclosure is about 1.5ft x1 x1.
i am using a digital thermometer/humidity gauge. - it doesnt have prongs tho.

thanks again man and any other comments or suggestions from anyone are welcome.

Pick up one or two probe thermometers as well. They are really useful for specific area temperatures and can be used for multiple things. :]

edit: if its a sign that he is relaxed and happy, when i tried to remove the UTH earlier, i place him atop the enclosure, along with the water bowl while i was moving all the bark. rather than being scared he perused over to the bowl for a drink, lapped some up and then swaggered back to where he was and just waited, while i was working around him.

is that the behaviour of a happy snake? lol

As long as he's not constantly out and about, yes, he is a happy snake.

sorry, 1 more question.

alot of people say snakes are bad at sensing heat. - this is why ive got to have the UTH actually under the enclosure to make sure he doesnt burrow and burn.

however, the same people encourage me to have a gradient of heat, so that the snake can choose where it wants to be. they also encourage to have a basking spot.

can anyone else see the contradiction? surely if a snake is capable of choosing the area in which it lays on the basis of the heat of that area, it is also capable of avoiding areas that might be too hot?

i would really like someone to explain. i know theyre right, and that im missing something. thanks again.

Snakes are not bad at sensing heat itself. Rather, they are bad at moving when the heat gets too hot. They don't recognize that the temperatures can burn them, this is why heat rocks and high temperatures are bad things.
You do not need a basking spot. Ball pythons won't bask, they will hide constantly and need the belly heat where the hide is. They will not leave the safety of their hides to bask, so basking lights aren't needed.
You do need a gradient of heat so that the cool side is 80-85F and the warm side is 90-95F. This way, especially during digestion, they will move to their desired area of temperature.

also, can camera flashes bother him or hurt his eyes?
thanks guys. i know it sucks to answer 20 questions but they arent obvious and its all for the good of the snake

No, don't worry, camera flashing might surprise them a little bit, but it won't hurt their eyes.