Quote Originally Posted by Freddiesinmyseat View Post
my BPs enjoy temps around 80-84, if I were you I'd switch the hide to the cold side as soon as possible or even add a second hide so he has a choice. also, if I were you I wouldn't handle him more than 15 minutes a day, anymore I've heard can stress them out if they're not used to it. you want to get him used to you gradually and over time rather than force your time upon him, you know? also, study up on the substrates and try to make an educated decision on whether or not the coconut fiber is the best decision for that specific snake.

as far as behavior in his enclosure does he hide, bask, or try to escape most of the time? it tells you a lot about a snake and leaving that info out will have everyone's suggestions incomplete at best. for instance, if he's up on a branch basking most of the time then his belly heat isn't high enough (ball pythons aren't tree dwellers and in nature will burrow in rodent holes), if he's trying to escape a lot then he is probably stressed with his living arrangements, if he's hiding most of the day he is probably comfortable seeing as ball pythons are nocturnal and will actually stay in a hide if they have everything they need in or around their hide spot.

I'm no expert on ball pythons or anything but this is all stuff I've learned after reading through a bunch of forums and posts for the last several months. I just picked up an aggressive ball python myself that we're working to calm down. he's a 486g guy, about 2.5 feet. he's had a bad shed, still has large patches stuck on. really cautious around fast movement, head shy like no other and tags if he doesn't like something you do. we just got him tonight but he seems way more calm than he was earlier (housed in a 20h with a larger male) which wasn't due to their fault, but rather the situation and time they had to rescue him and his buddy.

we have him in a 28qt sterilite container on astroturf type carpeting with 1 hide and a water dish. he's been in hiding most of the time he's been there (about 3 hours) and has already shed off a lot of the retained skin due to the humidity kept in the container and the grip of the substrate. we have personally had a great success with the astroturf, no irritation to our ball pythons whatsoever and it actually helped them shed in full pieces (since they need something to rub against when they're ready to shed).

Sorry about the long post, had some drinky tonight lol! but yeah, I now have a camera at my disposable for a few days. I'll take some pics of my set up for our snakes and I'll keep you updated on his behavior if you wish (we just need to give him some time to acclimate before we try to handle him, he's had 2 moves in 2 weeks).

well, good luck and keep us updated on his progress
~Fade
you think cold side is better for him? because i find he loves to sit on the top of his hide "which is on the heat pad" i also find him lots Stretched out with some on the heat pad and some in his water

i do my best to be patient with him and when he starts to freak out i put him back! he has things to rub on! and i Really like the coconut fiber ! you can get it at Canadian tire cheap cheap and it holds moisture soo soo soo good!

and yes i would love to see your setup