Found my ball python. Question.

[Ashe9]

Hey everyone.
I was gone for a vacation and I left the care of my ball python to my mom. She was cleaning his cage and forgot to latch it. Long story short, he got out. He was missing for about four days, and I just found him. I just put him back in his tank after looking him over, and other than being thirsty and going straight to his water dish, he seemed okay. I am guessing he took a few falls because his tank is on a desk, and there was evidence that he somehow got on top of my bookshelf that is 8ft tall. I’m worried about those falls, should I take him to the vet? Thank you.

[Craiga 01453]

As long as he seems healthy i think youre fine.
If he has no visible injuries, you can try flipping him on his back, see if he uprights himself easily Also try holding him towards his tail, if he has full strength using the back 1/3 of his body he's likely fine.

Glad you found him!!

[pretends2bnormal]

If he passes Craig's tests, then he probably will be fine. Ball pythons may not be arboreal, but they are better climbers than you might expect them to be.

It is possible there was no falls or much shorter ones than the height suggests by itself. They can have pretty long reach, so even the tall bookshelf might have only had him fall lower off of it than the top if he fell. I have a thread with my adult spider BP managing to climb perfectly down a 3.5 foot tall table leg despite thinking he would fall when he started.

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[Ashe9]

Thank you both! You were super helpful.