Questions about what you personally enjoy about your animals / just general questions

[redshepherd]

Having had both racks AND display enclosures (pvc cages) for my ball pythons, I can tell you that the same snakes hide just as much in the display enclosure as they do in a rack. They don't make great display snakes, because their natural behavior is just that as others have said- hiding in a hole for 90% of the 24 hour day.

"Enrichment" in the trendy sense that's been spreading, is of course nice for the snakes when they do come out at midnight~4am. But even when "out and about", in the ball python sense, is still just laying in one spot... Just outside of their hide. Sometimes with only half their bodies out of their hide. Sometimes they'll move around a bit just to lay in a different spot, waiting to ambush their prey. When they're done laying around outside of their hide, they return to their hide to lay around.

During the day, their entire bodies are in the hide, including the head. I hardly see them at all, if ever, during the day. Unless they're literally starving or underfed, that forces them to actively hunt for food during the day as well. You'll find they show much more activity when underfed, which is why many newbie keepers want to call their ball pythons "an active species". LOL

Handling a ball python is really for the owner's purposes and entertainment, so it would not make you neglectful. Do what you enjoy doing! The vast majority of ball pythons tolerate being held and toyed with by humans very well, just naturally calm and tolerant snakes, which is the reason why they're such popular pets.

This topic of "enrichment/display cages vs racks" has been talked to death over and over, usually by newbie keepers... The reason being, they are partially projecting what they want to see onto their snake, and having never had actual active snake species to compare to. If you want to compare ball pythons to a rock or a snail- sure, they're active! LOL