Odd BP behavior

[Homebody]

About a week. I fed her Monday, day early as I thought she was super hungry. She hid for maybe 24hrs (which usually it’s 3 days) then out, no buldge - seemed digested and back at the glass lol.

Two to three hours of daytime surfing everyday for a week indicates to me that she's wanting something. My first guess would be food. My BP was an adult so I don't have any experience adjusting sizes, but I know they're fed hoppers as babies so it's probably time to size up. Get a weight on her and consult any of the numerous ball python feeding charts on the net to see what you should be feeding her.

It's probably unrelated, but I wonder how effective your UTH is through that much substrate. It looks like you've go two or three inches there. You've either got it running too hot or it's not doing anything.

[Harri]

Two to three hours of daytime surfing everyday for a week indicates to me that she's wanting something. My first guess would be food. My BP was an adult so I don't have any experience adjusting sizes, but I know they're fed hoppers as babies so it's probably time to size up. Get a weight on her and consult any of the numerous ball python feeding charts on the net to see what you should be feeding her.

It's probably unrelated, but I wonder how effective your UTH is through that much substrate. It looks like you've go two or three inches there. You've either got it running too hot or it's not doing anything.

Feeding: That’s what everyone keeps saying. I might try small mouse if rat.

Substrate: I have the UTH set on thermostat to 94. Which with heat gun registers at 84. So I don’t think it’s too hot. Do you?

I mean if it was too hot she would be on the cool side or in water, which she isn’t. She’s chillin on hot side.

Now I was thinking …
Probe is under mat under the tank. Is that good? Or should it be in the tank under substrate?

Also, YTuber (Green room pythons) says put UTH to 90, with no substrate in hide. Was thinking of that. Thoughts?

[Homebody]

Feeding: That’s what everyone keeps saying. I might try small mouse if rat.

Substrate: I have the UTH set on thermostat to 94. Which with heat gun registers at 84. So I don’t think it’s too hot. Do you?

I mean if it was too hot she would be on the cool side or in water, which she isn’t. She’s chillin on hot side.

Now I was thinking …
Probe is under mat under the tank. Is that good? Or should it be in the tank under substrate?

Also, YTuber (Green room pythons) says put UTH to 90, with no substrate in hide. Was thinking of that. Thoughts?

Your UTH thermostat is too high. Follow Green room pythons recommendation to set the UTH to 90 and remove the substrate in the hide. As you have it, if your BP burrows under the substrate it could get burned.

That said, you're BP hasn't burrowed under the substrate, so I don't think that's causing the daytime surfing. It's just a potential problem that I noticed.

[Armiyana]

I definitely agree that you need to double check the temps. If the glass is registering above 88, that can be a burn hazard. That will need to be fixed. The substrate can always be moved and the snake can contact the glass and injure itself.

I honestly think the whole problem is food however.
How much does your snake weigh? How much does the food weigh? Ideally you need to be feeding around 10% of your snake's body weight. At 4 months, I feel like a hopper mouse(?) Is way too small. That will make them restless and keep looking for more.
I have a month old BP that is eating small mice. Hopers are only fed to hatchlings for a couple of meals.

[Harri]

I definitely agree that you need to double check the temps. If the glass is registering above 88, that can be a burn hazard. That will need to be fixed. The substrate can always be moved and the snake can contact the glass and injure itself.

I honestly think the whole problem is food however.
How much does your snake weigh? How much does the food weigh? Ideally you need to be feeding around 10% of your snake's body weight. At 4 months, I feel like a hopper mouse(?) Is way too small. That will make them restless and keep looking for more.
I have a month old BP that is eating small mice. Hopers are only fed to hatchlings for a couple of meals.

The glass is above but the substrate is 88 max.

Should i put probe in or out of tank? Should I just do glass no substrate on hot side with UTH at 88?

I agree on food. At store now. Should I feed her today or wait til Monday?

[Homebody]

The glass is above but the substrate is 88 max.

Should i put probe in or out of tank? Should I just do glass no substrate on hot side with UTH at 88?

I agree on food. At store now. Should I feed her today or wait til Monday?

The probe should be out of the tank securely affixed between the UTH and the bottom of your enclosure. You should feed her on your normal schedule. There's no need to rush. She won't starve.

[Harri]

The probe should be out of the tank securely affixed between the UTH and the bottom of your enclosure. You should feed her on your normal schedule. There's no need to rush. She won't starve.

Should I go weaned rat?

[Argentum]

Can't add anything to what others have said about conditions or heat, but I will say; The hatchling I currently have is just three months old (egg was cut on 5/16/22), and has been on a feeder mouse (15-25g ea. as per the supplier), once a week to every five days (depending on whether she's hunting) for a while now. I just ordered weaned rats (25-45g ea.) to start transitioning her to in a month or so. At three months old, her health condition is very good, and she could easily take a weaned rat already, but I prefer to wait. I'm not sure if your hatchling is unusually small, but I would think that she's probably hungry, if you're still feeding hopper mice.

[Argentum]

Was going to edit in, but took too long...

My 3-month-old is currently 198g 'loaded', aka she hasn't pooped, just for a base of comparison. If you have a kitchen scale, you can check your snake's weight - I just have a very basic Camry scale I got off Amazon years ago. I wouldn't depend on checking weight constantly, but it can be useful to get a general idea of feeder size by the charts. Some of them say to feed 15% of the body weight, but personally, I think that could be better stated as 'feed an absolute maximum of 15% of the body weight'. Ball python hatchlings do grow very fast, though. I normally feed my adult female about 4% of her current body weight, and even at that I recently noticed that she's gotten chubby. A hatchling, I would tend to feed closer to 10-15%, so long as they continue to show a healthy body condition.

[Harri]

Was going to edit in, but took too long...

My 3-month-old is currently 198g 'loaded', aka she hasn't pooped, just for a base of comparison. If you have a kitchen scale, you can check your snake's weight - I just have a very basic Camry scale I got off Amazon years ago. I wouldn't depend on checking weight constantly, but it can be useful to get a general idea of feeder size by the charts. Some of them say to feed 15% of the body weight, but personally, I think that could be better stated as 'feed an absolute maximum of 15% of the body weight'. Ball python hatchlings do grow very fast, though. I normally feed my adult female about 4% of her current body weight, and even at that I recently noticed that she's gotten chubby. A hatchling, I would tend to feed closer to 10-15%, so long as they continue to show a healthy body condition.

Thanks. I agree and will increase to small mouse or weaned rat next feeding.