Snabitat Build

[Malum Argenteum]

So right now the inside of his preferred hot hide is holding steady at 83*, the top of the hot hide (aka basking) is 93*, and the cool side is 75*. I have read a bunch of different care sheets from good sources and they often differ a bit about optimum temps. I feel like I’m in the right range. I also have some hides in the middle of the tat so he can really optimize his temp. What do you guys think of these temps? Also, the previous owner reported that these are essentially the temps she was keeping him at and I feel like I should be trying to match what he’s used to.

Re: feeding, the previous owner reported that she was feeding him every other week. Everything I’ve read says feeds should be every week. He seems to be in good condition, I still need to weigh him but just by eyeballing it his body condition seems good to me. Do you think I should stick with the previous owners schedule? When should I offer the first feed? He ate about a week ago.


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You can fine tune the temps by noting where the snake spends his time. If he's always in the preferred hot hide, that may mean that it is a little too cool in there and he's not reaching his preferred body temp -- so that might be a clue to bump the temp up in that hide a couple degrees (without, of course, raising the temp too much on top of it). Snakes apparently choose their locations -- their microhabitat of the moment -- on many factors, some of which might make no sense to us, so don't assume that just because there's some warmer spot available that the snake doesn't "want" some spot to be warmer.

Feeding frequency depends a lot on how large a prey item is being fed -- twice as large means roughly half as often. I prefer to feed a prey item that's on the small side compared to other keepers. Feeding frequency also depends on whether the snake is indicating it is hungry -- if it isn't in feeding mode, I'll usually not offer food (ball pythons are much easier in this regard than are other snakes, since BPs will act differently if they're ready for food vs when they're not).