Quote Originally Posted by pythontricker View Post
My bp has randomly chosen not to eat tonight. he hasnt done this ever before except when shedding. any one know why. i know that theyre very reclusive. but mine isnt. theres only one thing i think could have caused him to not eat (im just guessing). i got a him a new really big climbing obstical in his cage. he seems to be really interested with it all of the sudden and is deciding to play around quite a bit when he is ussualy sleeping. he is super energetic tonight and wont eat i am really confused and slightly worried. any comforting words of knowledge and expertese of ball python behavior word be so appriciated. please help!
I would be careful with just assuming that your BP isn't reclusive. It is important to distinguish between a relaxed and anxious behavior. Any activity that involves extended time outside the hide, searching the walls and ceiling, or constant movement is most likely stress and not play. On the other hand, a relaxed outing would be something like hanging the head out of the hide or a period of lazily basking while occasionally changing position.

When I first got my BP I thought it was so cool that he came out at 6pm every night and cruised his cage before settling down sometime after I went to bed. As I learned more about the husbandry, I started making improvements to his setup. All of a sudden, he quit coming out! I was worried and that's how I found this site. I posted my problem and everybody promptly told me things sounded pretty good! At first, I was pretty disappointed to find out my new pet was a hermit. But now I just take him out when I want to hold him and, otherwise, it just makes the Snakey sightings that much more exciting!

And, just so you know, my BP isn't shy or skittish at all - noticing when he's getting stressed can be tough sometimes. But, no matter how relaxed he is, he still wants to play it safe and stay in his hide most of the time.