Why do BP's do this?

[51-50 Python]

I completely agree with you...we recently took in a new addition and after a few days of monitoring he appears to act normal and healthy. He was living in a glass tank with a piece of cardboard taped on top, no heat, no hide, no water, no substrate, NOTHING!...for several months. What I took away from that was snakes can survive in a lot of places but I'm interested in whats good for them and how to make their life as happy and healthy as within my means. Hopefully our new guy is as healthy as he appears.

lol okay i dont buy that at all.. how can a BP go months without any heat or water? it wouldent have any energy to eat or even move and it would probably die the first month.. and if this is true then why would you keep your snake like that for months?

[missi182]

yes it does, and no its never hurt itself since the day i got it.. so dont try to give me any bs for that

ITS NOT BS! LAMPS INSIDE AN ENCLOSURE ARE A BAD IDEA!! Why are you refusing our help!? Do you seriously want your bp to get injured? You can buy protective caging for keeping a lamp inside your enclosure, but I don't understand why you would do that. Your snake CAN and WILL eventually get burned, so why would you risk it?

[missi182]

lol okay i dont buy that at all.. how can a BP go months without any heat or water? it wouldent have any energy to eat or even move and it would probably die the first month.. and if this is true then why would you keep your snake like that for months?

I would never keep a snake like that, but many people do bring their "new" snake home from the pet store and do not know what they are doing, and set it up completely wrong. The snake can live for quite a long time before it is rescued or inevitably dies.

[Freakie_frog]

Ok I will try to speak from a keepers aspect and will try and help you understand some of the reasons why you Ball is doing what it is doing
First

and i also disagree about my humidity being lower then it should be.. because if it was less then 50 - 60 % then my BP would have bad sheds but its had perfect sheds since the day i got it

Or be soaking from time to time to help keep it hydrated. Balls drink very little water when they drink but like all reptiles do keep hydrated through their skin. So lower humidity can cause a ball to soak to try and get hydrated, its faster than drinking.

well how big is your tank? mine is only a 16 gallon and my light heats up the tank just fine.. also my light is actually inside of the tank some people just put it on the top but mine is actually sticking inside of it so maybe thats the difference

First this is a danger risk to you snake it can become burned if the light get to hot and the snake comes in contact with it. Second lights dry out the environment they are exposed to having kept balls in tanks for many years I can attest to the fact that using lights outside the tank to heat is fine it just means more work for the keep to try and maintain the RH (relative humidity) that is needed.

yes it does, and no its never hurt itself since the day i got it.. so dont try to give me any bs for that

Thats not to say it wont. My suggestion would be place the light outside the tank because any responsible pet owner would not want to knowingly place there pet in a situation where they might get hurt or even die.

lol okay i dont buy that at all.. how can a BP go months without any heat or water? it wouldn't have any energy to eat or even move and it would probably die the first month.. and if this is true then why would you keep your snake like that for months?

Because they were designed to live in plains of Africa where food and water can be scarce. I have see Balls live through not eating for 6+ months and come through just fine.


No one here is trying to "Tell" you what to do. You asked why your ball python is soaking these are some possibilities take them and do with them as you will.

But remember you wouldn't go to a mechanic and say "my car is acting funny can you tell me what it is?" then when the mechanic come back and says "Oh it your whatever hose" would you look at him and say "that can be I've had this car for 5 months and never had a problem with that so it can't be that".

[joepythons]

yes it does, and no its never hurt itself since the day i got it.. so dont try to give me any bs for that

I see no reason to be rude here.Its a true FACT heat sources INSIDE the enclosure CAN burn the reptile .Now as i see it you are a newbie here and you came here asking questions.So we are giving you answers and then you start getting defensive .Why?

[soy.lor.n]

Also, as for belly heat...you can get one of the big pieces of heat tape from RBI for $8.40 + shipping (and if you ask, he'll wire it for you for free) and a dimmer from Home Depot for $10
http://www.reptilebasics.com/Heating-p-1-c-248.html

They also have some great FAQs

[rabernet]

i said im using stick on thermometers i never said i was just guessing the temps.. and yes i am gonna get a digital hygrometer/thermometer or whatever its called loll

I really hate to break it to you, but if you're using stick on thermometers, then you ARE just guessing. I'm not sure why you're being resistent to advice being offered to you.

Just because your snake "seems" fine after five months of owning it, doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It takes a LONG time for them to show symptoms of any problems. I also think your soaking likely means your temps are much warmer than you perceive them to be.

Invest $12 in a DIGITAL thermometer/hygrometer from Walmart and be sure.

And your light is INSIDE the inclosure? That took my breath away - seriously. There are so many things that you really need to correct. I'd suggest that you review the ball python care sheet here. Just because you aren't having problems now, I forsee that you're going either have a burned or sick snake the way you have it set up now. Just my

[rabernet]

yes it does, and no its never hurt itself since the day i got it.. so dont try to give me any bs for that

Why come and ask for advice and then dismiss it as BS? Some of us have a "wee" bit more experience with keeping these animals than you do right now.

[SnakieMom]

Also, as for belly heat...you can get one of the big pieces of heat tape from RBI for $8.40 + shipping (and if you ask, he'll wire it for you for free) and a dimmer from Home Depot for $10
http://www.reptilebasics.com/Heating-p-1-c-248.html

They also have some great FAQs

Beware the DIMMERS!!! I have one, and it burned a hole through
a tub! I don't think it would burn a tank, but the point is, they don't really have that great of a control!

[soy.lor.n]

Beware the DIMMERS!!! I have one, and it burned a hole through
a tub! I don't think it would burn a tank, but the point is, they don't really have that great of a control!

I'd say that depends on the dimmer. If it can get a lightbulb down to being off, then it should be able to do the same with a UTH. I'm using one right now (we have a thermostat we'll probably hook up this weekend, but just haven't wanted to bother her with it yet...) and it works just fine. The one I have has a little slider thing which includes an off setting
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...ctId=100145680