Quote Originally Posted by tweets_4611 View Post
Even if you think it is used to you and comfortable, you still need to leave it for a week or so without messing with him too much. It won't hurt for him to go a week without eating.

When a ball is comfortable it will just chill out, lay there and maybe casually look around, but the slithering all over is a sign of trying to find a hiding place. Since he went right back into his hide when you put him back it does sound like he was wanting to get in a small dark place.

As a side note, if your hot spot gets too hot, putting more bedding over doesn't ensure that your snake won't get burnt. Many balls like to rearange the place and will shift the bedding around and end up laying on the glass. It would be best to have a thermometer probe directly on the glass right above the UTH. Get that temp to where it should be and the snake won't be in any danger of being burned then.
Yeah, as a temporary measure I stuck the one sticky therm on the glass. I had just piled up more bedding to ensure that it wasn't being burnt.

Quote Originally Posted by starmom View Post
In addition to putting the probe on the glass for an accurate reading of temps, are you using a thermostat to control the heat source?

An active ball python, especially during the day times, and especially when they are new, means that the ball python is still adjusting to the new environment and is feeling stressed. As has been mentioned, leave the snake alone for a week or so and attempt to feed. If the snake refuses, leave the snake alone for another week and try again
The UTH I bought was in the "Snake Starter Kit" from Petsmart, the one girl I work with said it was perfect for BP's so I believed her. Turns out, it doesn't have means to change the temperature, but it's good that it stays consistent to the 90ish BP's are meant to be in. As for regulating, if I notice a slight jump in temperatures I'll adjust the position of my lights so it's not too warm, but it generally all stays the same.

I can deal with leaving it alone for a while, just a relief to know it wasn't being burned.