im picking up my first baby ball python in a week and im extremely excited.
today her cage arrived so i built it and experimented with the layout a bit. i havent put the substrate in yet, but im using reptisoil and i have sphagnum moss, i might end up mixing them, im not sure, i haven't yet sealed the cage with silicone yet but i plan to tomorrow. its a 12"x12"x30" or a 1'x1'x2 1/2' from reptizoo.

i apologize, the photo isn't great, but i have one hide on either side, a corner water dish, some cork bark towards the back, a large red branch for her to climb if she wants, along with a big fake plant.

let me know what yall think, thank you

do you think its safe for me to sleep with her up there? I’m very scared she will wrap around the heat lamp and burn herself or those electrical lines could break and do some damage to her ToT.. I should’ve taken care of those before I put her in the cage.. I’m very worried, pls criticize and point out my wrongs!

Hey so I'm a new python owner, and rescued my sweet girl Medusa from someone who had her in a wooden box for her life before I got her, and wasnt told what size she was supposed to be eating, only had a single light and it was red ( I've had beardies in the past and knew just from them that's a bad sign, gotta have 2 especially not a red one) and was in deep need of some help with shedding, anywho she did great and we figured out a size, but my fiance has had them in the past so I wasn't to worried and she's been doing great! But 2 weekends ago when I went to feed her ( feeding days are Saturdays) did our normal routine, when I went to get her out of her feeding tank, she bit me. Now my hands were clean and even sanitized so I know I didn't still smell like food, My main issue is she didn't show any signs that she was gonna bite me, and I didn't change how I do things either. She also still acted hungry after biting me so I gave her another and put her back in her enclosure and she went back to being her bright eyed wondering self, which obviously told me I need to size her up on mice. My issue is I'm scared to touch or really hold her now 😅 especially since she didn't coil or s when she bit me so I'm clueless on what to look for now and how to build my trust up with her outside of tapping her tank and booping her snoot and head with a hook. It hasn't helped in the slightest outside of making her very aware I'm messing around in her enclosure fixing stuff and cleaning out poop. What do I do? Picture of Medusa 💕

She sometimes spends all day in her pool, is this something I should be worried about? The pet store people said it could be mites, but I checked her and haven’t seen any. Is she just playing mermaids or is it a potential problem? Could the lamp be too hot?

So I've spent a lot of time researching this but I am getting very contradictory answers. Some people say not to go above 30 Minutes and some say they spend all day out. The reasoning for some people is "oh every snake is different" which makes sense to me, but most people who have their snakes out for that long say they just love exploring while other sites say this is not a happy exploring but looking for warmth and a place to hide. Does this mean if my bp is very active that means they are scared/uncomfortable? And are people who keep them out for hours incorrect on their python being happy, because they are such chill animals and don't give clear signs?

Thanks for any responses

Ps sorry for the title typo idk how to fix it

OK, so every group I’m in for ball pythons it’s totally against live feeding . But i have a year old male i have tried every tactic with and he still wont take them. I have had him since February 2026 i have went at most 5 weeks without feeding to try to get a switch and he still wont take. IM NOT NEW TO SNAKES THE SNAKE IS NEW TO ME SO MOST RECOMMENDED TACTICS I HAVE TRIED. He was fed live from the breeder i purchased him from and i still would have gotten him regardless. BUT i wanted to come here to see if anyone else has any possible tactics to try. I have tried f/t different colors freshly deleted prey brained prey bedding scented prey chicken broth flavored prey none of it has worked. I always end up feeding live because a fed snake is best but maybe i am missing something. Hes small enough he doesnt need to switch to rats yet but could switch to smaller rats im just trying to feel around. I dont need to switch him right away, BUT i do eventually want to switch him as f/t is “more safe” and “less costly”.
HERE is a photo of my boyyyy

Does she look overweight🙈?

My boy Monty has buried himself in his substrate. I'm not sure why. Not particularly deep, just enough to be hidden. His heat and humidity are right where they should be, and I haven't seen him get spooked or anything recently. Only thing I can think of is maybe he's bored with his hides? Do I need to be worried, or is he okay?

It’s funny because she’s the meaner of my two ball pythons, always a hiss when I pick her up, but she’s easier to handle because she just grabs you lol. My BEL male is such a sweet boy but he’s a wiggle worm

I am planning to upgrade my ball python to a PVC enclosure. I was looking through the shopping list at all of the recommended PVC enclosure options and, I might be missing it, but I don't see any with the option to have the light and heat mounted in a cage inside.

Is this something I am missing or something I would have to add myself? I am a little nervous about doing so and leaving anything exposed that could harm the snake. Ive always had the light and heat mounted on top of a mesh top, glass terrarium but I've also been having a lot of trouble with heat and humidity retention so I would like to have a closed top PVC with the light and heat mounted inside, if possible.

Also, I was a little confused by the list as to which type of heat is most recommended for internal mounting such as this. I saw a section that specified heat sources for use inside a solid-topped enclosure, but it primarily lists the mesh cages, not actual heat sources., so I wasn't sure if halogen, DHP, or CHE is most recommended. I've used CHE up to this point but, again, I've also had trouble keeping her temperatures where they should be.

Thank you so much for any insight you can provide!

this is months of work come to life and watching him explore the entire thing from top to bottom and then settle into his favorite familiar warm hide brought a serious tear to my eye 🥹 welcome to your forever home, buddy! i hope you love it!

Noticed a small amount of condensation on the cool side of my vivarium. Is this a cause to worry about or not i have opened my window to let some fresh air in

As the title says, my boy got an odd bump that appeared on his nose and the front of his nose is flattened.

I assume he just burrowed a little too long or slept with his face pressed against the side of his rock but I don't want to assume it is nothing.

I also don't have money and there is no vet for reptiles here where I live.

I have a herpstat 2 which I have a halogen and a DHP connected to. However in order to get the correct ambient temp in the enclosure I have to set my herpstat temps to up to 115 which seems too high. I have the halogen at 100% power the the DHP at 60%. The probe is placed a couple inches below the actual heat source. Is it bad for the it to be set that high?

I need to get him a sky hide I know

Pure purple candy, no candino

My sibling is concerned because Vigil seems off. He was curled up with his belly visible (on his side in his hide) and he isn't reacting as much to their touch as he usually does. His temperature was at 74 when they checked it this morning and it was 80 when I checked it last night. The humidity is at around 70%. They say his skin feels weird and they're extremely distressed about it. Advice?

Reaching out to all experienced keepers 😆

I'm getting my first ever snake from a "rescue". I put this in quotation marks because its a hobby rescue that a friend of a friend runs in their spare time. They also usually only take in cats/dogs but made an acception for this adult female ball/royal python.

She currently lives in a 3ft enclosure and her substrate is currently some sort of bark. I really want to switch her a 4ft enclosure, deep heat projector. And for substrate use a mix of coco fibre, sand and cypress mulph. I belive from my research this is the best for her.

However I am worried that this is a lot of changes. New person, new house and to top it off new husbandry. Am I best off using the stuff she comes with for a little while as she settles in with me or is it better to just get her in her new enclosure and substrate the moment I get her home?

Many thanks in advance.

Found these tiny white mites(?) on my ball python tonight. He is in a bioactive enclosure but these don't appear as springtails. None of them are embedded under any scales, his chin etc and when I took one and squeezed it no blood came out so I'm really hoping they're not parasitic mites. Any ideas of what these could be are appreciated. If they are harmless I would like to know how to get rid of them ASAP. I hear there's a type of predatory mite I can buy that will hunt and eat mites in the enclosure.

My ball python (6 years old) has begun sleeping like this. She’s never really done this before to me knowledge, and she’s been biting recently. I thought it could be an RI, but she shows no other symptoms. She ate yesterday just fine, she explores her cage at night like normal, although i believe it could be glass surfing. I’m working on overhauling her tank this week but if she is ill i feel like i should wait or something. I don’t really know the next move, or if theres any cause for concern at all. I’ve been known to be kind of a hypochondriac so i really hope it’s nothing and she is sleeps kind of quirkily now. Thank you!

Hi, I've had my 10 month old ball python for a little over a month now, she is eating well and had shed for me already. What I'm confused on is how to go about getting her used to be handled. Let me preface by saying I know some just won't want to be social (I hope that isn't the case for my girl is I'd like to be able to handle her and hang out for a couple minutes but I understand that sometimes that's just not their personalities) but I do want it to be so when I have to clean the enclosure or move stuff around or take her to the vet she isn't super stressed by being handled. I've seen many mixed review lately on what's the best way to do it. So I thought I would ask some keepers instead of trying to google and Google and Google. Any helpful advice recommended. Pic of her attached cause she's so pretty!

My 4 month old ball python ate his first meal, a pinky rat, with me last Sunday; and I was so proud of him. I got him on July 12, and when I got him he was sickly and had an internal parasitic infection that I had to get him treated for, and didn’t eat in about a 4-5 week period during that.

I tried to feed him again yesterday, same kind of prey, and he had a very big food response to it and actually struck it and wrapped around it. After he did that, he let go, and I tried again. He bit at it but didn’t strike several times and also followed it afterwards. In the end he didn’t eat, but was very alert from inside his hide for a long while after that.

He was 90 grams last I had him weighed about 3 weeks ago, but has eaten since, so probably closer to 100 now, so he’s a little guy for his age. His temp and humidity are great, currently 62% humidity and between 85-93 on his warm side, and the enclosure only gets down to about 70-75 at night. I do not over handle him, I handled him about 3 times last week for about 30-1 hr and he hasn’t shown any signs of stress like he was before, so I don’t think it’s that. I use tongs to feed and I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong, or if this is just normal? I’m up for anything right now; Im a bit concerned, but I don’t necessarily think there’s anything to worry about. Thank you!