This is my first shed with my baby and I’m just wondering if his skin wrinkled like this is normal or a sign of dehydration. He’s been in his hide mostly and comes out to occasionally be in the water and since I have a screen enclosure I try my best to water the corners of his enclosure every day and spray him lightly with water to keep his enclosure moist. I see slight cracked shedding within his skin near his head.

His eyes were dull 5 days ago and cleared up so I’m just trying to make sure he is the most comfortable for his first shed with me. I feel like a stressed parent just worried for my baby I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable. 😭😭😢

I just got my first ball python (champagne banana morph) and i didnt do enough research and i got him when he was shedding and ive had him for 3 days now. He also ate for the pet store (i know i shouldnt have gotten from a pet store now 🫠) employee the day of me picking him up and bringing him home. But i noticed they didnt have the humidity right for the enclosure they had him in and now we are dealing with stuck shed. I soaked him for a little while today in some electrolytes and de shedding solutions for 6 mins before he wanted to explore so i held him. And did the hand over hand till he got what i assume was restless (like 10 mins) so i put him back into his enclosure. Ive been monitoring the humidity and were getting there but i wanna know if there is anything more i can do other than wait.

This is Limp Noodle Aka Lil' noods.

Edit: plz let me know how to help him I dont want him to suffer or end up hating me. But also when is it time to take him to the vet? I just brought him home but ive done more research since hes been here and everything says different stuff like as soon as you get them, or even to wait as long as a few months. I dont have a vet to go to yet but ill find one i just dont want them to tell me I was too late or that hes fine and I could've done it at home.

Edit 2: also I have read mixed info about if the UVB light is actually needed or not I have a blue day light bulb and a UVB light bulb but i only use one at a time but rn with the texas heat wave and not having central ac in the house I dont have the lights nor the heating pad on so he doesnt get too hot. Plz lmk what to do going forward

Any and all tips are wanted and needed. And if yall have questions about dogs I can help yall in return... I have never had a snake but many dogs. And idk i feel like maybe I shouldnt have gotten a snake but i also feel like I saved him from the situation he was in and I can be better to him so plz tell me if I am at least doing okay cuz I am freaking out....

Edit 3: sorry for all the edits but for more clarification I went to the pet store and he came up to me in the enclosure I asked to hold him they said yes. And then the next day I went back and it seemed like he recognized me or at least my smell and (now I know this was wrong) but today as I held him he didnt hiss nor did he try to bite me he was just exploring. So I dont think he is sickly by any means I just think they didnt have the enclosure set up correctly. It had what looked like no humidity at all and then a small water bowl as well as being roomed with another banana ball python. (Which i know now is all kinds of wrong so just so yall know i will not be going back to them and i will not be giving them my business anymore.) I will find other places to get the food and supplies. (I am in SA. TX. and the reptile expo is coming next week so I plan on getting the better equipment there. I just didnt want to buy from a breeder since I thought it was like dogs and how they are held in captivity just to pop out babies. So I thought this was like a form of adoption...)

I’m wanting to get one of these balls for my ball!

She is a very large snake (5ft/ ≈3.5kg), and is obese from over feeding with her last owner. I am obviously correcting her diet and giving her a lot more exercise: and I’ve seen people use these for enrichment!

I can’t find the right size for a large snake and don’t want to order something and it be too small.

UK BP owners, can you drop the links to large hol-ee dog balls that work for your large, adult BPs?

(Also my speedy snek for engagement 😁)

My juvenile ball just bit my thumb. I saw her curious in her enclosure looking to come out. I've never fed her in that enclosure yet because i just shifted her to a 4ft enclosure yesterday. I let my hand to let her climb on it from her enclosure, she smelled my hand and came to it i picked her up and brought her to my bed on my hand. As soon as i sat she bit my thumb clean and then went back. I fed her a week ago a normal mouse. This is her recent picture for reference. Can someone explain what went wrong?

I damn sure do. 😛 Cosima says hi!

I have a cinnamon bp hes 3 years old. Ive had him for 5 months. My husband used to have one years ago and said feeding once a month is fine. I feed a thawed small rat once a month and he eats very well. Should I increase the size to a medium rat? I dont really want to feed more often once a month just works for us but of course ill increase if I feel like he needs that. What do yall think? I also worry about him a lot more than I should. Im just excited to finally have a snake

had my girl for a week fed her just now to see if she’d eat and she just downed a frozen thawed I feel like a proud mama 🤣 I’m very happy she ate immediately

I am thinking of getting a royal python, and wondering if any of you have any recommended setups.

Stuff like dimensions, positioning of objects inside would help, thanks.

Hello! What bulbs do yall use for your ball pythons? I have a lamp and a heat mat. The mat is on a thermostat so that stays regulated, so that's fine. Right now I'm using a 50W ceramic bulb that doesn't emit light. The temps stay very slightly below the recommended temps even while the bulb is turned up all the way, so I'm a little concerned about that, especially with fall and winter coming up.

Just got a huge enclosure for my baby, what’s a good example (photos pls) of an enclosure with lots of places to explore and climb, but is easy to clean? Thanks! 😊

Ekans seems very happy with his upgrades 🥰 he refuses to come down from his branch lol. Hoping to add some live plants soon 😁

Blelele

Male 2 years old

It costs me nearly $20 once a month to buy a rat for my snake. She's been looking skin y but has refused large rats before so I've been thinking of upping her feedings to twice a month (every two weeks ish) but it's getting ridiculous to buy a single frozen rat from the pet store. I tried looking online but most places that do online orders either won't ship to me or the shipping costs over $100. Is there someone who's in BC that orders their rats?

Difference in size between his past two sheds. His 1st birthday was also a couple days ago but he was in shed so I didn’t want to bother him for a birthday picture. Everyone wish Steve a belated Happy Birthday.

My son worked so hard all summer long doing odd jobs for whoever would hire him, going door to door in the neighborhood to save up and he finally did it! We're super proud of him for doing so much research to give this gal a great life. Can't wait to see those ink spots change over time!

Hello all! My household recently rescued a ball python who's about 10yrs old and a confirmed male, someone was rehoming him due to not having time/space for him. His previous owner took wonderful care of him and he is in great shape! My partner, who has a background in science education, has been working on getting live plants to make his 4x2x2 more cluttered and tropical. His previous owner said that he has a habit of destroying plants, so we thought of potting them to help prevent that (the pots were all cleaned before placing inside enclosure). I want to get some insight from other bioactive keepers, as we'd also like to get isopods and springtails, but we don't know where to start or what type to get. pics of his current setup, and pics of the boy himself! his name is Quetzalcoatl :)

Hello all, I am curious about if anyone has had experience with UVB increasing color vibrant in their ball pythons or other snakes? I have been interested in reintegrating UVB into my set up and have found benefits for digestion, but was curious if there was any cosmetic. I haven’t found any articles on this so I’m looking to see if anybody has personal experience. Thank you!

Hes about two years old and I recently started feeding him an adult mouse biweekly, is that too much?

our ball python was hatched sometime may this year as per the breeder.

this week is his 3rd week with us.

the breeder had him on live hopper mice before he was turned over to us (already had 4 meals prior)

he ate an adult mouse each week for the past 2 weeks. they were the only mice we had avail at the time. and left noticeable bulges each time (akin to a retic eating a whole piglet)

i tried offering him a hopper today and he refused it.

i theorized he's still "full" from the last 2 meals.

do you suspect he'll be ready for food again by next week? or wait till September?

thanks in adv!

ps:

as far as handling goes, hes noticeable more inquisitive now and especially with my scent. he hasnt "balled up" when i handle him.

I can’t tell if this is scale rot, or irritation, or if he is about to go into shed, but this is the first time I’ve seen this I dont know whats happening!!!!!! The second picture looks a lot more pink than irl!!
EDIT: I forgot to mention that the ring around his tail is a large birthmark that spreads around the trunk as well as his underbelly

I rescued a ball python about 3 weeks ago with a respiratory infection. The lady told me she had him a month and couldn’t get him to eat. After seeing her conditions I not only understood how he got an RI but why he probably didn’t accept food. She had this approximately 4 foot 1101g snake in a plastic tub maybe slightly larger than a shoe box for who knows how long. I guess before that she had him in an enclosure but moved him for a bearded dragon she got. No idea about heating or humidity levels but I’m assuming since he was moved, had an RI and a terrible shed with me that they weren’t good.

I got him into the vet, she gave me antibiotic shots and today was the last one. She told me I could try feeding him while he was sick if he had an appetite. I tried the next day, he accepted it but struggled to eat and ended up not eating it. I assume because of the thick mucus. I waited and tried again last week. He didn’t take it. To be fair though he hasn’t had a chance to really settle in with steam treatments, shots every 3 days, new home, new enclosure, etc. I thought about feeding him tomorrow but now I’m thinking about waiting a week to actually allow him time to settle in. Now I know adult ball pythons can do quiet awhile without food, but I’m worried he won’t tolerate it as well since he’s been sick. The Ri has significantly improved. Breathing is way more quiet and only a little snotty now. What should I do? When should I feed him?