Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
lately my 1 y/o ball has been curling up in the corner of his 15 gal. tank instead of sleeping in his hide box. the one change i made was that i rotated his box because he was usually pressed up against the back and his belly would end of on the cold glass instead of the heating pad i have underneath. (i was told for smaller tanks the hide box should be half on the pad half off) does this mean he felt too warm? should i just put it back how it was? and while i'm at it, how do i know when it's time for a bigger tank and/or hidebox?
thanks

Splurge, give him two hide boxes. One for the hot side and one for the cool side. He'll think he's made it big time. And if you don't have one a tempgun comes in real handy. Check those temps. Just point and shoot. Is it to hot? Or just right. tempgun.com
Good luck. Claude

n/p
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Nick

Time for a bigger hidebox: parts of the snake stick out. nice 'n simple.
Time for a bigger tank: snake is more than twice as long as the tank. However, balls don't move much, so the biggest you usually need is a 30 gallon, maybe a 40 if you're concerned. Most breeders keep their snakes in plastic tubs that you can buy at walmart, so a 30 gallon is usually adequate.

Like claude said, just splurge and give the snake more hideboxes. I use cardboard boxes for my snakes. My boy loves cereal boxes and my girl does great in shoeboxes, and my baby recently upgraded to... feminine product boxes. (some friends of mine who hadn't seen my snakes in a while burst into laughter when they saw my baby curled up in one of those)

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)