Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ball pythons find paper bags FASCINATING.

At least, mine do. Darwin keeps going in and out of the one I put in his cage. And on top of. And under. You'd think it was a snakey playground.

My big female squished hers and then went back into her cereal box, so I guess it's not for the heftier snakes.

Just thought I'd share!

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Lizard
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
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)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org

That is cute - I can just picture that - thanks for sharing!
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Tosha

I never would have thought to do that.

Here's to enriching the captive environment!

~Rebecca
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0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
1.2 Ball Pythons
[1.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1 '05 Het Orange Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)

I like experimenting with different hides. Entertainingly enough, my snakes would rather stay in a cardboard box than in a pretty fake rock hide.

Paper bag was a hide failure but man, Darwin had a blast with that. I think he fell on it last night, or something, because he made one hell of a racket and I woke up panicking that something had escaped.
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Lizard
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
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)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org

that's cool

That sounds like something a cat would do - wait until the middle of the night and then make a ruckus with the bag.

I've written about it a few times on here, but I use terra cotta flower pots for hides, with a semicircle cut into the rim and the drainage hole in the bottom expanded into another "door." A vet clued me into this because I was having humidity control issues, and the terra cotta is very porous, so it can slowly release humidity over time if you mist it or soak it. They hold heat nicely too.

I'm pretty happy with those hides, but I think there's something to be said for giving these guys something to play with every once in a while... a whole lot of behavior & learning studies spout findings that say that 'enriched' environments yield a plethora of physiological & mental benefits for just about all kinds of species used for study subjects. I think you may be onto something.

~Rebecca
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0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
1.2 Ball Pythons
[1.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1 '05 Het Orange Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)

Thanks!

I'm noticing that the critters do seem to be ... with the reptiles I can't describe what exactly the difference is, but my little furry critters definately seem a lot more active and inquisitive.

Maybe (I'm going out on a limb here) that's why WC adults tend to be such problem animals - they're 'bored'!

lol!

I like the terracotta pot idea. I'ma have to go visit home depot and pick some up. It's kinda like what I do with my cardboard boxes - they hold water too, not as much or for as long, but they do work. The pot sounds sturdier though!

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Lizard
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
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)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org

my izzy will stare at the fan and get into a daze and jump when you touch her
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jake

my addiction:
0.2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
0.1 amelenistic corn snake (maizy)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)
1.0 albino cal king (zeus)
0.0.1 wc garter (zim)
hybrid breeders association
hybrid haven