Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here are a couple pics of our new Ball (Rayzor). he is 6 weeks old and is a pastel. We have him in a small plastic animal enclosure right now. he has a 100 gallon aquarium, but the Eco Earth is not dry and I did not want him to get sick.

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Human boys 2&7
Ball python 1 male
American pit bull terriers 3 (2male,1 fem)
Ferret 1 male
Fish ????

I applaud your effort to give him a large enclosure. but a 100g tank is far to big for a baby ball python. ball pythons like to feel secure and the tighter the better in there eyes.

I agree with the other posters. If you have had luck getting him to eat and behave normally in a 100 gallon tank, kudos. If not, however, he is likely suffering some anxiety from too much open space.

Also, how are your temps? In a tank that large, are you keeping your ambient and belly temperatures high enough and a decent gradient from "warm" side and "cool" side? What does the rest of the tank set up look like?

If you don't want to put him in smaller tank, you can try crowding the big tank and see if that helps. Lots of boxes, fake or real plants, bits of wood, hides, etc.

Finally, the Ecoearth will dry out eventually. Fluffing it up once or twice a day will speed up the process. If you are worried about him sitting on moist soil all the time, try putting a hide with a bottom in the tank. A tupperware container with a hole cut in the side works well. He can crawl in the tub, feel secure and get his belly up off the wet substrate.
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25 year old 0.1 from Lincoln, NE
Ball Pythons - 0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly, 2.1 Normals
Kingsnakes - 1.0 L. m. thayeri, 0.1 L. m. thayeri X L. alterna, 1.0 L. g. californiae
Other - 0.1 Whitesided P. catenifer sayi, 1.0 H. nascicus, ?.? Chrysemys picta, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

I am going to try and feed him for the first time tomorrow. he seems fine, he has been hanging out on the warmer side of the tank around 88 degrees at the bottom and in the 90s up by the lamp. The cooler side of the tank is about 75 and he goes over there a little bit. He seems very active although he has calmed down and found his favorite spots and lounges there most of the day. he is in our computer room and he is active at night after the lights go off. he doesn't seemed stressed so far, we will see if he eats tomorrow? Everything dried out and I added some chunky cocnut bark as well. he has 3 hides and a clay pot bottom for a water bowl. I do have a 20G long terrarium I will move him too if he seems to not acclimate well to the bigger surroundings. I was just going to use it as a feed tank. I appreciate any suggestions. I also took measurements and I think it is actually a 60G tank (i bought it 2nd hand several years ago)It didn't hold water. So if that make everyone a little more comfortable w/ the size. I want to provide the best for him, so keep the info coming! Our last ball we got as an adult and he did great in the tank, I didn't even think size would stress a baby. I will gradually put some fake plants in there and some climbs to clutter it up a bit. Again THANKS FOR THE REPLIES.
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Human boys 2&7
Ball python 1 male
American pit bull terriers 3 (2male,1 fem)
Ferret 1 male
Fish ????