Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I've had an adult (around 7-8 years old) ball Python for a little under a year now. After getting him switched from live to F/T back in the early summmer he's been doing pretty great. Eating every 1-2 weeks, shedding normally, and pretty active. I live in Michigan and it's starting to get a lot colder so naturally I expect his feeding to slow down but he's been acting strange in other ways that I don't really understand.

He had a pretty bad incomplete shed the other day even though I have a large (large enough for him to soak in) bin of water in the 40 gal terrarium that's always full, plus I usually mist daily so the humidity should be high enough. Also, I keep finding him hanging out behind this water bin, on the cool side of the tank. I keep the right side of the tank at around 86-88 during the day, 80-78 at night. The left side is usually between 72 and 78 degrees...he's choosing to hang out in the absolute left side, tucked in the corner against the glass where it's probably around 70. When he's here I touch him and he feels very cold. Is this normal?? Like I said, I've only had him for less than a year so I'm still learning but it seems very odd he would choose the cold side of the tank for such large chunks of time. Any help is GREATLY appreciated. Thank you!

Incomplete shed is due to the lower humidity this time of year. Misting once a day in an aquarium with a screen top would not be enough. In a rack humidity escapes much slower and sometimes once a day isn't enough. I would guess you would need to mist around three times a day in an aquarium and you should cover the screen part way to keep the humidity in so that it isn't just escaping out the top. As far as hanging out behind the water dish it could be a number of things that come to mind that would all be normal. 1. If there is no hide in place it could be using the water dish as a hide area to get a little security.

Secondly are you sure you have a male? Female ball python and male ball python behavior both change this time a year for example; one week everyone's eating normal, the next the females will start acting like their starved and you'd think they'd attack a cat toy mouse if you put it in there. Next the males go off food all of the sudden all the male breeders for the most part just stop eating. Next females go off. Females this time of year will heat seek to build follicles then after fertilized will cold seek to build eggs.
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I actually am not sure whether I have a male or female, the guy I got him from was calling the snake a "he" but I didn't get the feeling he really knew much about snakes. I can try providing a hide on the other side so he/she doesn't have to go under the water bowl.

As for the humidity, what would you suggest I cover the screen with? The heat lamps I use currently sit on stop of the screen so that's kind of hard to do...

Thanks for the help!

Covering up half with a towel or piece of plastic would be better than nothing, but just to let you know a heat lamp and basking spot are not necessary for a Bp as long as you can get the temps right on hot and cold side without it. Also dropping temp at night is also not important unless you are planning on breeding and some people believe it is not even important then.
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The heat lamps are the only source of heat for the tank....I don't really like using heating pads. The right side has a 150 W infrared bulb and the left side has a 60 W. My roommates don't want to keep the house above 65 degrees so this is the only way I know to keep the temp up in the enclosure.

I tried feeding him (or her I guess..) again tonight and he seems uninterested. It's been about a month and a half now =/ when should I become concerned?

When I used to keep snakes in aquariums I always found that overhead heat emitters and lights seemed to dry the tank out even more than heating pads. I'm not going to talk you into using something you don't want to use, but out of curiosity why the distaste for under the tank heating pads? As far as how long before you get worried. That's hard to say. I've had females go off feed for a month around a 1000g in weight and then go right back on. I've had another female make it to 1300g and go off when the rest of the breeders went off and didn't eat again for nearly 7 months. Finally she ate and went at it in a big way. Now she's right on track and will breed this year. I have another female that jus randomly for no rhyme or reason will stop eating for a couple weeks or a couple months. And my mature males will go off every year from about December to March. I would say if you're worried to make sure you're offering a food item every week you know it will eat. And monitor its weight. The rule of thumb I was told is 20% get worried if the snake looses more than 20% of its body weight then its time to worry. But if I remember right you said it was a mature snake which means it should have some size to it. It didn't get that way by starving itself. Make sure your keeping good husbandry and if it gets hungry it will it male, female, picky eater, or garbage disposal. Keep your hot spot around a constant 85-90 cool spot around 80-85 no night drop humidity around 60-70 with plenty of hiding places. If you want to go the extra mile you could try covering the sides of the aquarium with some construction paper. Don't over handle. Let the snake feel safe and secure and it will eat when it's ready. I hope the info helps.
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Mostly it's because the substrate I use (coconut fiber "bed-a-beast" cautions against using them on the packaging (not sure how valid this is though). I also like being able to change up the arrangement of the terrarium and moving the lamps to create a new hot/cool spot is a lot easier than moving UTH's. Especially since picking up the tank is very difficult for me.

I would say that it cautions against it because there are ways to use heat tape that is wrong. You have to use a thermostat. Most commercially sold under the tank heating pads are safe. Also most warnings that you see are for heat rocks and things that go inside the tank. But if you wanted to be extra careful with the heat pad you could always use a thermostat with a regular heat pad. As far as switching things around remember its not what you want to do that's important it's what's good for your animal.
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Isn't it cold seek to build follicles then after fertilization they seek the warm side?

Yes that's right. Sorry for that. It was late when I posted.
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