Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Alright, here is the deal. My bp likes to hide (big suprise huh?), this is the thing though: she likes to hide underneath the reptile carpet. I give her all kinds of stuff to hide in/under but she still just goes right under there! I have used different substrates too, stuff she can burrow in. She did the same thing with newspaper! I keep her nice and cozy in there (sometimes I think that my snakes have it better than I do) so I was just wondering if anybody else has had this "problem". It is just a little strange to walk over to your snakes cage and see a lump underneath the carpet, underneath the hide box!!

Thanks!

It just means that in YOUR particular cage, for that particular Ball Python, hiding under the carpet represents the best option for security. If its such a problem, I would look at your husbandry to tell you why that is the case.

Also, Ball Pythons don't burrow. They aren't a burrowing species. They use holes and structures already created by other animals and the habitat in which they live. They don't find a pile of wood chips and bury themselves, LOL! Some snakes do, just not Ball Pythons.

Not too sure why you think this makes your snake stupid. Snakes are neither smart nor stupid. They just react to situations with hard-wired instructions that have taken thousands of years to evolve. Its not stupidity. Its just the way most living things have come to survive life on the planet. They don't think about things. There's no time in the wild. They react and DO. Its not a preconceived plan to hide under carpet, rather than your poorly constructed hides. Its just their innate physiology.
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>>It just means that in YOUR particular cage, for that particular Ball Python, hiding under the carpet represents the best option for security. If its such a problem, I would look at your husbandry to tell you why that is the case.
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>>Also, Ball Pythons don't burrow. They aren't a burrowing species. They use holes and structures already created by other animals and the habitat in which they live. They don't find a pile of wood chips and bury themselves, LOL! Some snakes do, just not Ball Pythons.
>>
>>Not too sure why you think this makes your snake stupid. Snakes are neither smart nor stupid. They just react to situations with hard-wired instructions that have taken thousands of years to evolve. Its not stupidity. Its just the way most living things have come to survive life on the planet. They don't think about things. There's no time in the wild. They react and DO. Its not a preconceived plan to hide under carpet, rather than your poorly constructed hides. Its just their innate physiology.
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Rob

i have balls that like hiding under the newspaper too. try clay or plastic flower pot bases. i got that idea from pro exotics..check their website....some love it & others prefer the newspaper....you snake may just feel secure below the "floor" try putting a nice tight hide spot on the floor & fill the cage with enough substrate to fill up to the top of the hide spot, then dig a burrow leading right to the opening of the hidespot.

yes they are.........

:}~

?
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1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"

1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"