Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am new to the ball forum and have a pair of '02 normal balls that have been doing well. I recently put them in separate rubbermaid like containers that are about 2 feet long and a over a foot high. I attached some wooden dowels at the back of the cage for them to climb on - they always seem to spend time "going up" in the cage before. The male is there every now and then, but the female is there on the perch every single night since. Not only that, but she hangs her head down and grabs mice from the perch as well. At the end of the night she goes back down under the paper. Does anyone else have experience like this? Are some balls arboreal given the chance? Or should I be looking for green scales on the next shed ?

Thanks for any responses!

Hi Gary –

I can recall visiting one of the Ohio zoos (Columbus, maybe) some years ago and getting a kick out of one of their ball pythons doing an arboreal boid impersonation. There was a sturdy “T” shaped perch set out in the open right near the front of its cage (perhaps under a heating light), and this largish adult was folded over it half and half with its head in the characteristic position pointed downward.

I think when we maintain our snakes in plastic tubs only a few inches tall, we often don’t see interesting or offbeat behaviors (or hardly any behaviors at all, for that matter).

-Joan

My ball python climbs on his branch all the time. He has even hunted from up their too. Its cool to watch him on the tree, it makes the whole setup look a little more natural.