Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone have any Arboreal ball pythons?? Ball pythons instinctive nature is to hide and seak cover and stay on the ground... The wierdest thing one of my baby females is the complete opposite.. I have tryed 5 different types colors and sizes of hide boxes and she doesnt like any of them never seen her in one of them for more then a minute... She is neither laying out next to the water dish but MOST the time she is on her little artificial tree branch... She stay on that branch id say 98% of the time.. I think its cool because she is always visible in the 10 gallon tank she is in.. I mean she sleeps on the branch, eats on the branch (like the movie Anaconda with the waterfall), craps on the branch, sheds on the branch.. When the branch comes out the tank for cleanin time she comes with it lol.. Its so cute and she's so tiny ate her 3rd meal THANKS TO OZ at OZZYBOIDS advice yesterday.. Il have better pics of her soon when I can get her to pose and its not to late.... Would like to hear more on this topic...
Jbugg

Actually Balls, like many other types of pythons, are pretty arboreal when young. As they grow they become less so, but if they have something that will support their weight, even the adults will climb. One day I'll have a room I can turn into a habitat just to give them more space. Will probably have to get a divorce first LOL.

Quig

will occasionally lay on the bottom of the cage. If you can, I say add a perch for your snake. Just ensure it isn't too far from the ground. I once had a large custom cage and my BP fell way too often.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

I have the same problem with my big girl. She is in a cage that is 4x4x2. There are two shelves and I also have a huge piece of grape vine in there verticly. she loves to climb all over them, and some days she will sleep all day there. The problem is that she is clumsy and will fall sometimes. I have tried putting her in my 75 gallon, and she got soooo stessed not being able to climb.
Kim
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0.1 radiated rat(100% het albino)
1.0 okeetee corn
1.1 ball python
0.1 red tail boa
0.0.1 chinese water dragon

I think.... 1. that you need to make the perches large enough to support the snakes bod, i.e a shelf of some sort, and....2. keep the perches close enough to the ground or other perches that they don't have to reach to far to get from one place to another. The larger snakes are fairly thick bodied , so bigger may be better.

Quig

Thanks for the tips. The shelves are pretty large, she can fit her whole body on it. They are only about 1 foot and 1 1/2 feet off the ground with the grape vine as tall as the perches(I have it angeled across the cage). She does most of her falling when I'm late to feed her. LOL. She's all over the place then. I've also tried taking out the grape vine, and one of the shelves, but then she tries to climb the walls and still falls over.
Thanks Kim
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0.1 radiated rat(100% het albino)
1.0 okeetee corn
1.1 ball python
0.1 red tail boa
0.0.1 chinese water dragon