There is actually a pretty easy way to solve this scientifically. Arboreal snakes have a heart positioned closer to their head than terrestrial and aquatic snakes. As far as I know (and I may be wrong, I’m not a biologist) Ball Pythons have a heart positioned further down their body.
By definition, semi-arboreal creatures “spend some, up to half, of their time in trees”. By this definition, yes, ball pythons can be semi-arboreal. But their anatomy is not strictly built as an arboreal creature, so one could argue that they are terrestrial, with many having semi-arboreal tendencies, as snakes in general tend to.
If you are picking up the ethical side of the argument then it doesn’t really matter if they are semi-arboreal; a rack setup is like keeping a betta in a 1 gallon tank. Is it the nicest way to keep them? No. Is it abuse? Also no.
This is just my own opinion, based off of what I researched
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Not here to participate in debate, as I have no experience to contribute, just a little supervised photo shoot. He seemed to move pretty naturally and comfortably, but I would never leave him alone on it. He’s also only 200g and probably won’t be able to do this as he grows. Pastel, yellow belly, orange dream.
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My snake only climbs to get away from poop. The one in a tank.
Beautiful snake. He looks comfortable in the plant and ball pythons do climb but that doesn’t make them an abnormal snake. True aborial snakes are built differently. My little tree boa can stretch out about 2/3 of his body unsupported. It’s amazing.
Ummm, maybe we are all miscommunicating. Some people may be using the term semi arboreal to mean that thier snakes can do and like to climb. Others of us are saying semi arboreal and aboreal to mean a snake built a certain way physically. I guess before getting hot and bothered, we should Define our terms.
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I agree that some of us might have different definitions for semi-arboreal. I think of it as meaning that it is a main part of their lives and they spend about half of their time there. A main part of their lives means that they eat, sleep, and mate up there often.
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Yeah I only have the one bp as a pet and it’s my first so, I look to these threads for help making sure I’m doing things right. All I can say is from a strictly observation point of view since I’m no expert nor breeder. From what I do observe though, he is always all over every part of his enclosure at night, but 9/10 times I open his curtains and hes up in the trees or vines, just chillin.
Just yesterday he actually for the first time that at least ive seen, attacked and ate his f/t from the vine. Pretty cool!
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