Hello everyone! So I’ve been having some problems with my male ball python pushing. He’s a little over one year old, there is a female in next to his tub but she’s also a little over one year old. So I don’t know if he might be getting exited because she’s so close or what? He lives in a 22 qt tub in my rack. The ambient temp in the room is 79°f and his hot spot is at 88°f to 90°f. His tub is clear, which may make a difference. I am using paper towels as a substrate. The humidity ranges in his tub is between 75% and 85%. I do try to give him hides though he doesn’t have them all the time because I make them out of cardboard, and so some times they get wet when he passes so the I have to throw it away and it may take me one to two days to get a new one. I do know I should try to get some plastic hides, but for now that’s what I have. I don’t handle him that much, usually no more then once a day. He has never skipped a meal since I got him which was a little over two months ago. My female lives in a tub exactly like his and she doesn’t push. He has access to fresh water at all times. I try to change it about every week. Attached below I have two photos of his head. as you can see he has a small scab on the top of his nose. I know the photos aren’t great for color, he’s really not that bright though he is Enchi Pastel het Clown. Please let me know your thoughts on why he might be pushing, and what I can do to prevent him from doing it anymore.
All I can help with is it sounds like the humidity level is quite high and could be affecting the air quality in the enclosure. I’ll tag a few BP folks to see if they can give you more insight into things. @akmorphs@armiyana@ballornothing
Thank you and I can try to bring down the humidity some. But also I think I should get a accurate hygrometer. The one I have also has a thermometer on it and I know the thermometer is off by about 5+°c so I’m guessing it’s not accurate with the humidity also. Just to let you know there isn’t any condensation on the walls of the tub. Unless if he goes to the bathroom, then there is condensation on the front wall of the tub.
If he’s shoving his nose in corners or you catch him sitting with head by the ventilation holes, then he probably needs more ventilation as Jess suggested.
Otherwise, change the furniture in the tub around or block it from view and see if it stops. Failing that, feed it more if it’s still young and growing.
He has 28 half a centimeter holes in the cool side of his tube. Do you think that’s enough? I am feeding him a adult mouse every week. I will try and see if I cover the front of his tub if he will stop pushing.
@thesnakevault His humidity should only be around 50% unless he’s in shed in which case it can be bumped up a bit. Humidity that is too high can result in respiratory issues……
This sounds like maybe a hungry snake. Without knowing the weight of the snake, I can’t say for sure…but I have a 4 month old that is already easily taking adult mice. weights of the mice you feed and the snake can help us figure that out.
As a general note…Jumbo or XL mice aren’t a great idea as usually they’re fatter or older retired breeders, so if that’s what he’s eating I would change him over to rats if he’ll take them.
It’s a good idea to feed prey slightly bigger than the roundest part of the snake or 10% of the body weight as a general rule. Once they start getting a bit too chubby, you can consider feeding less often or smaller meals.
I would say it could be several things; humidity too high, not enough ventilation, or it could be a hunger response. When you have multiple options of what could be causing the issue, the best thing to do is try and fix one and see what happens. If it doesn’t change move onto the next item. If that doesn’t fix it, try the third. If he’s still doing it, then you might just need to add clutter and get a plastic hide.
I am working on getting my breeding population up so that I can switch him over to rats. I also don’t know his exact weight because I don’t have a grams scale, though it is on my shopping list.
Many people, including myself, use Govee thermometer/hygrometers. They’re reliable; some are bluetooth models and some are wifi ones. With the wifi one, i am able to see the temp and humidity on my phone even if I’m not home. You can find them on Amazon
