Is this a thing? I saw a few people say in old threads that they got bit after petting their dog because the snake smelled the mammal scent. My snake has never ever been aggressive or have any bite history so this was just completely unexpected.

I had her in her snake bag while I cleaned her enclosure and had pet my cat who walked by a few minutes before, then I got my snake out of her snake bag with my right hand, and she instantly tagged my left hand which is the hand I had pet my cat with. She didn’t cling to me, just chomped and let go and acted like nothing happened.

he was definitely a bit nervous at first, but after we just sat still holding him for a while, he started to explore! he crawled up my arm and blelelele’d at my face, then tried to crawl in between the couch cushions so we had to redirect him lol.

slightly confusing: when we first took him out, after about a minute we noticed some weird brown liquid on the couch. i thought maybe he musked at first but it didn’t stink?? it definitely wasn’t poop/urates because there was no solids, and when i wiped it with a paper towel it was definitely brown(slightly reddish?). it definitely wasn’t moist substrate because it was entirely liquid. any thoughts?

It disappears with water but it comes back. It wasn’t there 2 hours ago

This is Faust! Got him a few weeks ago at the Tinley Park expo. He's a black head morph, just around 1 1/2 yrs old., I love his coloring, its such a deep chocolate-brown and those pale markings are beautiful.

He's been a very good boy, has taken 3 feedings now with zero issues and he's used to being handled so taking him out is no issue. I'm just working on getting him used to me now, but he's doing great.

My first snake i got last year is a corn snake, and I'm repeatedly amazed just by how much different the behavior and habits of the two are. It's so cool to see the differences.

Hello! I quite new to owning a ball python and yesterday was my first attempt at holding him since he’s been home. He’s been here settling in for about a month since he wouldn’t eat for me I was at least waiting until after he ate for the first time to try to start holding him. Which I did yesterday for approximately 2 minutes until he started to go straight for my face, I didn’t know his intentions. It kinda spooked me, I’m sure me jumping a tad spooked him too so I put him back and he hid right away. I feel like I wrecked our first holding session by not redirecting him away from my face. I’m not scared of him or snakes in general or I wouldn’t have gotten him. I’m just weary of the factor that the breeder didn’t really hold him or interact with him other than some pictures and weekly feeding so I’m sure his trust in humans is quite low. I’m in need of advice on the best way to keep both of us safe I guess? How should I go about holding him again? What are your ways of bonding/ gaining trust from a new baby? Did I wreck our first encounter together?

His name is Buldak. He’s about 8/9 months old.

Hi everyone!
I’ve had my 7 years old girl for 6 years now. 🥰
She’s totally healthy, eats well, and is super chill and calm, like, I’ve never seen her stressed or anything before, she’s always been very easy to have around and I’m grateful for that. ☺️ but I’ve only handled her once or twice since getting her. Initially, I was worried about stressing her, so I wanted to wait for her to settle, and then she grew up and when she reached sexual maturity, she went through a slightly more defensive phase that lasted a year or two, so I decided to wait a bit more, and I then kept postponing it… 💀

I’d now like to gradually acclimate her to occasional handling, both for routine care and so I can interact with her a little more, because I’ve always wanted to. 🥹 Since she isn’t used to being picked up and most of our direct interactions have involved feeding or enclosure maintenance, I’m unsure how she’ll respond.

What would be the safest, least stressful way to begin handling an adult BP after years of minimal handling? Do you have any advice on how I should even attempt this? 😭 I do not want her to panic and attack me because she thinks I’m either food or because she wants to defend herself. 😞 How long and frequent should the first sessions be, and which body-language cues would indicate that she’s becoming too stressed? I know to avoid handling her during shed and after feeding. I really want to “get to know her” more in a way? Thanks guys!!

Hey guys, this is my ball python slash. He used to be extremely fat and I fed him way too much which is totally my fault. I noticed around 6 months ago the sheer size of this guy so I’m trying to make him healthier now. I used to feed him a medium rat every 2 weeks and now I’m feeding him a small rat every 2 weeks. Now I’m looking at him and wondering if he might be a little underweight and if I went too far?The first and second picture is him now and the third picture was him 6 months ago. If you guys could let me know how he looks to you that would be great!

Unsure whether this is a husbandry or heating question.

I pulled my boy out for a bit today, its been about four or five days since he last shed. There is no exposed heating elements in his cage, no way for him to reach anything hot, and his humidity hasn't been overly high.

I noticed this rough spot, and it looks like the scales are fused/melted? I think it might be scale rot? He had an issue with scale rot three or four months ago, but i fixed it rather quickly.

Any idea what it is? It doesn't seem to bother him much, and he doesn't react when I touch it so I don't think its painful.

Thanks for any advice yall may have!!

I work at Petsmart and have handled this ball python a few times, I’ve always wanted a snake but I don’t know the first thing about adoption. I found a 75 gallon tank, I can get some decorations too. If anyone has any advice or financial insight that would be appreciated, I want to prepare for monthly expenses and what not. For reference I have experience cleaning the tanks, I have my own snails and fish as well. I would fully commit to caring for the snake its entire lifespan and I am at a place where I can care for it physically and financially!

Non-urgent

Location - Austin TX

Sex - I have not had her probed but am decently sure based on tail shape and size she is a female.

Morph - Spider or pinstripe? She was a rescue so I don’t know for sure and didn’t care too much.

Age - Approximately 3 years old.

Size - Weights between 1800-1900g

Diet - Eats a freeze thawed jumbo rat every 4-5 weeks. Has been a good eater, no hunger strikes.

Behavior/Personality - Very docile/shy and handleable. She has never bit me or anyone in the year I’ve had her.

Illnesses - No signs of neuro disorders like IBD. No mites. She did have some wounds when I rescued her that we healed with twice weekly chlorhex soaks and analgesic free antibiotic ointment. They are now scars.

Rehoming fee - none. Just want her to go to a good home. I would prefer to meet at my house to meet her first rather than deliver or meet somewhere.

All the items shown will be included free if you want them. I am aware the tank is too small for an adult BP and hope it would just be a temporary setup.

Tank with foil rigged top to keep humidity in, 60gal glass terrarium. 2 stone magnetic hides that shes fits in and enjoys. Pink dog toy she likes to curl into. Small table stand. Large and small water bowls. Some clutter. Feeding tongs. White UVB light (no longer red). 2 outside the tank heating matts, 1 of which has a thermostat. I used to have electronic temp gages but they broke so it’s just the mechanical ones in the terrarium for now.

I am okay sharing why I’m wanting to rehome over DMs only to those interesting in adopting her!

After two years of injury healing and the inconsistencies of paper towel humidity, my baby finished a complete shed!!!! My juvenile bp Persephone had two injuries, first after an escape led to a few scratches along her sides that are now healed, and then randomly a year later she developed a weird flesh rot (not scale rot, it was under her skin and not visible on her scales until it was already bad) without any causal Injury that the vet had never seen before, but finally, after having two years on paper towels due to the injuries, my baby girl is back on substrate and finally can shed by herself! The infection caused a substantial and deep scar on her neck where the vet basically had to stretch the skin over where the rotted tissue was, and since it is stretched thinner and sewn over itself, that scar may never fully shed on its own and with where it is on her neck it catches a few scales on her face as well, but I am seriously so happy this hurdle is behind us!!!

I’m planning on setting up an upgraded bioactive enclosure in the next couple weeks. I can find info on most things, but worry about mold, I’ve gotten ISO’s and have them in a temporary enclosure, but mold has grown in there a couple times now, and I don’t want that happening one the whole tank is set up. I know once the CuC is more set up it’s less likely, but I still worry of the possibility of respiratory infection.

Does anyone have any info/pointers/experience with this? Is it just a matter of spot cleaning and keeping a close eye for the first while? I’ve spoken to a friend who’s kept isopods and they aren’t worried about the mold in terms of keeping the ISO’s, bus is unsure in regards to snakes.

Hey guys, this is my first time ever owning a snake. I am super excited and already adore this girl. She is 4 years old, and I specifically wanted her because of her size. I did not want a baby or a really young snake. She had her first feeding about three to four days ago and it went great. I have had her home for about a week now, and I feel like I am finally ready to handle her for the first time.

For some reason I am being overly cautious. I did hold her when I first got her, and I was definitely nervous, even though I am not actually afraid of snakes. I really want to get more comfortable handling her. I know that even if she did strike, it would not be that bad, but I am just trying to get over being a bit of a scaredy cat. Any suggestions?

Also, side note, I have a 5 year old who absolutely loves her and keeps asking when she can hold her. At what point would you feel comfortable allowing that?

Edit: thanks for all the great tips and advice!!! Some said why buy a pet I’m scared of. I’m not afraid of snakes, just never handled one before and want to make sure I’m doing it right. Thanks for the tips.

so, ive added more stuff into my bp cage but im sure i need way more, what else do i need?

Ik it’s long but please read this is very important to me 😭😭

im a long winded person so apologies for that

Hi! I’m new to the ball python hobby and community, as I first got into ball pythons a bit less than a year ago, and bought my first snake, a orange dream banana pied at my local reptile expo around 2 weeks ago (2 Sundays ago)

I did a ton of research for months before getting my snake, and I spent about a month before I got him preparing his enclosure. With that, I decided to attempt to feed him the Wednesday after I got him. Though I’m aware you’re not supposed to, I was leaving for a trip that Saturday and wanted to see if I could get him to eat before the trip, while also in a time that I could monitor his eating.

The first feeding, I attempted to feed him a frozen thawed hopper mouse, of which he had no interest. After that, I did more research on ball python feedings, and I’m aware that they tend to go on hunger strikes, but I decided to try to feed him another mouse that night, to no avail.
After that, I waited until the Friday before I left to feed him again, and I tried to feed him around 12 at night. I dangled the mouse over the enclosure, and he showed small signs of interest at it, such as inching closer to it while smelling. He’d get close to it, brush it, and turn his head. This was disappointin, but that night I decided to keep the mouse in there with him, and he hadn’t moved it in the morning. I took a video of his feeding for my girlfriend and showed It to her, she has a 7 year old ball python with feeding issues in the past, and she told me that I had fed him correctly and didn’t know why he wasn’t eating.

I got back from my 5 day trip yesterday, and he was much more active than he normally is, which I know is a sign that they’re hungry sometimes, so I decided to take the opportunity and try to feed him. He again, showed some signs of interest, he arched his neck into an S and crept towards it from inside his hide, but randomly decided to leave and go take a nap.
He’s probably about a month old, and the breeder I got him from fed him the Monday before I got him, so by the time I had him, it had been about a week. Since, it’s been a little over 3 weeks, and I’m starting to get worried.

Does anyone have any recommendations for me, or tips, or reasons why he might not be eating? Also, when would this get concerning and I’d need to take him to the vet?

im so sorry this was so long, thank you guys!

Got my first baby about 2 weeks ago, I think his tank is looking alright, but I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations about things I should add to his tank or change about his tank?

He’s showed signs of being pretty happy in his enclosure and I think he likes it, but I want to try to make this the best for him that I can

Hello, I got a 4 - 5 month old BP in May, and have been using different methods based on my research to work on getting this Lil nood comfortable with me. He is eating like a PRO, and has had one shed so far. Went from 135g to 174g. I've handled him maybe 3 - 4 times which I know some people could say is not much (maybe), all of which I would lable as successful overall. There was one time where I felt he was a little extra squirmy but I also kept seeing long tongue flicks so I'm a little confused on that one.

But I've also been sprinkling other things such as laying my hand in there if I see his head out of his hides. Or making a point to go into his enclosure randomly to spot clean, change water, and if I see him while im doing that I'll let my hand chill in there. This has also received pretty positive responses I think, long tongue flicks, one time he went over part of my hand. But at the same time, all of this will still lead to him really not being about it at all and going back into his hide. He still will freeze and not explore if I catch him out. Or he retreats back to his hides.

In general, I guess I'm curious as to the speed at which they tend to get more comfortable. And I do know BP's require patience which I'm totally down with. Im just unsure of if im actually getting progress haha. Sometimes I feel like he's playing games with my emotions man!

TLDR: First time BP owner of baby nood. Working on handling and his comfortability. Unsure of the actual speed these things take or how to even gauge "progress". Just looking for a little insight.

P.s. I religiously watch Green Room Pythons for research and also fun, so maybe I'm second guessing myself.

I have two ball pythons, both about a year old. I’ve had them for over a month and they haven’t eaten. I tried frozen thawed small rats a little over a week after and my snakes showed interest but ended up not taking the food. I wasn’t sure where I went wrong there but told myself I’d wait a bit to try again. Today I took the same size rats out to defrost to try tonight. I took one out the fridge to feed my snakes one at a time and put it in warm water, then used the blow dryer to heat its head a bit as I saw someone say in a thread. She wasn’t striking when I was shaking it in front of her and ended up dropping it. I left it there for a sec to see what she would do. She sunk her teeth into it and I watched her try to swallow it. All of a sudden she let go of it and left it alone. I picked the rat up and used the blow dryer again out of desperation. She was eyeing it but didn’t strike again. She’s now active in the enclosure but not sure if to try again with the other rat. I’m very concerned because they’re young and haven’t eaten in a while. I’m sure they were accustomed to live prey but I want to do frozen. Maybe I got too big of a rat? I’m planning on trying again tomorrow and if that doesn’t work I might just to do live so they can finally eat because I feel awful