General BP Behaviour

mattchibi · 09-21-11, 07:25 PM

Since Ive only had my BP since Sunday, Im still not really accustomed to their behaviours and habits.

For the first day or two, i only had one hide and a water bowl to keep it simple. And she never came out once when I was around, although my parents said they saw her coming out once during the day to look around.

After reading on this site, I got a second hide on the cooler side, and after this, i noticed at night when it was awake, it has been more likely to come out of its hide. but even when it does, last night for example i woke up at 4 am, to see Morticia moving around poking her head up as close to the screen top as she could get.

The only few other times i saw her come out of her hide, she was pretty much trying to escape, or i guess she may have been examining her new environment.

For the most part though, between 9 AM and 9 PM i will never see her at all, she stays in the far corner of her hide on the warm side and never comes out. During the night time, i havent really been able to track when she comes out and for how long, but it would be nice to see them a little more active.

I guess if i improved the environment a little (taking out the heat lamp soon, when my thermostat and uth comes) and changed my aspen bedding to coco husks, she might be more inclined to come out of her hide. I have also taped pictures up on 3 sides of the glass tank so she can only see thru the front.

im not exactly "worried" about her, just wanted to make sure this was typical behaviour for a 3 yr old ball python.

youngster · 09-21-11, 07:46 PM

Completely typical. She'll probably try to find a way out for like a week and then once she's convinced there's no way out she'll chill out.

mattchibi · 09-21-11, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by youngster

Completely typical. She'll probably try to find a way out for like a week and then once she's convinced there's no way out she'll chill out.

^^ exactly what i wanted to hear

TeaNinja · 09-21-11, 07:59 PM

when i first got my bp he did abunch of weird stuff. he was exploring the cage kind of wobbling around, then he was trying to climb on things and slipping off clumbsily. i thought he had a neurological issue for a day or two until i realized he was just exploring dumbly lol. comparitively, bp's are pretty clumbsy. also they are pretty skiddish and head shy compared to other snakes.

youngster · 09-21-11, 08:11 PM

There's a tiny ledge at the top of the enclosure and my corn likes to climb in it, needless to say he fell down a few times :P

brylecc1989 · 09-21-11, 08:22 PM

Lol i've seen my king snake and BRB doing acrobatics trying to climb/escape. They're quite resilient. lol

mattchibi · 09-21-11, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeaNinja

when i first got my bp he did abunch of weird stuff. he was exploring the cage kind of wobbling around, then he was trying to climb on things and slipping off clumbsily. i thought he had a neurological issue for a day or two until i realized he was just exploring dumbly lol. comparitively, bp's are pretty clumbsy. also they are pretty skiddish and head shy compared to other snakes.

Hahaha i was thinking she might have a neurological issue as well, i guess shes just getting used to her new home : ) cant wait till sunday when i can finally take her out and play with her.

Last night she came out for a bit to drink some water, and i watched her for a good 5-10 minutes. i thought she could obviously see me as i was sitting calmly and peering into the glass. she turns her head and then actually sees me, then proceeds to bolt into her hide immediately.

it was kind of dissappointing but i totally understand the reason shes being shy right now : p

youngster · 09-21-11, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattchibi

cant wait till sunday when i can finally take her out and play with her.

I know the feeling

TeaNinja · 09-21-11, 09:16 PM

sometimes i will come home after being gone for hours and my bp will be out in the tank exploring. he'll see me and high tail it back to a hide lol. he used to be super skiddish and breathe hard and stress out when i first got him during handling but now he's much better. in fact the other day i opened the lid and he came out on his own for the first time without my physically lifting him out.

**millertime89** · 09-21-11, 09:51 PM

My BRB seemed to explore substantially more the first week I had him, he has definitely calmed down some more these past 2 weeks. Whenever I run into PetCo to purchase food for him I always check out the BPs they have and they're always crawling all over the cage they have all 4 of them in (shudder). Last time there was one that had figure-8'ed himself around the temp/humidity gauges they have in there and was checking to see if he could get out. Seems like normal behavior to me.

Lankyrob · 09-22-11, 05:35 AM

We have had our BP for about a year - apart from the first few days of it trying to escape and the days that we feed him we probably see him about once a month if not less often. (we obviously check on him more than this but he voluntarily puts himself on show once a month or so.)

mattchibi · 09-22-11, 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

We have had our BP for about a year - apart from the first few days of it trying to escape and the days that we feed him we probably see him about once a month if not less often. (we obviously check on him more than this but he voluntarily puts himself on show once a month or so.)

how old is yours ?

and what exactly do you mean by check on him ? do you just lift the hides once ina while to make sure theyre alive / theres no poop in there ? and how often in a month is it healthy to play with her ?

I heard at the beginning of ownership (after waiting a week for her to get comfortable), you want to play with her for very short periods of time everyday and consistently for a week or two so she realizes youre the owner. is this a misconception ?

Lankyrob · 09-22-11, 07:05 AM

YEah, just a case of checking he is still alive and spot cleaning as necessary. Ours is just over a year old, we handle him maybe twice a month for about 10 minutes, it is my opinion from dealing with the different species of snake that i have that he is the one that deals with handling the worst, even after a year he is just about beginning to not ball up tightly when we pick him up, he is exploring a lot more when he is out.

I definitely wouldnt be handling any snake everyday, we have 7 in total and they all get handled aroung twice a month on average.

The main reason for not eating in snakes seems to be stress and teh most stressful thing for a lot of snakes is being handled.

**Aaron_S** · 09-22-11, 08:32 AM

You shouldn't be worrying. Ball pythons are nocturnal snakes and they normally will be just sleeping in a hide all day.

mattchibi · 09-22-11, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

YEah, just a case of checking he is still alive and spot cleaning as necessary. Ours is just over a year old, we handle him maybe twice a month for about 10 minutes, it is my opinion from dealing with the different species of snake that i have that he is the one that deals with handling the worst, even after a year he is just about beginning to not ball up tightly when we pick him up, he is exploring a lot more when he is out.

I definitely wouldnt be handling any snake everyday, we have 7 in total and they all get handled aroung twice a month on average.

The main reason for not eating in snakes seems to be stress and teh most stressful thing for a lot of snakes is being handled.

Gotcha. So main focus #1 should be establishing a regular feeding pattern. And after that is done, and husbandry is all correct, then play with her as much as possible WITHOUT upsetting her feeding pattern.

I hope this is possible, I may be being overzealous tho lol. For now, I think ill heed ur advice and play with her only twice a month.

And yo rob, or anyone, do you guys usually feed in a seperate container ? Ive heard that if their substrate is suitable, you can feed them in their own cages and that sometimes they react better to feeding if they are in their own environment. On the other hand, I also would rather feed her in a seperate container because I don't wanna reach in her cage once and be mistaken for food. (not that im not prepared to be bitten, kind of a common hazard when u own a snake)

Thanks aaron, nice to hear an experts voice from Toronto ; )