Hatchlings up to 300g can be housed in a 10 gallon enclosure or tub measuring approximately 20″ x 11″ x 13″. Juveniles under 3′ long can be housed in a 40 gallon enclosure measuring about 36” x 18” x 18”. Subadults and adults over 3′ long do best in a 120 gallon enclosure (48″ x 24″ x 24″) or larger.[1]
How Many Gallons Does A Ball Python Need?
Adult Ball Pythons will need at least a 40 gallon terrarium. Hatchling Ball Pythons can be housed together, however juveniles and adults should be housed separately.[2]
Can A Ball Python Live In A 40 Gallon Tank?
While younger and smaller ball pythons can often do well in smaller enclosures, a 40-gallon option is an optimal ball python enclosure size for adults.[3]
Is 50 Gallon Too Big For A Ball Python?
The adult ball python needs a home that is large enough to fit in comfortably and tall enough to climb. It should be between 40-55 gallons and three to four feet in length. There ideally should be a slight temperature gradient from a warm to a cooler side.[4]
Why Is My Ball Python So Active After Eating
Hunger. Ball pythons become suddenly active because they are hungry and aware of the coming feeding time. Also, if a ball python perceives prey in its surroundings, it can become more active. According to many breeders, ball pythons know the cycle of their feeding.[5]
Why Is My Snake So Active After Feeding?
The snake is hungry
If the pet snake hasn’t fed in a few days it might become restless and increasingly active. The hunger causes them to go exploring, looking for food sources, which is why you’ll notice their extreme movements in their enclosure. The ball python simply wants to go outside and hunt for prey.Jul 30, 2021[6]
Is An Active Ball Python Hungry?
What is this? You can tell a snake is hungry when it exhibits specific behaviors such as: Prowling the front of the tank, being more active, focussing on you whenever you are near the enclosure, flicking its tongue more often, and hunting at a similar time each day or night.[7]
What Do Snakes Do After They Eat?
Constrictors, such as nonvenomous pythons and boas, wrap their bodies around their prey and squeeze until their victim stops breathing or its heart stops beating. Then they swallow their prey whole. Snakes typically eat rats, mice, birds and their eggs, squirrels, lizards, fish, frogs, gophers, and other small rodents.[8]
What Time Are Ball Pythons Most Active?
Ball pythons are typically nocturnal (active at night) or crepuscular (most active during dawn and dusk). They spend most of their time on or under the ground in burrows.[9]
How Long Can A Female Ball Python Retain Sperm
A female of the species can store sperm in her body for at least five years before using it.Oct 19, 2011[10]
How Do Female Snakes Retain Sperm?
To do so he believes they use special cells in their bodies that secrete sugars and proteins to keep the sperm alive. The sperm are kept in small pockets along a spongy tube that leads to the snakes’ ovaries.Aug 5, 2014[11]
Can A Ball Python Store Sperm?
Females can also store sperm for delayed fertilization, but Wanner said the longest documented case they found of that happening was seven years after the contact. She laid another clutch of eggs back in 2009, but none of those eggs hatched and there are no records of her being around a male then either.Sep 11, 2020[12]
Can Snakes Retain Sperm?
Abstract. Female reptiles have the ability to store sperm within their reproductive tracts for extended periods of time.[13]
How To Handle Ball Python For First Time
Pick it up with two hands, one behind the head and one supporting the rest of the body. NEVER pick up a snake by its tail — this can cause severe damage to their spine. During handling, continue to support the snake’s body and use a loose grip to enable it to move freely.[14]
How Do You Get A Ball Python Used To Being Handled?
Leave your snake alone for the first week you have it.
Leave the snake in its tank while it takes the time to adjust. After a week, you can start interacting with your snake. If you’ve waited a week and your snake is still acting aggressive, wait for 3-4 more days before trying again.[15]
How Long Should I Wait To Handle My Ball Python After Getting It?
Leave your new pet snake alone for at least seven days since the transport to its new home is very stressful. After that, feed your snake its first meal. To ensure that your snake doesn’t regurgitate its meal due to stress, wait for another two days before you finally handle your new snake.[16]
Why Does My Ball Python Stay Hidden
They feel safe and secure in their hides, they feel comfortable and relaxed, which reduces stress and helps your pet remain happy and healthy. Even the friendliest ball python will spend some time in its hide, when it’s not out exploring or basking.[17]
Why Does My Snake Just Hide?
According to Reptile Knowledge, snakes are private creatures. In nature, they take over hideaways created by other animals. You can encourage this natural behavior by providing hides, cave-like enclosures inside which your snake can hole up.[18]
How Long Do Snakes Stay In Their Hide?
The first sign that your snake is about to shed is when your normally active reptile begins to act lethargic or seems to hide. This period lasts from one to two weeks, until shedding starts in earnest. In the wild, snakes are more vulnerable during the shedding process, and pet snakes follow their instincts to hide.[19]
What Does It Mean When A Ball Python Buries Itself?
Improper humidity levels
Ball pythons can’t handle low levels of humidity, so they’ll burrow in their substrate to keep their bodies moist and comfortable. Burrowing will be very common especially if the snake is living in an outdoor enclosure with the heat and sun beating down on them constantly.[20]
How Often Do Ball Pythons Hide?
Ball pythons are nocturnal; they become active at night. During other times and mostly throughout the day, your snake will be hiding or sleeping. It is normal for them to be found resting or hiding in one of their caves or burrows that you’ll provide in their habitat.[21]
Why Is My Ball Python Trying To Get Out
The Tank Is Too Hot And/Or Humid For Your Snake
One of the most common reasons why your snake is trying to escape, is that its tank’s temperature and humidity are wrong. You may also find that your snake tries to escape if you don’t have a temperature gradient in their tank.[22]
How Do I Know If My Ball Python Is Unhappy?
Signs Your Snake Is Worried1Sudden Movements. Rather than the slow, almost lethargic, movements of a content snake, a worried one will make sudden movements and may not rest for long periods. … 2Submissive Posture. … 3Looking for Escape. … 4Hissing Noises. … 5Eating Disorders. … 6Tight Grip. … 7Striking.[23]
How Do You Calm A Stressed Ball Python?
How to Calm Down a Snake1Move Slowly. Quick movements can frighten snakes and send them into fight or flight mode. … 2Good Behavior. Snakes typically react to handling with fear or, if they are calm and relaxed, curiosity. … 3Guide, Don’t Restrain. … 4Cutting Your Losses. … 5Provide a Comforting Home.[24]
What Is A White Ball Python Called
Ball Pythons are one of the most popular types of reptiles kept as pets right now in America, and they are available in a wide variety of colors and patterns—usually referred to as “morphs”, which result from selective breeding. However, the Leucistic (White) Ball Python is one of the most amazing morphs available.Jul 26, 2022[25]
What Is A White And Yellow Ball Python Called?
Albino Ball Python Morph
Albino ball python morphs are well known for their yellow and white scales, as well as their pink eyes. They are rare because this morph only occurs when both parents carry the gene.Jul 19, 2022[26]
Are White Ball Pythons Albino?
The albino ball python is a naturally occurring genetic mutation that results in visual changes in the snake’s coloration. Albinism is found throughout the animal kingdom and this mutation in the ball python yields a snake with a white body, yellow to orange patterning, with pinkish-red eyes.[27]
What Is A Black And White Ball Python Called?
The axanthic ball python looks like a black-and-white photograph of a ball python. The pattern is normal. They have no yellow or brown coloration, and have only white, gray and black color at all ages.[28]
How To Tell If Your Ball Python Is Sick
Snakes should breathe quietly through their noses. Mouth breathing and/or wheezing are both signs of illness in snakes. Discharge from the eyes, nose, or mouth is another warning sign.[29]
How Do I Know If My Ball Python Is Unhealthy?
Call a vet if:1Your snake’s behavior changes suddenly.2Your snake eats or drinks less, or is losing weight.3There is discharge from your snake’s nose or mouth.4Your snake has trouble shedding, or there are bits of old skin remaining after the rest of the skin has shed.5Your snake’s droppings are runny or have red in them.[30]
Resources
[1]https://reptifiles.com/ball-python-care-guide/ball-python-terrarium-size-lighting/
[2]https://zoomed.com/ball-python/
[3]https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/category/reptile/ball-python-supplies/ball-python-cages-terrariums
[4]https://www.everythingreptiles.com/how-big-do-ball-pythons-get/
[5]https://www.reptilehero.com/why-ball-python-too-active/
[6]https://beingreptiles.com/active-ball-python/
[7]https://reptilecraze.com/how-to-tell-that-your-snake-is-hungry/
[8]https://sciencetrek.org/sciencetrek/topics/snakes/facts.cfm
[9]https://happyhollow.org/explore/zoo/education-ambassador/ball-python/
[10]https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228355-200-snake-stores-sperm-for-five-years-before-giving-birth/
[11]https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-06/secrets-of-sperm-storing-female-snakes-revealed/5652004
[12]https://www.cbs58.com/news/a-ball-python-laid-7-eggs-at-the-saint-louis-zoo-even-though-she-hasnt-been-around-a-male-in-years
[13]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3433065/
[14]https://reptifiles.com/ball-python-care-guide/ball-python-handling-tips/
[15]https://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Relationship-with-Your-Snake
[16]https://reptilecraze.com/when-can-i-handle-my-new-snake/
[17]https://thepetenthusiast.com/ball-python-sleeping-outside-hide/
[18]https://www.petplace.com/article/reptiles/general/why-does-my-snake-bury-itself/
[19]https://animals.mom.com/snakes-become-less-active-theyre-going-shedding-10712.html
[20]https://beingreptiles.com/ball-python-burrowing/
[21]https://reptileroommate.com/the-only-ball-python-care-guide-needed/
[22]https://reptilecraze.com/6-reasons-why-your-snake-is-trying-to-escape/
[23]https://petkeen.com/how-to-tell-if-snake-is-happy/
[24]https://animals.mom.com/calm-down-snake-10358.html
[25]https://petkeen.com/leucistic-white-ball-python-morph-facts/
[26]https://petkeen.com/ball-python-morphs/
[27]https://petkeen.com/albino-ball-python-morph/
[28]https://reptilesmagazine.com/ball-python-morph-history/
[29]https://americanvethospital.com/signs-illness-snakes/
[30]https://www.petsmart.com/learning-center/reptile-care/how-to-tell-if-your-snake-is-healthy/A0192.html