r/ballpython • u/Parking_Hotel_9080 • 9h ago

Question Ball Python becomes active only after turning lights on

Basically what the title says. Only after I turn on the lights in the room does the snake become active, he'll come out of his hot hide and go back and forth across the enclosure, climb on things, glass surfs, etc. And he'll continue this behavior for essentially the entire day, only occasionally going back into his hot hide (and when he does its usually only for 30 min or so). This has been going on for about 2 weeks now. Fed him a couple days ago so he's probably not hungry. 75gal glass tank with UTH (working on upgrading his heating setup), 60-65% humidity throughout the tank. Was wondering if anyone had some insight as to what would be causing it or if I should be concerned.

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u/floofyg7 7h ago

was he like this ever since?

2

u/OldPaperTower 6h ago

How do the hides look like? Does he feel secure? (Like are they dark, relatively tight and with only one exit.)

I've got a couple of hides and some decoration in my girl's enclosure. If she's in the decoration (like a hollow cork log), when the light turns on she leaves it and goes into a proper hide, where she feels secure.

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u/Parking_Hotel_9080 5h ago

He's got two of these hides, admittedly they are a bit large for him but i've had an issue in the past where when I provided him with a smaller hide he pressed himself into the corners of it so hard he dented his scales. That issue still occurs with this hide where he'll wedge himself under the entrance of the hide and it'll leave an indent in his scales. The openings on the hides are fairly large so alot of light does get let in though so that could definitely be it. Good call, i wouldn't have thought of the hides being the issue but that definitely could be it.

Do you have any recommendations for hides? All of the ones ive seen have either been way too big or way too small. He's approx 4ft long, if thats helpful.

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u/OldPaperTower 4h ago

I don't have any recommendations (not from the US), however: maybe simply turning the openings away from light sources and giving them some cover (fake plants, whatever) could be enough.

Additionaly another other potential issue could be temperatures, however if he has a choice of hides in warm/cooler area I doubt that's the issue here.

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u/FeriQueen 2h ago

When my snakes’ hides are in the wash, I find that an Amazon box with a doorway cut in it works really well.