The Exo Terra Reptile Caves are my personal favourite, and every one of my snakes has one. Exo Terra Reptile Caves (or similar) Prince the Pewter Ball Python laying ambush at the entrance to his Exo Terra Reptile cave In my opinion – and my snake’s opinion – the four best hides available right now are: Over the years, I’ve tried all of these and have learnt what my snakes prefer – which is what really counts! The most important thing is that you understand why I prefer these types of hides compared to all the others. This way you can buy the brand I name – or choose the same kind of hide from a different brand if you find a better price. Instead of giving you the kind of sales pitch your probably used to, I’ve decided here to list the hides by broad type and brand. In your typical plastic tub or terrarium setup, the space inside the enclosure is greater than that in a rack tub, and this means that it’s vitally important to make your snake feel secure at both ends of the temperature gradient.īasically, if you have a Ball Python in a tub or terrarium setup and only provide a hide on the warm end, chances are your snake will stay in the hiding place even when it feels too warm.Īdd a hide to the cool end, and you’ll notice that it moves between the two, depending on its needs. This isn’t how those of us who only have one or two Ball Pythons keep them, though.Īfter all, why buy a $1000 or more rack to house a dozen snakes if you have no intention of becoming a breeder? They know that their snakes can go to the front of their tub to cool down, but they still feel secure because the tub is dark and closed in by a low ceiling. Most of those same breeders are using high-end racks with long tubs, and very reliable thermostats. But let’s look at that situation a little more closely… It allows them to be comfortable at all times by choosing the temperature that suits them.Ī lot of large breeders only provide their snakes with one hide. Providing one hide on the warm end and one on the cool end of the enclosure is also the best way to help your snake thermoregulate. To feel safe, Ball Pythons need two hides in their enclosure. How many hides does a Ball Python need? A classic tub setup with two hides In fact, over the past twenty years, most of the “picky” Ball Pythons people have asked me for help with have started feeding when provided with a heavy hide and smaller enclosure. With Ball Pythons though, it seems to be particularly important, so much so that if they don’t have a snug hiding place many of them will stop eating. This behaviour is found in a lot of snakes, with some even cramming themselves into rock fissures in the wild. This species of python is positively thigmotactic – meaning that it gains reassurance from being in contact with solid surfaces. That means that the inside area of the cave should be only very slightly larger than the area that your snake occupies when curled up. – I mean the size of the hide in proportion to your snake.Ī Ball Python hide should always be snug. I don’t mean the size as in diagonal measurement etc. One aspect that you should pay special attention to is the size of the hide. Homemade is an option – but buying one is easier! How big should a ball python hide be? Some of them are even cheap! Pewter Ball Python in a homemade resin cave. I know this sounds really specific, but by reading this article you’ll soon realise that hides that fit all of these criteria are incredibly easy to source. Obviously, in captivity, we can’t exactly reproduce this, but we should provide ideal hiding places that make the snake feel like nice it’s in a nice, secure burrow.įor a hide to be ideal it has to meet the following criteria: Perhaps the coolest thing about rodent burrows is that they are sometimes as much as three feet (1m) deep, with a temperature gradient from top to bottom. They help a Ball Python avoid drying out in the sun by maintaining a higher humidity level.Īt the same time, rodent burrows and termite mounds especially maintain a lower daylight temperature and higher night-time temperature, allowing the snakes to use them for thermoregulation. Refugia like these are special because they create a microclimate within them. This is because in the wild this species spends daylight hours are hidden in a snug rodent burrow (after eating them, of course), hollowed out log, or even termite mound. They like them to be just right and fit a few criteria. Ball Pythons are picky about their hides.
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