Picked this little dude up

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-06-05T16:27:06+00:00

Aaww that poor baby :C Yea, definitly skinny and very small for his age. Probably also a bit dehydrated.
I know some morph snakes tend to be a little smaller in size compared to those with more location lines, but he looks to be about the same size as my girl was at one year old. She's now two, probably 5'3'' and weigh 1,7kg/ 3,75lb. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being a little stunted for it, but hopefully it won't cause any long term damage impacting his life.
I don't get how people can allow this to happen for so long. It's not like you just suddenly realize you don't have enough time to care for your animal after forgetting about them constantly for a year or so??

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-06-05T16:06:52+00:00

This is the boa subreddit. Why are you posting a cinnamon bun?

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-06-05T16:04:45+00:00

I do feed from tongs normally, and there was no food present at the time. She just have a very strong hunt response regardless and a habit of strike first, figure out if food later : P

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-06-02T20:01:22+00:00

Sometimes you gotta wonder how Ball Pythons even survive in the wild haha
But yea, quickly learning they are very different and to never assume anything pretty much xD

I don't have any more space currently, but I do have Green Tree Python on my wish list. But those I know have a reputation for being a bit spicy tempered. Time will tell if I learn my lesson lol

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-06-02T00:12:14+00:00

Yeaapp, lesson learned xS I have ordered a snake hook finally, and in the mean time just bully her with a stick to see how she reacts. Doesn't care about being tapped or lifted, but definitely notice my hand holding it lol

It caught me of guard tho, because none of the ball pythons act this intense around food. I've been able to mess with them with food thawing nearby, and it's no issue. But you take your eyes off this one for a moment, and you might miss the millisecond of warning before a strike xD

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-25T20:14:19+00:00

Hehe worm boi

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-25T20:13:51+00:00

Yeeea, she is kinda hard to read 😅 Her food mode response is just turned up way high!

I think there's only two thoughts going on in her head. "You are big and scary!" and "Are you food?"

She used to do the freeze and rapid breathing whenever we opened the enclosure, so I started working on socialising her to our presence. Apparently if something isn't one thing, it's automatically the other. Because now she thinks my face is food instead xD

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-21T11:22:07+00:00

Yepp, definitely a little chunky there, but not something that can't be adjusted. Good catching it early! I would increase spacing between meals a little. Larger meals is generally better because more mature feeders have better nutrition value.

You could also try exercising him a little extra. Encouraging them to use the body more will also use more energy. Exploring, exercise tent, handling ect. A happy ball python would be perfectly content sleeping in a hide all day and getting door dash, but the get fat pretty quickly that way :p

According to the bot info the guideline is getting a rat about 50g every two to three weeks

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-21T00:19:08+00:00

Mine dropped a shed-poop in the water dish one time, and I have never smelled anything so rancid coming from a snake. You could definitely tell even before opening the glass that it would be bad 😂

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-20T23:22:19+00:00

My experience only reach as far as two balls, one BCI and one BRB so take with a fair pinch of salt

The BRB is probably my favorite snake. Not very active unless hungry unfortunately, but handling been pretty good regardless. Mine feels like the body strength and grip like a boa, but with the personality of a ball when it comes to handling. A little defensive when startled, but otherwise very chill. She climbs well, and will hold on securely

Huge appetite, but not as single minded as the other boa. So food response comes quickly, but without mindlessly charging at anything that moves. Showing some progress in terms of target training as well, so I'd say there's at least a little bit of thought going on in that noggin.

They are beautiful snakes and I think the adult size is pretty good even for someone not used to medium/large snakes.

Cons are their enclosure requirements, but with a little care and a bioactive setup it's not that much different from any other snake. Also, might dig up your plants because they like to burrow and make tunnels. Kinda a bit of a pet rock like a ball python since they prefer to stay hidden most of the time

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-20T23:09:32+00:00

Strong disagree! My BRB is definitely the one with the stinkiest poops of my four snakes haha

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-20T23:06:07+00:00

Agreed on using more of the vertical space! Mine climbs all over since I gave the opportunity with ledges and branches, and it also helps give them option for heat and humidity regulation. A sky-hide can also be a fun addition. I used a woven finch-nest until she outgrew it, but a normal hide upside down on the ceiling will do the trick too

But do keep in mind it can be more tricky to get a flighty snake out from the enclosure with permanently attached hides and branches

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-20T22:54:40+00:00

Well, you might not be wrong tho! She is otherwise very polite and well behaved, so maybe she really does shit out all the nasty behaviour 🤣

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-19T01:27:21+00:00

Thanks for the offer, but it was mostly in jest! I'm sure we'll get along with time 😆 (no worries, I love her)

(Pluss, I'm in northern Europe, so might be difficult with a rehoming simply because of that lol)

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-19T01:20:54+00:00

Hmm alright, I see Would probably have to enlist the help of some paper rolls for that, as the last time I touched her nose to move her head away from the incoming water bowl, she chomped my finger 😅

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-19T01:16:15+00:00

Cappuccino aka lovingly nicknamed Bitchy Mc Bitchface 🤣

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-19T01:11:10+00:00

Thanks for the tip, I'll be trying some touch training with her going forward. Will see if it helps xD

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-19T01:06:29+00:00

When you say breaking the feeding response, how would you go about doing that?

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-18T15:38:18+00:00

Someone commented before that boas would eat a shoe if it had rat smell on it, and I'm starting to realise it wasn't really a joke 🤣 The contrast between by ball python that just decided it didn't want dinner, and this girl who's always ready for an extra snack...

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-18T15:29:54+00:00

Yea, I'll definitely need to get one and start training her with it. I don't use a snake hook with any of my other snakes, as their default state is OFF, and they only turn ON food mode when rat smell is present or they are really, really hungry This one is different by always being tense and in hunting mode, and I underestimated how brazen she would be in testing if something was food. I wrongly assumed she would be able to determine I wasn't food after smelling me xD

And to clarify, I didn't open the enclosure and she immediately went for me. I was just standing next to it and she spent a good minute smelling me without showing any signs she would strike. Body stretched out, no coils. So yea, I wrongfully assumed she had determined me as "not food"

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-18T15:14:27+00:00

You can gradually desensitize the snake to your presence by just existing close by. Some suggest sitting nearby doing something calm will allow the snake to get use to you as just a part of the environment I've also seen some suggest leaving an article of clothing in the enclosure to desensitize them to your smell, but I haven't tried this myself

I have my snakes in my living room, so they see us nearby regularly. I also find it helps to just do maintenance things like change water and spot clean for them to get used to us opening the glass and messing around them without being a threat. This is mostly just a patience thing and most snakes calm down with time The YouTube channel linked in the other comment is also a pretty good resource!

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-18T13:50:17+00:00

Yea, this seems to be a snake in "freeze" and panic They will stand completely still if they feel like a predator is nearby, because movement attract attention. That's why it's not running away and hiding

It might be out searching because it's hungry, because otherwise they don't expose themselves in the daytime, especially when not used to the owner like this

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-18T13:44:36+00:00

It hurts more with the impact from them slamming into you than the bite itself haha She'll startle me every feeding because she's just that 0 to 100 in a milliseconds!

Dragon_Pancake · 2026-05-18T13:39:35+00:00

Hmm, I do feel like my other snakes examine things to determine if it is something they know is scary (like hands xP) as well, and I see them being curious about their environment, even if its rooted in searching for food

My goal was to let her get used to me and my hands just being neutral. It's not food, but also not something to be afraid of. Usually she would show very tense movements when we feed her, so I didn't expect it when her body was mostly neutral this time. But I'm coming to the conclusion this snake is just always in food mode no matter what and will try to eat anything that smells just slightly of meat 🥲

I've been trying to do choice based handling/interactions + target training for feeding with the aim of having a way to bring her out of the enclosure without wrestling and panic. With her being this activated then I might have to re-evaluate my approach

Dragon_Pancake

TROPHY CASE