This is a specific conversation about Reptile setup — getting the environment right — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
Feeding refusal in ball pythons is almost always an environment problem before it's anything else — and hides are one of the biggest factors people get wrong. Reptile welfare is almost entirely determined by getting the environment right: temperature gradient, UV lighting, humidity, and substrate all need to match the species' natural habitat. A ball python that feels exposed will refuse food, hide constantly, and stay stressed indefinitely. So before we go further — how old is your snake, what size enclosure are you working with, and are you setting this up from scratch or trying to fix an existing setup?
She's about 8 months old, I got her three weeks ago. I have a 4ft wooden vivarium. She's only eaten once since I got her and spends all her time trying to climb the glass. I have one hide in there at the moment, a plastic half-log thing.
inparticular.ai
That climbing behaviour — called 'glass surfing' — is a clear sign she's insecure and looking for cover. Three weeks is still within the settling-in window, but the hide is almost certainly contributing. The half-log style hides are too open. Ball pythons are ambush predators from dense African grassland and they need to feel physically enclosed — like the walls are touching their sides. If they can see light through the entrance or feel space above them, their nervous system reads that as danger. Do you currently have a hide on both the warm end and the cool end of the vivarium?
No, just the one in the middle. I didn't realise you needed two. What kind of hide should I be looking for?
inparticular.ai
You need one on each end — that's non-negotiable for ball pythons. They need to thermoregulate without ever having to choose between being warm and being hidden. The one I'd point you to is the Exo Terra Snake Cave. It's a weighted resin hide with a very low, tight entrance and a domed interior that sits close to the snake's body — it genuinely replicates the kind of burrow they'd use in the wild. The small or medium size suits an 8-month ball python well. Put one directly over your heat mat on the warm side and one on the cool end. Once she has that security on both ends, you should see the glass surfing stop within a few days and feeding improve within the next feeding window.
That makes sense. Should the hide be a specific size relative to her, or is bigger better for comfort?
inparticular.ai
Bigger is actually worse. The hide should be snug — she should be able to coil up inside with the walls touching her. A hide that's too large gives the same insecurity as no hide at all. For an 8-month ball python, the Exo Terra Snake Cave in small is usually the right fit. As she grows — ball pythons can reach 4 to 5 feet — you'll size up to medium and eventually large. Think of it less like a room and more like a sleeve. The tighter the better, as long as she can fully coil inside without being compressed.
Got it. Is there anything else about the setup I should look at alongside the hides?
inparticular.ai
The two things most likely to compound what you're already seeing: first, check your temperatures. Warm side should be 88–90°F at the floor of the hide, cool side around 76–80°F. A lot of wooden vivarium setups run too cool because the heat mat loses too much warmth through the wood. Use a digital probe thermometer, not a stick-on dial. Second, humidity should sit at 60–80% — ball pythons are from tropical grassland and low humidity causes shedding problems and stress. A good substrate like coconut fibre or cypress mulch holds humidity far better than carpet or paper. Fix the hides first, then verify those two things, and you'll have most of the common causes covered.
