Enrichment Suggestions
Here is a list of suggested enrichment for ball pythons and other snakes. This covers four of the five behavioral enrichment categories that ball pythons are widely known to participate in.
Cognitive: Enhances mental stimulation.
Although maybe not as intelligent as, say a dog, ball pythons still show the basic behavior of curiosity when new stimuli is presented to them. Periscoping and tongue flicking are both positive exploratory behaviors that engage their curiosity.
Providing novel experiences such as new objects and smells can invoke a curious response in ball pythons.
Handling is also another novel experience for a snake that can be a form of positive enrichment, when done correctly.
Providing novel experiences such as new objects and smells can invoke a curious response in ball pythons.
Handling is also another novel experience for a snake that can be a form of positive enrichment, when done correctly.
Physical Habitat: The adjustment of environment to add complexity or change design.
Along with a stable habitat with correct temperatures, humidity, and cover, habitat design is important to caring for these animals. There are many ways to manipulate enclosure design to present enrichment opportunities.
- Climbing: dowels, branches, etc to take advantage of vertical space
- Moving objects/balance: bridges or hammocks that can increase balance
- Burrowing: ball pythons have been observed burrowing; substrate differences can provide tactile enrichment as well
- Perching: shelving that allows for a variety of lounge spaces in the open
- Hiding: offering various hides that may be humid, dry, different shapes or sizes
Sensory- Encompasses any of the senses: touch, taste, sound, smell, sight
Olfactory- Sense of smell is very important to snakes as it is arguably their most used sense. Stimulating this sense is quite easy and requires little effort.
Here are some suggestions for olfactory enrichment:
Substrate is an easy way to provide tactile enrichment in addition to burrowing behavior. You can vary the amount of substrate given, the type, texture, and shape. You can even place different types of substrate in the same enclosure. Coconut Husk Chips, Coconut fiber, Organic potting soil (manure and additive free), Sphagnum moss, Aspen/pine (pine marketed for pets is kiln dried and therefore safe to use with animals), Paper towels, Newspaper are some examples of substrate that can be used with ball pythons.
· Rocks of different shapes, sizes, types, and textures (be careful there are no sharp edges)
· different woods such as cork bark or driftwood
· leaf litter
· Tiles of different kinds (do NOT place the tile over UTH because that will cause them to overheat and damage your enclosure and/or snake)
· fake plants
Objects may be taken from outside to place in your enclosure as long as no chemicals have been used near the objects. To sanitize, they can be baked in the oven at 250 degrees (F) for 2 hours. Alternatively, they could be soaked in a chlorhexidine or vinegar solution for 24 hours.
Sight- a ball python’s color sight is not very well developed. They can only see small portions of the electromagnetic spectrum: some UV, early blues, and some green. Providing low wattage UV can not only provide visual enrichment, but ball pythons have been noted to bask in sunlight, so you may also promote basking behavior.
Here are some suggestions for olfactory enrichment:
- Rub different things such as lemon peels, flowers, spices, and prey bedding on a few different objects within the habitat. It is best not to leave the full object in the enclosure as the scent may become overwhelming, but rubbing will allow enough scent to transfer.
- Bedding, objects, or sheds from other snakes. Please note: Some species can transfer diseases that are fatal to others (e.g. IBD from boas to ball pythons) so it is best to use only healthy animals within the same species. Please do not take objects from a snake in quarantine and place it in with your established animals.
- avoid artificial scents and perfumes. Snakes have a rudimentary respiratory system that can easily be compromised.
- You’ll also want to be careful to not put anything indigestible into the enclosure with prey smell on it. No rags or towels that were in with rodents, and I would also suggest not putting too much prey bedding into the snake enclosure either, just in case.
Substrate is an easy way to provide tactile enrichment in addition to burrowing behavior. You can vary the amount of substrate given, the type, texture, and shape. You can even place different types of substrate in the same enclosure. Coconut Husk Chips, Coconut fiber, Organic potting soil (manure and additive free), Sphagnum moss, Aspen/pine (pine marketed for pets is kiln dried and therefore safe to use with animals), Paper towels, Newspaper are some examples of substrate that can be used with ball pythons.
· Rocks of different shapes, sizes, types, and textures (be careful there are no sharp edges)
· different woods such as cork bark or driftwood
· leaf litter
· Tiles of different kinds (do NOT place the tile over UTH because that will cause them to overheat and damage your enclosure and/or snake)
· fake plants
Objects may be taken from outside to place in your enclosure as long as no chemicals have been used near the objects. To sanitize, they can be baked in the oven at 250 degrees (F) for 2 hours. Alternatively, they could be soaked in a chlorhexidine or vinegar solution for 24 hours.
Sight- a ball python’s color sight is not very well developed. They can only see small portions of the electromagnetic spectrum: some UV, early blues, and some green. Providing low wattage UV can not only provide visual enrichment, but ball pythons have been noted to bask in sunlight, so you may also promote basking behavior.
Food
Food variation is a mixed bag within the ball python community. There are many reports of ball pythons fixating upon one type of prey and never switching to another prey item again. Meanwhile, many other individuals have had great success varying the diet of their ball pythons, presenting them with opportunities to eat quail, chicken, domestic rats, mice, African soft furred rats, gerbils, and hamsters. I have not yet heard of anyone having success with feeding ball pythons Reptilinks, but those would be great to switch it up for any reptiles who may eat it.
Another way to provide food variation is to change up the placement. If you normally place the prey directly in front of your snake, next time place it in a paper bag near the snake and have it explore the way to find its prey. If you feed live that is good enrichment as well. If you must do the “zombie dance” to make your ball python strike, make it chase the prey a short way before allow it to strike.
Another way to provide food variation is to change up the placement. If you normally place the prey directly in front of your snake, next time place it in a paper bag near the snake and have it explore the way to find its prey. If you feed live that is good enrichment as well. If you must do the “zombie dance” to make your ball python strike, make it chase the prey a short way before allow it to strike.