My Funny Picture

Do snakes sleep in weird positions?

My ball python has been sleeping (during the day obviously) in a strange position for about a month or two. Whenever it sleeps outside its little rock, it sleeps with its head pointed straight to the sky leaning against its bigger rock. Heres a picture. I'm worried it might be sick or something even though it is behaving and feeding norally. Heres a picture of it sleeping. http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/jumpstreetjoe21/snake001.jpg I've had this snake for over 2 years and its probably only 3 years old at most. Its growing and shedding fine. I feed it around once every one or two weeks. I also make sure it always has water and I've got its heating pad under its tank which is more than big enough for it. Let me know what you think might be the problem.

Public Comments

1. I think so
2. He looks happy to me. You say he has a good shed, feeding schedule is fine. Sounds like you're taking good care of it. Most pets do things that look weird to us.
3. Completely normal. My snake sleeps in weird positiIons all the time. If shes eating good and shedding good, then you should have nothing to worry about. If youre really concerned, go get her checked out by a vet.
4. Your snake is fine. He looks very healthy. Snakes will sometimes sleep like this, for one reason or another. I have several and most have slept with their head up the side of their rock or branch or water dish, etc. It's nothing to be concerned about. Now, if the snake were holding it's head up on its own like that for hours on end, that would be the sign of a serious problem. the behavior in that situation is called 'stargazing'. But that's obviously not what your snake is doing. However, if you're still concerned or if you have any problems with your snake in the future, go to http://www.arav.org to find a registered reptile vet near you. I hope this helps, and it's always nice to see another concerned snake parent, hehe. ^_^
5. Snakes sleep in all kinds of positions, some even sleep in water. It looks like your snake may be Stargazing, which can be a sign of numerous viral and bacterial infections. If so, it needs to be taken to reptile vet to be treated.. Below is a small article on stargazing. This is not my site, so I don't claim any information as mine, and can't verify that everything on it is reliable, just this article. Just as always, it's best to contact a professional.