Is this normal behavior for a ball python?

every night for the past 2 weeks or so my ball python, sagan, has been climbing the side of the tank and constantly running his nose around the top edge. another thing he is doing is climbing almost to the top and just sitting there and staring. can someone tell me what he is looking for? lol or why he may be doing this.

This sounds like pretty normal behavior to me, my royal does this when she is hungry.

Usually she will be out like this, looking up, waiting for food a few days after the previous feeding. I will give her a rat, she'll eat it and go back in her hide. Then usually about 15-20mins later she will be back out on top of her hide looking up, waiting for more food. I give her another rat when this happens and she will then stay hidden for a few days untill she is hungry again, the cycle continues. Sometimes she will not re-appear for a second rat.

I'd be a little worried if she was doing this but refusing the food, then something else may be wrong.

How is his feeding?

Also if it is a new enclosure they will usually look around for a way to escape , have you moved him recently?

Good point as well Ludedor.

Also bare in mind they will roam around even when settled in and not hungry. Animals are unpredictable.

he has been feeding fine. i normally feed him every 14 days or so without any issues. also he just went through a shed 3 weeks ago then he fed. is it possible he just wanted more to eat because of the timing of the shed and all?

Possibly, you could try upping his feeding slightly and see if it calms him down at all. I know mine would be going nuts if she didn't have anything for two weeks but she is still growing. Is he an adult?

I have limited experience with snakes though so I'm not sure what else to suggest.

yes he is an adult. i will try feeding him another rat later in his feeding day and see how that helps. thanks for the info.

ok here is the update on sagan. he was fed more this time around and did as said he would. he went and hid. a few days later......... up and nosing the top of the tank again lol. i am not going to feed this guy every 4 days lol. so, i guess i have a "special" snake lol

I wouldnt worry about it...I kept a female in a large kritter keeper for a few months with no problem, after I built her a custom 40gallon tank for the first few months all she did was nose around the top , as long as you dont see scales rubbing off the nose and its still eatting regularly its fine.

thanks for the info ludedor24. will keep a look out just in case.

Mine certainly seem to watch to opening to their drawers when its nearing feeding day