enclosure size question

[Payton MacDonald]

Also, my male BCI is about 4 feet right now (1.5 years old). If the books are correct (and I hope they are!), he should top out around 5.5'. Right now I've got him in a 40-gallon tank. I went and got a 106 quart Sterilite tub thinking it would be bigger, but when I brought it home it was about the same size.

For those of you that have adult BCIs, what do you keep them in? He's okay right now, but I think the current enclosure will be too small in another year.

Very mellow dude, only gets aggressive when the rat comes out, otherwise a sweetheart.

Thanks,
Payton

[Boo_Balls]

For awhile I kept mine in a 55gal even when he reached 6ft.. then I switched him over to a 40gal breeder which he loved cause he could coil up looser, now I have him and my female in a custome tank I believe 5'long 2.5w and 2-2.5' t. and I'd say they don't mind that tank at all.

As far as books go you can never no. because of the fact that people power feed their animals to make them girthy-er faster and even longer, my male rtb is about 7ft and my boyfriend had him for about 5 yrs. the female we just got and she's about the same but i have this feeling shes younger....only because usually feamles are 2x bigger than males even just a few yrs apart.

What size is your inclosure now?

[Payton MacDonald]

It's 2.5' x 1' x 1'. The Sterilite container I got for him is this one: http://www.sterilite.com/ProductDeta...ection=Storage

I thought that might be big enough for him as he gets into adulthood, but now I don't think so. I'd like find a tub that's big enough if possible. They're much cheaper and it's easier to control humidity.

I was thinking about this one: http://www.sterilite.com/ProductDeta...ection=Storage

I think the length and width are good, but it doesn't give him enough climbing space. Hmmmm . . .

Payton

[blackcrystal22]

Male BCIs can get up to 7ft at adulthood. A 4ft x 2ft x 1ft reptile cage would be good for most adult male BCIs.

[Boo_Balls]

Quiet honestly a sweater box would work, thats what alot of breeders use for the bigger guys... Also with RTB they don't need much climbing space like the balls do.... so I've heard. So don't quote me lol. I think you should be fine for a little while longer, do you handel him/her often? cause that will take [if any] stress off of your RTB so it can really stretch out and unbend those scales.

=]

[ScottyBoa]

Ball Pythons need climbing space eh? Sweaterbox for the bigger guys too? Wow....


To the OP:

A 5.5 ft male will be fine in a 4x2x1 boaphile or animal plastics cage for its entire life. Glass tanks are bad as they are terrible at holding temps/humidity not to mention any moderate sized boa can just straight up smash out of a glass tank. Glass is not going to hold up to a 5-6 ft hunk of muscle pushing on it.

[Southernshooter]

The general rule of thumb for tanks or tubs in inches is the length + width = the max length of the snake.
So the 106 Quart one is 33in.+19in.=52in. which is about the max size of what you should have in their
And the other one is 44in.+19in.+63in. max snake
And the 44 inch one is shorter which means it is easier to heat.

[Boo_Balls]

Sorry pardon me, sweater box not like the ones you can shove under your bed. the tall kind. nvm, lol, and pythons needing climbing space mine never sit still they like to go all over my tank.

like the boxs you'd use for racks, thats why i was saying if he was looking at stuff that would make room instead of display.

Sorry VERYYYY bad wording.

[snakelady]

and pythons needing climbing space mine never sit still they like to go all over my tank.

OK. Don't want to hijack the thread. However, what type of python are you talking about? a ball python?
There is some conflicting information in this thread that could be confusing to people new to keeping Boas and Ball Pythons.

[ScottyBoa]

He said balls in a previous post which is wrong. Not saying that some balls won't enjoy some space to climb but they don't need it. They need 2 properly sized hides and do just fine in tubs. As I already said for boas, get a boaphile type cage for it. Again, do NOT use glass tanks for big constrictors as they can just smash out. That is what happened with the Burm that killed the little girl in Florida. It was an 8 ft animal which is boa size.