A few questions from a noob about housing & lighting

[montie420]

ok so i likei said in my other post im new to the whole snake thing. so of couse being new i got a question or 2. these ones have to deal with housing. In my terrarium for my BP i have a plastic little box for him to hide in. this box is not opaque rather it is translucent,it is like a frosted white...now i was thinking it would be beter for him if it were darker so he could like ecsape the light if he wanted to. I had the idea of putting black electrical tape around the exterior of the box to block out the light. however after doing this i noticed the electrical tape gave off a bit of an smell. not knowing if this would displease my snake i promptly removed it. Is taping it up a bad idea? do they need complete shelter from the light?

Now as for lighting....if i read correctly, BP are nocturnal, however i have to have the light on all the time to keep the heat up....so this is what i did, durin the day, i have a standard white lite bulb, and at night, i switch it to a blue bulb of the same wattage. i do this to make it look a little more like night time. also, since i keep him in my room, it is easier for me when i am sleeping.....is this a good idea?

[Marla]

Yes, or better yet a blacklight bulb. You can get a human heating pad for $10-$15 at WalMart that will probably allow you to do without the bulb altogether, which will make maintaining proper humidity levels easier. It's usually a lot easier to maintain proper temps than proper humidity, especially in an enclosure with a screen top.

Next, it is definitely better for your snake's hides to be opaque. He should be able to feel secure in them, including hiding from light and from you. They don't have to be anything fancy, but snug, secure, dark, and with a bit of weight to them are what ball pythons prefer. You can buy fancy hides at the pet store or use something simpler like terra cotta plant pots with a hole knocked in the bottom and smoothed or rocks cleaned with bleach water and stacked securely. One of mine even likes to go under his water dish, which is like the dish in FourFeathers' recent post of either Breeze or Roswell under the pictures section.

[gozetec02]

Ok the best cheap hide IMO are those plastic or clay pot bases you can cut out a piece at the edge so he can get in. They are around 2 Bux at Wal-mart or similar store. A dark hide is a lot better then one that will let in light when a snake sleeps they have no eyelids so they need darkness and since these are nocturnal animals meaning the come out at night and sleep during the day this can be very stressful. Think of it this way in the wild ball pythons will spend much of their time hiding in rodent burrows either abandoned the snake has eaten the inhabitants. These burrows are underground so there would be little to no light. You absolutely need 2 hides one for the warm side and one for the cool side and place a water dish in the center. I found that those tiny cereal boxes work great for hides too my little BP Coconut has 2 of them.

Now for your lighting question. I would abandon the white light and just stick to the night black light and leave it on 24/7. Plus it will save you from burning your fingers. They daylight that enters your room is enough for them to know that it is daytime. Plus those white lights just kill your humidity which is very important to your BP. If you dont have an under tank heater its advisable to get one though you dont have to but it can be a human heating pad they are like 10 bux and have different settings just be sure to seperate the pad from the glass of the tank which can get really hot. Put the pad and the light on the same side of the tank and your set.

If you have anymore questions, ask away.

[gozetec02]

Marla beat me to the punch but you get the idea.

[Marla]

Great minds think alike. Glad you mentioned that there should definitely be two hides and that the burrows would prevent the snake from naturally having much sun exposure at all.

[RPlank]

My opinion on tape in a snakes enclosure is that it's a bad idea. Anyone who has ever tried to peel tape off a snake after a corner came up and the sticky side got slithered on will tell you the same thing!!!!!

[montie420]

wow thanks for all the helpful suggestions.

I only have room for one hide at the moment, he is in a smaller 15 gallon tank. This is temporary tho, i have a 6'x1' 125 gallon tank i plan on putting him in, i just need to clean it out, buy some new trim for it, and either manufacture of buy a lid for it. at which point i will most definately have 2 or more hides.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to go about making a lid for a tank this size? i have looked around and had troulbe finding one in stores.

[Ginevive]

A 125 sounds pretty big. That's the size of my Oscar cichlid tank, and I could stretch out in there as if it were a bathtub, it's so long!
How big is your BP? That tank may be a bit too big, as they like a smaller, more secure tank when young. It might be a cool tank for when your snake gets bigger, and you could put a bunch of plants and different hides in therre to take up room.
I'd probably start out with a 20-g tank for now. Or better yet, look into getting a rubbermaid. It's easier to maintain humidity and good temperatures with a rubbermaid.

[Marla]

15 gallons is a great size for a baby ball python, and 125 gallons is way too big for anything but a fully adult female. If you can only fit one hide, you need to put in smaller hides and possibly reduce the size of your water dish as well. If you look through the photo galleries, you'll see a number of creative solutions people have used.

[montie420]

Well, as soon as i get the 125 gallon ready for my snake to move into, i plan on getting another one.... is that still too big? for a snake that will be by that time a year old, and another babie snake?