Please critique my noobie setup

[fishmommy]

Hi All....hoping to get a BP young'un in about a week. Got my temps and humidity figured out, so I put in the decor for the final dry run.
I am a total noobie so please look at my setup and let me know if I need to make changes.
The cage is large (4x2) so I crowded the tank a bit with stuff to make the snake feel more secure. I could add crumpled up paper if you think more crowding is better.


The thing in the front is one of those Habba Huts. The hides are both smallish black plastic ones that I will upgrade as the snake grows. The far right (cool side) has a hide and large water dish. The far left (hot side) has a hide and small water dish for humidity.


Installed a cage around the bulb today....yay!

[tmlowe5704]

you may want to add more stuff in there to take up space. that is a real large enclosure for a small BP

[Shelby]

I'd definitely 'crowd' that cage a lot more. If you're getting a baby BP, you may have significant trouble getting it to eat in that large of a cage. I'd seriously consider setting it up in a plastic shoebox tub for at least awhile.

If you really want to use that huge cage (which is bigger than even the largest adult female ball python will ever need) definitely put some crumpled newspaper, and more hides.. and smaller hides. Those black plastic hides are really oversized for a baby bp. Something more along the lines of a houseplant pot saucer with a hole cut in the side or top would be better.

Also.. I don't see anything in there that measures temperatures and humidity. You'll need something that's digital, those little dial thermometers are useless. Walmart or Target sells indoor/outdoor thermometer/hygrometers that work wonderfully. You can set them up so that the 'indoor' temp measures the warm side of the cage, and the 'outdoor' temp measures the cool side. A hygrometer is important as well.

If that bulb is the only thing that is providing heat in the cage, you may need to add an under tank heater.. which will need a thermostat as well. The disadvantage to such a huge cage is heating and humidifying it properly for a small baby..

Either way, best of luck to you and I'm glad you're asking these questions before you buy the snake rather than after.

[elevatethis]

Looks good to me if the temps are right...though, the light is really for you, not the snake, so if it were me, I wouldn't keep it on all the time.

Also, did you seal the inside of the cage? If the corners aren't sealed in some way, urine and other bad stuff is going to get into the cage and it may begin to smell after some time.

[fishmommy]

Thanks for all the advice!

To answer your questions:
The cage is sealed (It's a Boaphile enclosure)
There is a digital thermometer/hygrometer on the hot side but you can't see it because of the angle of the photo. It is about 3 inches off the floor.
The cage has a good UTH as well as the CHE for extra ambient heat - both are on a good digital thermostat (Herpstat). The hot side thermometer probe is taped to the floor under the substrate, since that gave me good results measuring with the added CHE heat.
The incandescent bulb shown is a CHE and there is a fluorescent light on a timer.

I will add more stuff and some smaller hides based on what I am hearing. Thank you! I don't have a BP picked out yet so I am not sure of the size. I will probably pick up some appropriate sized hides at NERD when I go there to get my new pet

I am planning to use paper towels for a while until I have a good sense of my snake's bowel habits. I hope to switch to aspen bedding eventually.

[Shelby]

What is the temperature gradient and the humidity in the cage?

[Rapture]

That's a really nice cage!

What did you use to "get your temps and humidity figured out" and what are your temps and humidity?

Be aware that if you are using a bowl of water on the warm end of the enclosure to raise humidity, that warm water grows bacteria faster than cool water, so you will have to make sure it is always fresh and clean. Also make sure you are using water bowls that a small snake will not be in danger of drowning in if you are using larger than normal bowls for that size snake to increase the humidity level.

I also agree that you may need to fill the cage more so the young snake will not feel so exposed and stress out. I am not sure which size black hides you got, but they might even be too large for the size of snake you are intending to aquire. As Shelby suggested, try a pot small pot saucer turned upside down. This will function as a hide that will make the snake feel more secure as it feels its body being "hugged" by the hide.

[Rapture]

When you take your trip to NERD, let them know about the size of your setup and I'm sure they will be able to help you decide on the size of snake.

[fishmommy]

the hot hide runs 94F and the cool side ambient is 80F
The hot side ambient is 88F
humidity I easily get to 60% (cool side...50% hot side) by just flicking some water on the back wall. I am just beginning tests today to figure out how the humidity changes over the course of the day so I will know how often to mist if ever.

[Shelby]

Sounds good. If you can get a slightly bigger ball python instead of a baby I think you will be better setting yourself up for success.