Habitat Help! - New Ball coming early next week

[GirDance]

I've been in the state of, "I'm getting a ball" for, well since I was 8 years old when one of my Father's closest friends introduced me to his. I'm research happy and wanted to have all the information together before I brought one home. I needed time to come to terms with the possibility of having to kill a mouse (as I've owned rats as pets and still don't like this idea as I'd feel awful) the possibility of being able to go with frozen opened up a lot of possibilities, and now I'm down to crunch time because I've decided she's coming home with me this week...

But the problem....

I had decided to go against the glass enclosure that used to house my boyfriend's leopard gecko as humidity was too much of an issue, and the lid that is currently on it is NOT secure (It's appox 20gal as well). So, a friend who's Dad is a snake and reptile breeder brought me an encased plastic enclosure today which I had prepaid for. The top and three sides are plastic, with a small wire mesh ventilation slot along the back and glass sliding door front with a lock, exactly the sort of thing I was looking for, can be kept nice and dark, heated, and humidity shouldn't be an issue... Problem? It's about 3 feet long x 11/2 feet deep x 2 feet tall... *Too* big for a baby ball.

What I'm wondering is: Is there any way possible to utilize what I've got in a way that will keep the ball happy. Getting the heat set up properly with an UTH on one side and a more concentrated light on the other, coconut substrate and water dish in the centre has been pretty easy when I set up my friend's the other evening, humidity is set properly as well, but I don't want the poor thing to be stressed out by having too much room.

Would it be possible to utilize this sort of set up for a new ball if more than two hide boxes are provided throughout (Or something providing more secure space)?? The enclosure is already solid on 4 of 5 visible sides (left, right, top and back)... Would adding additional hide boxes do the trick???

As the friends I went through to get it are very experienced snake owners, I figured that I'd end up with exactly what I was looking for, but due to some confusion about who it was for and ball vs. pine snake I've got something fit for a full grown ball that wanted to have a pond in the middle of it's habitat!!! That, and the price that I paid, well let's just say I got a whole lot for what I paid!

Any help would be much appreciated!!!

[sw204me]

Sorry if I missed this, but is your ball a hatchling? If it is just simply go out and get a tub, poke a bunch of holes in it, and put water and hides in and use that for a little bit. I did that with my hatchling and she VERY quickly out grew it, after just a few weeks, and so I put her in a 10 gal tank, which I wish was bigger as she is HIGHLY active and really enjoys climbing on stuff.

You could prolly be ok with the setup you have, but with it being so big it might scare the poor thing and you might have problems getting it to eat. Or the ball may not even care and it will be fine. If its not a hatchling and is a little bit older then that, then going by my own experience with a fresh baby ball, I would say you'd be fine.

Heres some pics of my girl when I first got her has a hatchling, she outgrew her tub within a few weeks...

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...t=100_0036.jpg

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...t=100_0033.jpg

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...t=100_0034.jpg

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...t=100_0032.jpg

[GirDance]

I was going to get a hatchling, but am holding off until I see colourings, I've been offered a choice of hatchling or baby... Going to wait and see when I get there...

[GirDance]

Well, I've noticed another slight flaw here for me, the ambient humidity in my house over the past 2 days has averaged out to 60 exactly, ambient temp stays around 87 regardless of time of day...

That being said, I'm not sure I would be able to maintain a good gradient temp in the enclosure here if I switched to a smaller one... Any ideas on how to manage that one would be greatly appreciated!!!! I was going to go with UTH, but for now am just considering trying out a low wattage night bulb on the furthest side of the enclosure with a selection of hide boxes throughout (all the same, horray for dollar stores across the street).

If humidity is a concern would it be better to use aspen than coconut??? I had wanted coconut because I didn't want to have to worry about feeding issues with Aspen, and didn't want to feed her out of her enclosure because I thought it might add additional stress having to be taken out, moved, fed and then moved again...

I know that once the summer is over that will start to be less and less an issue for a smaller enclosure, but at the moment I'm a little baffled about how to maintain a gradient temp with anything smaller than what I've currently got!

And if anyone has name suggestions I'm to the point of gladly taking them!!! I just can't decide.

[frankykeno]

I'd say if you are going to use that to go with the biggest BP that you like and stay away from the tiny hatchlings. Have you set up the enclosure complete with water and substrate and heat on yet to make sure it can maintain the right temps and humidity required for BP's? You may as well get that dealt with upfront before you decide to pop a snake in it.

I know others have used bigger enclosures with some success but they do add in a lot of "cage furniture" aka plastic vines, etc and also multiple hides so the snake never has to travel far and feel overly exposed. Since three sides are not clear glass that's a big plus. I'd also suggest setting it up in a quiet bedroom or somewhere like that until the snake is eating and growing well enough to not be put off by any amount of fuss and bother of a living or family room situation.

[GirDance]

I'll be setting her up in my office, only my boyfriend and I go in there, and most importantly my roommate's cat is *not* allowed in that room as I'm severly allergic.

I was going to include lots of furniture, I have a 'fake' stone tree which would help with shed in the future that I was planning to include and was going to add some shrubbery along the back wall and up to 8 hide boxes depending on their exact size in proportion to the snake in an effort to make it so that she doesn't have to go more than half her length to move from one to the other.

I have decided to not go with a hatchling despite how much I love that idea because I don't think there is any way I could maintain the proper temps in something small enough for a hatchling...

But that just means that next year I can get her a friend when we've got housing that includes a reliable heating and cooling set up (the home we're renting is not airconditioned and as it's older has very little air flow other than the fans we've installed).

I have yet to set this one up again, as I was busy making a home for two pine snakes that were delivered for a friend who was out of town this weekend... but I'm not bringing home my baby until it's been set up for at least a day and a half... As I mentioned above... the ambient temp and humidity in my home's average over the past two days has been the exact requirements of the cool side, now I'm just wondering if I should decide on another substrate because the humidity is already at the max ideal range...

[GirDance]

I have decided to not go with a hatchling despite how much I love that idea because I don't think there is any way I could maintain the proper temps in something small enough for a hatchling...

Well, at least not in this house.... But once we move in a few months the heating and cooling is definately becoming a huge factor...

[Swingline0.0.1]

I'm sorry I can't add much in the way of help (I've only had Milton for a month and half!), but I just wanted to tell you how nice it is to see someone so concerned with taking good care of their BP.

I have no choice but to get my mice from Pet Warehouse, and today I was trying to talk to the manager about carrying some things that you really need for a good setup. She wasn't really even listening, and said "Well, that's what our vendors carry." I just think if they're going to sell BPs (or any other reptile) that they should sell, or at least KNOW, what the animal needs.

Keep up your research (this is the best site on the internet for BP questions!), and your BP is going to be lucky to have you as its companion!

[frankykeno]

But that just means that next year I can get her a friend when we've got housing that includes a reliable heating and cooling set up (the home we're renting is not airconditioned and as it's older has very little air flow other than the fans we've installed).

Just make sure her "friend" has a home of it's own. Snakes, especially ball pythons, do much better being housed individually. If you don't have any issue with humidity I'd think a nice fine shred aspen would both do the job and also be visually pleasing in that enclosure.

[GirDance]

Well thanks Aaron!!!

Oh the friend definately will have it's own place!!

I think I'm going to try some coconut just because I like the looks of it better, and I put a small dehumidifyer in the room which has gotten it down to about 45% from 60, so I should be okay now

I also think I figured out why the thermostat wasn't really working properly... It's because my house is too hot for an UTH to be on at all... The min/max settings on my digital are now 82.0/88.3 so I think that the tank just wasn't loosing heat quickly enough to compensate for the fact that it was only really heating for a 1.7 degree increase at some times, so I got a very low watt night time bulb and that seems to do the trick, at least till it cools off a bit or we get a place with A/C and reliable heat.

Cooling still a concern...