New Tank Time (Size?)

[ride_gnu]

I currently have a 24" Ball Python in a 20 Gal. tank which measures 24"L X 12"W X 17"H. From what I have read on the net is that he should be fine in that tank. However he is out everynight exploring all over the tank so I felt it was too small and put some peices of wood in their to climb on and now he uses the entire height of the tank as well, even though I read B.P. arent big climbers.

I have decided to get a new tank, and I was thinking about getting a 50 Gal. and decorating it quite nicely. However I am worried about heating such a large tank and have heard so many different opinions from different pet store owners.

Any advice you guys have about what size and dimension tanks I should look at would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

PS; I would like this tank to be the last one and not have to go bigger if possible.

[starmom]

I have several ball pythons in a 3x2x1 reptile cage from Reptile Basics. Easy to clean and heat, and they hold humidity very well. My snakes in these cages will do quite nicely in them forever

[ride_gnu]

3' X 2' X 1' Sounds good, I thikn i would prefer and extra foot in the length and one less in the width, and maybe taller, but due to the extra height would it be too hard to heat?

[John Marker]

While I will not tell you not to upgrade to a 50 gallon sized enclosure for your snake, I will let you know how I keep mine.

First I keep my snakes in a rack system. While it offers very little opportunity for being a display enclosure, it does provide the snakes the security that they need, along with the ease of maintining the proper conditions for them to thrive.

I have two males that are in the same neighborhood in size as yours, one is about 2.5 feet and the other is about 4 feet. These boys are housed in their own 23"X16"X5" tub. Unless one of them get absolutely huge, they will most likely be able to live their entire lives in these tubs.

Now my large females live in larger tubs. My largest is about 5 feet long and about as big around as a 1 liter coke bottle, she is on the verge of being a monster. They are kept in tubs that measure 32"X16"X5". Again, they will be able to live their entire lives in this size of an enclosure.

As I stated before, I don't want to tell you that you should not use that size of a enclosure, but as you stated, there are challenges maintaining the proper conditions (temperature, humidity, security/stress) that are required to properly care for a typically shy/timid/easily stressed species of snake. If you decide to get a larger enclosure, which I personally do not believe that you currently need, it would be in the best interest of your pet to carefully plan how you are going to maintain the proper conditions for him.

I hope this helps.

John

[STORMS]

I have my male BP in a 40 gal and have had no troubles with heat or humidity

[ride_gnu]

Lenastorms,

That is the exact kinda of set up I have had in my head the entire time. Could you perhaps give me some advice on how you run that thing? IE;

What size heat bulbs are you running?
Do you have to run them 24 hours?
How you maintain humidity?
What are you tank dimensions?

[rishnack]

I have my male BP in a 40 gal and have had no troubles with heat or humidity

wow looks like the garden of eden in there!
ive got 3 in 40,s and my roommate has 2 one full grown in a 40
and one sub adult spider in an E series that i traded him
100w bulbs on one side and they work great 90h/82c i only have problems getting humidity up during sheds but with a spary bottle it can be done (it just annoying to hafta spray like 3 or 4 times a day
the full grown looks a little cramped in a 40 she,s 5 1/2" but seems comfertable

[blb]

Thanks so much for this thread! I have a baby bp in a 20g Long. I have a 40g breeder tank I wanted to put him in when he grew up. I didn't know if it would be too big but your picture of your snake cage convinced me it is.

I also have a baby King snake that will go in the other 40g Breeder.

Now my problem is where do you find the screens for the top?