Animal Plastics T8 questions

I recently acquired my first BP, and have a T8 from animal plastics ordered and will soon be shipped (in the meantime, he's being housed in an insulated 20 gallon aquarium with aspen shavings, hot side ~90 cool side ~80, 55% humidity) and I had some questions. Since my snake's only 7 weeks old, I presume I should use the divider I ordered and only keep him in one half of the T8 so he doesn't get too stressed out.

This leaves me with an open half of the tank. If I were to get another BP, would they both be okay only having a half-T8 each? Or would I eventually want to get another enclosure for the second snake? If so, when? If my math is correct, each half of the T8 would be 30 gallons, which I think is fine for an adult BP?

Similarly, does anyone house a corn snake in one side of T8 where the other side is a BP? My girlfriend has her eye on a corn, and if we could use one T8 for both our BP and a corn, that would make things easier.

But of course, I'm just trying to make the best decisions for the animals, so any and all input is greatly appreciated!

As long as the husbandry is correct, I'd see no reason why you couldn't house both with the divider.

My adult male is in a 3' x 2' x 18". It's a bit big but he's my "display" animal.

If you had a female, I think you'd need the whole cage. My one girl is 2500+g and it seems she'd need the whole cage

You could house 2 BP's in a T8 with the divider their entire lives unless they get unusually large.

To house a BP and a corn in the same T8 you will need to get 2 seperate strips of flexwatt so you can heat each side seperatly.

Thanks for the quick replies! I forgot to mention that my BP is male, so I don't anticipate him getting too big. As for corns, I was under the presumption that their temp requirements were very similar to those of BPs, or at least they were capable of tolerating the 90/80 range without ill effects. I know this is the BP forum, but does anyone have corns and want to chime in?

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You really don't want to keep a corn snake much over 85 (which is too cold for a BP)

It can be done but it isn't ideal.

It is a much better idea to house 2 BP's in a divided T8

If I am understanding the care sheet I read on this site for corn snakes, they need basking heat as opposed to the belly heat that BPs prefer right?

this is a really interesting idea. My daughter and I want to get a second BP but we're pretty sure mom isn't going to agree to having a second cage set up. So I was reading the VPI care sheet and it recommends between 400-600 square inchs of floor space for an adult.

A 20L aquarium dimensions are 30"x12" for 360 square inches of floor space. A T8 divided in half is 24"x24" for 576 square inches of floor space. Even a T5 divided in half is 18"x24" for 432 square inches of floor space. The care does go on to say that most adults will be very happy in a 20L tank.

Im guessing there will be slightly more effort in heating and providing a temperature gradient. A T8 seems like a good option to separately house two snakes in one enclosure.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mhavens

this is a really interesting idea. My daughter and I want to get a second BP but we're pretty sure mom isn't going to agree to having a second cage set up. So I was reading the VPI care sheet and it recommends between 400-600 square inchs of floor space for an adult.

A 20L aquarium dimensions are 30"x12" for 360 square inches of floor space. A T8 divided in half is 24"x24" for 576 square inches of floor space. Even a T5 divided in half is 18"x24" for 432 square inches of floor space. The care does go on to say that most adults will be very happy in a 20L tank.

Im guessing there will be slightly more effort in heating and providing a temperature gradient. A T8 seems like a good option to separately house two snakes in one enclosure.

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Maintaining a divided T8 for 2 BP's is nearly effortless as long as you have a good thermostat to regulate the flexwatt. This is how I house all of my BP's

Checkout this thread:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

I was trying to decide between a vision cage and the AP cage and was leaning toward the vision... But now because of this thread and being able to house two snakes in the same cage with a divider I think I'm leaning toward AP now.

Cool...