Is a Standard 55 Gallon bad for a BP?

Hey folks,

I have a female BP that will need an upgrade in the future. Right now she’s about 20” chilling in a 10 gallon. And I have a 20 gallon setup to move her to when she gets bigger. After the 20 I was going to upgrade her to a 40 Breeder and then a 50/75 PVC enclosure when she is fully grown.

However, I currently have an unused Standard 55 Gallon (48” x 13” x 21”) and was wondering if I could use that instead of buying a new 40.

I was worried that because the tank is so tall and skinny that it might not be the best thing for the snake, but I tend to over think things when it comes to animal husbandry.

Its not a problem for me to purchase a new tank, I just have a Mini Cooper and it’s hard to bring a tank home lol.

Thank you guys,
P.S. sorry if I messed something up with this post, this is my first time here. My usual source (boyfriend) couldn’t offer council.

It's not ideal at all for an adult BP & you should know that's coming from one who PREFERS glass tanks. ;) (I'm primarily keeping colubrids & not BPs- but I've kept a number of BPs in the past.)

Your BP, when adult, will be a fairly wide-bodied snake & the narrowness (13") is the main problem. Tanks "can" be made to work for BPs & similar snakes, but most here prefer other types of housing, just because it's easier to retain the humidity & warmth your snake needs. The height & length of that tank would also make that very difficult- a 40 gal. "breeder" tank is a more suitable shape overall for an adult BP, IF you insist on using a glass tank.

You'd be better off going straight to the PVC enclosure you originally planned (once she is larger- well-established- eating well & needing more space)- just make sure there is enough "clutter" (hides etc) so she isn't too fearful (feeling "lost" with a great increase of space).

Short answer: no, sorry -but a good question, & welcome here.

Unfortunately the RedTailBoas forum where I saw this is gone now, but a member there turned a 55-gallon tank on its large side and installed plexiglass drop doors in the opening to create a snake enclosure. It turned out rather well and was modeled after https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...arium-Solution

I was actually going to suggest trying to mod it into a side open as well. It's a project I want to do on a couple tanks I own as well.

That's actually a good idea, space-wise, but just keep in mind that a 55 gallon glass tank has heavy glass, so I would make sure to support the corners once it's no longer sitting vertical as it was designed to do. If it's like most tanks, it has "molding" at the bottom & top that creates a little space under the corners when it's turned on it's side- I would add something the same thickness on those bottom corners to help balance & support the weight of the glass, so it holds together better.

hey all.
thank you for the swift replies, really nice to get straight forward answers.
Placing a 55 on its side would be cool actually. My tank is leaky anyway, which is why it isn’t being used right now. I could take off the “top” 4 foot pane and replace that with that window mesh stuff, and then cut that extra pane down to create a new “front” pane. Sounds like a fun project to try regardless. If I go forward with that I’ll update you guys. I’ve made a teeny tiny 1 gallon out of spare glass and that didn’t turn out so bad.
again, thanks!

Sounds like you've got some good skills. That's a real asset when keeping snakes. :gj: Do share if you take this on- we'd love to see it.