Newbie, Almost

I'm getting ready to purchase a couple of baby ball pythons, but before I do I want to make sure I have a reasonable setup.

My plan is to try breeding a bit down the road, but I figure that is a few years off, as for the mean time I simply want to enjoy the snakes.

For setup I'm planning on using a 40 gallon aquarium for each snake, newspaper as a substrate, water bowls of the large Hagen reptile variety and a heating pad under each tank.

Assuming my petstore has some hides available I'll get those there as well, and if not I imagine a cardboard box with a hole in it will do for now.

I have access to live and frozen rats, and I'm willing to breed my own rats in the near future.

As an aquatic enthusiast I've witnessed many people get into the hobby with the wrong ideas and fail miserably at first. I don't want to do this with snakes.

Please, if you have any advice, my ears are open. I don't wanna be a screw up!

...oh.. and what does the notation "1.1 ball python" mean?

how many ball pythons do you plan to purchase? Using aquariums may not be the best(or cheapest) route to housing multiple ball pythons. Also, 40 gallon aquariums are kinda large for baby ball pythons(but they are good for adults) and the open space can cause added stress, so be sure to put alot of hides in there. Do you plan on purchasing a thermostat to properly regulate the temperatures in the enclosure? If not, I would recommend them.

1.1 ball python means 1 male (before the ".") and 1 female (after the ".").


First, welcome! For a baby, a 40 gallon aquarium is going to be a bit overwhelming with too much open space. It will also be very difficult to heat and keep humidity up with all the air space.

I would consider starting them in a smaller aquarium (10 or 20 gallon) if you prefer a glass enclosure, or even better, a sterilite or rubbermaid tub for each of them.

I'm sure that other members are going to offer you great suggestions! Once again - welcome (sorry so brief, but I'm off to bed! LOL)

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

how many ball pythons do you plan to purchase? Using aquariums may not be the best(or cheapest) route to housing multiple ball pythons. Also, 40 gallon aquariums are kinda large for baby ball pythons(but they are good for adults) and the open space can cause added stress, so be sure to put alot of hides in there. Do you plan on purchasing a thermostat to properly regulate the temperatures in the enclosure? If not, I would recommend them.

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I plan on purchasing 1 male and 1 female het albino.

Aquariums are cheap for me currently as I have dozens of them, as well as shelving for them.

I have lots of 20 gallons so I'll start with 20's then. Should I put both snakes in the same tank or is that asking for trouble?

I would like to purchase a good thermostat, but I'm not really sure what to look for when it comes to snake housing. Is there a good model to look for? I've heard a lot about heating tape with a thermostat. That sounds like a good option. Can someone reccommend a place in Canada that sells it?

First off, welcome to the forum...glad you found your way here!

As far as housing I'd agree a 40 gallon aquarium per snake is very large for a baby ball python. They are very shy snakes that are easily stressed by large open areas in their enclosure and a stressed ball python is likely going to give you troubles when it comes to feeding time. If you do want to check out the option of either permanently or temporarily housing them in tubs I'd suggest using the Search function and putting in the either the word "sterlite" or "rubbermaid" and a ton of good threads will pop right up.

You'll find that terracotta pots, plastic bowls, etc. make great cost effective hides and are easier to keep clean and dry then cardboard. Actually we were surprised when we got into ball pythons how little we'd end up ever buying from a pet store and how much we'd find at WalMart, Home Depot, Lowe's and our friendly Dollar Store. The Accu-Rite or something similar sold by WalMart or Home Depot for under $20.00 is a great option to digitally monitor both temps and humidity. The analog ones at the pet store are notoriously unreliable.

Have fun reading through the threads and using the search function. Please let us know if there are any questions that come to mind.


~~Jo~~

Welcome! My personal opinion on tanks: They are for fish :D Plastic containers provide extra security because they are not as transparent as glass. They are also a whole lot easier to maintain your humidity with than tanks. I would encourage you to look into sterilite or rubbermaid products before you make your purchase. Also take a look at our caresheet section. You will find valuable information there. Good luck and congrats on your upcoming purchase :) I'm not sure where you would buy a good thermostat in Canada, but I would recomend mgreptiles for all your herp needs.

Click on Link to go to mgreptiles

i am using a sterlite container for my bp and i find it even hard to heat in the winter. the sterlite or rubbermaid containers are really inexpensive and work so much better than a tank with a screen lid loosing most of it's heat.

just my 2 cents... as i'm new to snakes as well... but this forum has enlightened me GREATLY as i was going to use a glass tank when i started out... but i believe it was adam who told me: "aquariums are for fish, not snakes"

:D
Aleesha

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Originally Posted by srozell

I have lots of 20 gallons so I'll start with 20's then. Should I put both snakes in the same tank or is that asking for trouble?

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Eek, definately not a good idea! Worst case scenario, one will eat the other (skim through the old threads, this has happened before!). It's just best to not even risk it.

So far I've got:

use a thermostat
1 snake per container
use sterlite or rubbermaid containers

It looks like 3" Flexwatt is the way to go, and through more reading it looks like I should buy a temp gun as well.

Are those foggers good enough for controlling humidity?

Welcome to the forums!

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Originally Posted by srozell

Are those foggers good enough for controlling humidity?

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If you're going to use a rubbermaid/sterilite tub option for your snakes, then a fogger really won't be necessary. I live in a VERY arid part of the country (10 to 20 % relative humidity pretty much all year 'round 'cept for the monsoon season where it gets SUPER humid (30-40% lol :) )

I have both caging systems in my house.. and here's what I do with both to control humidity:

In the GLASS viv, I have two wooden half log hides that I can soak in warm water but they're HORRIBLE for disinfecting and I don't really like doing it. I also line the bottom of the viv with two layers of paper towels, and then put aspen bedding over it. I have two water bowls in the cage... ONE is directly over the UTH and evaps quite quickly, and the other is in the middle of the cage. With NO misting after soaking both hides for about a handling session or so (15-20 minutes), the humidity stays right around 40% for about an hour and a half..... with misting (heavy), I can get it to spike up to around 70% for about 4 to 5 hours (because of the paper towels on the floor of the cage), so I mist quite often, and soak hides, and basically, it's a pain.

With the tubs, I burn holes in the front and sides of the sterilite tubs, keeping the back closed off to form a heat pocket at the back, and put the water bowl in the front of the tub. With no misting, and with the heat tape set to give me 93 degree hot spots, I get 50-60% humidity 24/7. When a snake goes into shed, I just lightly mist, and BAM, 70-80% for about 24 hours or so.

In other words... it's a LOT easier to house in tubs! You'll have a problem getting humidity OUT, not keeping it in... :)