Tubs for BP's

Ok I see that the pro's like to use the Iris cb-70 for adult Ball pythons. I know you guys are the pros and have more experience with more snakes than I have, but is the higth of these tubs sufficient for a BP? It doesn;t seem that all at all at 6" high. My BPs like to climb on the limbs and branches I have it their current cage, but as stated in my other thread my husbandry has alot to be desired at the moment. I'm just worried that it will be too short and cramped for creatures that have had ample space for so long.

I will be purchasing the brand I can find at walmart, and ordering flexwatt for the heating needs. Should I build a rack for these two containers to put the flexwatt on or should I just attach the flexwatt dirrectly to the bottom on the tubs? Will I need seperate thermastats for the flexwatts on each tub or will I be able to run them both on the same t- stat? I kinda need the least expencive and fastest to setup, but I want something that will work and do not mind spending a little extra for quality stuff. Thanks everyone for working with me and pointing me in the right direction.

Is the CB-80 better with the hight or is it just consuming space that really shouldn't be needed?

BPs are primarily terrestrial snakes. In africa, they are not found above the ground.. rather below. :) 6" is plenty.

I wouldn't mess with building a rack for just two snakes. Just set the tubs next to each other and attach the flexwatt to the underside. As long as the tubs are very near to each other, one thermostat should be fine for the two tubs.

You could also buy the tubs and a platic Wal-Mart rack to put them on. I am planning on doing that instead of buying the other types of racks. I would make sure the tubs fit inside of the racks. I decided it would be a very cost effective way to build (I can't hammer two boards together so I use the term lightly), effective, but quickly expandable racks. I hope to have some pics up tomorrow night.

I use Sterilite 1960 tubs (almost identical to the Iris CB-70) for my larger snakes. They are alot easier to get at a local store (i.e. Walmart or Target) than the Iris CB-70 tubs. If you want to conserve a little space, I say go for a two tub rack. It would not hurt anything. As for the heating and thermostat, shoot Matt(justcage on bp.net) at www.mgreptiles.com an email or phone call and he will make sure you are getting the good stuff.

Yes thanks for the link again. I was looking at his site and was planning to order the flexwatt from him to get me started. Thetwo tub rack is an idea. I will look to see what Wally world has tomorrow. Thanks everyone!!

I emailed Matt so I will be looking for his recomendation.

You might also want to look at www.reptiletubs.com.

Couple of ideas re WalMart. Make sure the tubs have very good locking clips then back that up with something else to make sure they can't pop the lid at any point. Even a big snake can smoosh down and slither out.

You might want to grab a soldering wand if you don't have one for melting vent holes. I got mine at WalMart for about $8.00.

For monitoring heat/humidity you can grab an Accu-Rite at Walmart. Here's a picture of one. Around $12.00 plus you need AAA batteries and you can get it to monitor two heats and overall humidity.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../Accu-Rite.jpg

Just a couple of other pics to give you visual concepts. Not saying what we do is perfect but just to let you see.

This is an adult female bp, Saoirse, in a hide. It's actually a heavy black rubber dog dish flipped over with an entry whole cut into it.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...irseinHide.jpg

This is our largest female Brannagh in her tub with the two hides and her water dish. The Acu-Rite was out as I was just cleaning and hadn't popped it back in. At that time she was around 1,800 grams or more.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...nnaghinTub.jpg

If you want to go for a deeper tub do so...just be aware it takes a bit more managing as far as ambient heat/humidity but it's doable if you'd like to go that way.


~~Jo~~

Just a quick note about the height concerns that you've expressed. It could be that your snakes were trying to get closer to a heat source such as a light that you had on top of their tank. If the ambient temps are comfortable for them and they have a nice basking spot provided with the heat tape, they probably wouldn't climb that much even if they did have the extra head space.

My BP climbs around his cage all night long, and he has perfect temps and humidity provided by UTH's...so just because they are climbing doesn't mean that they are looking for something that they need. I think that they will explore the space that they have, and I'm sure that escaping the tub is something that is on their mind as well. Being a ground dwelling snake, they don't need to climb, but will utilize the space they have if you allow them climbing room.