Building a habitat... need advice!!!!

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Originally Posted by mpenney25

okay so after rethinking alot i'm going to ask your opinion on this. 2 ft high, 16 inches deep and 3 ft wide, going without a waterfall, putting in a rock outcropping with various holes for hiding and climbing (it's not overly high) and fake plants and her rock hide she has now. the water dish we have now is the large exo terra one and were using forest bark for her substrate. I got her from a friend so i've been going based on what he told me. Savannah is a pretty good climber and she doesn't always like to go in her hide. she likes to lay on top of her rock alot could this be it's too warm in there with the heat lamp overhead and the uth under it?? This is the way it was set-up when we got her. She spent a fair amount of time in there at first but lately doesnt seem to like it too much. And thanks for all the advice everyone and i'm going to the care-sheets right now.

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Forest bark? What is that? Just regular bark? Or does it have pine or cedar in it?

If the snake is not hiding, then it is stressed out. No Ball python is a good climber as they are all mostly terrestrial. Can we see some photos of your setup?

What is the UTH controlled by? If nothing you can severely burn your snake, I would recommend purchasing a thermostat. Without anything controlling a UTH, the temps can get easily reach 130F.

So i have the picture but for some reason i'm not allowed to upload attatchments. It's a 25 gallon tank with a wire reptile lid. We have a red heat light on one side as well as the uth on the same side. the temps on top of the rock are about 85 and inside the rock is about 115 which i had never thought to check before so thanks for that cause i'm going to have to change it. And the other side has her water dish ( large exo-terra dish) and her vines for hiding behind and the humidifier and the temps are running about 70. The substrate is just called rainforest bark i don't know exactly whats in it i threw the bag out when we used the last of it last week but when i go to buy more after she shed's again i will be reading the packaging. What did you say was the best substrate to buy? I was getting all my info from the friend i got Savannah from and from beardeddragon.org because i didn't know this site was here. Glad i found it though, i'm getting excellent help and advice, thanks again everyone.

I'd say 2 foot is still too high. My cage is 15" tall and looking now, its high. 12" is a good height.

the tank she's in now is about 18 inches high. So i'm guessing i need to reconsider a lot of things with my enclosure lol I'm so glad i asked cause if i messed it up then had to re-do everything it'd be a lot worse!!!

Hi,

Just to say we don't use the attatchment system on here. :)

Below is a post I made on how to post pics on the forum;

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Well the first thing is to get them hosted somewhere online.

You can put them in your gallery here - this tutorial is a bit old but the basic procedure is the same I think.

And here is another one in video form that might also help.

You can also use a site like http://photobucket.com/

They should also have tutorials to help you.

If you still have trouble just ask any member of staff and we will do our best to get you sorted. :gj:

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dr del

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Originally Posted by mpenney25

So i have the picture but for some reason i'm not allowed to upload attatchments. It's a 25 gallon tank with a wire reptile lid. We have a red heat light on one side as well as the uth on the same side. the temps on top of the rock are about 85 and inside the rock is about 115 which i had never thought to check before so thanks for that cause i'm going to have to change it. And the other side has her water dish ( large exo-terra dish) and her vines for hiding behind and the humidifier and the temps are running about 70. The substrate is just called rainforest bark i don't know exactly whats in it i threw the bag out when we used the last of it last week but when i go to buy more after she shed's again i will be reading the packaging. What did you say was the best substrate to buy? I was getting all my info from the friend i got Savannah from and from beardeddragon.org because i didn't know this site was here. Glad i found it though, i'm getting excellent help and advice, thanks again everyone.

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115F much too hot, turn off the UTH until you have a thermostat. I know people who have had their BPs severely burned by uncontrolled heat (actually talked to someone about that happening to them yesterday). As for the cool end, 70F is too cold. Try keeping it above 75F, around 80F-83F is best (works well for me).

Don't use Forrest bark until you know what's in it, it sounds like it could have pine or cedar in it. If it does, do NOT use it. Pine and cedar are both very toxic snake substrates to use and can be fatal to your snake.

For loose substrate, I like aspen bedding and cypress mulch. Since your humidity is most likely low in the tank from having a screen lid and a lamp, I would use aspen bedding because cypress dries out very quickly. Try covering 2/3 of the lid with saran wrap or plexiglass to hold in humidity.

For a more solid substrate, newspaper or paper towels works well. Paper towels are a bit too thin to me, so I prefer newspaper over paper towels.

Mist the substrate daily or twice a day if needed (doesn't stay between 50%-60%). Don't mist aspen heavily, it can mold pretty easily if too damp. That's why I like cypress more for that issue, but I use aspen for everyone besides my Dumeril's and Bloods--they have cypress. Although using tubs I don't ever have to mist the snakes (except the occasional mist for the Bloods).

Whatever questions or concerns you have, you can always ask us:)

I might suggest, prior to building, that you check out some of the enclosures that boaphile, animal plastics, and reptile basics have. This will give you some ideas as to what to do. I might also suggest that you use flexwatt heat tape and a thermostat with your enclosure as opposed to a light. This will be much more effective as well as it will give your snake the needed belly heat to digest food properly. Plus there is the extra added bonus of it is much easier to keep a steady level of heat with typically a fluctuation of about .02 degrees.

Also there is a place in this site for do it yourself racks and enclosures...check some of those out. There are some fantastic ideas.

Last but not least I wanted to make sure that you got a chance to see our care sheet. I know it was a life saver for me when I first got into this hobby. Good luck and I hope I helped a little!! ;)

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules/...warticle&id=59

So when you say aspen bedding i'm assuming you mean the stuff for rabbit's and hamster's cause I can't seem to find anything else.

Everyone here has given sound advice. But I have a few points as well, if you don't mind.

Going with a nice fancy enclosure is perfectly fine, as long as you don't mind staring at mainly enclosure. Ball Pythons are secretive snakes and if you do everything right, you won't see it much. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.

So far I'll hit the high points of other posts. First, visit a few websites that sell fancy reptile enclosures and get a good idea of what you like, then it will be easier to replicate it. Animal Plastics, Boaphile,and Reptile Basics are good to start with.

Now, while a Ball might not need a tall enclosure, if you like it, fill in some of the empty space by placing fake plants hanging down from the lid. One word of advise with fake plants, make sure they are not the kind made with loops like a chain. Someone here had a terrible accident when her snake tried to crawl through one of those loops and got stuck.

As far as heat, if you can manage without a lamp, you'll be much happier, since they suck humidity like a sponge. I use Flexwatt heat tape, it's cheap, safe, and comes in a variety of sizes to suit any need. I buy mine from The Beanfarm. Just be sure to invest in a good thermostat to go with it.

They do make reptile specific aspen, but I use a coarse shred intended for small animals. Just be careful, some aspen is sawdust fine, and some is huge chunks, and neither is good for snakes. If you like a more natural look, you can use EcoEarth, which is made from ground coconut shells. It's very pretty dark brown, but is very fine and doesn't hold humidity very well.

Now if you go with a screen lid, you can easily cut a piece of plexiglas to cover most of the screen to help with humidity.

I don't think a low log is going to hurt anything, and it will add to the overall look along with fake plants. Just remember Balls can and do destroy habitats on a regular basis, so make it as easy to maintain as you can, so you don't get frustrated with it.

Gale

Ok, so with all of the great advice that i've gotten i've changed alot of the idea i had started out with originally and wanted to run it by you guys to see what you think. I'm going to take an old bookshelf and lay it flat on it's back so she has more ground space rather than height. We are leaving the shelf in so it seems smaller to her to feel more secure and cutting a hole in it for her to get to either side. Each side will be about the size of a 25 gallon tank. One side will have her uth and over it i was just going to put thick plants for her rather than her cave hide so it won't trap too much heat i'm thinking that with the wood and the substrate this will keep her from getting burned by the uth. The cave will be on the same side of the tank but in the opposite corner with a 50w light shining in for heat cause we are going to make our own cover out of metal screen. The other side of the tank i am going to put in a fair size tupperware container for her water or something like a dog bowl so that it's deep to allow for when she goes for a soak to prevent it from spilling over. I'm not 100% on what to use on this side for a heat source so if anyone has an idea could you let me know? and the tank will be about 15 inches deep or so. And if anyone think's i'm doing something wrong please let me know so i can fix it. This is my first time trying to put together a habitat for her and i would like to get it right. The dragons were much easier lol!!