BP for my son!

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Originally Posted by Jessica Loesch

That cage is too large for a baby. Do you plan on buying an adult? You could always temporarily house it in a tub until it is large enough.

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Yes, that's right. You don't want to go over 20gal for a baby and even then you'd need to clutter it up a fair bit to help it feel secure. A 40gal is too big for a hatchling even with extra hides and plants. An insecure baby will eventually go off feed. A tub is a good temporary choice or an older juvenile or young adult might be a better choice. You should still be able to pick up a young adult pastel, spider, pin, or even perhaps a lesser for under/around $300.

And also, your probe for the t-stat should be under the substrate directly on the glass over the flexwatt - not on top of the substrate. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Gomojoe

No, but I have put smaller hides and a bunch of fake plants hoping it will make a hatchling feel secure enough.


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Honestly I think that's still too big as well for a hatchling. If anything, I'd get a little 10g or a tub (what I recommend personally: can't go wrong with a good tub setup) and once the BP is large enough stick him or her in the 40g.

Also for choosing a morph, I'd get one that you like as well just in case down the road your son "grows out of" it and you may be stuck with it. Not trying to be a downer just giving you another side to things!

Good luck

I've never had a problem with larger cages so long as plenty of hides were made available.

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

Yes, that's right. You don't want to go over 20gal for a baby and even then you'd need to clutter it up a fair bit to help it feel secure. A 40gal is too big for a hatchling even with extra hides and plants. An insecure baby will eventually go off feed. A tub is a good temporary choice or an older juvenile or young adult might be a better choice. You should still be able to pick up a young adult pastel, spider, pin, or even perhaps a lesser for under/around $300.

And also, your probe for the t-stat should be under the substrate directly on the glass over the flexwatt - not on top of the substrate. :gj:

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I plan on putting the probes directly over the glass but adjusting the temp until I get close to the desired substrate temps. If I get a BP was born in July is the cage still too big?


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Yes. Only a full grown adult would feel comfortable in that size cage.

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Originally Posted by Jessica Loesch

Yes. Only a full grown adult would feel comfortable in that size cage.

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How old is that?


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Originally Posted by Gomojoe

How old is that?


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It depends on the snake: not all snakes grow at the same rate so a BP at one year may or may not be the same size as another that's a year old as well.

Also, "full grown" can mean different things as well: some people consider a full grown BP at ~1000 grams while some think a full grown BP is larger or slightly smaller sized than that.

Some other BPs to consider for under 300. Yellowbelly, Orange Ghost, Cinnamon, Mojave, Fire. Just to name a few.

A full grown MALE would be closer to 1000g, but females would be closer to 1800 or more. Of course they keep growing a lot of the times, but I think this is a good cut off point.

I still recommend getting a temporary tub. Your adult enclosure sounds nice. Most people don't use flexwatt on a thermostat on the coolside, so I'm guessing ambient temps in your home are a bit low. In a smaller enclosure, you may not have to worry about it as much.

I think it is admirable that you are doing this for you son, just remember you won't know until you have the snake at home and it stops eating. None of us want that. Tub setups are cheap and you can use the flexwatt with thermostat on them as well for the time being, and move it over as it grows. You really don't need anything extra but that tub. And another tub midway through growth. Start with a 15qt and move up to a 28qt around 800-1000g (depends on individual snake), and then once it gets up to a good 1500g I think you could possible move it over. This process could take a couple years, maybe a little less.

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Originally Posted by Gomojoe

Ive done live coral and saltwater fish myself so I understand the newb mentality that can result in the death of new pets. I don't intend to let that happen. So far I have gotten a exo-terra 40g breeder size tank. I've put cypress substrate down and put flex watt tape underneath. I put about a foot piece( of the 11") underneath the warm side and a close to 2' piece under the cool-side. I just ordered a herpestat II to so I can set the cool to 80 and the warm to 90 as measured on the substrate. I've got a warm and cool hide and some fake plants. Right now I'm just waiting for the herpestat to be delivered and have been trying to tweak the humidity by closing up the screens on top. I don't plan on getting the snake until it is stable! Anyway, I really want to make this a flawless process for my son and just educate and familiarize him over the next few years so that if he wants to breed it he is prepaired.



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A 20 gallon long tank will be comfortable for a baby and will suit him/her all the way up into adulthood.

Regarding morphs, I would highly recommend a female baby lesser or a female spider. Since he's going to be mostly interested in raising it for the first few years, by the time he gets interested in breeding, she should be old enough to lay eggs. My first snake was a baby normal female and 3 years later I was very glad I had chosen a female by random chance and not a male. Adult females are way more expensive and adult female morphs are even harder to come by.