How important really is husbandry???

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Originally Posted by thebrowntroutdude

Yeah I pretty much agree with everything that has been said. The only thing I would add is "good husbandry" is different from snake to snake of even the same species. For example, some ball pythons are particularly active, and do better with more space. A keeper in touch with the the querks of any given individual can notice these " qerks", and provide better husbandry. It isn't that the snake would become sick if he has less space, but there is something to be said, I think, for providing the best possible enviroment. (Although one should always be careful of giving snakes too much attention. If your snake soaks once it doesn't mean he wants an entire pool ;) )

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I wondered if my space was to small. My ball is very active at nights. I often find the hides all over place in the morning.:taz: But I do believe that temps and humidity are very important to track. Ball's are cold blooded and their natural habitat is very warm and humid. But like others have said over kill is no good either.

I think we are all still learning how to properly care for ball pythons. Just this week I saw a video of Brian Gundy and he said he never worries about the humidity at all, never sprays them, never even measures humidity! And he has been breeding ball pythons for a long time. He says he gets perfect sheds too. He keeps his ball pythons on paper, personally I like coconut husk chips. I find that it's easier to spot clean, absorbs spills and odors (but is more expensive). Personally I've had shed problems if I use paper or aspen or anything besides coconut husk, and I need to spray it every 2-3 days to keep the humidity up so sheds are good.

Also, if you look back at some older Snakebytes videos they keep the ambient and hot spot temps pretty high. Then over the years Brian seems like he changed his mind and went with lower temps. Personally I go with an 82 F ambient and 90 F hotspot, if you would have asked me a year ago I would have given you different numbers LOL.

From my experience I think ball pythons are well suited for tubs. I had one Arizona Mountain King snake female that I had in a tub. Big tub, small tub, tub with a window, it didn't matter, she was miserable and didn't eat very well. I recently moved her to a 40 gallon glass aquarium with lots of decorations and she seems a lot happier and her appetite has come back and she is doing great. I have two other male AZ MT King snakes that did great in any tub or tank, seems like it could be snake specific.

I have a new policy at my shop, 'check every snake every day'. Even if it's just to open the tub and peek in, it helps tremendously with the husbandry of the snakes and it really doesn't take that long to go through the racks and peek in each tub. Seems to help calm the snakes too for some reason, I guess they get used to being checked on.

How important is proper husbandry?

I guess that depends on what you find acceptable.
Can you live in substandard conditions? Yes. Anyone can to an extend. But you live DESPITE the substandard conditions, not BECAUSE of them.
Ever seen dogs in bad puppy mills ? They are in horrible conditions. Yet they linger on for years. They will still eat. Does it mean that they do not "need" proper care to survive?

Perhaps the question should not be do they "need" it, but "should" they get it?

We as the ones in charge of that animal should always, ALWAYS strive to do our best in providing the best home we can. Those animals depend 100% on us. We are responsible for them.
Ball Pythons aren't dogs, cats or hamsters either. They are very different. Their very digestion depends on the correct temperature, since they are cold blooded.

Are there the ones that seem to linger on despite less then perfect conditions? Yup. For each of those there are hundreds that slowly but surely waste away. Or get sick and die sooner. The ones that are "seemingly" alright despite less then perfect care usually reside in a house that doesn't get overly cold or hot. Their temps stay just within the range for them not to get sick. Some will eat despite "no hides" or privacy. For every rule there is the exception.

But this is not what we should measure up against.

Of course there is not set EXACT temperature to the degree. Or humidity to the exact point at the exact time. But we have safe ranges for a reason. We know how to adjust based on our animals needs (such as the humidity). Nowadays it is SO easy to do research. We have the internet. We have access to to all this information, to other peoples experience (and failures) We can study how each reptile lives in the wild. We can see through other peoples practice and experience what seems to work best.

While there is a range of what is "acceptably" as far as setup and husbandry, one must also not fall into the trap to compare the snakes behavior to other animals. If a Ball Pythons seems to be overly active, it usually does not mean it wants more space or cuddle time. They cruise when looking for a meal, and some of them are more food motivated then others ;) Some cruise because they do not feel safe in their enclosure, its not private enough. Some cruise because they have urinated or passed feces and are trying to get away from that, as they would in the wild. Others cruise to find more warmth, are to warm, or because something else is bothering them (mites, illness, etc) Most will "slowly" explore at night, starting a couple of days after eating. But any overly active BP is usually bothered by something, because when this "something" is taken care off, they chill out.

So yes, husbandry IS important. To any species. Of course they can survive in less then ideal circumstances, but while in my care, that wouldn't be acceptable to me.