First time owner - How is my setup?

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Originally Posted by tptad

I'd like to start with a hatchling. I feel like the T8 is too large for a hatchling so that's why I opted for the divider. The plan is to house the adult snake in a full T8 or similarly sized enclosure (perhaps with more height).

Good point about needing to experiment with different substrates. I'll see what the general consensus is locally - we'll share the need for similar adjustments based on local conditions. A co-worker of mine uses aspen, but she says she has to change it out a lot because it gets moldy. She has to spray it a lot to keep up the humidity. I should also note that she is using a fish aquarium with a screen top and a moist towel covering about 80% of the mesh. Due to this setup, she likely has to wet the substrate more frequently than in a plastic enclosure. Have you personally experienced any issues like this when using aspen? Humidity inside my home is usually around 15-20% in the colder months and anywhere from 25-50% in the warmer months. It may be necessary for me to use a substrate that can easily boost my humidity levels inside the enclosure. Hopefully someone from Colorado can chime in!

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Just an idea.. when I got my guy as a hatchling, I set him up in a temporary tub that worked extremely well until he was of size. I’ve also heard of individuals using larger enclosures for younger snakes as long as they are cluttered, lots of cover, lots of hides. Essentially you don’t want any wide open spaces for a young snake as that will stress them. From research that I’ve done, as long as you have plenty to break up their lines of sight they should be good in a larger enclosure. I think I moved my BP to his T10 at around 6 months old and just made sure to have lots and lots of fake plants, hides etc. as he’s grown I’ve removed some of it. Now he has two hides a couple logs and some fake ivy to crawl through. For what it’s worth, he’s never missed a meal outside of shedding since moving into the T10.


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I hear that most dry-climate folks prefer coco fiber (eco earth, reptile prime, etc.), coco chips (like reptichip), or a mix of both or one or the other with sphagnum moss.

All of those take misting just fine and would take a lot to mold, unlike aspen. It will be something to experiment with, buy 2 or 3 possible options in small bags and set up the cage for a few weeks before getting the snake. Try out each one for a week or so and see how it performs.

In your climate, I'd advise against aspen.. I could get away with it in mine, but I have quite a few aquariums in the house that boost my household humidity higher than most in my area have it and makes it less necessary. I just use fully dry coco products for the aesthetic rather than for humidity.

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Originally Posted by Jmarshall

If the point of the divider is to house two snakes that’s not going to work with the rhp as the sole heat source. I don’t think a 2 ft wide enclosure will give enough space for a proper gradient.

I house my single yearling ball python in a T10 with a pro product rhp as the only heat source. I have the herpstat set to 88 with the probe dangling under the rhp. The thermometer near the hide reads 88-90 degrees and the cool end reads 78-80 degrees. This time of year my humidity naturally sits around 50% under the rhp and about 65% on the cool end without misting.

Your set up sounds very similar to mine including the use of a herpstat 4. I’d recommend one snake to the T8 and get another to stack on top if you want an additional snake.


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Thanks for the reply. The real point of the divider is to provide a smaller space to make the smaller snake feel more secure. For a full-sized BP I plan on having at least a T8-sized enclosure (per snake). I was just toying around with the idea of housing two smaller snakes in the divided T8 and then purchasing an additional enclosure, when needed, to house both snakes comfortably. Honestly, I have no current plans to purchase an additional snake because I am so inexperienced and don't feel like I am fit to care for more than one. Although I am gathering as much knowledge as I can beforehand, this is still a trial run for me.

In regards to the temperature gradient, do you think I will have an issue trying to provide the proper gradient on one side of the enclosure using a smaller RHP? I think that is what you are saying, but let me try to clarify by asking another question. Do you think I need to utilize the entire T8 from the beginning to provide the proper temp gradient?

Do you feel the additional 3 inches in height makes a big difference? Aesthetically? Ease of cleaning?

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Originally Posted by tptad

Have you personally experienced any issues like this when using aspen? Humidity inside my home is usually around 15-20% in the colder months and anywhere from 25-50% in the warmer months. It may be necessary for me to use a substrate that can easily boost my humidity levels inside the enclosure. Hopefully someone from Colorado can chime in!

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I've had no issues with aspen, but am always open to new things. I'm actually getting another RHP in the coming days that I'll use in the vacant side of my divided enclosure. The plan is to experiment with all kinds of substrates and mixes to see what results I get.

25-50% in Summer. That's my Winter range. Yeah, take what I say on substrate with a grain of salt...

Oh, you might want to get a couple of these also: https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-Humid...gateway&sr=8-1

I have two in each of my enclosures.

I have a T8 and ventilation is a problem unless you drill extra holes. And substrate like coco fiber and cypress mulch will give you lots of humidity, like dripping wet on the hides and things. Some keepers don't mind because the humidity will go down but it will take several days, or longer, due to lack of holes for ventilation. Scale rot occurs with bacterial growth on wet substrate and feces/urine which can take awhile to accumulate so spot cleaning daily helps prevent it. Imo fungi is the bigger threat but that too depends on what you have inside the enclosure to allow such growth. Personally, I prefer a dry tank over a wet one so I used aspen with a large water bowl. It is whatever that works for you and your snake.

When you are picking out your snake, make sure to ask if it ate, what type of prey, live or f/t, when it last ate, how many times and when it was last shed. There are breeders out there selling babies that had not eaten yet so while they may eat, it is better to avoid them as a beginner. Those who already have the experience working with picky eaters are more suitable for snakes like that.

Check for any mucous around the nose and mouth. Feel for any bumps from head to the tip of the tail. It would be loud around you but try to listen for any clicking or odd noises as it breathes.

A good seller is someone who would spend the time answering your questions or even offer additional info without asking. If he or she is getting impatient with you because you want to know when it last ate, skip that vendor. If they don't know something and they are not the breeder, they should be transparent about it and tell you that they don't know. Try to avoid the third party suppliers who are more concerned about making a sale. If something sounds too good to be true (Ie Really low price for a usually expensive morph), it probably is.

I had a great experience with Dynasty Reptiles if you come across them at the expo.

Be patient. Don't appear desperate or impatient. Take your time to pick out a healthy snake from a good breeder. If you don't feel comfortable who you are buying it from, skip them. While one can still buy from them and still do just fine, you want your first experience to be a great one, not one to start with worries and potential problems.

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Originally Posted by JRLongton

Pro-Products sells appropriately sized RHPs for a 2x2. They're 50w and are 12x10 (or so, I might be a bit off). I'm using one now for my boa and the gradient is perfect. 90 directly under and 77 at the edges of the cool side.

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I am still waiting to hear back from Bob as to what size he recommends. I asked him to recommend the size for heating the divided T8 as well as the size for heating the full enclosure once the divider is removed. He had additional questions for me. I provided the information yesterday morning so I am hoping to hear back sometime today. Some folks have mentioned that it does take a while to receive the RHPs from Pro-Products. Can anyone comment on the length of time it took to receive theirs?

I didn't want to have to wait longer than necessary to receive the T8 from Animal Plastics so I didn't choose the option to have my Pro-Products RHP shipped to them for installation. Is the necessary modifications pretty simple to mount one of these things? If anyone could post a picture of the mods needed for it that would be great! Maybe I am just overthinking it? Thanks!

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Originally Posted by tptad

I am still waiting to hear back from Bob as to what size he recommends. I asked him to recommend the size for heating the divided T8 as well as the size for heating the full enclosure once the divider is removed. He had additional questions for me. I provided the information yesterday morning so I am hoping to hear back sometime today. Some folks have mentioned that it does take a while to receive the RHPs from Pro-Products. Can anyone comment on the length of time it took to receive theirs?

I didn't want to have to wait longer than necessary to receive the T8 from Animal Plastics so I didn't choose the option to have my Pro-Products RHP shipped to them for installation. Is the necessary modifications pretty simple to mount one of these things? If anyone could post a picture of the mods needed for it that would be great! Maybe I am just overthinking it? Thanks!

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Honestly, what I would do is get a hold of Bob and explain exactly what you want to do with the enclosure (heat half with rhp, remove divider and heat the whole thing) and follow his advice. My experience is limited and I would hate to give you wrong information. I’m more or less just providing you some things to think about. Bob may have a rhp perfect for your need.

I can’t comment on how long the rhp took to be delivered as I placed my order for AP to install when they were done w T10. I got mine several months later.


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Originally Posted by Jmarshall

Just an idea.. when I got my guy as a hatchling, I set him up in a temporary tub that worked extremely well until he was of size. I’ve also heard of individuals using larger enclosures for younger snakes as long as they are cluttered, lots of cover, lots of hides. Essentially you don’t want any wide open spaces for a young snake as that will stress them. From research that I’ve done, as long as you have plenty to break up their lines of sight they should be good in a larger enclosure. I think I moved my BP to his T10 at around 6 months old and just made sure to have lots and lots of fake plants, hides etc. as he’s grown I’ve removed some of it. Now he has two hides a couple logs and some fake ivy to crawl through. For what it’s worth, he’s never missed a meal outside of shedding since moving into the T10.


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This recommendation does come a lot! I am trying to future-proof my build as much as possible. If using a modified Sterlite tub/bin I'd have to provide a different heating source and such. I feel more comfortable just setting up the T8 and providing enough cover. If this becomes a huge passion of mine I'll purchase a rack system (which is pretty similar to just using a tub, right?) that can accommodate a lot of snakes. How did you provide the proper husbandry for your hatchling when using the tub? Perhaps I am just ignorant and perhaps this is a route that I would want to consider. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

I hear that most dry-climate folks prefer coco fiber (eco earth, reptile prime, etc.), coco chips (like reptichip), or a mix of both or one or the other with sphagnum moss.

All of those take misting just fine and would take a lot to mold, unlike aspen. It will be something to experiment with, buy 2 or 3 possible options in small bags and set up the cage for a few weeks before getting the snake. Try out each one for a week or so and see how it performs.

In your climate, I'd advise against aspen.. I could get away with it in mine, but I have quite a few aquariums in the house that boost my household humidity higher than most in my area have it and makes it less necessary. I just use fully dry coco products for the aesthetic rather than for humidity.

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Thanks! I do have a co-worker that has expressed the mold concern so I think I will stay away from this substrate when experimenting. I also like the aesthetics of the coconut stuff! This is what I'll likely start with.

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Originally Posted by tptad

This recommendation does come a lot! I am trying to future-proof my build as much as possible. If using a modified Sterlite tub/bin I'd have to provide a different heating source and such. I feel more comfortable just setting up the T8 and providing enough cover. If this becomes a huge passion of mine I'll purchase a rack system (which is pretty similar to just using a tub, right?) that can accommodate a lot of snakes. How did you provide the proper husbandry for your hatchling when using the tub? Perhaps I am just ignorant and perhaps this is a route that I would want to consider. Thanks!

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Super simple.. just a “shoebox” sized tub, a hide, some tiny fake plants for enrichment, heat tape and thermostat. It’s pretty cheap to set up.. the only thing I’ve seen people struggle with is ambient temps. I kept him in my closet with a space heater set to 80 degrees (on a thermostat).


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