New Cage Setup!!

the alaveri plant or w/e arnt sharp as the thorns on it r miss leading its actually like rubber and she seems to b more happy and like her tank more.. every time i bring her out to roam the couch she seams more active and wehn i go to put her back she will actually go in her self if i put her out side the cage so i cant c how she dosent like it if she seems to love it so much.. ne wways not all snakes r the same for there differnt every way there brought up.. may b ur sankes like dessert but mine smeans to love thease plants.. but wtf do i know.

Just have to put my 2 cents in support of Becky. Straightforward, yes. No nonsense, yes. Rude, I don't see it. Becky, I think you did fine.

I'm not sure I agree 100% about the spikes on an Aloe Vera plant, though. They really aren't thorns like a cactus has. I don't think they would do any harm to a snake. I had a THORNY cactus in with a bull snake for quite a while. The snake would crawl around/over the cactus on a regular basis with no ill effects. Disclaimer - A bull snake has MUCH, MUCH tougher skin than a ball python!!!!

Now, where I would be concerned with Aloe Vera is with the juice inside. I would think that any plant that has "medicinal properties" would be a plant to avoid in a reptile's enclosure. Really don't know how the snake might react to that should he break off a branch. Did you know that the active ingredient of Provent-a-Mite is actually extracted from Chrysanthemum plants?

Steve

i actually asked the girl from brawd way gardens (the huge plant place) and she said its fine for reptiles and igunanaws or how eva u spell it eat them for vitimens and that its quit healthy for all reptiles so she said itwould b a good idea if ne thing

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Originally Posted by Mindibun

since you obviously realize that voice inflection doesnt come across the intarwebs, you should be especially mindful.

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The people reading the posts have just as much of an obligation to remember that tone of voice doesn't come across and to not assume a nasty tone as a poster has an obligation to keep this in mind and try to avoid posting stuff that could be misinterpreted to sounder harsher than it was intended. And OPs that asked the question have even more of an obligation to try to interpret the answers as helpful rather than nasty. They asked for advice; they should be glad to get it in any form, even if it isn't sugar-coated.

Becky definitely comes across as straight-forward no-nonsense, and at times it can sound harsh. But I don't remember ever having the feeling that she was trying to do anything other than help people learn how to take care of their BPs. Yeah, there are times when she could have found a nicer way to say something and still get her point across. Personally, I'd much rather deal with that than to chase away someone who has lots of knowledge and is willing to share it.

About the aloe vera plant, I used to have one and got scratched by its thorns all the time. Maybe some varieties have less sharp thorns than others. If you can drag your arm across the thorns without getting a scratch then maybe it's ok.

I, for one, don't see how you're going to keep the cage clean when you have plants planted in the dirt. Also, those plants are going to need a form of UV light so they don't die. Those need it hot and arid, being desert plants, and Ball Pythons just won't thrive in those conditions.

If Matilda lived in the wild, she would be in a termite mound or similar burrow about 95% of her life.

Yup, if your from cali/desert climate, you would know that the different aloe plants can and will hurt when run into. Maybe the small and young ones don't hurt as much, but they do need much less humidity to thrive.

Also, I second hoo-t, Becky is a very straight forward shoot from the hip kinda girl. I like to pretend she's giving a class when I read her posts, they remind me alot of one of my professors. :D No offense Becky. :)

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Originally Posted by beer12

and she seems to b more happy and like her tank more.. every time i bring her out to roam the couch she seams more active and wehn i go to put her back she will actually go in her self if i put her out side the cage so i cant c how she dosent like it if she seems to love it so much.. may b ur sankes like dessert but mine smeans to love thease plants.. but wtf do i know.

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Keep in mind that they may seem alert and more active when you pull them out because they feel disturbed and are looking for a place to hide. Also i dont think the basic husbandry requirements of bp's will be met with your enclosure, so i agree with what everyone else has said, this is more of an environment for desert dwelling lizards or tortoises or something. I hope this makes sense. :2cent:

I would get rid of the Aloe plant for various reasons. The plant will die, the roots will rot, it need UV lighting.

I would do as others suggested as far as putting in another hide, perfecting your enclosure.

Then if you'd like to add plants, ad some Pothos plants. They are hardy plants, you could water one and stick it in a closet and it would still survive. They don't require much light at all, they provide a lot of cover. I use them in my crestie cages. That would be much safer than the aloe plant. They also help with humidity and keeping it around 50% to 60%.

Just use some small plastic containers to pot them in, and make sure you use Organic Potting soil for them.

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Originally Posted by beer12

the alaveri plant or w/e arnt sharp as the thorns on it r miss leading its actually like rubber and she seems to b more happy and like her tank more.. every time i bring her out to roam the couch she seams more active and wehn i go to put her back she will actually go in her self if i put her out side the cage so i cant c how she dosent like it if she seems to love it so much.. ne wways not all snakes r the same for there differnt every way there brought up.. may b ur sankes like dessert but mine smeans to love thease plants.. but wtf do i know.

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Your posts give me a headache. I find it disrespectful when someone doesn't take the time to at least try to type coherently in English. This isn't an AOL Chatroom full of 13-year-olds.

Secondly, if your python seems to love something that's exactly what it's doing. It's seeming to love, but not actually. Snakes do not love. The plant my help make your snake feel secure but no more so than any other numerous things will that would make better cage furnishing.

Lastly you've been warned to get rid of the aloe by people who obviously know a lot more than you. There is no argument you can make, having the aloe with your snake is dead wrong. Period.

Now if people want to whine about me being rude, please go right ahead.