Ralph Davis - Ball Python Setup

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Originally Posted by asplundii

Um... Unless I am going nuts, Ralph is in Maryland...

http://www.ralphdavisreptiles.com/contact_me/

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No, you aren't nuts. I typed that when I was rushing out the door. A mental lapse on my part.

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

Please no one take this personally. This is just a an observation of mine.

I have seen a lot of posts on these forums from new people who post pictures of similar set ups and get absolutely ripped to shreds for it. I can almost guarantee that if a joe blow that no one knew had posted a video like this that I would have seen the following:

"You need two identical hides."
"Those stick on thermometers are terrible. And there's no humidity guage! Please use an Accurite!"
"Those UTH's get up to 120 degrees and fluctuate wildly. You have to use a rheostat/thermostat!"
"Please cover the sides of the tank with a dark material."

From my perspective, it appears there's a double standard.

Maybe my perspective is skewed but that's how I see it. Am I wrong?

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We could say that, but whats the point seeing how Ralph himself would probably never read it. Maybe theres some stuff behind the scenes that hes usinging?

yeah its a very bare bones setup.. not sure it would work for me in my house, but I'm sure Ralph knows what he is doing and would ensure that the needs of the snake are being met. BUT you are all missing the bigger picture. RALPH'S A TEASE!!! He put that high white piebald snake into that tank and my brain is screaming... &%$*#@ lucky kid.. His first bp and its a piebald!? :rofl:

Well you have to put it in perspective. This is a better setup than a lot of household pet BP's have. I started with the exact same setup with the following exceptions. 2 terracotta pot bottoms with holes cut out of the sides for hides. A ZooMed Repti Rock Water Dish and aspen bedding. I had some old dial thermometers I was planning on using and bought a dial hygrometer.

I noticed my BP tended to not stay in her warm hide so I added a rheostat and tweeked that for a few days before I decided I needed better readings from under that hide so I got an acurite digital thermometer/hygrometer. That allowed me to match the warm side to the care sheet perfectly. That helped a lot. Of course I then noticed my humidity was low. So I covered much of the top and that is helping although I still put a natural sponge on the top of each hide and wet them daily as well as lightly mist. Having the one acurite I and knowing how cheap another one would be I got another for the other side.

So having gone through all that I would say his setup was not bad but I would get at least a rheostat and one digital thermometer if not a thermostat and two digital thermometers. I don't think the single hide is going to cause the snake not to thrive if everything else is dead on.

Having seen some pics of BP on rescue web sites and pet adoption sites and seeing them in pet stores and hearing how people have kept their snakes, Ralph's setup looks like heaven in comparison.

Big difference between a joe shmoe new owner that just got his first BP and that knos nothing about it, doing this and someone EXPERIENCED doing this (this is not in a negative way.)

For a new owner I do and will always recommend what I know will work even for them.

Why? Because they do not know their animal yet and need to experience their first animal and get a feel for it before being able to experiment around.

New owner do not know their animal enough to recognize signs of stress or issues by recommending some specifics such as small enclosures, tight identical hides, 84-84 on the cool side, 90-94 on the warm side this will provide them with an optimal setting allowing them to slowly learn more about BP in general and their animal in particular. Once they are familiar with their animal they will be able to experiment and see what work for their animal and what trigger certain behavior on it’s part.

Does that mean I recommend what I do? Nope I don’t because again what I do is based on MY experienced and the fact that I know every single of my animals like the back of my hand.

The bottom line there is not only one way to house BP, however when providing advice you need to recognize who you are talking to and their level of experience.

And when it come to someone with little to no experience you should strive to air on the safe side so they can fully enjoy their first experience.

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

Please no one take this personally. This is just a an observation of mine.

I have seen a lot of posts on these forums from new people who post pictures of similar set ups and get absolutely ripped to shreds for it. I can almost guarantee that if a joe blow that no one knew had posted a video like this that I would have seen the following:

"You need two identical hides."
"Those stick on thermometers are terrible. And there's no humidity guage! Please use an Accurite!"
"Those UTH's get up to 120 degrees and fluctuate wildly. You have to use a rheostat/thermostat!"
"Please cover the sides of the tank with a dark material."

From my perspective, it appears there's a double standard.

Maybe my perspective is skewed but that's how I see it. Am I wrong?

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I don't like the way he did that....maybe *that* heat pad won't get too hot without something to regulate it, but the majority of them do. He could have at least found a cheap rheostat to send home with the kid...

He's so lax about it, which is fine b/c he knows what he is doing, but if he's going to make a video and post it, he should at least put in some safety measures (rheostat, thermometer, etc.) so the people watching don't just go buy a little heat pad and plug the thing in.

Ralph Davis is of course really experienced, but I have a few Zoo Med heat pads and they get up to 150F (no typo) w/o regulation.

Also, humidity will be next to nothing in that cage...

The only humid spot in that cage is by the water dish which the snake will usually hug when it gets ready to shed, Zoo Med heat pads have been temp controlled for at least the past 5 years and will not go even near 90F. The pad you may have used may be an older model. This setup is a very barebone ready to clean easily setup for a beginner, it WILL work it might not be up to everyone's "standards", although I would have done it differently it will work.

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Originally Posted by JKExotics

The only humid spot in that cage is by the water dish which the snake will usually hug when it gets ready to shed, Zoo Med heat pads have been temp controlled for at least the past 5 years and will not go even near 90F. The pad you may have used may be an older model. This setup is a very barebone ready to clean easily setup for a beginner, it WILL work it might not be up to everyone's "standards", although I would have done it differently it will work.

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the zoomed i had would go to 130 without a thermostat and that was well within 4 years ago

My hides aren't identical and my BP doesn't seem to mind. He likes both of them. Should I get two hides that are the same?