Rack tub sizes? AKA: Am I reading all this right?

So, you want help and answers. But when knowledgeable individuals such as Deborah give you the answers...you pretty much say, "Nope. Wrong. Go do research."

Hope you get what you're looking for.

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Erm, I think you need to do your research, m'dear Deborah. Live and dead feeding, as well as WHERE you feed them (feeding tank opposed to their own cage), do factor in rather a lot as to whether or not your snake will bite you. Any snake. Period.

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Erm. (what is that anyway? - I like it!)

Sorry there friend, but you are way out of your league and you are not looking very reflexive. Reflexivity is key when keeping ANY type of animal. And to state that you do rescues... erm... doesn't really pull a lot of weight. Many of us have rescued snakes from rescues that were being improperly cared for.

Snakes are not snakes across the board.

You need to know your species and work with that knowledge, which you have shown you are lacking at current.

I think Robin, Deb, and I are all in the same area (they are definitely more experienced mind you - and have wider variation in the their collections), but we all have 40+ snakes that are being kept sucessfully.

So m'dear, feel free to type down your nose at us. At the end of the day, our snakes will still be eating, shedding, breeding and thriving.

Best of luck,
Bruce

Ok.. So heres my opinion here... I have almost 50 snakes presently.. Thats just the start of the reptiles in this house. The snakes including balls mostly. I have been tagged mostly by nippy babies that strike out of nowhere. adults it doesnt happen so much although there has been a few almosts.. Usually I did something I shouldnt have. I do have one wild caught adult that doesnt tolerate handling well. She likes to be left alone. She voices her displeasure constantly..
I can however, take you in my room have you open whichever rack you wish and I give you the history on the snake to the best of my memory including when we got it and the name and weight of the snake. I have more detailed records on paper. But my brain works well for the most part. I can also tell you that I know when there is something odd about behavior of my snakes. They get handled at least once a week some more than others.. but they do get handled.. Inspected it bathed and extra one on one time. Its time consuming but I like spending time with them. Thats why I do this. I talk to them too.. My husband thinks I am nuts sometimes:DI have had a few angry balls when I first got them. and with regular handling settled in well. And the nippy babies eventually stop when they realize that whenever it opens that doesnt mean its food.
As for tubs.. I use tubs.. I have shoebox size for hatchlings. then 15 qt as they start to grow.. also have 32 and 41 qts. the 32 are mostly male or smaller females. 41 for the larger females.
I started with tanks. I can take pics of the tank collection thats in my attack, if you wish.. I moved on to tubs.. I have found alot of the snakes with the bad attitudes got better... It made no ones attitude get worse. When they dont have a view like a tank provides it tends to create a less stressful life for the snake. what is the first thing most say when you say you have a snake thats stressing striking whenever you walk by? cover the sides.. What am I doing with my tub but covering the sides. They dont seem to be saddened by how they are kept nor unhappy, lathargic any of that. Tubs I feel are a personal preference. and as most caresheets I know of say a 20 gal is more than suitable for an adult ball.. So if a 20 gal is suitable at its 2 ft by 1 ft by 1 ft. than why isnt my 3 ft by 2 ft tub? Every ball I have had in a tank never climbed on anything I had in there to climb on. And they are proven to be ground dwellers so lower space isnt going to hinder their happiness. This is where my research came in and when I decided tubs. They arent like a boa who most like to climb quite a bit.. but still they can be placed in tubs as well that are higher.

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Originally Posted by Valdyr

We kept them in a setup that gave each snake, unless they could be paired or grouped, its own equivalent of a 20 gallon tank.

@ Nixer, Deborah: I've done a LOT of research on BPs, and everything I read stated that a full grown snake should be in, at least, a 20 gallon tank, better, a 30 long. I understand that a 20 gallon, a 30 gallon, and a 32 quart case are all the same square footage (3), but the 20 and 30 give a lot more in at least one direction,

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20 gallon long = 30 x 12= 360 squared inches of floor space

32 quart = 16x23.75 = 380

30 long = 36 x 18 = 648

41 quart = 33.5 x 17.5 = 586.25

Stop bashing tubs. A 32 quart tub has more floor space than a 20 gallon long, which you claim is the proper size.

I hope my simple math helped you out:gj:

And not only what Tmoore pointed out. But the tubs also add extra humidity and security. :D So space convenience aside. They actually have added benefits for the snakes!
I have to agree with everything said so far. It's all I use for my 80+ snakes. The only thing I have in a glass tank is my Adult Male Desert Patchnose with a heat lamp.

I used to use glass. Problem feeders where more frequent. More bad sheds. WC snakes where super hard to acclimate (I work with species rarely if ever available CB).
Life got much easier when I switched to tubs and my animals seem WAY happier. ;)

I realy didn't bother to read everyone elses replies (I mean no disrespect to any one or thier opinon, Just being honest that I didn't read the whole thread) so I'm just gonn throw my 2 cents in. I used to keep mine in tanks then I got cages. I swore I would never get a rack because I felt that racks are for breeders. My snakes are my pets not my my job. After a while I just had to many cages and hit the point were I need a rack or a bigger appartment. I got a 5 slot 32 rack. I love it and now Swear by them. I think many people on here will agree with me that thay are just plain easier then a bunch of cages and all my balls are much more consistant eaters.

@MiniJ - Most of the answers that Deborah were giving me were not 100% relevant to what I had entirely asked. It, sadly, ended in an arguement that probably devalued one another in eachother's eyes. Plus I probably could have worded this post a bit better, and made it seem a bit less... grouchy and insulting, but I was just trying to give my view of the act of racking snakes in my eyes, hoping that someone would give me some reasons as to why the racks work better than cages (after all, its easier to inform a person when they state why they think something might be bad).

@Bruce - I assure you that the places I have worked and volunteered at knew their stuff with the animals that they took care of.

If I weren't lacking knowledge in the area of racks, would I have made a post stating how I felt about them and asking for opinions on them by people that use them? No. I believe not.

However, I am looking down my nose at no one other than on feeding, because it is something that ALL the herp societies around me believe in. Maybe it works different for you, but its always worked for me to remove the snake from its normal cage before feeding it. I do, however, feel that many have looked down their nose at me simply because I am -OWNING- my first ball python.

@Shadi - Thank you, that was EXACTLY the type of response that I was seeking out. Thank you for telling me about how it helps the snake instead of, as I originally viewed, hurts it.

However, the only 32 quart tubs I have found by Sterilite claim the dimensions to be 16.5" W x 23.5" D x 6" H... am I looking at the wrong one, if you claim yours to be three feet?

@TMoore - Actually, I was going to house mine in a 30 gallon, and only claimed the 20 gallon to be a "lowest recommended size" for BPs according to most of the research I did...

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everything I read stated that a full grown snake should be in, at least, a 20 gallon tank, better, a 30 long.

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But that doesn't entirely matter. Thanks for the math; I think I calculated my own square footage a bit off, or perhaps I was looking at some different-dimensioned tanks, but they all came out to be about 3 foot.

@ Amanda - Do you mean the humidity got lower? Or higher? All the research I did stated that bps were pretty arid in clime needs, with an average desired humidity of about 50%. Of course, that could be wrong as well, we've all seen these apparent BP geniuses floating around the internet... I laughed at the vagueness and bad wording of the "top" guides in the google search results (I always try to dig back a few pages, due to it.)

@ Mr. Constrictor - Thank you for that. I guess, once my BP gets a bit older and I have a bit more experience and more of a relationship with him, I'll set up an experimental rack space and see how he reacts... if all goes well, then a rack might be in order instead of this uber-complicated cage setup I have in my mind, and if he reacts well, then heck, I'll think about getting serious with it.

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Originally Posted by Valdyr

@Bruce - I assure you that the places I have worked and volunteered at knew their stuff with the animals that they took care of.

If I weren't lacking knowledge in the area of racks, would I have made a post stating how I felt about them and asking for opinions on them by people that use them? No. I believe not.

However, I am looking down my nose at no one other than on feeding, because it is something that ALL the herp societies around me believe in. Maybe it works different for you, but its always worked for me to remove the snake from its normal cage before feeding it. I do, however, feel that many have looked down their nose at me simply because I am -OWNING- my first ball python.

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It isn't owning your first snake. It is you condescention I think that is irksome m'dear.

Bruce

And the feeding in the enclosure myth... is just that, it is a myth.

But that has been explained in detail already.

Bruce

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@Shadi - Thank you, that was EXACTLY the type of response that I was seeking out. Thank you for telling me about how it helps the snake instead of, as I originally viewed, hurts it.

However, the only 32 quart tubs I have found by Sterilite claim the dimensions to be 16.5" W x 23.5" D x 6" H... am I looking at the wrong one, if you claim yours to be three feet?

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The deminsions I was quoting is those for the larger balls I have which is 41 qt tub. and it is 36 in by 18 in I was off in the second deminsion I think I said 2 ft..