Pictures of Tank Set Ups

New bp owner and was wanting to check out some of your tank set ups. Have a 40 gallon and would love to see what you all have come up with. Thanks.

Well congrats on the bp, but tanks are not the best thing for balls. Especially a brand new one in a 40 gallon. I dont believe any tank is too big for a settled in snake, but at first i think a small tub is best. You can make a tank work, but it will be alot harder than using a plastic shoebox/bootbox enclosure. Glass lets out heat immensly and the screen top does an awful job of keeping in humidity. But to cover the basics for your tank you will need two hides. Skip the half wooden logs and go to the dollar store and buy some plastic bowls, cut holes in them and stick them in there. Its shouldnt be much bigger than the bp can fit in. Then busy up the tank with some fake folliage, since it is such a large tank. Give him a decent sized water bowl on the warm end to keep the humidity up. Cover the top of the enclosure with tinfoil or towels for heat and humidity. I would also cover at least 3 sides on the tank with black construction paper, if not all four sides, for at least a week or until he starts eating regulary. The hot end should be 88-92 while the cool end should be 76-80 with an ambient temp of 80-82. Also go buy a digital thermometer, the dial once are crap. And a temp gun wouldnt hurt. Also to keep humidity up, try not to use a heat lap, they basically zap all humidity out. Use an UTH with a THERMOSTAT. The thermostat is a must so your bp doesnt suffer burns.

Well thats what i have to say for now. Im sure other people will fill in the holes. Good luck with your new BP and congrats. :banana:

Congrats on the snake! I was just like you when i first got my BP i thought i was gonna see these amazing tank set ups and i did... but everyone was telling me to just go with tub housing... which i am doing this week!!! :) but for now i still have my albino in a 40 gal breeder, which is way too big, but hes fine in it... the truth is glass tanks are too much of a hassle. right now i have 3 sides covered with insulation, 3/4 of the lid is covered with more insulation, the front has a black pillow case draped over it so i can peek in. I have 2 UTHs(1 warm, 1 cool hooked up to 2 different thermostats) and a black light to bring up the ambient temp... oh man i should have put fish in that tank or something... my ridiculous set up aside... as you can see it just requires too many extra pieces. when using a tub all you really need is 1 strip of heat tape compared to my 43234624623 heating sources

It's not that tanks can't be used, they are just more maintenance and a headache sometimes because of humidity/security issues. If you have a baby, a 40 gallon is going to be too large, 10 gallon tanks are recommended. If you have an adult that tank should be fine.

Many people use tubs so you might not get pictures for a while. You can do a search, there was a thread a while back that asked people to show their set ups and there were a lot of awesome tanks on there.

If your gonna put a baby in an adult size tank make sure you have a minimum of 3 or 4 tight dark hides hides. Some fake plants would help to, so would covering up 3 sides of the glass.

KEeping a baby in an adult cage can be done but it takes alot of privacy good husbandry and a ton of spots to hide.


Good luck. I don't have a tank but I have a plastic cage. I'll get a few pics for you later.

Here's a shot of my 40 gallon breed tank I had a while back. I replaced it with a few reptile basic racks. One of these days I'll pick up some caging. I miss having display setups.

http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/i...92ab2c9196.jpg

I wouldn't put a baby in a 40g tank. I put a baby in a 20g long tank and she didn't eat for 3 weeks. It would be easier to just buy a tub.

I don't use my tank anymore, but here's a picture of what it used to be like.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...100_1502-1.jpg

Got the fake plants at Big Lots for $5. Two strings of them, that's only one.

You guys are great with the info. He is a year and half so pretty much full grown. We have had him for a few weeks and seems pretty well adjusted. He has shed once and is eating a small rat once a week but this last week he didn't seem interested so it has been two now. He eats live out of his tank. Have a big corner water (loves to hang out in water) and he loves to climb, sometimes I think he doesn't know what species he is supposed to be. Day temps. are running 80-90 and humidity is about 40-50%. Very, very active and doesn't hide too much. I think he is getting ready to shed again so he is staying hidden a little more. Thanks again for all the info. you have made me feel really welcome to the site.

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Originally Posted by all in balls out

Very, very active and doesn't hide too much.

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Isnt that a sign of stress guys? :weirdface

Yeah, roaming is usually a sign of stress. Also the soaking in the water bowl is a little strange also. Soaking usually indicates a problem whether its mites, tics, or sometimes they are just too warm. Also with the climbing thing, some people dont want their BP's to climb because they are ground species and they can possibly hurt themselves.

I should say that he is most active at night but it is not uncommon to find him stretched out oh his climbing tree just relaxing. You do have me freaked about bugs but I check him every time he is out (which is pretty much everyday) and have seen nothing. Is it possible he just likes water? Thanks.

Hey I have a vision enclosure and mine also spends quite a lot of time during the night out and about and he loves to climb as well. He is often on his branch and the top of one of his hides. Make sure that yours as hides I have 4 two exactly the same hot and cold and one humid rock style and the other is a spot in under a branch with lots of foliage around it. The soaking can be mites and or the other conditions already mentioned it might also be low humidly as well. Just a thought. MAKE sure that it isn't mites or anything else. But if everything looks fine check the humidly in multiple spots my set up varies by as much as 10%. If he is eating regularly it isn't likely stress (maybe) just curious or prowling for food.

If there are mites will they be easily seen on him moving around or are they usually under the scales on the belly? He has flecks of color on his belly so I am always double checking. When shedding happens what happens to the mites?

Mites usually are seen around the eyes and between the scales. They will just reattach after the shed. If there are mites you will have to clean everything really well and use a mite treatment. I'd switch to plain un printed news print until you get rid of them, it is easy to see them on it.

If you haven't seen mites check the humidy he may just be dry. or likes water.

Had him out today and did a good once over, checking eyes and mouth and bely and didn't see anything. Haven't seen anything crawling on him either so I think things are good. Today he was laying with part of his body in the water and the rest out, he always heads to the water when I put fresh in everyday. Thanks for all the advice.

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Originally Posted by all in balls out

Had him out today and did a good once over, checking eyes and mouth and bely and didn't see anything. Haven't seen anything crawling on him either so I think things are good. Today he was laying with part of his body in the water and the rest out, he always heads to the water when I put fresh in everyday. Thanks for all the advice.

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i would check ur humidity

The laying out and climbing around during the day is a little concerning.

What kind of hides do you have for this snake? Better yet, do you have a picture of your setup?

i kinda miss my tank and i think my normal does too, but things are so much easier in a tub. maybe when i get a lil extra cash ill buy her a nice display tub type thing. im gonna go browse and look

He has kind of a half log hide with three sides enclosed. He does hang out in there during the day, but usually at some point during the day he is out curled up some where or stretched out on his tree or on top of his hide. He roams at night not so much during the day but is out of his hide during the day. What could all this mean? Haven't taken pics and also not clear on how to get the attached.

Half log hides are really not recommended for ball pythons. You want to go for more of a cave type hides. Petco carries exo terra rock caves. If you want to go with something cheaper, plastic cereal bowls from the dollar store also work. Just cut small entrances into the sides.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Half log hides are really not recommended for ball pythons. You want to go for more of a cave type hides. Petco carries exo terra rock caves. If you want to go with something cheaper, plastic cereal bowls from the dollar store also work. Just cut small entrances into the sides.

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i got 2 exact hides for real cheap at an expo but for my corn i use a kleenix box haha he loves it more than anything xD

what kind of thermometer are you useing to check your temps and humidity? digital or stick ons? the sticks ons will give you a wrong reading alot, you also want to make sure your checking the temps on the floor and not up near the top of the cage.

if the floor is actually too warm it could be why hes soaking if its not mites

Currently using the stick on ones but am looking to get digital. They are located at the bottom of the tank. Any suggestions for brands to get?

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Originally Posted by all in balls out

Currently using the stick on ones but am looking to get digital. They are located at the bottom of the tank. Any suggestions for brands to get?

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The accurite digital weather station is a great option. It is actually an indoor outdoor household thermometer but it works great for single setups. It has an external probe that measures "outdoor" temperature (which you can use to measure your hotside) and the unit measures "indoor" temperature and humidity (which can measure your ambient temps and humidity). You can find this unit at the home depot, lowes, or walmart. It costs about $12 and is well worth the money.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

The accurite digital weather station is a great option. It is actually an indoor outdoor household thermometer but it works great for single setups. It has an external probe that measures "outdoor" temperature (which you can use to measure your hotside) and the unit measures "indoor" temperature and humidity (which can measure your ambient temps and humidity). You can find this unit at the home depot, lowes, or walmart. It costs about $12 and is well worth the money.

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I second the Accurite. I was even dumb and dropped mine in my boa's water dish (the first one I got to try out). Still works great. I took the battery out and let it dry before I tried using it again though.

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Originally Posted by redstormlax12

Yeah, roaming is usually a sign of stress. Also the soaking in the water bowl is a little strange also. Soaking usually indicates a problem whether its mites, tics, or sometimes they are just too warm. Also with the climbing thing, some people dont want their BP's to climb because they are ground species and they can possibly hurt themselves.

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If they are roaming all day it is a sign of stress, but during the evening a little bit of roaming is fairly normal.