Building a habitat... need advice!!!!

I have a female bp who's almost 3 yr's old and a little over 3 feet long. We currently house her in a 25 gallon aquarium and are starting her new habitat in a few days. We are planning on using plywood all around and plexiglass on the front with a hinged lid and lights set into holes in the lid for her heat. The enclosure is going to be pretty big 4 ft wide 2 feet deep and 3 feet high, which from what i've been reading may be a little too big so i may have to downsize it a little. I was looking online and found a really nice rocky cliff outcropping i could put in that she could use as a hide and i will have her regular rock hide as well. The biggest question i have is that i wanted to put a waterfall in one side of the tank ( something small ) with a bowl on the bottom for her bathing and drinking water. I wanted to know just how deep is too deep for a bp when it comes to water. I'm thinking of just buying a few different size water dishes stacking them off center and hooking up hoses and a pump to create the waterfall. Any and all advice is very welcome and appreciated because this is my first attempt at a habitat for Savannah and i really need the help. Thanks!!!!

Alot of folks here house there BP's in tubs without the elaborate setups, but it sounds like it would be a nice display if your going for a show piece. Just the snake doesn't need all that fancy stuff.


The easiest way to tell if it's to deep it to put her in a waterbowl and see how much she displaces. Honestly I'd say nothing deeper than a foot but thats my guess. BP's aren't big soakers unless they have mights or are in a shed. So big water areas are almost kind of wasted on them.

I will also say I have heard horror stories from people here who have tried waterfalls. they are DREADFUL to clean. Because so often water sources are used at potty's and the pumps and everything are hard to do a full clean on and it gets annoying.


Still it's your call it would certainly look nice. Good luck with your design :) . Sorry if I was a rain on your parade

Thanks for your opinion i do appreciate it. We don't have her for show we keep her in our bedroom to give her peace and quiet because we have 4 kid's running around and a dog, 2 cats and 2 dragons so anywhere else she'd be going off her head i'm sure lol. i know it does sound a bit elaborate but i wanted to be able to keep the humidity up with the waterfall because of the size of the enclosure and i wanted to be able to put some large climbing logs in for her cause she is usually pretty active and likes to be able to move around. I will be rethinking the waterfall now though, i didn't even think about the cleaning of it. The tub i wouldn't even consider not for the fact of it being a tub I personally don't see anything wrong with it, but for the fact that all the kid's are under 9 the smallest being 2 and they can open tub's on their own and we are very cautious with her around the kid's. But a big thank you for your opinion!

Oh see I know absolutely nothing about living for kids I am your typical happy bachelor. ;) I am sure they could be a handful.

There are people here who have alot of success and use tanks and I am sure they will be along and be lots more help than me! I hope you'll post pics when it's done I'm sure it will look very nice.

My cage is pretty minimalist.

I'll be sure to get the pic's up as soon as it's done. We actually rethought the design of the tank itself already to work without a waterfall. But we are still considering it as an option. Once we get the basic shell of the tank done and get the substrate in and her hides we wll be able to see exactly how much room we have to work with to make it the best for Savannah and her personality. She's one hyper ball lol.

My advice. Ditch the waterfall. I had one in my home built enclosure (its in the DIY section) and it is fail to say the least. Leakages, snake getting under the water and causing overflow, the mess. Its just not worth the hassel.
3 feet is also kind of high for a BP enclosure.

if you're looking for a good kind of cage that holds humidity but also looks nice, check out PVC and plastic cages if you aren't dead set on building one yourself. Rich at reptilebasics.com has some that would work great for an adult bp.

Bit too large of an enclosure. I agree with the other two to ditch the waterfall, that will be just a big hassle. As for the big climbing logs, Ball pythons are clumsy climbers and can hurt themselves if they fall, so I'd say a no go on climbing logs.

You can make it pretty nice looking though. For substrate, to make it look more natural, you can try Eco-Earth (coco fiber) or cypress mulch. As for plants, go for fake plants you can buy at Petsmart or Petco. Live plants attract bugs and you don't want that. The snake will most likely slither over it and destroy it. For a water dish, try going for a rock looking one to go with the theme as well as for hides. I like the Exo-Terra cave hides, they work so well for Ball pythons. http://www.ronspets.co.uk/images/Exo...ave_xlarge.jpg

Lamps will zap the humidity right out of the enclosure and dry up the substrate, so for a light I would just get a regular florescent light to stretch across the top so there is light in there. As for heating, I'd go for a radiant heat panel.

By the way, if your Ball python roams around often, that's a sign of stress. Go over the caresheet on the site and see what changes you can make. Always remember a hiding Ball python is a happy Ball python.

EDIT!!: Also remember Ball pythons will spend most of their time hiding (only coming out at night) so they don't make the best display snakes. Snakes like Green Tree pythons or Jungle Carpet pythons make better display snakes since they sit out on their branches.

Low climbing logs are fine, I would not get any that are over a foot tall. Most ball pythons are clumsy climbers, but some can be very good. Also, fake plants that are grass like that they can hide and crawl through would be nice, as they prefer to be hidden and secure.

-I do have to say that I agree with the others about the water fall. They look great, but are really not worth the trouble.

Any how, good luck, and post some pictures when you are done!

okay so after rethinking alot i'm going to ask your opinion on this. 2 ft high, 16 inches deep and 3 ft wide, going without a waterfall, putting in a rock outcropping with various holes for hiding and climbing (it's not overly high) and fake plants and her rock hide she has now. the water dish we have now is the large exo terra one and were using forest bark for her substrate. I got her from a friend so i've been going based on what he told me. Savannah is a pretty good climber and she doesn't always like to go in her hide. she likes to lay on top of her rock alot could this be it's too warm in there with the heat lamp overhead and the uth under it?? This is the way it was set-up when we got her. She spent a fair amount of time in there at first but lately doesnt seem to like it too much. And thanks for all the advice everyone and i'm going to the care-sheets right now.

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Originally Posted by mpenney25

okay so after rethinking alot i'm going to ask your opinion on this. 2 ft high, 16 inches deep and 3 ft wide, going without a waterfall, putting in a rock outcropping with various holes for hiding and climbing (it's not overly high) and fake plants and her rock hide she has now. the water dish we have now is the large exo terra one and were using forest bark for her substrate. I got her from a friend so i've been going based on what he told me. Savannah is a pretty good climber and she doesn't always like to go in her hide. she likes to lay on top of her rock alot could this be it's too warm in there with the heat lamp overhead and the uth under it?? This is the way it was set-up when we got her. She spent a fair amount of time in there at first but lately doesnt seem to like it too much. And thanks for all the advice everyone and i'm going to the care-sheets right now.

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Forest bark? What is that? Just regular bark? Or does it have pine or cedar in it?

If the snake is not hiding, then it is stressed out. No Ball python is a good climber as they are all mostly terrestrial. Can we see some photos of your setup?

What is the UTH controlled by? If nothing you can severely burn your snake, I would recommend purchasing a thermostat. Without anything controlling a UTH, the temps can get easily reach 130F.

So i have the picture but for some reason i'm not allowed to upload attatchments. It's a 25 gallon tank with a wire reptile lid. We have a red heat light on one side as well as the uth on the same side. the temps on top of the rock are about 85 and inside the rock is about 115 which i had never thought to check before so thanks for that cause i'm going to have to change it. And the other side has her water dish ( large exo-terra dish) and her vines for hiding behind and the humidifier and the temps are running about 70. The substrate is just called rainforest bark i don't know exactly whats in it i threw the bag out when we used the last of it last week but when i go to buy more after she shed's again i will be reading the packaging. What did you say was the best substrate to buy? I was getting all my info from the friend i got Savannah from and from beardeddragon.org because i didn't know this site was here. Glad i found it though, i'm getting excellent help and advice, thanks again everyone.

I'd say 2 foot is still too high. My cage is 15" tall and looking now, its high. 12" is a good height.

the tank she's in now is about 18 inches high. So i'm guessing i need to reconsider a lot of things with my enclosure lol I'm so glad i asked cause if i messed it up then had to re-do everything it'd be a lot worse!!!

Hi,

Just to say we don't use the attatchment system on here. :)

Below is a post I made on how to post pics on the forum;

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Well the first thing is to get them hosted somewhere online.

You can put them in your gallery here - this tutorial is a bit old but the basic procedure is the same I think.

And here is another one in video form that might also help.

You can also use a site like http://photobucket.com/

They should also have tutorials to help you.

If you still have trouble just ask any member of staff and we will do our best to get you sorted. :gj:

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dr del

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Originally Posted by mpenney25

So i have the picture but for some reason i'm not allowed to upload attatchments. It's a 25 gallon tank with a wire reptile lid. We have a red heat light on one side as well as the uth on the same side. the temps on top of the rock are about 85 and inside the rock is about 115 which i had never thought to check before so thanks for that cause i'm going to have to change it. And the other side has her water dish ( large exo-terra dish) and her vines for hiding behind and the humidifier and the temps are running about 70. The substrate is just called rainforest bark i don't know exactly whats in it i threw the bag out when we used the last of it last week but when i go to buy more after she shed's again i will be reading the packaging. What did you say was the best substrate to buy? I was getting all my info from the friend i got Savannah from and from beardeddragon.org because i didn't know this site was here. Glad i found it though, i'm getting excellent help and advice, thanks again everyone.

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115F much too hot, turn off the UTH until you have a thermostat. I know people who have had their BPs severely burned by uncontrolled heat (actually talked to someone about that happening to them yesterday). As for the cool end, 70F is too cold. Try keeping it above 75F, around 80F-83F is best (works well for me).

Don't use Forrest bark until you know what's in it, it sounds like it could have pine or cedar in it. If it does, do NOT use it. Pine and cedar are both very toxic snake substrates to use and can be fatal to your snake.

For loose substrate, I like aspen bedding and cypress mulch. Since your humidity is most likely low in the tank from having a screen lid and a lamp, I would use aspen bedding because cypress dries out very quickly. Try covering 2/3 of the lid with saran wrap or plexiglass to hold in humidity.

For a more solid substrate, newspaper or paper towels works well. Paper towels are a bit too thin to me, so I prefer newspaper over paper towels.

Mist the substrate daily or twice a day if needed (doesn't stay between 50%-60%). Don't mist aspen heavily, it can mold pretty easily if too damp. That's why I like cypress more for that issue, but I use aspen for everyone besides my Dumeril's and Bloods--they have cypress. Although using tubs I don't ever have to mist the snakes (except the occasional mist for the Bloods).

Whatever questions or concerns you have, you can always ask us:)

I might suggest, prior to building, that you check out some of the enclosures that boaphile, animal plastics, and reptile basics have. This will give you some ideas as to what to do. I might also suggest that you use flexwatt heat tape and a thermostat with your enclosure as opposed to a light. This will be much more effective as well as it will give your snake the needed belly heat to digest food properly. Plus there is the extra added bonus of it is much easier to keep a steady level of heat with typically a fluctuation of about .02 degrees.

Also there is a place in this site for do it yourself racks and enclosures...check some of those out. There are some fantastic ideas.

Last but not least I wanted to make sure that you got a chance to see our care sheet. I know it was a life saver for me when I first got into this hobby. Good luck and I hope I helped a little!! ;)

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules/...warticle&id=59

So when you say aspen bedding i'm assuming you mean the stuff for rabbit's and hamster's cause I can't seem to find anything else.

Everyone here has given sound advice. But I have a few points as well, if you don't mind.

Going with a nice fancy enclosure is perfectly fine, as long as you don't mind staring at mainly enclosure. Ball Pythons are secretive snakes and if you do everything right, you won't see it much. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.

So far I'll hit the high points of other posts. First, visit a few websites that sell fancy reptile enclosures and get a good idea of what you like, then it will be easier to replicate it. Animal Plastics, Boaphile,and Reptile Basics are good to start with.

Now, while a Ball might not need a tall enclosure, if you like it, fill in some of the empty space by placing fake plants hanging down from the lid. One word of advise with fake plants, make sure they are not the kind made with loops like a chain. Someone here had a terrible accident when her snake tried to crawl through one of those loops and got stuck.

As far as heat, if you can manage without a lamp, you'll be much happier, since they suck humidity like a sponge. I use Flexwatt heat tape, it's cheap, safe, and comes in a variety of sizes to suit any need. I buy mine from The Beanfarm. Just be sure to invest in a good thermostat to go with it.

They do make reptile specific aspen, but I use a coarse shred intended for small animals. Just be careful, some aspen is sawdust fine, and some is huge chunks, and neither is good for snakes. If you like a more natural look, you can use EcoEarth, which is made from ground coconut shells. It's very pretty dark brown, but is very fine and doesn't hold humidity very well.

Now if you go with a screen lid, you can easily cut a piece of plexiglas to cover most of the screen to help with humidity.

I don't think a low log is going to hurt anything, and it will add to the overall look along with fake plants. Just remember Balls can and do destroy habitats on a regular basis, so make it as easy to maintain as you can, so you don't get frustrated with it.

Gale

Ok, so with all of the great advice that i've gotten i've changed alot of the idea i had started out with originally and wanted to run it by you guys to see what you think. I'm going to take an old bookshelf and lay it flat on it's back so she has more ground space rather than height. We are leaving the shelf in so it seems smaller to her to feel more secure and cutting a hole in it for her to get to either side. Each side will be about the size of a 25 gallon tank. One side will have her uth and over it i was just going to put thick plants for her rather than her cave hide so it won't trap too much heat i'm thinking that with the wood and the substrate this will keep her from getting burned by the uth. The cave will be on the same side of the tank but in the opposite corner with a 50w light shining in for heat cause we are going to make our own cover out of metal screen. The other side of the tank i am going to put in a fair size tupperware container for her water or something like a dog bowl so that it's deep to allow for when she goes for a soak to prevent it from spilling over. I'm not 100% on what to use on this side for a heat source so if anyone has an idea could you let me know? and the tank will be about 15 inches deep or so. And if anyone think's i'm doing something wrong please let me know so i can fix it. This is my first time trying to put together a habitat for her and i would like to get it right. The dragons were much easier lol!!

Oh and just wanted to say i have been taking the advice i'm getting and been doing some research into the different types of substrate i'm hearing about and a big thank you to everyone for all your advice, very much appreciated!!!