Ideal enclosure?

Hey new here and to ball pythons,i just picked up my little girl montley today and i was directed to this forum for some advice,now i am wondering how much i should feed her (she is 18-20") so how much a week and what type of mouse and can i get a picture of and ideal enclosure for a 18" ball python? Thanks.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet
Here is a link that will help you

Welcome to BP.net :)

Well your going to hear conflicting opinions on perfect enclosures. Some people just are not willing to use tubs no matter how much the ball python would prefer it over a gigantic glass tank.

This is a picture of my quick quarantine setup. 12 quart sterilite tub, 11" Flexwatt hooked up to a Ranco Thermostat set at 95 degrees. One small cereal bowl hide and one water bowl.

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/a...-02_001619.jpg

Shes probably only a couple months old, so i would feed her ever 4-7 days and use paper towels for bedding so you can see if she has any health issues. As long as the poop is solid and she is eating consistently, then you'll be fine. A weanling rat or adult mouse would be fine once every 4-7 days.

Here's a link to the Caresheet on BP.Net, the BEST caresheet for ball pythons on the internet and will help answer all your other questions you may have.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Thepythonman12

Hey new here and to ball pythons,i just picked up my little girl montley today and i was directed to this forum for some advice,now i am wondering how much i should feed her (she is 18-20") so how much a week and what type of mouse and can i get a picture of and ideal enclosure for a 18" ball python? Thanks.

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I suggest you feed her small rats (not mouse) that are just slightly bigger than the widest part of your snake's body. Feed her one of those every 4-7 days.

I don't have a picture but I suggest you get a Really Useful Box from Office Depot or Staples that is the 17L size. Put a UTH on a thermostat on the outside bottom panel towards one end of the box. Put 2 hides on each end of the box that is small enough so that the snake's body touches the sides when she's curled up in there. Put a tip-proof water bowl in there. Get a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer and hygrometer with a probe to measure temps and humidity. Add some decorative stuff for your viewing pleasure and you're good to go.

The care sheet link everyone else has given is great,that care sheet is amazingly helpful you should read it.This is my enclosure it is not perfect(looks) but it works great and is a standard Bp enclosure.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...6h57m48s64.png

As for feedings i probably cannot give the best advice being i am new to ball pythons myself but ,My Bp beauty is about that size maybe a bit bigger and i give her adult mouse not to large but big enough.Hope i helped.

an Ideal enclosure is one that keeps steady humidity and temps. That makes for excellent husbandry and a happy healthy snake.. I have two one in a tank and one in a tub. the tub is super easy to set up and keep stable the tank took about 2 days of fiddling to get it right but it has been stable and perfect for a month now. follow the care sheet and then if you still have a question or run into an issue ask away.

I will say that a tub should be the 25q size unless you clutter it up a lot for the baby to feel safe, the tank should be a 10 gallon, and will need to be cluttered up a bit.

as for feeding the rule is 10/15% of the body weight or something roughly the same width as the biggest part of your snake.. I know here no where sells rats that are small enough so I was/am forced to mice until my F/T rats get here.

Thanks for the pictures and care sheet!

So my snakes are both healthy and happy and though tubs are easier my snake housed in a tank acts happily adjusted and like a happy healthy little BP and so does my tub housed BP.

my tub

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/r...nn/photo-2.jpg

my tank

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/photo2-1.jpg


just for an idea of a nice way to clutter up either type of enclosure.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MommaK

So my snakes are both healthy and happy and though tubs are easier my snake housed in a tank acts happily adjusted and like a happy healthy little BP and so does my tub housed BP.

my tub

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/r...nn/photo-2.jpg

my tank

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/photo2-1.jpg


just for an idea of a nice way to clutter up either type of enclosure.

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wow how are u keeping ur hum down with cypress in there

I have something like that and I miss daily or ever 2 days during the winter time. Or but a big bowl of water in thereLOL

Currently I have a rack with 4 snakes, 2 enclosures, and 2 tanks (this often changes as I sometimes have 'guests' for a while until a good home can be found.) Everyone has their own ideas. about what good is. But in a nut shell good is what you can manage, that has and can hold proper temps and humidity. A captive environment which the snake can be maintained healthy and eating. That is all that matters.

I have tubs that have pros and cons, tanks that also have pros and cons, and custom enclosures (like Vision) that have pros and cons.

There is to my mind no clear best choice just different. I personally love the snake designed enclosures like the vision or Animal Plastics. I have found that a full clean is a bunch of work but spot cleans are very fast the tubs are fast to clean but it seems like I have to clean them every week as pee runs down hill to the lowest spot (where the snake is so I end up wiping off the animal too...) The tanks much like the enclosures for cleaning but the fight to keep the humidly up is constant.

For me there is no clear winner, it comes down to what works for your space and what you can afford.