Caging/Habitat

Hi,

I've heard glass tanks aren't the best for ball pythons. And I cant afford to buy a $800 tank. Any ideas on building and $$$$?

Why not make a sterilite tub enclosure? If you use the search on the top of the page you can find countless threads on people using tubs, and also DIY racks/enclosures.

I agree. If you're budget driven, then a tub is the best you can do. Not exactly the nicest to look at, but functions very well for what it costs!

There's no reason a ball tank should cost 800.00. A twenty gallon will work for a very long time if not the snakes whole life. They can make a baby a bit more stressed but contact paper and a detail orientated setup will work great. I wouldn't say they are bad for them anyways. A tub setup is always easier to care for but if you only have 1 I see no difference between the two except easiness to clean. Both need to be setup carefully, and detail orientated and both have their own issues.


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I agree it isn't the place the snake is kept it is the person keeping it that makes it a good place or not. I am not sure I'd even say a tub was faster to clean either I don't find much difference between a complete cleaning of 4 snake tub in a rack and 5 enclosures (tub tank custom) It takes about 40 min per snake either way.

I only paid 200$ for my enclosures. What are you pricing to get 800$ ??? I have built 3 now but there is so little costs saving it really isn't worth it unless you need something out of the ordinary.

I found just the process of getting a tank into a tub and doing a full disinfect which I was doing 1x every month was a ton harder than throwing 10 tubs into the tub I find tubs are easier to clean out fully than tanks. But then again if you have 1 it really doesn't make a difference. I just find tubs easier to Maintain.


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The laying on my back scrubbing the underside of each slot is an absolute killer I do that once a month as well as doing the whole inside and outside. The time is always waiting for the disinfectant to work in any case, 30 mins of waiting.

Ah ha I see lol. Well I'm a big fan of taking my rack and sticking it right in my shower or outside In the summer time and hosing it down spraying it with bleach letting it sit for 15 min and rinse.


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If only I could I have dual controls on the rack that is alot of unwiring and rewiring stuff. I am trying a squeegee now that is limited sucess (and eye guards CHG sucks in your eye) I am in the process of designing a rack with removable shelves and suspended flexwatt...

Oh man I see. I use heat cable on my racks. So it's unplug and spray. I make sure everything is dry and I'll use a hair dryer in The winter time or else letting it sit in the sun Works for summer. I see why it takes forever on your set up.


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I think I am going to do away with the flexwatt for that reason!!! That is the killer.

why are glass tanks not good for them?

sorry for the noob question

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Munizfire

why are glass tanks not good for them?

sorry for the noob question

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I am new too, but I like glass tanks. This is how I see it, tubs are inhuman. In a tub the snake does not have room to climb, and I know others are going to say, my BP does LOVE to climb. In a tub there is not much room for the snake to stretch, and mine stretches in his humity box.
I just put black poster board around the sides and back of my 40g, and foam board and tinfoal over the screen. The temps are great, and so is the humity.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Munizfire

why are glass tanks not good for them?

sorry for the noob question

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They can be a lot more difficult to set up properly if you have humidity or temperature problems. Of the two humidity can be the most difficult part.

I do think they get a bad reputation because of all those bad owners out there who will get a cheap tank, oversized hide, undersized water dish, and heat lamp from the pet store on impulse and never attempt to make sure the humidity or temperature is where it should be. When someone sees a neglected snake it's more likely to be in a tank than a tub because that's the type of cage those types of owners prefer.

It can be made to work well if you put the effort into it. Most people don't put the effort into it.

Also, some of the cheap tanks that people get with their impulse pet purchase don't do a good job at keeping the snake from escaping.* I would be curious in seeing a poll where people who have had a snake escape from a cage state which type of cage they were using at the time.

* The glass tanks are not actually aquariums but because they look the same some impulsive pet purchaser might think they can save money by simply putting something over the top of an aquarium they already had laying around. So you get people trying to lay a "quilt" over the top like that infamous case in FL, or people resting an oversized screen over the top & weighing it down with books or bricks. A glass viviarium should have the screen top slide into a locked position so that the snake cannot push it "up" and should have some kind of locking scheme so the snake cannot try to slide it "out." This should ideally be design features made out of metal not cheap plastic.

I use a glass tank for my ball python. its a 20g long. It works great for me. All my temps are perfect both on hot and cold side. My humidity is perfect. But it all depends on your location also. My ball python seems to like it in there.

I don't necessarily see tubs as inhumane, especially since there's tons of different sizes, even tall ones. Tanks are hard for me to regulate where I live. Personally, I like my snakes to have room to squiggle, so I went and bought 4' x 2' showcase cages. I think they're a good size for a pet ball. Obviously it's not something a breeder or someone with a ton of snakes would look into. It's also a lot cheaper to build your own. I've noticed that my ball is a more active snake, so I think the size cage I have him in works well for him. He's got two low hides that are covered in a fake plants so that he can be in 100% darkness while the cage is lit up for me to see in. My ball does not make use of climbing room I gave him, but I have seen others make use of it. Glass tanks can work well if you work at it, I personally found it to be a hassle with my climate, and since I have four snakes I like being able to stack my cages.
Wood and plastic cages are the easiest to keep warm, plastic being my favorite because I don't have to worry about the humidity at all. Wood if not sealed will suck up the humidity.
You've got lots of options to go with, and if you build your own it will be fun to make it exactly to your snakes needs and your taste. I'm planning on building my next cages :)

Check Craigslist. Sometimes you can find great cages (vision, neodesha, animal plastics, etc) for low prices or like everyone else is saying pick up some tubs. You can buy a cage size tub and pimp it out. There's a thread somewhere on here about modifying a tub so you can see through the side of it. Then you get the convenience of a tub with the viewing pleasure of a cage. Yes, you can spend $800 on a ball python cage but $800 is not the norm...where are you looking?

The keeper makes a good home for the snake. It really doesn't matter what you keep it in, Tank, tub, custom. It really makes no difference the person setting up and maintaining it does.

They all have their own issues, tubs and near impossible to set up a true gradient in and can have heating issues (no thermal mass).

Tanks can have humidity issues.

Customs often have sagging and sometime can be tricky to heat depending on the construction.

Nothing is fool proof and nothing is easier than any other just different problems needing different solutions.