heat mats and rubbermaid

I am currently preparing for a ball python within the next 2-3 weeks. I am shopping for a large rubbermaid container like the one in the do-it-yourself section. I have the choice of going with a human heat mat and a heat mat specifically for reptiles. Will the human heat mat heat it up enough?It would cover about 1/3 of the container. I also plan to cuta hole for a low-wattage light. Exactly how hard is it to melt the plastic to the mesh?Thanks for any feedback

The human heating pad may heat it up enough, depending on your ambient temperatures. I don't have any problems maintaining temps in mine. If you use a reptile heat mat, you really should use a thermostat or rheostat or dimmer switch with it for safety purposes because they get so hot. If you use a soldering iron, it's almost as easy to melt the plastic as it is to get clumsy and burn yourself. :) It's even easier to spend a couple of bucks on 4" cable ties at Home Depot and just poke holes in the plastic then zip those through to secure the mesh.

How big in quarts/gallons does the rubbermaid tub have to be? Will it hold my PB for its lifetime? Also, If i order a PB from NERD, would it come as a juvenile/baby/adult?Would i be better off going to the local petco and buying one?Ive heard some bad rumors about C.B. Petco snakes...

What is NERD?

NERD stands for New England Reptile Distributors...one of the (if not THE) biggest ball python morph breeders in the world. You should visit their site...it's really awesome.

Doyle...you'll get from them exactly what you order. If you order a baby, that's what you'll get. You'd usually be much better off ordering from ANY reputable breeder, rather than going through a petstore, which often has mites and unhealthy animals.

EDIT -- Also, you might check around for any reptile expo/shows in your area. Anything within a 2-3 hour drive would be well worth it. You get to enjoy the show, and then hand-pick the bp of your choice while talking with the breeder first-hand. (And at MUCH better prices than you'd ever find at a petstore, and without the shipping you'd pay to buy from the top breeders.)

Whoa! NERD has the highest prices I've ever seen! I've got to scatch them off my list of places to buy from.

LOL....well, those are for special morphs. I honestly don't know how much they charge for normals, but I'm sure they have plenty and the prices on them would be competitive with other big breeders. (Usually anywhere from $50-$100 for a healthy Captive Bred & Born baby.)

Well if they have normals I havn't seen them, I can't find them on their site.

What you're looking for is not quarts or gallons but floorspace. You can buy one that would house your bp for a lifetime, but it will be less stressful for the snake if you start out smaller and move up to the bigger one. A general rule of thumb is (length of snake)+1 foot = needed floorspace, so a 15" hatchling would round down to 1' long and would only need about 2' of floorspace, which you could get with a 2'x1' container, with a minimum height of 6". An adult bp, on the other hand, should have more like a 3'x2' container.

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Originally Posted by First_time_herp

Well if they have normals I havn't seen them, I can't find them on their site.

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CB '03 Normals - nice yearlings!!! Males $85+

CB '04 Normals - nice fat CB babies!!! Females: $65+ Males $55+
at the very top of the page here: http://www.newenglandreptile.com/snakeavail.html

Thanks Marla! Man, you guys are so helpful here.

No sweat ;)

Kara of NERD also visits here on a regular basis and they have an *excellent* reputation, so I'm sure you won't go wrong if you buy from them.

all of the info you gave me really helped! I think I'll probably buy from NERD. Ill get about a 2x2 to start out with. I've heard alot of good things about NERD and shipping would only be about 1-2 days since I'm about 3 hours away. If anyone hears of a Reptile Show in the Mass. area, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! thanks

I'm planning on buying from Alexhuereptiles.com. His bps are heathy and cheap.

Watch this page http://www.kingsnake.com/events.html for event listings, and don't ever buy a ball python from someone and not have it shipped overnight. If they do that, it's a warning sign. If you're only three hours from there, it might be worth your while to go and pick it up yourself. I'm sure Kara would be happy to help you pick one out.

Marla are you talking to me or doyle?

Sorry, that was for Doyle. Guess I should have quoted. :)

If I only lived three hours from NERD, I would definitely plan on making the drive out there to cherry-pick my own snake...and get a grand tour while I'm at it! :D Maybe plan a picnic someplace nice along the way....make a fun and memorable day out of it!

Thats ok, I was just a bit confused.

too bad i can't drive.......I'd be up there every weekend. But maybe i will just go up and hand-pick one. Still have a lot of things to do before then

Sure, but if you could catch a ride up there (I don't think Greyhound is the way to go on this one ;) ), I think it would be worth the trip.

Hehehe..... *trying to picture carrying a snake home on a Greyhound bus*

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Originally Posted by JLC

Hehehe..... *trying to picture carrying a snake home on a Greyhound bus*

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:lol: :lol:

Don Hamper has great snakes at very reasonable prices as well http://www.pythons.com/hamper/avail.html

yea i'll check him out