New here. Whats up

Hey. This is a great site going on right here. Gots alot of cool stuff. Anyway, I been keeping snakes for awhlie but I just decided to get a ball python. If anyone gots some helpfull hints, I would appreciate them.

Oh and also just out of curiosoty, for those of you who have pythons, what size are they? How fast do they grow?


Thanks,
Later

Welcome! Check out the ball python care sheet on this website for some good info.

Ball Pythons get to be 3-5 feet, females are larger than males. Generally, they'll grow to more than 3 feet within 3 years.

What kind of snakes do you have now?

Did you already get the ball python? If not, one hint I can offer is to get it's enclosure all set up with the correct temperatures, humidities, and # of hides before bringing your snake home.

Post any other questions you have, everyone here is really helpful.

Welcome to the forums :mrgreen:

Yeah welcome to your new home for at least the next week or so ^_^

I've spent alot of time on these boards in just the last few days.

Be sure to browse some of my posts cause there is lots of info in them thanks to all the great people here at the forums answering all my n00b questions ^_^

Hi. Thanks for the info. Right now I have three grey rat snakes ( great snakes :D ), and some other pets.

I been looking a ball pythons for about a month and I'm currently seting up an aquarium for one. Its a 20 gal. Tall, is that big enough? I done alot of planing and decided to make it loke some-what natrual. I have filled the bottom of the aquarium with about four inches of sand, burried below the sand is a large contaner with a plastic lid that is covered in a layer of sand. I havecut a hole in the lid and so that and moved the sand away from the hole, so that it creates a burrow under ground. the water bowl is burried in the sand so that the edge of the bowl is just above the sand.I'm going to put in plastic plants and plenty of branches. I'm going to try to keep on side of the encloser in the high 80 and the other in low 80, At night letting it get down to low 70.

Feel free to tell me if you think there is anything I might change or add.

Thanks.

Hi Vette, have you considered using something else as a substrate? Using sand will lower the humidity in the tank and cause you BP some problems in the future. Plus it will be hard to feed him/her cause of the danger of ingesting sand particles. In my opinion, paper or carpet is the better choice and you should provide a hide like a small clay pot with a hole in it turned upside down. Check out the do it urself section of the forums and you will find lots on info on how to keep ur ball healty and happy :D

If you want a more natural look that is still safe, you could try reptibark, as long as feed your snake in a seperate enclosure so that he doesn't ingest any. I use Lizard Liner carpet and love it. Others just use Newspaper. Cheap and easy.

>>Thanks for all the tips. As far as feeding I plan on placing him in a different container for 3 reasons: 1. So that he dosen't ingest the sand 2. so he dosen't associate the opening of the cage with feeding time and 3.Because I have found with my rat snakes they find the food easier in a smaller container.

When it comes to keeping the humidity up, I'm going to buy a Hydrometer (SP?) to measure the humidity and try to keep it within the right humidity and if I can't I will try other substates. (The right humidityis around 60%, right?) I will defenetly look into the reptibark and carpet.I may end up trying many different types substrates untill I find the one I like best.I don't plan on buying the snake untill I have sucssefully mantained the encloser at the correct requriments, Therefore I will have plenty room for trial and error.
>Thank you everyone for your suggestions, I greatly appreciate them.

Not to knock your keeping skills but if you are keeping your ball python in sand i would change it. It gets between their scales and starts an irritation. Instead you can use newspaper, paper towels, Aspen bedding only not pine, astro turf, repticarpet. Sand might be ok for colubrids but ball pythons come from the semi tropical areas of africa. As for me i have used, repticarpet, coconut husk bedding but was too messy, and now i use aspen. I really dont mean to burst your proverbial bubble but please change the substrate. A ball python will require around 4 square feet of floor space. A 20 gallon tall will do good for a while but they need to stretch their bodies out to aid in digestion. A ball python will always appreciate floor space since they are nonarboreal meaning they spend thier lives on the ground even though they do love to climb. But you are well on your way.

Welcome to the forum and check out the care sheet on this site its very informative.

Have you considered sterilite housing?

What are the dimensions of the 20 gal? You would probably need a bigger tank once your bp gets bigger. That will probably be okay to start out, as long as the temperatures and humidity are okay. It should be around 90 on the hot side and 80 on the cool side. 70 degrees is definitely to low, even at night. It should not go below 75 degrees.
Humidity should be around 50 %-60%. You can measure it with a hygrometer. Walmart has great digital thermometer/hygrometer combos with a probe so that you can measure temps on both sides of the tank. I don't remember, but I think it's around $15. I also agree with Damien, sand would not be good for a ball python.

I'm glad you're getting your set up taken care of and doing research before you actually bring your ball python home. :) Keep asking questions.

For substrate, I prefer cypress mulch. It's holds moisture in very well and maintains humidity, and is very comfortable to the touch. You just have to make sure not to over do the moisture/humidity. But in my opinion, it's just right.


Just my 2 cents.

And by the way, welcome!

A twenty gallon tall should be just fine if the BP is under two feet IMO.

The snake keeper in fact sugests that one use a 10gallon for a BP under 2.5feet.

ATTENTION: click on the following link. It will tell you all the basics about BP's that is a must know :D
http://ballpython.com/page.php?topic=ballbasics

Welcome to the forums! Everyone else has pretty much covered all the points I would have made...so I'll just say WELCOME!

>Well I have decided to take everybody's advice and change the substrates. I went out this morning and bought some green repti-carpet and put it in. I also bought a hydrometer and thermometer today.Now everything is set up, I have a hide houses on each end of the encloser, a water bowl big enough for him to go for a swim if he likes, some fake plants for looks and some branches for climbing. I only plan to buy a young python so the 20 gal. should suffice for awhile, and them I plan on buying him a larger encloser as he needs it.
>Everyones tips have been hepfull, and very appreciated.
Thanks

Sounds like you're off to a great start!! :D

Just to ask, what kind of thermometer/hygrometer did you end up purchasing? If you bought those dial ones, as others have said, they are notoriously inaccurate, and it is very recommended that you take a drive to Wally World :) and buy one of those DIGITAL thermometer/hygrometer combo dealies. They are in the section with air conditioners and stuff like that. If that info is wrong, someone please post the correct info. Hope this helps some. :)

>Hey!
I did buy a digital one because I want the best for my python, whom I plan on purchasing this weekened! :D
It may take me longer but I'm going to start looking.
>Do you think I should puchase it from a pet store or breeder? What would be a good size?
Thanks

Definitely buy from a breeder... unless you know your pet store inside out and are absolutely confident they will get you a captive bred animal (mine for instance gets all their herps from breeders, some of which are current/former employees)

Oh cool. Thanks for the tip.

Vette, sounds like you've got things rolling :) congrats. I hope ya find a Ball python ya really like (not that Ive found one yet that I didnt like). One question though. How is the humidity going in your tank? I know it is hard to keep good humidity with the aquariums. I have one of my balls in an aquarium (putting together a sterilite at the moment) and I have to put a damp towel over the top to keep the humidity up. I end up having to get it wet twice a day. Just kind of a pain sometimes. When you decide to get a larger enclosure for it you should look into building your own. Sterilite containers work great if you can find the propper size. I am also building one out of wood for my bearded dragon.
ANYWAY, enough rambling :)
good luck!

Screen lid + ConTac paper = no humidity probz.
ConTac paper on INSIDE = no nose-rub wounds.

Glass is more work, true - but quite workable nonetheless.

The humidity is pretty stable it always around 60% to 65%. In the mornings I mist the aquarium and that keeps the humidity up.The temp is fine too.
>Thank you everybody for all your help.

OK just my $.02 - since I slapped on the ConTac paper there's no need to mist - the water bowl alone does all the work - even in the bigger AfRock enclosure. You'll usually find more help than you're after hehe ;)