First BP, don't expect to breed or purchase others...Tub or Tank?

I'm about to receive my first BP and have no experience with them at all. I've read that many owners prefer tubs over tanks, but I usually see multiple tubs in rack systems. I will have only one BP, a baby, and don't plan on breeding or acquiring others in the near future. I've read some of the pros and cons concerning both tubs and tanks; my question is are tubs more for breeders or those that will house multiple snakes? As I said, I'm very new at this, and would like to find the easiest and most effective way to care for my new BP, as I don't have experience dealing with temperature or humidity issues. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

First, congratulations on joining the snake community and welcome. Yes tubs do hold heat/humidity a little better, and are a space saver for people with larger collections. In my opinion if you are to be a one snake person you might as well show it off. Don't let anyone here scare you away from glass cages. With a few tricks they are easily managed and look very nice. I recommend starting with a 20 gallon long glass cage with a sliding/locking mesh screen top, and a 75 watt red lamp on a dimmer switch. Using aluminum foil you can cover most of the mesh screen top and it will help hold heat and humidity well. After finding a nice moisture holding substrate you can decorate how you choose. This should do well until the snake is 28-30" long. At that point I would move up to a 36" long/40 gallon tank. That or a nice Exo-terra cage with front opening doors. Very nice for a display tank. When the time comes to move to a bigger cage the only real change you'll need to make is bigger hides and a more powerful lamp. Sometimes an under tank heater with a thermostat is recommended on the cool side of the cage because it is so far from the lamp that ground level temps don't get quite high enough from the lamp alone. That or a second lamp is an option also. Whichever way you decide to go make sure you do lots of homework before you purchase a snake.

I'm not a breeder (yet!), but tubs are hands down the easiest set up, in my opinion. I have a few free-standing tubs for my snakes. It's unbelievably easy to maintain humidity and temperatures in them. They're also a breeze to clean. Plus, they're much more wallet friendly than tanks and the subsequent gear you need to maintain them. The only issue is that the room has to stay reasonably warm, because you don't have the option of using a heat lamp for an extra boost.

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Originally Posted by Charge

I'm about to receive my first BP and have no experience with them at all. I've read that many owners prefer tubs over tanks, but I usually see multiple tubs in rack systems. I will have only one BP, a baby, and don't plan on breeding or acquiring others in the near future. I've read some of the pros and cons concerning both tubs and tanks; my question is are tubs more for breeders or those that will house multiple snakes? As I said, I'm very new at this, and would like to find the easiest and most effective way to care for my new BP, as I don't have experience dealing with temperature or humidity issues. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

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If you want the fewest issues all around, then get a tub. I recomend a 32qt for babies and 106qt for adults...set them up as you would any other snake enclosure.


I use clamps on both ends plus a bungee cord on the end to secure the lid, ventilation holes are at the side and back. Heat is provided by a cable or under tank heater, it only heats one side allowing the specimen to thermoregulate. The water bowl is a simple 8oz deli cup that is cleaned as necessary, at least weekly. Substrate is a mixture of coconut coir and cypress mulch...I prefer the cypress because it inhibits fungal growth due to a natural pH. Fake plants are provided for extra security. I set up a 106qt tub, same stuff as the 32qt, just bigger. With all that said, I do have my adult male normal in a 40-gallon tank and have ran into very little problems.

Couple pics if they help

32qt


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Ud...I=w311-h552-no

106qt, currently houses a 2013 pastel...her 32qt tub is not finished yet.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9...215924_787.jpg

For one single snake I personally would want to show it off rather then keeping it in a tub. That being said I wouldn't go with a glass tank I'd invest in a PVC tank so I wouldn't have to deal with all of the heating and humidity issues that come with glass tanks.

I think for one snake I would probably go for the aesthetically pleasing over the tubs. I use a wooden vivarium for my pastel (she WAS going to be my only one :rofl:) Oh how silly I was, I got the bug bad! I have my others in tubs. Humidity issues can be fixed in a tank/viv enclosure, they're just a bit of a pain but there are so many threads to help on here!

I would say go for the pvc type to help with temps and humidity etc rather than a glass enclosure. Tubs are easier but I think for just the one you don't need to go down the easy route so bad, viv's aren't so much harder to deal with. All personal preference.

First BP - you don't EXPECT to breed or purchase others... but you will.

Ok, a friend of mine gave me a PVC tank that has a vent on top and two sliding glass doors. It measures approximately 1'x2'x2'. It needs a good cleaning, but otherwise seems in good shape. What do you think? Any cons to using something like this?

[IMG]http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0bbd69a1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/...ps329f8360.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0c2047a4.jpg[/IMG]

First, congrats on your pet.
And, second for a single pet I cannot strongly enough suggest X-PVC or ABS enclosures.
They look 100X's better than tubs and you don't ever have a battle with humidity.
Now if you don't mind a little extra work and would like to save a bit of coin, glass can be made to work too.

I think that looks workable, unfortunately I haven't worked with PVC enclosures so I am not expert. Heck, I'm not an expert at all! I just like to throw in opinions and experiences ;)

That looks like it will hold heat very well! It has good ventilation also. Don't knock it if it's free! :)

A lot of us use plastic tubs, if we can make that work then this is definitely workable. It may even be perfect! (no knowledge on PVC tanks!!)

That may not last the BP it's whole life but for a small BP with plenty of hides you can make this is a beautiful piece, perfect for your BP and pretty nice for you to look at you! :)

Like most people already said here, a glass tank or a wooden terrarium with front glass would be the way to go since it's more visually appealing for you. It's a little bit more work maintaining and cleaning but it's worth it. Most people use tubs so it would be easier for them to take care of multiple snakes (especially if they're breeding or have a decent size collection).

Not very familiar with PVC tanks but here are some threads with how to heat one and how to set one up. Hopefully this helps. You can always replace expensive thermostats (like Herpstat 4 the one in the first thread) with something cheaper like Hydrofarm thermostat (http://www.hydrofarm.com/product.php?itemid=3372).

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...With-Pictures!

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ng-my-PVC-cage

Tanks all the way..I don't like tubs all...I don't believe in leaving an animal in a draw....but that's me..this is referring to a rack system. But if it's a tub with plenty of room for them to move and climb if they choose then it's ok,I still think a tank,cause they should be able to look around if they like..my cat and snakes are always checking each other out through the glass

I highly recommend a PVC cage. Animal plastics t8s are worth every penny.