Aquarium or PVC Cage?

Hello, I've been roaming this forum for about a week now, and for the past few weeks have been doing research on Ball Python's pretty much everyday! I am really interested in getting my first BP, have been wanting one for a while now too. I have a question though, which housing do you guys think would be best? A PVC cage(36Lx24Dx12H) or a 30 Gallon tank? I was aiming for an Aquarium but recently found PVC Cages. I'd be aiming for the one that is easier to take care of, I'm not planning on getting more than one BP, so which one retains more heat, humidity, etc? Thank you.

PVC cage without a question

Agreed. Go PVC. Costs a bit more but you can keep your guy in there his whole life. Clutter a lot to start and slowly remove stuff as necessary. Tanks can be a pain

But what exactly makes a PVC cage differentiate so much than an aquarium?

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Originally Posted by FreddyPoulin

But what exactly makes a PVC cage differentiate so much than an aquarium?

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A lot more insulation and humidity retention. They are also much lighter than glass tanks and are usually stackable in case you decide to gather a small breeding group down the road.

Ah, I see, And what size do you think would last a Ball Python it's entire lifetime? I don't want to have to keep expanding. Thank you very much!

100% pvc, go touch the outside of your aquarium it is always cold. Not to mention that tanks have screen tops, you need to retain some humidity and heat to give your ball python a good life.

look for a nice pvc home for your bp that opens from the front sliding doors etc.

even go buy a Rubbermaid bin from Wal-Mart and drill holes in it.

If you are buying just a normal ball python you should spend about 3 to 4 times what you pay for the snake just for the setup
enclosure, belly heat, thermostat.

I was new to ball pythons about 4 months ago, I had the idea : hey I have this great big glass tank this will work great!
within 4 days I knew it wasn't going to work and I started to build myself a rack and I went to Rubbermaid tubs.

Yeah, if PVC is so much better then I'll definately go for a nice PVC one. Would the specs (In inches) 36Lx24Dx12/16H last a BP it's entire life though?

Its hard to say, I have racks with different sized tubs. I wouldn't put a hatchling in a super large aquarium personally. they require small hides that hug their bodies so they feel secure, smaller water dishes. when you have a tiny hide and you are heating 25% of the cage with an under tank heater that really wouldn't work with a tiny hide for a hatchling bp. Like I said earlier what I use is small clear bins from Wal-Mart the ones for my hatchlings cost about 5 bucks, next stage up about 7 bucks and the ones for my adults about 12 bucks.

Also adult females get a lot bigger than adult males usually.

So, If I'd like to go for one size for it's lifetime, a female could be better? Because I was wanting a female already. Though if needed, I might get tubs for a while.

they still start as little babies which is hard to say. A baby ball python is almost too small to use something the size of a toilet paper roll as a hide. just to put it in to perspective.

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Originally Posted by FreddyPoulin

So, If I'd like to go for one size for it's lifetime, a female could be better? Because I was wanting a female already. Though if needed, I might get tubs for a while.

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3ft long X 18in-2ft wide is a good size for most specimens, including females. If you want to go ahead and use the adult cage that is fine, but most would prefer it if you placed a divider in the middle giving a young specimen a slightly smaller space, which promotes security.

You can get one of these with a divider, big enough to house two adult ball pythons.

http://www.animalplastics.com/terrestrial/T8/T8.htm


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Yeah, AP was and still is my first option for a cage.

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Originally Posted by martin82531

You can get one of these with a divider, big enough to house two adult ball pythons.

http://www.animalplastics.com/terrestrial/T8/T8.htm


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I was just about to recommend doing this. Throw the divider in there until the snake gets bigger, then take it out if necessary. However, though it is a little tight I've read the 2 ft long by 2 ft wide is OK for adult BP. So long as the enclosure is half as wide as the snake is long. So if you've got a 4 footer, 2 feet wide is just fine. Could be wrong.. But I read that somewhere..