Noob, setting up (read the stickies)

ok, to preface, I've read the stickies. And I've never owned a reptile, just fish, cats, dogs.

The problem if I have with the sticky tank is, meh, it doesn't look appealing, and I do like my stuff to be appealing as well as functional.

So, supposing that the only store I have available is petsmart plus online, could someone help me with putting together a shopping list for a new BP?

I do plan on building an actual vivarium soon, but want something smaller to start with, all help is appreciated, again, goal is to be first: completely functional/healthy, second: appealing. I want to do this right, unlike my initial foray into fish keeping 10 years ago....poor guys, overstocked, lost LOTS of fish in the learning process.

(p.s., no, the snake will not be purchased at petsmart, but from either a local pet store, or a breeder at the near monthly reptile convention next town over)
(p.p.s., the vivarium will be set up for a few weeks before I get a snake to make sure that I can hold temps and humidity first)

budget is, well, reasonable, not getting a multi-hundred dollar controller at this point, that is for the built unit down the road, analog gauges, glass tank, etc. the BP will be a standard, not a morph, more than likely.

Thanks,
JD

well, what didn't you like about the one from the sticky so we can have a starting point? bare minimum would be like: enclosure, substrate, 2 hides, water dish, hygrometer, heating device, thermostat...(thats all I can think of right now) but there's plenty of opportunities to get fancy!

That is a long shopping list if we are starting from scratch (meaning you have absolutely nothing but the thought and desire of owning a snake).

First is the enclosure. A LOT of people suggest that a bigger cage will stress out a ball python. This is not true in my experience as long as you have enough places for it to hide and keep it crowded. These snakes are naturally born into thousands of acres of land so a 40g tank for 4 month old ball python wont hurt him/her.

So first thing first is the enclosure. You can go cheap (if you plan on getting a baby snake) and get a small 20g long that comes with some accessories. This will not last but it will work for about a year or two until you are ready to put the money towards a 40g or something homemade. Here is the link to pet smarts bundle.

http://www.petsmart.ca/reptile/habit...pfm%3Dcategory

This set comes with one ugly hide, one ugly water dish, a more then good working heat pad, top screen lid, useless heat lamp, and aspen bedding.

Of course if you want to get JUST the enclosure and not a bundle here is another good one...

http://www.petsmart.ca/reptile/habit...pfm%3Dcategory

Next comes the heating (if you do not want the bundle). You can get really cheap with thisby getting heat tape but if you do not feel comfortable setting up the electric yourself, you can always purchase a heat zoo med or all living things heat pad. To control the heat pad, any dimmer switch will do but you may have to keep adjusting this as temperatures raise a fall during the day and night. For one snake, a dimmer switch is all you need. Paying $200 for a thermostat is a little extreme for one snake but this will prevent a lot of work for yourself and guarantee the perfect temp at all times.

Next is the substrate... Aspen, newspaper, paper towels, coconut husk, repti bark, cypress mulch or a combination of the last three are the best. This is a personal choice and is it based on all you. You may have to try a couple of these before you find out which one you prefer.

Now, the thermometer and hydrometer. Digital with probes is the best way to go, I personally use a temp gun to check for temperatures but this is not necessary for a single snake. It is up to you whether $20-$50 temp gun is really worth it over the $5 thermometer.

Water dishes can be anything. Deep enough for your snake to soak in if he/she desires but not too deep that he/she can drown. I use dollar store pet dishes. Wont spill if the BP tries to tip it over and who can argue $1.25 for a water dish? But if you want a fancy one, just get one that will fit your ball python's needs. These can run as high as $50 though, so keep that in mind.

Hides can also be made of almost anything. I use PVC hides. Cheap and simple, but if you are looking for fancy, any hide with a hold will do as long at the snake can fit in it (tightly with some wiggle room). Do not forget you need two, one for the hot side and one for the cool side.

As for decorations, you can use anything a pet store sells in the reptile section. Fake plants, sticks, cork bark, drift wood, even sphangum moss can add some nice details as well as help with humidity.

A reptile convention will most likely have better decoration items for your snake them petsmart will, plus cheaper.

So your list,

Enclosure
Heat pad
Thermostat
Thermometer
Hydrometer
Water dish
Appropriate sized rats/mice
Substrate
Hides x2
Decor

Basics first: under-tank heater, thermostat, plastic or ceramic/rock hides, and heavy, stable water dishes that can't be dumped easily. I would suggest at least 3 hides and 2 water bowls so if one is dirty you can swap it with a clean one and put the dirty one in the dishwasher (yes hides can go in the dishwasher). Do not get the wood half-log hides, they get moldy, they are impossible to clean when your snake poops on them since they are porous, and they are too open to make a ball python feel secure in them.

Plastic plants are available at craft stores such as Michaels, just get soft ones and check that there are no exposed wires or sharp edges that could cut your snake. They are half the price of pet store decorations and I have snakes that like to hide under/among them, especially the long grassy type and wide leaf type.

There's definitely a lot of cooler tank options than what you find in the chain pet stores.
Neodesha (npicages.com) and Dragons4you(.net), are some of the more affordable PVC cages that come to mind. Boaphile is a bit pricier.

The stickied tank was just to boring, plain......and white.

i checked out those tank pages, just not going to spend 200 bucks instead of 35 for a 20L.

I do want something at least a bit more biotope looking than white walls and newspaper for the substrate and out of place decorations

I can understand you not liking the Sticky tank setup. It is a basic setup with what is essential for BP husbandry. It is not meant to be an eye-candy set up.

I am also a noob and I bought a Critter Cage 20L tank from PetCo. It was priced $55 but they took $20 off when I signed up for their rewards card. There was a similar tank on Amazon for $97 http://www.amazon.com/Zilla-28021-20...s=Critter+Cage
The one I bought from PetCo is identical as far as I can tell only the model number is different.

If you don't like white background, you can purchase wallpapers. (Do a search for "reptile tank background" on Amazon, and you will see plenty of choices.) I bought a wallpaper from a reptile store that was only about 30 miles from where I'm at. Then you can add decorations as you please. Just make sure they don't have sharp edges. Check out my set up - which is far from good, since I am just taking my baby steps. (Since I don't know how to upload pictures on this forum, please see the pictures on my tweet: https://twitter.com/thapaprakash/sta...85435629809664 ) ... but I think you'd get the idea. One mistake I made is that I purchased wallpaper for the back ... I will go back and purchase more from the reptile store for the other sides. Also, i am going without infra red lighting for the time being and just go with ambient lighting. The lamp you are seeing in the picture is for CHE

Realize a BP isn't the best display snake, if that is what you are looking for. A hiding BP is a happy BP.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jarreddarque

The stickied tank was just to boring, plain......and white.

i checked out those tank pages, just not going to spend 200 bucks instead of 35 for a 20L.

I do want something at least a bit more biotope looking than white walls and newspaper for the substrate and out of place decorations

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If you're planning to build a vivarium and are aiming for a more naturalistic set-up you could research bioactive enclosures. It's basically creating a mini ecosystem with microfauna in place to keep in clean and healthy. I've almost got mine up and running and they're a lot of fun to put together. You can use live plants (sturdier species, of course, for a ball) and moss, branches, etc. The only thing to consider is that they need a thick layer of substrate, like at least 5 inches, plus a drainage layer, so you'd need to work in sufficient overhead heating, like a radiant heat panel, as opposed to an under tank pad.

keep in mind, naturally, Ball Pythons are nocturnal, so you may not even see them come out until late night. So they tend to hide out until everything goes quiet.

also, I like that Petsmart came out with National Geographic's temp gun. It runs via infrared technology, but also uses AAA batteries (unlike others that tend to use button batteries). pretty cheap (though i don't recall how much....$15-20 ish?)


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My little care sheet.

TANK:

Any type of heat source, whether it's a lamp or heat pad MUST be regulated. Heat pads will reach unsafe temperatures in a matter of minutes. You MUST have a thermostat.

The best you can buy are herpstats.
http://www.spyderrobotics.com

The cheaper option:
http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...ords=Hydrofarm

When you get your thermoSTAT, you plug your heat pad into it. You take your probe and secure it OVER the heat pad on the OUTSIDE of your tank.

Do NOT have the thermoSTAT probe inside the tank, as your snake can move it, pee on it, and will ultimately screw up your probe reading.

If you use a lamp, which most will suggest against, buy a light dimmer. They're about $10 from home depot and allow you to adjust how much heat is coming from the lamp.

Lamps will kill your humidity. Many will suggest covering half your lid with tinfoil/plexiglass/wet cloth. Misting will also help. Also, do not get white bulbs.

After your thermostat, a temp gun will be a wise investment. Or you can purchase a digital thermometer with probe. Many will suggest an Accurite, while others disagree. If you get an Accurite, you place the entire unit in the cage. The probed bit will be secured on top of the glass over your heat pad so you are able to monitor and be sure your thermostat is working properly. The unit goes on your "cool" side to monitor ambient temperatures.

You are aiming for:

Hot spot: 88-91 degrees
Cool side: 78-80 degrees
Humidity: 50%

When your snake goes into shed, you will need to boost your humidity up to 60-70%.

Inside your tank you will need:

-two identical hides. Find ones that are small enough to wrap your ball python around all sides and only have one entrance. Those log hides at the pet stores are terrible. One goes on the warm side, the other on the cool side.

-Water dish. If you get a large water dish, you can place it somewhat over your heat pad to help even more with humidity.

-Proper substrate. If you are using a tank, id suggest Eco earth or coco fibre as they help hold in humidity.

TUBS:

If you are able to keep your room at a stable 80 degrees, you will be able to keep your ball python in a tub set up.

Tub set ups may not be the prettiest, but are much easier to maintain humidity than a tank.

Find a large Rubbermaid container with a locking lid. Depending on your room humidity, drill holes along the sides using a soldering drill. The amount of holes will vary. Be careful as you can add more, but can't cover them up if you drill too many.

Just like a tank, you will place the heat pad on one side of the tub, with the thermoSTAT probe over the heat tape. With a thermostat, you will not have to worry about the tub melting as it should never get over 92 degrees.

Set your tub up like a tank. Add your substrate, water dish, hides and thermometers. You can also add fake leaves and branches.

FEEDING:

You'd be surprised to learn that hatchling ball pythons can eat hopper sized mice right out of the egg.

I'd suggest going to Walmart and picking up a cheap kitchen scale to monitor your baby's weight.

Babies can generally eat 10-15% of their weight every 5-7 days.

I feed my mouse eaters and babies on a 5 day schedule. My rat eaters are fed every 7 days.

As your snake gets older, try to match their food with the thickest part of their body.

Once you get your set up done, leave your snake alone for a week. The only time you are in the cage is to change water and clean poo. No touching him/her. Once the week is over, offer your mouse. I'm sure they'll take it.

If you want something nice, look into a PVC cage. They're much easier to maintain temperatures and humidity and are also much lighter than a tank.

Here's an example of one of mine. http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06...652e298e5c.jpg


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PVC cage

digital hydrometer

2 plastic hides

heavy water bowl

A radiant heat panel with a good thermostat

A temp gun

2 spray bottles...one with water...one with a cage cleaner

paper towels

a feeding cage to feed in.