Need advice

I was originally going to set up a plastic tub for a BP and get a young one, but I found someone rehoming a slightly older BP. She is being sold with all of her equipment, but lives in a glass aquarium with a screen top. The plastic tub I bought is 15 gallons, but her aquarium is 40. She's 3 feet long from what the guy said. I've read about a lot of people having trouble with keeping humidity up with a screen top setup, but I imagine downgrading from 40 gallons to 15 might feel a bit cramped for her. What do you think? Should I look for a bigger tub, or does anyone have some good ideas on how I can work with what she already has? I'm a first time BP owner, so I don't know any of the tips and tricks yet.

I would look at Walmart or someplace for a 41qt tub. You can normally find them for around $10 if not less. I believe 41qt is the standard for adult female BP's.

Really? The one I bought is a 60qt. So she would be okay moving into something that size?

Put the ball python in a tub, sell the tank, live happily ever after.

I'm assuming you have a tall 60 qt tub the one littletreeguy is referring to is 41qts. But only about 6'' tall so a lot more floor space

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Originally Posted by Albino_Snake

Really? The one I bought is a 60qt. So she would be okay moving into something that size?

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It depends on the floor space. The 'gold standard' in plastic tubs for adult ball pythons has always been the Iris CB70 style. It's approximately 36"X16" so it gives a decent amount of floor space. Some people like a taller tub to give their snake room to climb, but ball pythons are typically terrestrial so they may or may not use the extra height. However in my opinion the floor space is what is most important.

it is more challenging to achieve ideal temps and humidity for BP's in most tanks due to the glass and screen top, but it can be done. i have two BP's that thriving in tanks. tubs are great for keeping BP's and achieve the correct husbandry more easily. this is what i keep the rest of my BP's in and they work great. i would recommend tubs to peeps new to BP's who find glass tanks too much work.

If you want to go with the tub route, 36 x 16 x 6 will be more than enough. In that case ask about the price without the enclosure, people always think their tank is worth something when in reality they are not worth much.

the seller specified they aren't interested in selling the snake without the stuff. I'll probably return my tub and exchange it for a shorter one with more floorspace, but in the meantime i'll make the aquarium work. I really liked this tub design though, it has 6 built in latches

Update:

I found a similar design tub that is 23.6 x 17.9 x 7.9. would this be enough floorspace or should i keep looking?

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Originally Posted by Albino_Snake

Update:

I found a similar design tub that is 23.6 x 17.9 x 7.9. would this be enough floorspace or should i keep looking?

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That sounds perfect.

I read somewhere where adult pythons do best with 400-600 sq. inches of floor space. That's a ballpark figure, and it's not uncommon for folks to put them into something a little smaller if they are problematic feeders. The 23.6"x17.9" would come in around 422" sq, so going with the 400-600" idea, that's sounds good, as Marks already mentioned.

For those of you seeing this that have adults in tubs or enclosures... does that 400-600" sq. rule sound accurate?

Awesome ^_^ I'll buy that one then and return my other

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Albino_Snake

I really liked this tub design though, it has 6 built in latches

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I bought a tub with a latch on each end ( 2 latches ) and tied the middle with a leather shoe string to keep the middle from lifting open and that worked fine too. I also learned you can over do it with the holes, 5 good sized holes on the front, 5 on the back, and 3 on the ends would probably be enough for air and that would keep the humidity up and the heat in better. You can over do it on the holes and that defeats the purpose of the tub, which is to hold in the heat and the humidity.

Hey LittleTreeGuy,

I haven't heard the square inches rule before. The rule I'm following is basically 1 sq ft of floor space per foot of snake which I realize is a bit more than what I often see recommended, but for the 3-4 ft range it isn't too far off from the 400 - 600 sq inches guideline.