Rate my encloser. :)

So I have my baby ball in a 36 X 18 X 18 Exo Terra terrarium. Newspaper on the floor covered with cypress mulch. UTH regulated with the stupid zilla thermastat, it does the job enough as far as keeping it from getting too hot, but I am getting a herpstat as soon as I follow through on my end of his anniversary gift. :p haha. I use lights as well because I live in Washington and it's cold as fack, on dimmer fluckers lamps. 60 watt daytime bulb for the day, 60 watt ceramic for night. The back is already covered but I taped paper to the outside of the sides, with a little peek spot for me on top. Hot side is 93 under his hidey, 89-90 overall. Cold side stays at 81. I keep the humidity around 60-64 but the hot side stays lower at 52-56. Here is a picture, sorry it's not the brightest in my room. Any critique, comments, and tips are appreciated! :)

http://i66.tinypic.com/xbijoi.jpg

The humidity is a little higher in this pic because I had just misted it. And yes, I have 4 temp gauges. I am paranoid haha.

I would ditch the two water bowls, and just have one. I personally always pull out that background thing on exo terra tanks, as if it gets messy it's not the easiest thing to clean plus it's just something to take up space. I would also put two identical hides on each side of the tank. The half log hide isn't that great for making a BP feel secure. Other than that I like it.

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Originally Posted by Neal

I would ditch the two water bowls, and just have one. I personally always pull out that background thing on exo terra tanks, as if it gets messy it's not the easiest thing to clean plus it's just something to take up space. I would also put two identical hides on each side of the tank. The half log hide isn't that great for making a BP feel secure. Other than that I like it.

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Thank you! The log was a last resort, I had a rock hidey at first but it was too big and he wouldn't go in it. He uses this one though at least. I am having the hardest time finding small hide outs, they are all huge. I am about to make one haha.

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Originally Posted by Kaylaaa

Thank you! The log was a last resort, I had a rock hidey at first but it was too big and he wouldn't go in it. He uses this one though at least. I am having the hardest time finding small hide outs, they are all huge. I am about to make one haha.

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Anytime.

Honestly depending on what hides you're looking for you can get them cheaper from amazon than a petstore.

Also

http://www.reptilebasics.com/hide-boxes

I like those as they're easy to clean. The medium is quite larger over then small.

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Originally Posted by Neal

I would ditch the two water bowls, and just have one. I personally always pull out that background thing on exo terra tanks, as if it gets messy it's not the easiest thing to clean plus it's just something to take up space. I would also put two identical hides on each side of the tank. The half log hide isn't that great for making a BP feel secure. Other than that I like it.

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Great points !!
A bonus with removing that background is that it gives the snake some extra space ( 36x 1 equivalent to 6" x 6" )


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I placed my background on the OUTside of the back for more space.

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Originally Posted by Kaylaaa

Thank you! The log was a last resort, I had a rock hidey at first but it was too big and he wouldn't go in it. He uses this one though at least. I am having the hardest time finding small hide outs, they are all huge. I am about to make one haha.

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I just use 6" drip saucers for potted plants, as is often recommended around here, and I've had great response with my little guy! Cheap to buy and simple to modify :gj::gj::gj:

You said baby ball. If it is a baby, it needs to be in a 10g or 20g max. 36" long is way to biget for a baby.0

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Originally Posted by Yzmasmom

You said baby ball. If it is a baby, it needs to be in a 10g or 20g max. 36" long is way to biget for a baby.0

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I was waiting for a comment like this LOL

Kaylaaa my constructive criticism would be that you got too much bling in there. IME the cypress mulch alone would make spotting fecal matter/urates difficult, the skull, plant, wood, etc, complicates it further. Then again I'm OCD about keeping a clean cage.

36 isn't too long for a baby BP. I started my little 12" worm off in a 40 gallon breeder and she was fine. The key is to clutter up the space with a lot of hides and safe paths between those hides like with silk vines from craft stores and paper towel tubes and stuff like that. I had like 4 hides her cage with a couple paper towel tubes and she was happy as a pig in slop. She ate every 3 days like clockwork and now she is fat adult in a 4x2.

I personally think overall the cage looks pretty awesome. I would ditch the the 2nd waterbowl though unless you need it to keep humidity up. And like Reinz said, I would probably put the background outside. The little snake will probably find a way behind it and then you got a headache lol.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

... my little 12" worm... ate every 3 days like clockwork and now she is fat adult...

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You still feed every 3 days?

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Originally Posted by Macropodus

You still feed every 3 days?

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Lol no. She ate every 3 days until she was about 6 months old. Then I went to once a week and then after 1 year, she went to between 1-2 weeks. During winter time, she quits eating though for about 4-5 months. Up until 6 months of age, she would literally stand up like a cobra from under a hide and look for food lol. She was labeled a problem feeder when I bought her......only problem I found was the problem of keeping her full as a baby lol. The only ones who eat every 4-5 days are my retic and JCP atm.

Other than the hides not being small or identical, which has already been mentioned, I think it looks awesome! I'm super jelly of your log in the center. I want something like that for my enclosure but I don't want to spend 30 bucks on a piece of wood. lol.

I got my hides from PetSmart. They are small half coconuts (slightly modified).

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...%2FdGQECyR.jpg

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Originally Posted by Yzmasmom

You said baby ball. If it is a baby, it needs to be in a 10g or 20g max. 36" long is way to biget for a baby.0

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Not neccessarily, depends on the snake. Mine has no issue with the size. :)

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

36 isn't too long for a baby BP. I started my little 12" worm off in a 40 gallon breeder and she was fine. The key is to clutter up the space with a lot of hides and safe paths between those hides like with silk vines from craft stores and paper towel tubes and stuff like that. I had like 4 hides her cage with a couple paper towel tubes and she was happy as a pig in slop. She ate every 3 days like clockwork and now she is fat adult in a 4x2.

I personally think overall the cage looks pretty awesome. I would ditch the the 2nd waterbowl though unless you need it to keep humidity up. And like Reinz said, I would probably put the background outside. The little snake will probably find a way behind it and then you got a headache lol.

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I think I will take the background out, I was thinking that anyway. Probably just cover all the sides with black tape or something. :) The two water dishes do help with humidity, so I am a little reluctant to take one out.

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Originally Posted by Snake_Newb

Other than the hides not being small or identical, which has already been mentioned, I think it looks awesome! I'm super jelly of your log in the center. I want something like that for my enclosure but I don't want to spend 30 bucks on a piece of wood. lol.

I got my hides from PetSmart. They are small half coconuts (slightly modified).

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...%2FdGQECyR.jpg

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So if my snake uses both his hides do I really need identical ones? Because he has no issues using the log or skull, and even hides behind the skull under the leaves as well.

Also the log in the middle isn't a wood one, but my noodle lovesss it! I figured it would be good for shedding too. :)

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Originally Posted by Macropodus

I was waiting for a comment like this LOL

Kaylaaa my constructive criticism would be that you got too much bling in there. IME the cypress mulch alone would make spotting fecal matter/urates difficult, the skull, plant, wood, etc, complicates it further. Then again I'm OCD about keeping a clean cage.

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What substrate do you use?

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Originally Posted by Kaylaaa

So if my snake uses both his hides do I really need identical ones? Because he has no issues using the log or skull, and even hides behind the skull under the leaves as well.

Also the log in the middle isn't a wood one, but my noodle lovesss it! I figured it would be good for shedding too. :)

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I guess if he is using them both it doesn't matter. I had two different ones but he would favor the cool side constantly. When I switched to identical ones he started using both. But if you don't have that problem I guess it's no big deal.

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Originally Posted by Snake_Newb

I guess if he is using them both it doesn't matter. I had two different ones but he would favor the cool side constantly. When I switched to identical ones he started using both. But if you don't have that problem I guess it's no big deal.

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He definietly uses the log, although I did just buy a smaller circular hide that I may try as well. But he is actually curled under the log as we speak after a nice meal. :)

Clutter is key when a small snake lives in a big enclosure. My BP has been in a 40 gallon tank her entire life and has done great. She has always had a naturalistic setup with plenty of cover and concealment.

It is not hard to see waste and it really is not hard to clean. Ive seen this said so many times and Ive never understood it as I have been keeping many of my snakes in this manner with great results.

I will say that with my Bloods they do stay in a more simplistic environment as their waste volume is huge and can make a really big mess. A BP waste in comparison is a pleasure to deal with.

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Originally Posted by KMG

Clutter is key when a small snake lives in a big enclosure. My BP has been in a 40 gallon tank her entire life and has done great. She has always had a naturalistic setup with plenty of cover and concealment.

It is not hard to see waste and it really is not hard to clean. Ive seen this said so many times and Ive never understood it as I have been keeping many of my snakes in this manner with great results.

I will say that with my Bloods they do stay in a more simplistic environment as their waste volume is huge and can make a really big mess. A BP waste in comparison is a pleasure to deal with.

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Should I add more to his encloser then? I was thinking of putting the new smaller hide on his hot side and then putting the log in between that and the skull so he can cross from one to the other more securely. I was also thinking of getting some floor plants since he seems to enjoy the leaves.

Its up to you and your snake. If it eats and shows no signs of stress you probably have enough in the tank. If it fails to feed you may add some more things to add some more security for the snake.

Ive had fake and real plants in my enclosures and personally like them. Some snakes will destroy them though. My BRB is such a snake. He likes to root around and move everything in his cage.

Your plan to move the hides while adding the new one sounds fine. I would make a change to the half log though. they are not very good for snakes as they have two large holes on each side. A very easy fix for this is to stuff the front and back with dry moss. This will allow the snake to easily pass through the moss and find a nice secluded area within the log behind it. Moss has proven to be a great tool for me in my keeping.

This is what I have used for years and it can be had at both big box pet stores.

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Terra...s=zoo+med+moss

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Originally Posted by Kaylaaa

... What substrate do you use?

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Kaylaaa I think you were directing that question to me? We have used cyprus mulch in the past when we had Blood Pythons which seemed to need more humidity than BP's to get a shed in one whole piece. The Bloods we have had were also more fossorial than BP's whereas BP's don't seem to mind not having every square millimeter of their skin covered under substrate. Do your BP's burrow in your mulch? Ours never did. We now use newspaper or paper towels, both of which we have found to be more absorbent than mulch (would you use mulch to wipe up a spill?) and much easier for spotting waste and quickly removing it. With our BP's just keeping a water receptacle of wide surface area under a heat lamp &/or near a heat pad provides sufficient humidity. I see a lot of members on this forum noting humidity problems. I think water placement is underrated. Also underrated is surface area of water. Large volume of water really won't do it, but large surface area does indeed. Here's a photo of one of our 40gallon pet enclosures, hopefully you can see just how wide the water dish is:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psovpyy7q4.jpg

And this one showing two hides; hot spot and cool spot.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psvwftskd2.jpg

During our more humid Summer months here we can peel back some of the cling-wrap taped to the top of the screen cover, then during the dryer Winter months we can replace some of it, or all it if need be.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...pskunmmfvi.jpg

BTW we use the same exact humidity monitors/thermometers depicted in your photo at the start of this thread. :partyon:

I had the log thing in the middle and my girl got stuck in the small hole in the middle that is not meant to be one of the 3 entrance and exits. If that makes sense. Also, it's hollow all the way to the tip, so people have gotten their bps stuck in that part of it too. Also the Styrofoam background. When my girl was 81 g. That's when she got stuck in that little hole and also somehow climbed behind that crazy wall!!! I looked everywhere for her only to realize she was there!

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