Display Enclosures for Ball Pythons: Expectation vs. Reality

I see a lot of new keepers (and more experienced ones) talk about maintaining a display enclosure so they can watch their snake cruise around. Something pretty to look at. I get it! I've kept my ball pythons in tubs and display enclosures and for me, the actual snake viewing time is the same: non at all.

So, I just wanted to share with you a funny comparison photo. Display enclosure expectation:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2b52c6f7d1.jpg

Vs. Reality:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...03f51e1693.jpg

I've fixed up the plants every day for the last two days and every morning I awake to this mess. Lol! I give up! If this is how she likes it, this is how I'll leave it.


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Hahah that's pretty cute. :) Have you thought about using some type of reptile-safe adhesive?

I don't see anything wrong with display enclosures if you are able maintain the temp and humidity requirements. I think its more economical to go with a tub/rack system when you have lots of snakes and it's much easier to provide them with an environment they will thrive in.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cayley

Hahah that's pretty cute. :) Have you thought about using some type of reptile-safe adhesive?

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I need to be able to take them out to wash them. ;) otherwise I would!


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I think because of how big and heavy balls are when they go cruising, making a display enclosure with that in mind is key. So something like this:

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...KLIrlzkJog.jpg
Hides

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...w%2Fs-l300.jpg
A nice tunnel

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-branch-v1.jpg
A good, sturdy climbing branch

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2F6557%2Fsmall

Water dish (this one is neat, it sits down under the substrate!) and then for your bit of green getcha a couple of these

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2F4124%2Fsmall https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...small-tp-k.jpg
And put reptile safe live plants in them! You'll want to get mature plants that can stand up to vigorous noofing and being slithered on, and you may want to keep back ups to cycle out so one can have a recovery break, but they'll be less likely to be pushed over than the flimsy plastic things.

Nice finds! I've considered some more natural hides, but I'm cheap and I like things that are easy to clean. ;)

No way will I put live plants in with a BP.

1. They will eventually knock them over.
2. I am terrible at keeping house plants live lol.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I see a lot of new keepers (and more experienced ones) talk about maintaining a display enclosure so they can watch their snake cruise around. Something pretty to look at. I get it! I've kept my ball pythons in tubs and display enclosures and for me, the actual snake viewing time is the same: non at all.

So, I just wanted to share with you a funny comparison photo. Display enclosure expectation:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2b52c6f7d1.jpg

Vs. Reality:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...03f51e1693.jpg

I've fixed up the plants every day for the last two days and every morning I awake to this mess. Lol! I give up! If this is how she likes it, this is how I'll leave it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Lol that's why I switched the plants in my one cage.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3b46980b99.jpg

The ones I had before woukd get knocked down CONSTANTLY! New ones will definitely not come down at all,I made sure of it.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by SKO

Lol that's why I switched the plants in my one cage.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3b46980b99.jpg

The ones I had before woukd get knocked down CONSTANTLY! New ones will definitely not come down at all,I made sure of it.

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Those look awesome! How did you set that up?


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Beautiful accessories and tanks!

My corn finally became large and heavy enough to squash the delicate carpet of fittonia. It was very pretty, but I doubt it will last another month. Might just pull it while it is still alive. I love planted tanks, but they can be a challenge (just like planted fish tanks). The sanseveria, hedera helix, and potos growing in that enclosure are still going strong.

The way I look at it, a planted that is beautiful is still a lovely addition to the home even if the snake always hides. That said, I've only done them for the two snakes that had bad dry sheds otherwise. Of the other two, the rosy boa needs her environment dry, so the display tank is an arrangement of drift wood for her to climb, set in a Sani-chip substrate. Ditto (so far, for the baby Sonoran gopher). They are still attractive environments in glass boxes, but I don't have to run lights on them. Way too many plug-ins as it is!

I screwed nails into them lol. A big part of switching to these was the fact that she can't climb on top of them the way she was with the other ones.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by distaff

The way I look at it, a planted that is beautiful is still a lovely addition to the home even if the snake always hides.

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That's one of the reasons I set my enclosures up the way I did. They are right in the living room and take up a decent amount of space. Not to mention that the snakes will be alive for a long time so I want something nice to look at. They do hide a lot but every once in a while when it becomes evening time, past 6 or 7, they will poke their heads out and "hang out" almost halfway out of their hides for a while. Or during the middle of the day you might catch one of them going from one hide to another. It's always fun to see them when you're not expecting to, at least to me it is.

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My bp is in a display enclosure.. in my sewing room. He is out a cpl times a week or so for an hour or so at a time, moving around. This is normal behavior for him though, hes always been like this. Even when he was in a tub. I thnk my bp is just active.

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Lol guys it was just supposed to be a joke about how destructive ball pythons can be. Was not meant to deter you all from doing your thing.

Nothing wrong with a display setup, I just think it's funny that I wake up to this mess all the time.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Nice finds! I've considered some more natural hides, but I'm cheap and I like things that are easy to clean.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

;)

No way will I put live plants in with a BP.

1. They will eventually knock them over.
2. I am terrible at keeping house plants live lol.


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Okay, that's fair lol :D. My other hobbies include gardening and permaculture, so planted is a little better for me. Beeps aren't intentionally destructive, but they're strong, large bodied snakes, and when they go cruising if it ain't nailed down it'll get rearranged haha.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lizardlicks

I think because of how big and heavy balls are when they go cruising, making a display enclosure with that in mind is key. So something like this:

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...KLIrlzkJog.jpg
Hides

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...w%2Fs-l300.jpg
A nice tunnel

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-branch-v1.jpg
A good, sturdy climbing branch

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2F6557%2Fsmall

Water dish (this one is neat, it sits down under the substrate!) and then for your bit of green getcha a couple of these

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2F4124%2Fsmall https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...small-tp-k.jpg
And put reptile safe live plants in them! You'll want to get mature plants that can stand up to vigorous noofing and being slithered on, and you may want to keep back ups to cycle out so one can have a recovery break, but they'll be less likely to be pushed over than the flimsy plastic things.

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Excellent suggestions ... I'd add a few more branches as well ...


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lizardlicks

Okay, that's fair lol :D. My other hobbies include gardening and permaculture, so planted is a little better for me. Beeps aren't intentionally destructive, but they're strong, large bodied snakes, and when they go cruising if it ain't nailed down it'll get rearranged haha.

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True ... just basic physics really ...


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I see a lot of new keepers (and more experienced ones) talk about maintaining a display enclosure so they can watch their snake cruise around. Something pretty to look at. I get it! I've kept my ball pythons in tubs and display enclosures and for me, the actual snake viewing time is the same: non at all.

So, I just wanted to share with you a funny comparison photo. Display enclosure expectation:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2b52c6f7d1.jpg

Vs. Reality:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...03f51e1693.jpg

I've fixed up the plants every day for the last two days and every morning I awake to this mess. Lol! I give up! If this is how she likes it, this is how I'll leave it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I notice that this was a tongue-in- cheek post but you did kinda suggest the snake ' viewing time ' in vivs V rubs is the same when in fact if you'd simply add a few branches , wedging them in diagonally or glueing with a hot- gun then you'd actually see a MASSIVE difference as Royals will climb for hours in the evenings given the chance .

Your display actually looked good but as someone else mentioned it simply wasn't snake proof . I've also seen some use plastic garden ties which are hot-glued in place and then the plastic / fake plants are easily removed and replaced time and time again .

All credit to you for choosing a Viv and making it look so nice though !!


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You could always drill through the plastic of your viv and set up hooks/use wire to hold the plants up? Or get bigger, sturdier suction cups to use, I have my BP's hanging plant decor on a big bathroom suction cup and it rarely comes down, even when Yigg climbs all over it. That works for me!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Lol guys it was just supposed to be a joke about how destructive ball pythons can be. Was not meant to deter you all from doing your thing.

Nothing wrong with a display setup, I just think it's funny that I wake up to this mess all the time.


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Oh I def got the joke. lol My girl moves everything around. She flips her hides and before I got a heavier water dish, she would dump that too. lol she likes to wedge herself in between things and push. I just let her do her thing. As long as she isn't laying in water I don't much care what she does. Eventually she will go in a T8 or something like that depending on how big she gets but I don't plan on anything fancy. Just adequate space for her to thrive is all I care about.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

I notice that this was a tongue-in- cheek post but you did kinda suggest the snake ' viewing time ' in vivs V rubs is the same when in fact if you'd simply add a few branches , wedging them in diagonally or glueing with a hot- gun then you'd actually see a MASSIVE difference as Royals will climb for hours in the evenings given the chance .

Your display actually looked good but as someone else mentioned it simply wasn't snake proof . I've also seen some use plastic garden ties which are hot-glued in place and then the plastic / fake plants are easily removed and replaced time and time again .

All credit to you for choosing a Viv and making it look so nice though !!


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Well since they are nocturnal and I am asleep for most of the night, yeah, the viewing time is pretty slim. When I do catch her awake at night, she is usually just looking at me from inside her hide or coiled in the back of the enclosure. She cruises around very little. I'll consider the branches. I mainly just don't want more stuff to scrub poo off ;)

Oh I didn't expect it to be snake proof haha. I just wanted something nicer than a black box to look at. Zip tying the plants seems like a good idea. I don't want to mess with hot glue. I might also get some standalone fake plants that I can put right side up a bit easier.

Thanks :) Since I only have the one snake right now, it just makes sense to use a viv.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nellasaur

You could always drill through the plastic of your viv and set up hooks/use wire to hold the plants up? Or get bigger, sturdier suction cups to use, I have my BP's hanging plant decor on a big bathroom suction cup and it rarely comes down, even when Yigg climbs all over it. That works for me!

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I drilled some holes already to wire the lighting. I suppose I could use some smaller holes & zip ties to secure the plants. We shall see :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cletus

Oh I def got the joke. lol My girl moves everything around. She flips her hides and before I got a heavier water dish, she would dump that too. lol she likes to wedge herself in between things and push. I just let her do her thing. As long as she isn't laying in water I don't much care what she does. Eventually she will go in a T8 or something like that depending on how big she gets but I don't plan on anything fancy. Just adequate space for her to thrive is all I care about.

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Lol good. Yeah I guess that is what I meant. They tend to smash themselves around.. so unless you glue everything down, it's going to get tipped eventually. Even a ceramic dish can get tipped!

I need to get my kiddo a viv since nowadays he seems to spend all night sitting one of his hides with his face out on the log in front of it, staring out. I thought for the longest time he wouldn't want one because of how much visibility the clear door provides but nope, he seems to like to know what's going on. He's less than a couple feet away from my bed too, so I look at him, he looks at me (or ignores me), and oddly, he's perfectly happy about it. So I guess my tax refund is getting devoted to someone's upgrade.

Also, somehow I haven't managed to kill the lucky bamboo in his tub in the past year+ even though I always forget to change their water (don't worry - the snake's water gets changed at least every other day. It's just the plants that get ignored).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I see a lot of new keepers (and more experienced ones) talk about maintaining a display enclosure so they can watch their snake cruise around. Something pretty to look at. I get it! I've kept my ball pythons in tubs and display enclosures and for me, the actual snake viewing time is the same: non at all.

So, I just wanted to share with you a funny comparison photo. Display enclosure expectation:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2b52c6f7d1.jpg

Vs. Reality:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...03f51e1693.jpg

I've fixed up the plants every day for the last two days and every morning I awake to this mess. Lol! I give up! If this is how she likes it, this is how I'll leave it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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OMG, that is so funny !!!
I see these elaborate natural setups for the hatchlings and always think to myself, you just wait till they grow up !! They are BULLDOZERS. I think they enjoy it, LOL.

All that said, I have one Display cage and it houses a BIG Ball Python, 5 feet long and heavy.
He has one big natural looking hide that is really just a planter upside down, looks cool, though. It has a plant hot glued on top of it. So this is deco item #1.
Then he has a big home made corner shelf that has a piece of drift wood screwed on to it. It also has plants hotglued onto it. One to stay on top, and some that hang down, turning that shelf into a hide. That entire structure makes deco item #2.
Deco item #3 is a pretty and natural water dish.

All that on natural looking substrate.

So its VERY easy to maintain (only 3 pieces to take out for cleaning) and he makes full use of it all !!! Cage is a 36 inch wide classic Neodesha.

While he does flatten the plants some, they are easy to bend upwards again ;)

http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...26805017_n.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...14944525_n.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...g/large/j3.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...g/large/j7.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kcl

I need to get my kiddo a viv since nowadays he seems to spend all night sitting one of his hides with his face out on the log in front of it, staring out. I thought for the longest time he wouldn't want one because of how much visibility the clear door provides but nope, he seems to like to know what's going on. He's less than a couple feet away from my bed too, so I look at him, he looks at me (or ignores me), and oddly, he's perfectly happy about it. So I guess my tax refund is getting devoted to someone's upgrade.

Also, somehow I haven't managed to kill the lucky bamboo in his tub in the past year+ even though I always forget to change their water (don't worry - the snake's water gets changed at least every other day. It's just the plants that get ignored).

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Well I hope you do try him in a viv . It's a whole new experience and if he's near to you in the evening they're fascinating to observe especially if you put a couple or more branches in as well .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Well I hope you do try him in a viv . It's a whole new experience and if he's near to you in the evening they're fascinating to observe especially if you put a couple or more branches in as well .

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I definitely always planned to. His tub is decently oversized from what is commonly used (I think it's a sterilite 105 quart) and has a home made climb (long dowel rod and two eyelet hooks), a bunch of plants which he used to like climbing on top of but I think he just knocks down when he tries now, and a wooden log he likes to rest his face on. I'd still like to give him more space that he can use if he wants it. He's just gotten himself moved up on the priority list now that he actually likes looking out.