Not home a lot.

Hey guys! I just joined this forum. I have been wanting a ball python for a very long time and now that I'm in my career I want to get one. Problem is, I don't know where to start with getting everything and learning about feeding in details. My main concern is that I work 10+ hours 4 days a week and I want to know if he/she will be okay if I'm not interacting with it for those days. I of course would check it everyone morning before work but when I get home it's close to 11pm or midnight and I go straight to bed. Any bit would help! Thank you

As long as you are checking in on the snake and have all the right levels of humidity, temp, water in bowl on a daily basis you are fine they only eat once a week and they don't need play time like dogs lol.


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Totally fine! A ball python sounds great for you. Ball pythons don't require handling at all, if you didn't want to. Handling them is just for our amusement. :D And over-handling could actually lead to stress and other issues.

start here... follow this caresheet to a T, read it thoroughly, make sure you don't miss anything, and you'll do fine! The enclosure size is actually flexible for when the BP is older and you get the hang of managing their setup https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...s%29-Caresheet

The stickies on this page also have a few setup guides, depending on what type of enclosure you choose to go with.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/foru...2-BP-Husbandry

And don't go cheap on the thermostat!

This site for buying equipment when you're ready: http://www.reptilebasics.com/

Also welcome to the forum! I just have recently joined back and it's my favorite place to go to read up and expand my knowledge of bps :)


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A ball python is more than happy to be left alone. If their home is clean and up to humidity/temps, you could leave them completely alone for a week if you wanted to and it would be perfectly happy. Daily check-ins are good though (although missing a day really wouldn't be a big deal) and clean water every day or every other day is appreciated by the snake. Once they're well established you can also freely change their feeding day for your convenience. Very low maintenance buddies.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and state that reptiles sound good for you in general.

Including the most active species and heaviest eaters, you'd only need to drop food in daily to every other day.

Getting things set up for your reptile is by a wide margin the hardest part. If you have researched your reptile and have a self maintained enclosure (correct temperatures, correct humidity, correct lighting, timers and/or thermostats) the only things you need to do are feed it, clean up poo, and change water, with the much less common enclosure cleaning (depends on a lot of factors, it will usually be either part of cleaning up poo or a regular activity from weekly to... rarely, depending on the setup).

Again, if you can manage a self maintained enclosure appropriate to the species, you won't have much work to do on your part.

Okay thank you . Do you have any suggestions with keeping humidity high?

Thank you everyone! I will look into each suggestion. Do you guys have any tips with keeping humidity levels high? i live in southern California. Also i am set on 2 types of tanks i found, Exo Terra 24" x 18"x 12" MEDIUM LOW or 36" x 18" x 12" LARGE LOW ... I dont know which one? I was thinking about the large low one so i dont have to buy one when it gets bigger and i would just add a bunch of decor in it so it doesnt feel to exposed, but I dont know what do you guys think?

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Originally Posted by Zoomonster17

Thank you everyone! I will look into each suggestion. Do you guys have any tips with keeping humidity levels high? i live in southern California. Also i am set on 2 types of tanks i found, Exo Terra 24" x 18"x 12" MEDIUM LOW or 36" x 18" x 12" LARGE LOW ... I dont know which one? I was thinking about the large low one so i dont have to buy one when it gets bigger and i would just add a bunch of decor in it so it doesnt feel to exposed, but I dont know what do you guys think?

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It says in the caresheet I linked you. Glass tanks with a screen top are also hard to keep humidity up, unless you want to constantly cover it with foil/a wet towel.

If you read through it, lots of your questions will be answered.

Yes i was reading through it. My questions wasn't very clear when I asked sorry, lol. What i meant to ask was with humidity do you guys recommend having a mister along with the towel or foil ideas? or just personally spraying the cage every so often? Very good links btw!

You don't need a mister, just spraying and covering most of the top is enough. Some people also just make a humid hide where the bp can go in and have high humidity when it needs to.

Humidity is usually only a problem if you are running heat lamps which I would pass on. Especially if you are gone long hours, lamps burn out frequently and a bigger fire risk imo. If your room temp is high enough you could just use undertank heating and you probably won't have any humidity issues but a pvc cage or tub would keep temps/humidity much easier than glass without needing to spray or add misters.

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Originally Posted by GoingPostal

Humidity is usually only a problem if you are running heat lamps which I would pass on. Especially if you are gone long hours, lamps burn out frequently and a bigger fire risk imo. If your room temp is high enough you could just use undertank heating and you probably won't have any humidity issues but a pvc cage or tub would keep temps/humidity much easier than glass without needing to spray or add misters.

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/\ Agreed... I have the med-low Exo-Terra (24x18x12) with a uth/thermostat and the exo-terra 3-lamp fixture to provide ambient temps. I use (1) exo-terra 25 watt day lamp and (2) 25 watt night/blue lamps. This maintains ideal temps (~91 hot - 78 cool); however, I need to mist constantly morning and night even though I tightly covered 3/4 of the top with plexi-glass (even with coco and moss substrate) . Heat lamps and/or ceramic heaters (CHE) will dry out your cage quickly... I spray in the morning and humidity gets over 70% but dives below 50% to 30-45% by the time I get home (to repeat), it's a hassle.

I should have ordered a boaphile pvc cage with a heat panel and plan on doing so quickly. The exo-terras are quality cages but no so good for a BP (you should also cover 3 sides anyway which defeats it's purpose) - I might repurpose my exo-terra for a desert-type herp or use as a secondary/back-up cage. Trust me here, if you do end up with an exo-terra, cover the sides with some paper/background, cover a large part of the top screen or replace it with plexi, and don't use lamps or a CHE (IMO), consider affixing a radiant heat panel for ambient temps if needed.

I love the boaphile cages but it doesnt look like theres much ventilation... Seems weird to me. Also whats the purpose of covering the sides of exoterra with paper ? is it just for humidity or let the snake feel safer? If i were to order the boaphile cage what size would I get? or should i wait until the snake i get is much older ? I would hate to buy an expensive boaphile cage just to have to upgrade it later lol.

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Originally Posted by Zoomonster17

I love the boaphile cages but it doesnt look like theres much ventilation... Seems weird to me. Also whats the purpose of covering the sides of exoterra with paper ? is it just for humidity or let the snake feel safer? If i were to order the boaphile cage what size would I get? or should i wait until the snake i get is much older ? I would hate to buy an expensive boaphile cage just to have to upgrade it later lol.

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Animal Plastics T8 is also a great option. I know the T8 you can use a divider and I think a boaphilecan too. If you want to start and hold off on those just start with a tub setup. Very cost effective and will hold humidity and temps.

Personally seconding Animal Platics T8 (T10 is also a good pick and extra height makes easier cleaning) with a divider being a great choice for you or starting with a tub set up. Glass tanks can work but can cause headaches when trying to make sure humidity is maintained. So long term it may be worth going with a PVC cage.

What size should i get if i were to go with the T8/t10 or the boaphile?

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Originally Posted by Zoomonster17

What size should i get if i were to go with the T8/t10 or the boaphile?

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The T8 is 4' long x 2' wide x 1' tall and you can get serval add on options like a lock, shelf, or divider.

Depends on how much space do you want to work with.

T8 is 48x24x12 while T10 is 48x24x15

The one thing to keep in mind is the interior dimensions are slightly shorter, by about 2 inches.

For example a T8's interior is 10 inches tall instead of 12 and the doors are 8 if I recall correctly.

T10 is a bit taller and will offer you a bit more space for ease of cleaning and access, as well as some vertical advantage for handling, which is one of the reasons I've personally went with a T12. Plus a bit of climbing space. It all comes down to personal preference.

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Originally Posted by Zoomonster17

Hey guys! I just joined this forum. I have been wanting a ball python for a very long time and now that I'm in my career I want to get one. Problem is, I don't know where to start with getting everything and learning about feeding in details. My main concern is that I work 10+ hours 4 days a week and I want to know if he/she will be okay if I'm not interacting with it for those days. I of course would check it everyone morning before work but when I get home it's close to 11pm or midnight and I go straight to bed. Any bit would help! Thank you

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I spent 6 mo researching and building up her habitat with each paycheck. Sounds like a BP would be great for you. Start with videos and lots of research. Then build up the enclosure slowly. That is my advice anyway. Have fun!

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Originally Posted by Sunnieskys

I spent 6 mo researching and building up her habitat with each paycheck. Sounds like a BP would be great for you. Start with videos and lots of research. Then build up the enclosure slowly. That is my advice anyway. Have fun!

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Thank you. That's what I plan on doing just slowly start buying stuff and go from there. I'm curious though if I should wait to get a lot of my stuff for any reptile fair/expo ?

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I like Boaphile cages (design and drop down single doors) but hard to argue against an AP cage and current sale prices... long waits for both fyi... Although not needed, I'd go slightly taller on cage height (15-17") simply for handling and maintenance of these cages (AP T10 or Boaphile 322 or 422). T8 would be tight for me not the BP. Both (AP/Boaphile) offer dividable cages. I'm still deciding but leaning towards a Boaphile 322D with an RHP

Covering sides of a tank is for added security...