Caging??

Since I have only one ball python, I don't plan on getting too many more. I may sometime in the future. I was looking at the cages from reptilebasics. I would like to get one for Houdini, and a smaller one for my leopard gecko.

Will one of those work for a BP? I don't see too many people house BP's in those. Will he feel stressed because of the space? Will it work as well as a tub? I just don't want to spend all that money and have it not work.

What cage are you looking to get?

Yep, definitely! You could easily go with a 3x2x1 for the rest of his life and he'll be quite the happy little camper :)

I was looking at the 2' x 3', 12 inch high, cage.

The only thing I would suggest is, if you have problems feeding him when you switch him initially, to cover some of the floor space with some crumpled newspaper.

I just think it would be really neat for him. I put him in the tub cause the tank sucks as we all know lol. He would have so much more space to move about.

I think I may order one here soon, hey if all else fails there are a few other species of python that would love to have and that cage would work for them too. So if he needs to be moved back into a tub, I will have what I call ETS or Empty Tank Syndrome lol.

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

The only thing I would suggest is, if you have problems feeding him when you switch him initially, to cover some of the floor space with some crumpled newspaper.

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Will do :)

Ya it will work... You can pretty much use whatever size cage youd like as long as you meet the temp/humidity requirements. Many people stick with tubs bc their cheap and easy to maintain... Id say price is the main reason you wont see many people using these... Most of us get addicted after 1 and to buy 10-20 of these would be waaay too expensive.

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Ya it will work... You can pretty much use whatever size cage youd like as long as you meet the temp/humidity requirements. Many people stick with tubs bc their cheap and easy to maintain... Id say price is the main reason you wont see many people using these...

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It's not the price, it's the electricity usage and the space they take up. I understand them for female boas(you can use racks for male boas) and larger snakes, but for people who have alot of Ball Pythons(who spend their time in burrows in the ground anyway), racks just make more sense. Take up less room, provide security for the snake, use alot less electricity to maintain temperatures, etc. Those plastic cages are easy to clean as well, just a bit more floor space.

And no, with a Ball you can't necessarily use whatever size cage you want as long as the temps/humidity are fine. What if someone wanted to use a 150 gallon tank for their baby Ball, or even an adult for that matter, but the snake never ate consistently or at all? Can't really make generalized assumptions like that on the entire Ball population.

Kristy, as long as he is big enough for the 3x2, he should be ok with some extra security(balled paper, lots of hides, maybe some fake foliage if you want). I wouldn't stick an 07 baby in that size cage, but an 05 or a big 06, maybe. Depends on the individual snake though. I have some that would probably starve themselves if moved to anything bigger than a 15qt tub.

Ball Pythons not only need temp/humidity requirements to be met, they also have security issues to take into effect. While some animals do fine in large enclosures the trend has shown that ball pythons do better in smaller enclosures.

Edit: Becky beat me to it

He or she? I was told he is male but size would suggest other wise.

He was a neglected snake, basically handed to me. He is an 04. Roughly 54 inches so could be female, I haven't got a weight on him in a while but he is pretty hefty now that he is on a regular feeding schedule and has been for a long while. Tubs really help with that.

He really isn't the typical shy BP. He is really relaxed, he will coil up on top of his hides, lay out in the open. He will pretty much let me do anything I want to him, including rub his head.


If he seems at all stressed I will put in some newspaper, and if need be I will move him back to a tub.

Well I sure hope someone wouldnt throw a baby in a 150gal tank... common sense would rule that out... I started my first ball off in a 40gal and never had any problems... Security issues are met when you put in 2 snug hides for them to use... I have an issue with people saying "they do better in smaller enclosures"... What do you consider "better?" May someone run into a feeding issue with a large enclosure? yes they may... Is it 100% fact they will have an issue? Not at all...IMO I think they do better in larger enclosures because they get more room to move around and get exercise at night time... I have a new ball coming tomorrow... Im sure the owner kept him in a small tub like most people do. Im putting him in a 4x2x1.5ft cage which is "way too big for a BP" been 8 for 8 with new snakes and "too big of homes"... lets see if I can go 9/9

With a snake that big like I said you can pretty much put em in any enclosure you want as long as temps/humidity are being met and you got snug hides for him... 4X2X1.5 is equivalent to what a 100gallon tank??

I think what they are getting at is the MAJORITY of Bp's are very shy and the majority have problems when housed in tanks.

A lot of these problems worsen when they are stressed out, being in a huge enclosure. Also someone new to the hobby will not see the signs of stress, they don't see shedding in pieces as a problem. They only know that their snakes aren't eating. Once they are told of a better way of housing them, things improve greatly, usually.

So they aren't saying that they will run into problems 100% gauranteed, but a vast majority of people who use tanks DO run into problems.

I always say better safe than sorry, especially when it comes to an animals health and well being.

This is where I strongly disagree ... You mention these being housed in "tanks"... Im willing to bet that 99% of the time when people have problem feeders in tanks... its bc they dont have the right temps/humidty... Ive worked with tanks... i spent mass money and time trying to get it to work... eventually got it but it was a pain... This is why I say... IF your husbandry is where it should be... you'll be fine... I dont like to take other peoples words... Id rather experiment myself which is why I choose to go with a bigger enclouser... 8 snakes later my experiment has shown me that the whole "too big of an enclosure" seems like a bunch of hoopla... "Just bc it works for you doesnt mean itll work for everyone"... yes very true but all 8 of my snakes came from different owners and different back rounds... Assuming most BP owners keep them in smaller cages shouldnt I have had atleast 1 problem feeder bc the enclosure was too big?? The reason people have problems with "big TANKS" is bc of the glass.. doesnt hold the heat or humidity and their husbandry is off... to be honest I hope that in the next 10yrs I can get more people to see that keeping snakes in smaller enclosures is no "better" than keeping a snake in a larger one... Like I said previously... more room = more exercise = healthier ball

Also it doesnt cost any more to heat up a larger tank than it does a smaller one... It does take up more space but the cost is the same.

Well that's great that it works for you. I had my husbandry spot on with a 45 gallon tank, its a pain yes. My snake was not eating, I went to great lengths getting him to eat. I broke down, got tired of him not eating, put him in a tub. I gave him a week and he ate. He has eaten every week, with the exception of when he has been in shed since he has been in a tub. So it has worked for me, and I will continue to recommend this method of housing, seeing as how it has worked so well for many people.

As far as exercise goes, I have not seen any evidence anywhere that suggests that living in tubs has caused them any health problems that would go hand in hand with getting enough exercise.

Josh,

You spent "mass money" trying to make your glass enclosure set up work, what were some of the things your tried to make your glass set up efficient. Seeing as how you have all this success I think it would be helpful to share the trouble shooting techniques you use. How do you deal with the cold winters up there? Heated room?

Main problem in a tank is keeping the humidity up... Humidity in NY during winter months is like 30-40%... I went to Home Depot and bought some plexiglass to cover the top of the tank... cut it out to fit perfectly preventing any gaps and what not... Since i had the whole top of the cage covered I had to figure out a way to get fresh air in the tank... Went to petco and they have a reptile humidifier... All it is is a plastic rectangle with a piece of sponge inside... You hook this up to a air pump... fill up the plastic retangle with water... The air pumps in generating bubbles at the bottom... you then have a tube coming out the top that goes into the tank(Much easier to understand when you have it infront of you) and it lets out the fresh air and humidity... this way you can keep the whole top covered preventing any humidty from escaping.

For heat issues... I went with a 150W ceramic heat emitter which was obv connected to a thermostat... Cut out a circle in the plexi glass so the dome could fit snug on top of the cage and that kept up my cool sides... Now with 8 snakes it would be way to pricey to get a CHE for each cage so yea I will just be heating up the room theyre in... In the new cages i built i put 2 sets of flexwat in each cage.... left side is hot side kept at 93 and right side is cool side kept at 82... This also helps keep the heat up. Someone on here reccomend i do this and its working great so far... When I build my cages I used the heat pads off my old tubs for my babies so they now have the same set up (2 heat pads, separate thermostats, different temps).

Id be more than willing to help ya out some more or even toss up a couple pics of my old set ups if youd like.

Kristy - I was not debating whether or not tubs are better than tanks... You got my support 100% that tubs are waaaaay better... My problem was the whole size being too big. Wasnt anything against you just how I feel personally

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Originally Posted by JoshJP7

Main problem in a tank is keeping the humidity up... Humidity in NY during winter months is like 30-40%... I went to Home Depot and bought some plexiglass to cover the top of the tank... cut it out to fit perfectly preventing any gaps and what not... Since i had the whole top of the cage covered I had to figure out a way to get fresh air in the tank... Went to petco and they have a reptile humidifier... All it is is a plastic rectangle with a piece of sponge inside... You hook this up to a air pump... fill up the plastic retangle with water... The air pumps in generating bubbles at the bottom... you then have a tube coming out the top that goes into the tank(Much easier to understand when you have it infront of you) and it lets out the fresh air and humidity... this way you can keep the whole top covered preventing any humidty from escaping.

For heat issues... I went with a 150W ceramic heat emitter which was obv connected to a thermostat... Cut out a circle in the plexi glass so the dome could fit snug on top of the cage and that kept up my cool sides... Now with 8 snakes it would be way to pricey to get a CHE for each cage so yea I will just be heating up the room theyre in... In the new cages i built i put 2 sets of flexwat in each cage.... left side is hot side kept at 93 and right side is cool side kept at 82... This also helps keep the heat up. Someone on here reccomend i do this and its working great so far... When I build my cages I used the heat pads off my old tubs for my babies so they now have the same set up (2 heat pads, separate thermostats, different temps).

Id be more than willing to help ya out some more or even toss up a couple pics of my old set ups if youd like.

Kristy - I was not debating whether or not tubs are better than tanks... You got my support 100% that tubs are waaaaay better... My problem was the whole size being too big. Wasnt anything against you just how I feel personally

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That seems like a whole lot of work lol.
Its cool though, I understand. If it works it works. Just friendly debate:D
The humidity here is horrible during the winter, its roughly 20% outside so it is really hard to keep things where they should be. I have started keep tons of house plants, and a humidifier. It works really well. Then we have scorching hot summers with dry heat.

Oh yea it def was a pain in the arse!... Like i said it took tons of time and a bunch of wasted money... In the end what did I end up doing... Switching to a tub... now I got a 40gal tank I paid 110$ for sitting here collecting dust... I was a new BP owner and like all others "wanted to show off my cool new BP"... all to find out they sleep all day and never come out... In the future I plan on opening up a pet store... might just be snakes n fish but I wont even bother carrying tanks for snakes... Rather set people up with something thats going to keep the snake alive and happy over something thats gonna make me a couple bucks!