Ralph Davis - Ball Python Setup

Part 1
YouTube - Basic Ball Python Set-Up ( part 1 )
Part 2
YouTube - Basic Ball Python Set-Up ( part 2 )

Not what I expected. Kinda contradicts a lot of the info on this site. What do you guys think?

I think that if i employed the generic set-up, my snake would either die of the cold or shrivel up due to extremely low humidity!!

My house is cold, where I live is cold, and the relative humidity outside is typically about 25-285 year round and so much drier in the house due to the heater being on!

Generic, in this case, would only work well if you lived in a warmer and more humid environment :)

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

Kinda contradicts a lot of the info on this site. What do you guys think?

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There isn't just one correct way to house a ball python. There are a few basics and then the rest is all personal preference.

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Originally Posted by brainman1000

There isn't just one correct way to house a ball python. There are a few basics and then the rest is all personal preference.

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Yes! :gj:

Great videos. Great tips. It's always helpful to see someone set it up.

Yes, some of the info is contrary, but it's not wrong. It's just another method.

Ralph knows what he's talking about and honestly it's not a bad setup, personally I'd change a few things but all in all it's not bad at all. Simple and easy to clean for a tank, I think that's where he was going with this.

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Originally Posted by starmom

I think that if i employed the generic set-up, my snake would either die of the cold or shrivel up due to extremely low humidity!!

My house is cold, where I live is cold, and the relative humidity outside is typically about 25-285 year round and so much drier in the house due to the heater being on!

Generic, in this case, would only work well if you lived in a warmer and more humid environment :)

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I agree that things are different in a cold climate vs a warm climate.That wouldn't be the ideal set up for me either. Ralph and his friend are in Florida though. Where I live temps have been below freezing for a good while and down around 0 degrees at night for weeks. I keep my house at 65 degrees, but have an electric heater in my herp room. While I like pvc type cages and racks myself, I can well understand how the price of a glass enclosure might look like the way to go for anyone.

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Originally Posted by dsirkle

Ralph and his friend are in Florida though.

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Um... Unless I am going nuts, Ralph is in Maryland...

http://www.ralphdavisreptiles.com/contact_me/

Please no one take this personally. This is just a an observation of mine.

I have seen a lot of posts on these forums from new people who post pictures of similar set ups and get absolutely ripped to shreds for it. I can almost guarantee that if a joe blow that no one knew had posted a video like this that I would have seen the following:

"You need two identical hides."
"Those stick on thermometers are terrible. And there's no humidity guage! Please use an Accurite!"
"Those UTH's get up to 120 degrees and fluctuate wildly. You have to use a rheostat/thermostat!"
"Please cover the sides of the tank with a dark material."

From my perspective, it appears there's a double standard.

Maybe my perspective is skewed but that's how I see it. Am I wrong?

Looks good to me, 'cept... I'd lose the lamp, get a thermometer, and start with a 20 long tank instead of a ten. I'd cover part of the screen top to help hold in humidity(its very dry here in the winter) Newspaper is great, I hate the green carpet. Aspen would work and look nicer.
I'm not sure I would trust a UTH without a way to regulate it, (rheostat or a thermostat) I love Helix but they are a bit pricey.

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

Please no one take this personally. This is just a an observation of mine.

I have seen a lot of posts on these forums from new people who post pictures of similar set ups and get absolutely ripped to shreds for it. I can almost guarantee that if a joe blow that no one knew had posted a video like this that I would have seen the following:

"You need two identical hides."
"Those stick on thermometers are terrible. And there's no humidity guage! Please use an Accurite!"
"Those UTH's get up to 120 degrees and fluctuate wildly. You have to use a rheostat/thermostat!"
"Please cover the sides of the tank with a dark material."

From my perspective, it appears there's a double standard.

Maybe my perspective is skewed but that's how I see it. Am I wrong?

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It's easy to rip on Joe Blow(the poor guy). I think Ralph knows his stuff and is suggesting a "bare bones" setup for a person starting out with their first ball python.

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Originally Posted by asplundii

Um... Unless I am going nuts, Ralph is in Maryland...

http://www.ralphdavisreptiles.com/contact_me/

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No, you aren't nuts. I typed that when I was rushing out the door. A mental lapse on my part.

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

Please no one take this personally. This is just a an observation of mine.

I have seen a lot of posts on these forums from new people who post pictures of similar set ups and get absolutely ripped to shreds for it. I can almost guarantee that if a joe blow that no one knew had posted a video like this that I would have seen the following:

"You need two identical hides."
"Those stick on thermometers are terrible. And there's no humidity guage! Please use an Accurite!"
"Those UTH's get up to 120 degrees and fluctuate wildly. You have to use a rheostat/thermostat!"
"Please cover the sides of the tank with a dark material."

From my perspective, it appears there's a double standard.

Maybe my perspective is skewed but that's how I see it. Am I wrong?

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We could say that, but whats the point seeing how Ralph himself would probably never read it. Maybe theres some stuff behind the scenes that hes usinging?

yeah its a very bare bones setup.. not sure it would work for me in my house, but I'm sure Ralph knows what he is doing and would ensure that the needs of the snake are being met. BUT you are all missing the bigger picture. RALPH'S A TEASE!!! He put that high white piebald snake into that tank and my brain is screaming... &%$*#@ lucky kid.. His first bp and its a piebald!? :rofl:

Well you have to put it in perspective. This is a better setup than a lot of household pet BP's have. I started with the exact same setup with the following exceptions. 2 terracotta pot bottoms with holes cut out of the sides for hides. A ZooMed Repti Rock Water Dish and aspen bedding. I had some old dial thermometers I was planning on using and bought a dial hygrometer.

I noticed my BP tended to not stay in her warm hide so I added a rheostat and tweeked that for a few days before I decided I needed better readings from under that hide so I got an acurite digital thermometer/hygrometer. That allowed me to match the warm side to the care sheet perfectly. That helped a lot. Of course I then noticed my humidity was low. So I covered much of the top and that is helping although I still put a natural sponge on the top of each hide and wet them daily as well as lightly mist. Having the one acurite I and knowing how cheap another one would be I got another for the other side.

So having gone through all that I would say his setup was not bad but I would get at least a rheostat and one digital thermometer if not a thermostat and two digital thermometers. I don't think the single hide is going to cause the snake not to thrive if everything else is dead on.

Having seen some pics of BP on rescue web sites and pet adoption sites and seeing them in pet stores and hearing how people have kept their snakes, Ralph's setup looks like heaven in comparison.

Big difference between a joe shmoe new owner that just got his first BP and that knos nothing about it, doing this and someone EXPERIENCED doing this (this is not in a negative way.)

For a new owner I do and will always recommend what I know will work even for them.

Why? Because they do not know their animal yet and need to experience their first animal and get a feel for it before being able to experiment around.

New owner do not know their animal enough to recognize signs of stress or issues by recommending some specifics such as small enclosures, tight identical hides, 84-84 on the cool side, 90-94 on the warm side this will provide them with an optimal setting allowing them to slowly learn more about BP in general and their animal in particular. Once they are familiar with their animal they will be able to experiment and see what work for their animal and what trigger certain behavior on it’s part.

Does that mean I recommend what I do? Nope I don’t because again what I do is based on MY experienced and the fact that I know every single of my animals like the back of my hand.

The bottom line there is not only one way to house BP, however when providing advice you need to recognize who you are talking to and their level of experience.

And when it come to someone with little to no experience you should strive to air on the safe side so they can fully enjoy their first experience.

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

Please no one take this personally. This is just a an observation of mine.

I have seen a lot of posts on these forums from new people who post pictures of similar set ups and get absolutely ripped to shreds for it. I can almost guarantee that if a joe blow that no one knew had posted a video like this that I would have seen the following:

"You need two identical hides."
"Those stick on thermometers are terrible. And there's no humidity guage! Please use an Accurite!"
"Those UTH's get up to 120 degrees and fluctuate wildly. You have to use a rheostat/thermostat!"
"Please cover the sides of the tank with a dark material."

From my perspective, it appears there's a double standard.

Maybe my perspective is skewed but that's how I see it. Am I wrong?

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I don't like the way he did that....maybe *that* heat pad won't get too hot without something to regulate it, but the majority of them do. He could have at least found a cheap rheostat to send home with the kid...

He's so lax about it, which is fine b/c he knows what he is doing, but if he's going to make a video and post it, he should at least put in some safety measures (rheostat, thermometer, etc.) so the people watching don't just go buy a little heat pad and plug the thing in.

Ralph Davis is of course really experienced, but I have a few Zoo Med heat pads and they get up to 150F (no typo) w/o regulation.

Also, humidity will be next to nothing in that cage...

The only humid spot in that cage is by the water dish which the snake will usually hug when it gets ready to shed, Zoo Med heat pads have been temp controlled for at least the past 5 years and will not go even near 90F. The pad you may have used may be an older model. This setup is a very barebone ready to clean easily setup for a beginner, it WILL work it might not be up to everyone's "standards", although I would have done it differently it will work.

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Originally Posted by JKExotics

The only humid spot in that cage is by the water dish which the snake will usually hug when it gets ready to shed, Zoo Med heat pads have been temp controlled for at least the past 5 years and will not go even near 90F. The pad you may have used may be an older model. This setup is a very barebone ready to clean easily setup for a beginner, it WILL work it might not be up to everyone's "standards", although I would have done it differently it will work.

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the zoomed i had would go to 130 without a thermostat and that was well within 4 years ago

My hides aren't identical and my BP doesn't seem to mind. He likes both of them. Should I get two hides that are the same?

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Originally Posted by eulenspiegel

My hides aren't identical and my BP doesn't seem to mind. He likes both of them. Should I get two hides that are the same?

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it ;)

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Originally Posted by JKExotics

The only humid spot in that cage is by the water dish which the snake will usually hug when it gets ready to shed, Zoo Med heat pads have been temp controlled for at least the past 5 years and will not go even near 90F. The pad you may have used may be an older model. This setup is a very barebone ready to clean easily setup for a beginner, it WILL work it might not be up to everyone's "standards", although I would have done it differently it will work.

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I'm not quite sure what you're talking about with this either. I think a heat pad "controll" device would be awesome, but I have yet to see one in action that came with the thermostat. From personal experience, i have seen unregulated zoomed heating pads get over 120F.

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Originally Posted by DutchHerp

Ralph Davis is of course really experienced, but I have a few Zoo Med heat pads and they get up to 150F (no typo) w/o regulation.

Also, humidity will be next to nothing in that cage...

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I have one and it only gets to about 120 I dont have it on the tank though its on the table and the hot spot is perfect at about 89-90. Granted thats with a 1/4 inch of air in between and not right on the glass. Thats the only thing U would change.

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Originally Posted by sg1trogdor

I have one and it only gets to about 120 I dont have it on the tank though its on the table and the hot spot is perfect at about 89-90. Granted thats with a 1/4 inch of air in between and not right on the glass. Thats the only thing U would change.

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My heat pad is about an inch under the tank, and the temps on top of the substrate are 92 when uncontrolled.

The glass would get so hot that I'd have to pull my finger away really quickly.

Just saying I wouldn't set someone up with a ZooMed.