Hello!

Hi there :) My name is Caitlin and I am preparing to get my first ball python. I ordered an enclosure from Animal plastics (5x2x2) and whenever it comes is when I will be getting my new snake. I have my sights set on a female but I am not 100% sure what morph yet. I want to join the forum to get ideas for the enclosure and gather knowledge while I wait. I have 3 cats and love gardening, crochet, vidya games, reggae and DIY... looking forward to hanging out and meeting other snake people. It sucks but nobody in my real life likes snakes so I have nobody to get exited about the snake with, so hopefully joining this forum will fill that gap!!:D:D:D

That is a really large enclosure for a young snake. You can make it work but will need plenty of nice cover and some good hides. Since you like gardening maybe you could even go with live plants. I have kept live plants with most of my snakes at some point. Sadly most of my snakes are destructive and do not allow for me to give them nice things. Rooting them up and crushing them. If they could just leave them alone.:mad:

Welcome and good luck with the wait on that enclosure. Many folks are waiting over 7 months on their orders.
I'd suggest a divider for the cage and/or some smaller tubs to grow up the animal in as that's an enormous enclosure for a Royal Python, especially if you plan to get a young animal. Juvenile BP+giant enclosure=very stressed animal that will give you issues with feeding unless you have that thing cluttered to the gills with plenty of hides and foliage and such.

HI, I am new too.
Its a nice friendly form, enjoy and have fun. :D

Thanks for the welcomes and advice. Honestly I've gotten a lot of mixed advice about putting a small BP in a full size enclosure. On reddit overwhelmingly people said to get the full size enclosure to save money and the baby would be fine with lots of clutter and hides. Then others say it will be too big and may not eat. I don't want that to happen... I think I may divide it while it is young or look at getting a bigger snake to begin with even though I would like to watch it grow. Either way I plan on putting lots of branches, plants, and hides in there for them so they can be hidden as they move around.

Can you put live plants in pots in a vivarium without it being bioactive? I could see the snake enjoying curling up in the pot around or behind the plant. The room it will be in has a lot of light and I was planning on using an RHP on the hot side. Im starting to consider halogen the more I read about it and the different types of light and heat too though.

I never had my plants in pots. Just the plastic basket they came in. I would then put thick substrate in the tank to make them look planted.

A large cage can work if you do it correctly. My Ball has been in the same 40gal her entire life. I loved it when she was young and she lived in a awesome plant covered jungle. With some real and fake plants, drift wood, etc you will be fine.

Re: enclosure size. Honestly it seems to come down to individual snakes. While young Ball Pythons are definitely sensitive to enclosure size and setup, there are some that do absolutely fine in a large enclosure as long as there are LOTS of hides and heavy clutter available. Others really need to feel very snug and secure, and nothing other than a small tub enclosure will make them comfortable.

You'll be waiting forever for that AP enclosure, so in the meantime you could put together a small tub setup very inexpensively. That way you will have it on hand just in case your new snake is one of those that simply cannot settle down in a big enclosure.

And welcome, by the way! I've found this group is often a breath of fresh air and good advice in a world where a lot of reptile social media is people just yelling at each other about who's right or wrong.