BP housing

[Novak]

I wanted to see if giving my bp a more vertical enclosure with branches and what not to climb (considering 4ft tall) on would be an ok thing to do or could that cause any problems?

[steveboos]

He won't use it at all. That's why Ball Pythons are Terrestrial snakes and not semi-arboreal or arboreal. They spend their lives in burrows, so having a vertical cage wont get used and will only end up in your python getting injured after falling.

4 feet is very tall and if your snake fell from that distance, he would almost certainly have some injuries from it. Keep Ball Pythons low to the ground and keep the heat up and your fine!

[Novak]

thanks i still want to build a new enclosure considerably smaller of coarse, since it would be out of wood could splinters be a problem?

[iCandiBallPythons]

Make sure to sand it an seal it

[Novak]

Awesome, thanks for the help

[iCandiBallPythons]

Awesome, thanks for the help

Your very welcome

[Muddyredneck]

seal it well and then seal it a few more times.. and make sure thee plywood doesnt have pine, the sealent is suppose to make it not matter but why take the chances?


a side not tho if you wanted to give it a bigger cage why not a wider cage? like 3 or 4' wide it would problably enjoy that
wat part of pittsburgh u from? im 10 min from the city lol

[JLC]

Some ball pythons enjoy climbing...especially when they're still relatively small. I do agree that 4' is serious overkill and potentially dangerous...but a climbing branch in an enclosure that is around 18"-24" tall might be used if you have an adventurous sort.

The downside to having that much height is it gets more challenging to keep the proper temperature and humidity ranges...but it can be done if one wants to put in that kind of effort.

[mpkeelee]

its not a good idea to build something like that. ur snake will not use it, it will be a huge pain to try to clean, ur temps and humidity will be all screwed up, the size will prolly stress ur snake out, and ur prolly gonna get feeding issues and most likely a sick snake. simple is better, trust me.

[kitedemon]

4 of 7 of mine climb on occasion.

"Starting in the early evening, even if the lights are still on, ball pythons will emerge from their shelters. If hungry they will hunt and may even climb on branches close to the ground." Philippe de Vosjoli 'The Art of Keeping Snakes'

"Despite being heavy bodied, Ball Pythons can climb adeptly. We there-fore provide a minimum cage height of two feet and elevated perches." Bartlett and Bartlett 'Snakes'

I'd also say that 4 feet is likely too high I'd suggest that 16-18 inches is quite enough. I have no problems with Humidity or heat at all in a 30x24x18 enclosure. It is all down to how it is set up. Well sealed plywood should not be too much of a problem but well sealed is the key. I'd usually recommend paint with a drying time of at least a week and personally I'd go with two and as warm a temp as you can manage cool temps slow the out gassing of paint. If you have deep pockets a liner polyurethane (2 part) paint cannot be beaten but it is very costly. Have you looked at using PVCx ? it is an extruded plastic works like wood and can be joined similarly it isn't super expensive either. Slightly more than ply.