Ball python in 120 gallon?

[Craiga 01453]

If it work then I will use it but It doesn’t, then I wii just have to keep her in the 35 gallon.

Ok..... Keep that 35 ready. But also keep in mind BPs stress easily, so musical enclosures isn't a good idea either.

[ApathyAngel]

Thanks, I will move her in once it’s set up. What bedding should I use for that sized tank? Don’t want it to be too expensive. I am using paper towel right now.

I always use coconut husk, and it's been great. Holds in humidity great, but it's also more humid where you live than where I live, so you may not need that as much. Paper towel may end up still being fine.

I honestly don't know what the supposed issue is with winter. I live in the desert. No ambient humidity. And my snakes have been fine every winter. Takes me 60 seconds twice a day to spray the tank, and it's great. If nothing else, you can always make a humidity box out of a tupperware container and damp sphagnum moss.

It's literally not hard.

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[Craiga 01453]

I always use coconut husk, and it's been great. Holds in humidity great, but it's also more humid where you live than where I live, so you may not need that as much. Paper towel may end up still being fine.

I honestly don't know what the supposed issue is with winter. I live in the desert. No ambient humidity. And my snakes have been fine every winter. Takes me 60 seconds twice a day to spray the tank, and it's great. If nothing else, you can always make a humidity box out of a tupperware container and damp sphagnum moss.

It's literally not hard.

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Winters here, and in Canada, get very cold. So we rely on artificial heat to warm our homes. The artificial heat dries the air out like crazy. Relative humidity drops drastically. Our enclosures also need artificial heat. Again, dries enclosures right out. So the combination makes things more difficult and more expensive.
Your dessert climate is very different. That's why there's no "one size fits all" answer to many questions regarding husbandry.

I'm by no means saying it's not possible. I'm just saying there are easier and more economical ways.

[ApathyAngel]

Winters here, and in Canada, get very cold. So we rely on artificial heat to warm our homes. The artificial heat dries the air out like crazy. Relative humidity drops drastically. Our enclosures also need artificial heat. Again, dries enclosures right out. So the combination makes things more difficult and more expensive.
Your dessert climate is very different. That's why there's no "one size fits all" answer to many questions regarding husbandry.

I'm by no means saying it's not possible. I'm just saying there are easier and more economical ways.

You're right, it is very different. And unlike Canada, our winters are more humid than our summers (I think January is our most humid month, we average somewhere around 20% if I remember correctly).

Though we also artificially heat our homes. As well as artificially cool them in the summer. Both sap ambient humidity.

(Funny, somewhat unrelated story, I literally didn't know that there are people who don't have air conditioning in their homes until I was 21 years old.)

My house is kept between 71 and 75 year round. Regardless of whether the outside temp is 110 or 30. Ambient humidity in my house hovers around 3-5% year round. I honestly don't think it's ever gone above 10%, or at least it hasn't since I started paying attention to it.

And I agree that PVC is better, and much easier to maintain than glass. And if you're a breeder and/or have a large collection, glass is just impractical.

But heating large tanks in a dry home is easy if you only have a couple of animals. All you need is a large CHE kept on a thermostat, spray the tank each day, and provide a humidity box.

Daily maintenance of that is a breeze compared to my dog and my fish.

And that was just as true for my big retic tank (before he outgrew it and I had a custom one built) as it is for my little 40 gallon ball python tank.

No one is saying glass is the best option. I'm just saying that it can be done, and that it can be done well.

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[Craiga 01453]

Oh I hear ya. It can be done and done well. I'm just thinking based on my experience that a 120 gallon would be tough. I used 40 breeders for a long time and had great success. I have advocated for glass plenty and still use glass, just small enclosures now.
I'm thinking a 120 with that footprint would likely need more than one lamp of different wattages to achieve a gradient, as well as multiple UTHs, also set to different temps. But I could definitely be wrong.

And had I known years ago what I know now I would have upgraded my larger enclosures years ago. They're literally a game changer.
I don't have a large collection by any means, but if I could I'd have gone all PVC by now except for my Hognose and KSB, but they're tiny.

[ApathyAngel]

Oh I hear ya. It can be done and done well. I'm just thinking based on my experience that a 120 gallon would be tough. I used 40 breeders for a long time and had great success. I have advocated for glass plenty and still use glass, just small enclosures now.
I'm thinking a 120 with that footprint would likely need more than one lamp of different wattages to achieve a gradient, as well as multiple UTHs, also set to different temps. But I could definitely be wrong.

And had I known years ago what I know now I would have upgraded my larger enclosures years ago. They're literally a game changer.
I don't have a large collection by any means, but if I could I'd have gone all PVC by now except for my Hognose and KSB, but they're tiny.

Yeah I know what you mean. When I upgraded my retic to his custom enclosure, it was so much easier than the glass tank was. I don't remember what size his tank was (this was a little while ago, he's since passed away), but it was huge.

I never needed two CHEs in larger tanks, but I can imagine that might be the case in colder houses. The lowest I keep mine is 71, so the big CHE is plenty. If someone keeps their house at a lower temp, I could see the potential need for a small CHE on the cool side, but even then, I can't imagine needing to set the thermostat higher than 75 or so.

I can't really see the need for a second UTH, either, since those don't really affect ambient temps, but as you said, one size doesn't fit all. Lol, I fully admit that glass can be finicky, so I won't say that you'd never need a second UTH.

What I really, really want is one of those "critter condo" stackable PVC enclosures. I've been considering getting a gopher snake, and that's my dream setup.

But yeah, I'm definitely on Team PVC, but being a broke teenager with a retic (yeah, I was the 18-year-old idiot who got a retic as her first snake. Turns out, there's a reason why literally everyone says that's a bad idea) in glass tanks taught me all the little cheats and hacks to keep things right.

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