Can a Ball Python cage be too BIG?

[JASBALLS]

I hope you all realize how much this cleaning stresses out your snakes? Keep it simple and your bp's will be very happy!! Listen to what Adam, Vaughn had to say..

[TraconSnake]

Thanks, lots of good advice!


I'll have to look into purchasing a couple 36" wide reptile pens vurses building my own. I'd think that a wood construction vivarium with just one window would retain heat better than simply a glass tank. And I think it would look better with wood framing around the window.

Looks like I'll definitely go with 36", possibly dividing off part of the vivarium when the BP is young.

DANGIT!!! I haven't even spent a single dime, and I already want two enclosures - one for a BP and one for a Corn snake! This is getting expensive! I'll try very, very hard to just get one first and keep it for a year or so before getting a second.

[elevatethis]

Shop around for a plastic cage instead. Wood is full of microscopic holes that can harbour bacteria and all kinds of other nasty stuff, as well as it limits the types of cleaning agents you can use on it. Plastic caging can be found at Animal Plastics, Boaphile, and Vision, among others. Plastic will also be superior at holding heat and humidity than wood or glass cages.

Do a search on "Animal Plastics" and I'm sure a lot of good stuff will come up.

[TraconSnake]

I read elsewhere that what I can do is put several layers of minwax polyurathane on the inside. After that is cured, I then put a coat of Envirotex over the entire bottom, and several inches up the sides. After allowing plenty of time for a cure, like 2-3 weeks, I heat the cage up and see if there is any odor still there. If no, then it's ready. If there is, then it needs to cure a little longer.

This way I can have the nice look and insulative properties of wood, and still have a smooth easy to clean interior.

[jotay]

I don't see how a 2' cage or a 6' cage being cleaned would stress out a bp, one more than the other.
Cleaning a big cage or small you still to properly clean have to remove the snake.
So I guess I didn't really understand JASBALLS post?
I have a AP T-11 ( which Adam has seen ) and it is decorated and I can strip it down and clean it and put it back together in 30 mins tops.
And if you spot clean there isn't a need to what I call " big " clean all that often.

I understand what Adam posted about bp's use to living in tight quarters but I thought there was a rule of thumb for sq footage per size of snake?

I guess unless your a breeder I don't get having stacked cages 33"x18"x5" for your collection. Seems you can't really see them and enjoy them. But hey that's just me and my opinion and I feel as long as the animal is getting good care and in good hands that is all that is important.
Different strokes for different folks!