Question For The Experts!

[Scotteeo]

Ok, simple question. Although I'm sure I can find the answer by looking on google, I figure it's best to hear from the experts. Now, I can't do this right now, but in the future I want to be a collector and just have like, an absurd amount of BPs. So, how would I go about keeping all those BPs? I've seen people using plastic containers, so is there a shelving system that you can use, or what? Any links to help answer the question would be awsome too. Thanks!

[SugarFox03]

Rack systems are your best bet, whether they be home made or from a company (BoaPhile, Animal Plastics, Reptile Basics, etc...) they will allow you to keep a greater number of ball pythons in a much smaller area, than say, glass cages.

Oh, and I'm no expert...but my first attempt (years ago) at a rack system sucked. Don't try it unless you really know what you're doing. I have purchased 1 rack from BoaPhile (love it) and my other two I actually found on CraigsList, and were total steals. Now that I have seen them in person and have a generally good idea at how to make them escape proof, I will be making a second attempt at building a rack sometime soon.

Two of my racks, no pic of the third one, but looks exactly like the one on the right, only with 6 slots instead of 5. The one on the right is the one I bought from BoaPhile. I was told the one of the left was from Animal Plastics.

[Scotteeo]

Rack systems are your best bet, whether they be home made or from a company (BoaPhile, Animal Plastics, Reptile Basics, etc...) they will allow you to keep a greater number of ball pythons in a much smaller area, than say, glass cages.

Oh, and I'm no expert...but my first attempt (years ago) at a rack system sucked. Don't try it unless you really know what you're doing. I have purchased 1 rack from BoaPhile (love it) and my other two I actually found on CraigsList, and were total steals. Now that I have seen them in person and have a generally good idea at how to make them escape proof, I will be making a second attempt at building a rack sometime soon.

Two of my racks, no pic of the third one, but looks exactly like the one on the right, only with 6 slots instead of 5. The one on the right is the one I bought from BoaPhile. I was told the one of the left was from Animal Plastics.

Very nice. Now a few other questions, I noticed some things in there, atleast from basic inspection, that there are no hides. Is there any reason for that? And I take it you have UTH for them. I also take it aspen is better for those because the heat passes through easier? And do you keep your humidity up by putting the water over the pad?

[th3jok3r]

u need hides use paper towel or newspaper way easier to clean up and you can see all the urin and what not. water can be put near the front. the pvc or plastic tubs hold humidity very well. also plug your racks flexwatt tape (heat source) to a thermostat pref. with probes to keep the proper temps in the tubs and thats all there is to it

[SugarFox03]

Only one of my snakes has a hide. I don't need hides, have no issues with feeding. And I'm not switching off aspen, believe we had this discussion in another thread th3jok3r. I have used paper towels, hated it. MUCH rather use aspen, it's easier for ME to clean and it's cheap. I'll do whats best for me, you do the same.

Scotteo, I have never found a reason to use hides. The racks are in a designated "critter/snake" room which doesn't get too bright. The BoaPhile rack on the right has built in belly heat, while the one on the left has back heat. The racks have changed a bit, that pic is from a couple months ago. The left rack is now all 15 qt sterilite's and is used for all my new hatchlings, so no more 32 qt tubs...which is how it came. And in case anyone is wondering, the racks are each controlled by separate t-stats (Johnson on the left Big Apple Herp Power on the right), due to the different heat sources - belly heat vs back heat.

As far as humidity, I live in So. Fla and so it's almost always humid as he** anyway. When one of the snakes is in shed I will mist their tub once or twice daily until they have shed.

[th3jok3r]

yea I know i just chime in when ppl need help i cant give aspen advice i dont like it besides the fact it loooks reallly goood im lazy i like scooping and crumbling up the paper quick wipe and a slap thesports section right in there
1-2-3 as far as hides i thought u needed them because the tightcrevice they feel they are in makes them feel secure just my .02

[SugarFox03]

Again, you do what you feel is best. There are many people who don't use hides. I have one snake that has a hide, and that's my little pastel girl. She's a July 08 hatch, but is barely 300g, and in a 32 qt tub, I felt she needed that extra security. All the other snakes in the 32's are in the 500-1100g range, so fitting appropriately sized hides would prove difficult, especially for the larger ones. Perhaps when the big girls are moved up to 41 qt tubs in a couple months, they will get hides, I have some laying around that I used years ago. We'll see.

I still think aspen is way better than paper.

[RebelYell83]

i only use a hide for my anaconda,and when outgrows she dont get one either,or if i have one go off feed for a good amount of time,i give them one to help spark them back up,otherwise,dont really need them to be honest,atleast in my experience,and mine all eat great,shed great,and breed great

[Fearless]

Just hit on a few things I do in my system, I have all homemade racks just due to it being cheaper and I can make it all how I want it. I normally choose not to use hides just due to the space contrictions in the tubs, I do however offer hides for any "shy" snakes. I choose to use cypress mulch, as though its considerably more expensive than other wood choices, but it provides a much more humid enviroment so in the long run is cheaper than the time spent to mist ten snakes a week that are shedding at any given point. I threw up a pic of the type of racks I build. Its taken a few designs and combined ideas, and modified it to work for me. Plenty of trial and error going on thats for sure. You can see the how I place the heat tape in this 32 quart rack



Hope this helps with what anyone hasn't already stated.