2,5 years later, finally seeing if I'm doing ok. Setup and shedding questions.

[sweballp]

The setup looks very good in imo, would be a pity to put tubs in it. As someone else suggested, get a proper tub for the bp and get an arboreal snake for the cabinet. Irian jaya carpet comes to mind.

/E

[Rmorse]

I'm not trying to argue with you guys, but is there any way my sketch will work? Or, would it be better to divide the enclosure into three?

If not, then yea, I will definitely look into converting the bottom into a snake/tub rack. I have never messed with racks before; they look so small and uncomfortable. I also don't understand how people can say the snake needs temperature gradient, water, and at least two hides, plus enough room for the snake to stretch completely out, and then say one of those rubbermaid containers will work. What am I missing?

[Kinra]

I'm not trying to argue with you guys, but is there any way my sketch will work? Or, would it be better to divide the enclosure into three?

If not, then yea, I will definitely look into converting the bottom into a snake/tub rack. I have never messed with racks before; they look so small and uncomfortable. I also don't understand how people can say the snake needs temperature gradient, water, and at least two hides, plus enough room for the snake to stretch completely out, and then say one of those rubbermaid containers will work. What am I missing?

If you are going to use an open cage like yours they need places to hide. Tubs are not as open. I use a snake rack and mine have room to stretch out, a temperature gradient and water. You wouldn't keep and adult ball python in a 15qt tub. I use 41qt tubs for mine and they have plenty of room. A happy ball python is going to stay put most of the time so they don't need huge enclosures. I think your best bet is to split the cage into three separate levels. You will find it's much easier to take care of them and they will be happier. Your girl might be good a climbing, but she shouldn't be. They are ground dwellers not tree climbers.

[Rmorse]

AHHHHH. I'm starting to feel really really overwhelmed with all of this. Don't really know what the best way to approach this is.

Kinra: You say divide it into three sections. I'm good with this, plus that means I can drop in three balls. How do I heat them? I looked at this heat flux wire, or whatever it's called, and it seems cool but I'm also a bit confused by it.

Ok guys. So I have 1000000 ideas running through my head, but don't know what to do. Help me out here. Here's what I'm thinking:

Divide it completely into three melamine wrapped sections. Basically, the wood outside of the enclosure is just a pretty wrap - the inside of the enclosure will be three melamine sections, stacked on each other, with the two front doors the front of all three. Seems like a lot of work, and a lot of things to go wrong.

Make the two levels (mid and high) with looooong shelves. Essentially dividing it into three sections without REALLY dividing it into three sections. Cleo can go inbetween each three if she pleases, other wise just chills in the one section she likes the most. Still replace the sides with melamine or something that will retain humidity and heat a bit better than glass.

Convert the bottom section of the enclosure into a rack/tub section, and get a friendly small snake that likes to climb for the top. I don't REALLY want to do this though; I love balls (snicker) and want to stay with them. I would probably end up getting rid of my enclosure and buying/building a rack before getting a different species.





What do I do??? Is anyone in the Maryland area willing to give me a hand with this, or at least get me started? I'm really overwhelmed and confused now.

[Kinra]

There are a lot of different things you can do, and I wouldn't try them all at once.

The first thing I would do is get digital thermostats and put a piece of melamine on the second level to limit her to the first level of the cage and see if your temperatures are correct using the digital thermostat. If your temps are okay from there I would work on getting the humidity to where you need it. Putting the water dish over part of the heat pad should help with that.

If you can get one level correct, then you can convert the other two levels into addition cages for two more ball pythons.

Don't try too much at once, that's when you get overwhelm. Break things into smaller steps and work from there. Good luck.

[Rmorse]

There are a lot of different things you can do, and I wouldn't try them all at once.

The first thing I would do is get digital thermostats and put a piece of melamine on the second level to limit her to the first level of the cage and see if your temperatures are correct using the digital thermostat. If your temps are okay from there I would work on getting the humidity to where you need it. Putting the water dish over part of the heat pad should help with that.

If you can get one level correct, then you can convert the other two levels into addition cages for two more ball pythons.

Don't try too much at once, that's when you get overwhelm. Break things into smaller steps and work from there. Good luck.

Ok. I'll try. When you say "put a piece of melamine on the second level to limit her to the first level of the cage", do you mean so she is at the absolute bottom of the tank? Or do you mean for me to put the melamine as a shelf where the rock cave and under tank heater is, and so you block off the absolute bottom of the tank, and she stays on top of the melamine?

[pigfat]

Hey, glass will retain moisture very well, it doesnt HAVE to be melamine. The thing thats killing your humidity is the heat lamp. Kinra is awesome, and by breaking it down level by level, you can eventually work your way up to 3 levels if you have to. Right now, focus on the bottom level or top level, and then work down from there. I know this is a LOT of info all in a day, but just start small, FOR SURE get a thermostat on the uth and a digital thermometer/hygrometer. Like I said I get all mine at walmart for about $8.

[Kinra]

Ok. I'll try. When you say "put a piece of melamine on the second level to limit her to the first level of the cage", do you mean so she is at the absolute bottom of the tank? Or do you mean for me to put the melamine as a shelf where the rock cave and under tank heater is, and so you block off the absolute bottom of the tank, and she stays on top of the melamine?

Sorry, I thought your heat pad was on the absolute bottom level. If you plan on breaking it into three different cages, it doesn't matter which level you start with really, just limit her to one level and figure out what it will take to provide the proper heat gradient and humidity.

[Rmorse]

Aight guys, I think I go this.


GAME PLAN: First up, I'm grabbing some proper digital thermometers/hygrometers. I'm going to see where my levels are, and report back (lol). I'm a bit concerned about heat for the little girl - If I remove what's causing the low humidity (the heat lamp), I also remove one of her warm spots. So, I guess I need to pick up some of that heat tape or whatnot. But, doesn't matter. We'll see how my levels are first, and I'll work on making a flat level across the entire middle section.

[warlord]

that cage is awesome but idk if i would use it for ball pythons i would set it up arboreal and get a really cool green tree python