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

[Rmorse]

Do you have anything to hold the 1/8" up? If its no thicker than 1/8" then it sag drastically in the middle...You'll need at least something thats 1/2"....I know...frustrating .

We'll see about the 1/2". I may be able to pull off the 1/8", there are pegs to support it. I may be able to run a dowel from one peg to the other, as support. If not, I'll go with 1/2".

As for humidity, just for right now I would go get a spray bottle at walmart, you can get them for $1, that way you can mist the enclosure. Already got one, picked it up yesterday! I'll start misting pretty frequently.Are you going to put anything down for substrate? The first thing I thought of was to put a big piece of repti-carpet over the heat mat under her hide....you could cover the entire level with repticarpet as your substrate but it will be a little expensive at first, but you can wash them and reuse them. I dont know how well repti-carpets holds humidity though .

Was thinking of doing aspen as substrate. I like the look of it.

One thing that would save you some money is instead of getting a radiant heat panel, go to walmart or lowes and get a dimmer switch, and wire it into your heat lamp, that way you can adjust how much power is going to it, so it wont get as hot.

Now you know why so many people keep theirs in tubs lol

Lol, but tubs are ugly!!! Not sure what a dimmer switch would do....right now, I have a 150 watt bulb in there. I can just as easily throw in a 50 watt or 75 watt bulb. The reason I was thinking a heat panel was to try to eliminate what was causing the looooow humidity.

[RichsBallPythons]

Not reading all 5 pages, But your issues are the cage.

If your goign to use a huge cage, best be able to keep humidity and temps right. The lamp is drying out the air.

If shes always climbing to the top to get ot the heat, the temps must be too cool on the bottom. Ball Pythons are not climbers, and will injure themselves doing so with a cage that size. I would section the bottom shelf into its own cage and use the top half for storage or something.

[pigfat]

I would try a 75 watt bulb at first, and just mist the enclosure...just to see if it will work before you buy more stuff. The dimmer just makes it to where you can control how hot the bulb will get. Also, if you place a big waterdish under the light, it will help bump humidity. Aspen will hold humidity as well, Do you have a way to keep it on the shelf without it falling out every time you open the doors? I hated tubs but I gave up on trying to keep the right husbandry in tanks, it can be done but it was getting to be too big of a pain. Now I have a boaphile rack with 4 drawers and I love it! They also make some pretty sweet visible cages as well as animal plastics. You could always go with one of these, that way you can get 4 ball pythons AND something like a Red Tail boa to put in the large cage!



BUT this one will run you about $400 just for the bottom piece, the 2x6 cages on top are sold sepperately...its my dream rack.

[Rmorse]

Not reading all 5 pages, But your issues are the cage.

If your goign to use a huge cage, best be able to keep humidity and temps right. The lamp is drying out the air.

If shes always climbing to the top to get ot the heat, the temps must be too cool on the bottom. Ball Pythons are not climbers, and will injure themselves doing so with a cage that size. I would section the bottom shelf into its own cage and use the top half for storage or something.

Yea, if you look at ~page 3 and 4, you can see my plans for changing the cage.

[Rmorse]

I would try a 75 watt bulb at first, and just mist the enclosure...just to see if it will work before you buy more stuff. The dimmer just makes it to where you can control how hot the bulb will get. Also, if you place a big waterdish under the light, it will help bump humidity. Aspen will hold humidity as well, Do you have a way to keep it on the shelf without it falling out every time you open the doors? I hated tubs but I gave up on trying to keep the right husbandry in tanks, it can be done but it was getting to be too big of a pain. Now I have a boaphile rack with 4 drawers and I love it! They also make some pretty sweet visible cages as well as animal plastics. You could always go with one of these, that way you can get 4 ball pythons AND something like a Red Tail boa to put in the large cage!



BUT this one will run you about $400 just for the bottom piece, the 2x6 cages on top are sold sepperately...its my dream rack.

That's a pretty hot rack (giggity).

But yea, I put down weatherstripping on the bottom to keep the aspen bedding in, and it works.

[Slim]

Rmorse, trust me brother, I've been exactally where you are now. I spent quite a bit of money trying to make an idea work that suited my sensibilites while still providing a proper environment for my snake. In the very very long run, and after lots of dollars injected into the local economy, I finally went to this:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/iris-sw...y-or-back-heat

Without a doubt, the best money I ever spent. Had I spent the money on it the first time someone on this Forum suggested it, I would have saved myself a lot of $$ and saved my snake/snakes a lot of stress.

Please don't take this as a slam on your current set-up, or on your attempts modify it. Just think of it as sage advise from an old dude who's walked in your shoes.

[pigfat]

Slim, I'm right there with you..probably not as much time or money but still probably around $100-$200. I had a plexiglass lid that I spent a couple days making from scratch so I could turn the tank sideways and slide it in from the top....15 holes drilled with 5 more to go I cracked it...I just screamed for about 30 seconds lol. After that I found a lightly used rhino raxx and I couldnt be happier, and neither could my snakes. Oh and my rack cost me $200....money VERY well spent.

[Rmorse]

Rmorse, trust me brother, I've been exactally where you are now. I spent quite a bit of money trying to make an idea work that suited my sensibilites while still providing a proper environment for my snake. In the very very long run, and after lots of dollars injected into the local economy, I finally went to this:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/iris-sw...y-or-back-heat

Without a doubt, the best money I ever spent. Had I spent the money on it the first time someone on this Forum suggested it, I would have saved myself a lot of $$ and saved my snake/snakes a lot of stress.

Please don't take this as a slam on your current set-up, or on your attempts modify it. Just think of it as sage advise from an old dude who's walked in your shoes.

Le sigh.

I hear what you guys are saying, I'm just super torn on this. I hate the idea of my snake in this tiny tiny enclosure, which is why I LOVE my big enclosure. That, and I love the look of it.


Ok, so, that being said....I know nothing about the racks. Are there any racks out there that will offer her more room to "play" (even though you guys swear they don't need it ) but also look good? I'm also concerned with the rack system, because it seems like so much can go wrong....

[Slim]

I found a lightly used rhino raxx and I couldnt be happier, and neither could my snakes.

This was my experience as well. So much easier to clean and mantaining a heat gradient and humidity levels are a snap. Snakes shed in one piece every time, eat like Retics, and show no signs of "tank stess".

The added bonus I didn't realize until after I made the switch was that less time messing around with enclosure stuff ment more time enjoying my animals. While everyone's mileage will vary, for me it was a win-win.

[pigfat]

Try http://animalplastics.com/
Go to terrestrial cages on top left side in blue print.

I would say the 48" long cage would be plenty big enough for your ball. In all honesty, it would probably be more benneficial for you and your wallet to go ahead and get something like that, because all the stuff you will have to buy and time spent doing it for the setup you have now will probably be more than the enclosure. The 48"L cages will be big enough for her for her entire life. Once you click on one, you can even add stuff like lights and heat.