Animal Plastics T8 questions

[frondosa]

I recently acquired my first BP, and have a T8 from animal plastics ordered and will soon be shipped (in the meantime, he's being housed in an insulated 20 gallon aquarium with aspen shavings, hot side ~90 cool side ~80, 55% humidity) and I had some questions. Since my snake's only 7 weeks old, I presume I should use the divider I ordered and only keep him in one half of the T8 so he doesn't get too stressed out.

This leaves me with an open half of the tank. If I were to get another BP, would they both be okay only having a half-T8 each? Or would I eventually want to get another enclosure for the second snake? If so, when? If my math is correct, each half of the T8 would be 30 gallons, which I think is fine for an adult BP?

Similarly, does anyone house a corn snake in one side of T8 where the other side is a BP? My girlfriend has her eye on a corn, and if we could use one T8 for both our BP and a corn, that would make things easier.

But of course, I'm just trying to make the best decisions for the animals, so any and all input is greatly appreciated!

[I-KandyReptiles]

As long as the husbandry is correct, I'd see no reason why you couldn't house both with the divider.

My adult male is in a 3' x 2' x 18". It's a bit big but he's my "display" animal.

If you had a female, I think you'd need the whole cage. My one girl is 2500+g and it seems she'd need the whole cage

[The Serpent Merchant]

You could house 2 BP's in a T8 with the divider their entire lives unless they get unusually large.

To house a BP and a corn in the same T8 you will need to get 2 seperate strips of flexwatt so you can heat each side seperatly.

[frondosa]

Thanks for the quick replies! I forgot to mention that my BP is male, so I don't anticipate him getting too big. As for corns, I was under the presumption that their temp requirements were very similar to those of BPs, or at least they were capable of tolerating the 90/80 range without ill effects. I know this is the BP forum, but does anyone have corns and want to chime in?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[The Serpent Merchant]

You really don't want to keep a corn snake much over 85 (which is too cold for a BP)

It can be done but it isn't ideal.

It is a much better idea to house 2 BP's in a divided T8

[Gene Collins]

If I am understanding the care sheet I read on this site for corn snakes, they need basking heat as opposed to the belly heat that BPs prefer right?

[Mhavens]

this is a really interesting idea. My daughter and I want to get a second BP but we're pretty sure mom isn't going to agree to having a second cage set up. So I was reading the VPI care sheet and it recommends between 400-600 square inchs of floor space for an adult.

A 20L aquarium dimensions are 30"x12" for 360 square inches of floor space. A T8 divided in half is 24"x24" for 576 square inches of floor space. Even a T5 divided in half is 18"x24" for 432 square inches of floor space. The care does go on to say that most adults will be very happy in a 20L tank.

Im guessing there will be slightly more effort in heating and providing a temperature gradient. A T8 seems like a good option to separately house two snakes in one enclosure.

[The Serpent Merchant]

this is a really interesting idea. My daughter and I want to get a second BP but we're pretty sure mom isn't going to agree to having a second cage set up. So I was reading the VPI care sheet and it recommends between 400-600 square inchs of floor space for an adult.

A 20L aquarium dimensions are 30"x12" for 360 square inches of floor space. A T8 divided in half is 24"x24" for 576 square inches of floor space. Even a T5 divided in half is 18"x24" for 432 square inches of floor space. The care does go on to say that most adults will be very happy in a 20L tank.

Im guessing there will be slightly more effort in heating and providing a temperature gradient. A T8 seems like a good option to separately house two snakes in one enclosure.

Maintaining a divided T8 for 2 BP's is nearly effortless as long as you have a good thermostat to regulate the flexwatt. This is how I house all of my BP's

Checkout this thread:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

[Mhavens]

I was trying to decide between a vision cage and the AP cage and was leaning toward the vision... But now because of this thread and being able to house two snakes in the same cage with a divider I think I'm leaning toward AP now.

Cool...