BP cage critique

[student117]

Yeah, I worry about him eating a little substrate or in my case the possible rock, so ever since i got him hes been fed in a separate & clean cage.
I have heard people recommend a seperate cage so that he doesnt mistake me for food, and so that he knows whats up when the feeding cage comes out.

[Pyrate81]

Great start to an eventual awesome setup.

Thoughts/recomendations:

1. Black out sides and back. Black construction paper or aquarium background or something cool I don't know about. Your preference.

2. Make the right side more like the left. If you set up the whole thing like a "jungle" and give him areas large/small enough for him to snuggle into, those areas can be your hides, IMO.

3. If you do want to go with stone; large, round, smooth river rock is probably the way to go.

4. Can't help you with plants.

5. IMO: 200gal might be excessive, a 125 would probably be more managable. However, I don't think this setup will be too big for a single BP if it is done right. As much as they like small, confined spaces, they do live in large forests/jungles. This has the potential to be a great display enclosure and an example of "out-of-the-tub" thinking.

[George1994]

As far as the crushed plants, under the layer of marble there is a brick boxed planter bed, so that if/when the plants are crushed i can simply transplant somthing else in.
Is the excess size of the tank detrimental to the PB, or just wasteful?
So the hides are kind of hidden, and the hot hide is there until he out grows it.

But the cold hide was a last minute thing and i will probably move/ get a better one that can be under the rockes and has a smaller opening.

Too big a tank can be intimidating and stressful to a Ball, it better that the tank is smaller if the truth be told.
I never even noticed the hides in the first pic, they look quite good! AS for the cold one, it might be a bit too open for him, as it is right next to the glass and the light will be coming in I assume.

[200xth]

Is the excess size of the tank detrimental to the PB, or just wasteful?

If you clutter it up enough so he feels secure, it won't be detrimental. He'll probably find a couple of places he likes and spend most of his time there.

He doesn't really need all that space, though. I guess IMO the answer is closer to wasteful than detrimental, but if you set it up correctly so he has what he needs and you like how it looks that'll be all that matters.

[student117]

Ball pythons like lots and lots of cover/hiding places. With that said, if you can achieve this aesthetically, awesome. But right now your enclosure isn't suited for a ball python.

Also, where is your UTH placed? If it's on the bottom, its completely useless because there's too much substrate so the heat will never pass through.



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Not to worry,
The UTH is 3feet long and regulated by a rheostat and inside the tank with a thick layer of substrate on top.
The .25" top surface of the substrate has the rheostat probe monitoring temp and theres another temp probe next to it that outputs max&min temperatures for the last 7 days. in addition, i have one of those infrared laser temp guns that i read the substrate surface temp with to make sure everything is consistent.

You are totally correct more hiding places is necessary, but like you said it will be hard to achieve an aesthetically pleasing look.
But it must be done!
I tried looking around on the forum for tank gallery or something but didnt see one, could any one point me in the right direction?
I need more landscape/hiding spot ideas.

[NH93]

Well, everyone has pretty much said it

I think (if you are interested) that this would be much more suited for a more arboreal type of snake! However, I don't think it is 'too large' - if, like others have mentioned, you have enough security. I think an adult ball python would utilize this tank, if given the chance.
Maybe not all BPs... but some for sure. Mine definitely utilizes his (although not nearly the same size as yours - but mine is only 6 months old).

I hope the rest of your project goes smoothly! It is a really creative, exciting idea. I think the snake will appreciate a bit of the outdoors, even if s/he crushes it a bit

On a side note, I would look into the species of plants that are safe for BPs - maybe something more tropical, and sturdy... if that's even possible.


P.S. As for hides, I would invest in some rock hides that you can purchase from a pet store. Sometimes I find really good ones that are actually for aquariums. The last one I got was supposed to be a cave for cichlids!

[Mr. Misha]

could any one point me in the right direction?
I need more landscape/hiding spot ideas.

Here's a good diy on terrariums:
http://bamboozoo.weebly.com/diy-real...ackground.html

I'm sure you can apply the concept to hides and a lot more. Also, check out the DYI part of this forum and search for what people have done in the past.

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[PitOnTheProwl]

Not to worry,
The UTH is 3feet long and regulated by a rheostat and inside the tank with a thick layer of substrate on top.
The .25" top surface of the substrate has the rheostat probe monitoring temp and theres another temp probe next to it that outputs max&min temperatures for the last 7 days. in addition, i have one of those infrared laser temp guns that i read the substrate surface temp with to make sure everything is consistent.

Inside the tank is a totall bad idea for one. Second you should know ball pythons burrow so what is the actual temperature of the heat mat itself? I assume you are measuring the surface temps of your sbrstrate to between 90 and 95 degrees, this should put you mat about 105 to 110. Either way your surface temps are either too low or your mat is waiting to brun your snake. Without any air flow around it, it is a huge worry fot you and us as well.

[T&C Exotics]

To be honest if I were you and were setting up that tank for a bp I would strip down everything you have done to the clear glass and start all over. I would start by putting the uth where it belongs which is UNDER the tank. Then I would put an inch of substrate down, place all of my hides all over the entire enclosure, cover all of that with more substrate while leaving the openings to the hides open and clear. Then I would start to decorate the top of it all with pieces of drift wood and all of that fun stuff and place multiple water bowls around the tank only because of how large it is. I am not sure of the dimensions of that tank or anything so for the hides place them about 8" to a foot apart all over the entire floor of the enclosure. Also I would use multiple UTH each set to a different temp so that the tank has a thermo variation throughout the entire length. In total I would most likely end up spending about $400-500 just to set that up, that is including the thermostats, notice the multiple used there, and that is just for one single snake. In the end I would find that the snake would only be using a small area somewhere in the middle and not leaving that area and have a ton of wasted space. Also cleaning time is going to be horrid for you... Think about that fully. Taking every single tiny thing out of there and replacing all of that bedding every time. Spot cleaning something that large will be very hard because of the hides being under the substrate. If they defecate in one of them then you have to dig it out and then place it back where it was. That is a lot of work. Also I would place thermometers every 8 inches and at 3 different levels at each spot. So at the edge there would be one down on the substrate, one a few inches above that, and one about half way up the tank and that is not counting the ones needed in each hide to make sure that the heat in that enclosed space does not spike to high and cook my snake.

[SlitherinSisters]

Holy moly that's a huge tank! Do I think it's possible to keep a bp in a huge tank yes, do I think it would be easy, no. Heating that sucker is going to be a pain! High 80s low 90s on the warm side, which I would make 2/3rds of that tank, and mid 70s on the cool side (I prefer never going under 75). If you can keep those temps, the snake should be fine as long as you give him hides. Temps are really hard to keep high enough, and stable enough in a tank.