Quote Originally Posted by MidSouthMorphs View Post
Bad sheds and refusing food are sure signs of stress. It has been documented that Ball Pythons spend the majority of there lives in dark and compact burrows. I've read field reports as well. Rack systems were mainly considered do to how Ball Pythons lived their lives, they are more comfortable in smaller environments as a whole. Just because a snake is out exploring could mean many things, perhaps looking for a more secure place to hide. Since they are mainly active at night. Racks and large environments do both work quite well, with larger ones more hides are needed for comfort.

I'll disagree with you there. I guarantee breeders have tried larger environments and systems, and they chose rack systems because of how well Ball Pythons thrived in them. I would like to hear the opinions from Brian at BHB on this, I'll email him your post.


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Most breeders use rack systems for all of the species they breed not just BPs. It seems to me that rack systems came about as an economical/efficient way to house multiple snakes in a relatively small area, that they don't plan on keeping for the entire life span of the animal (selling the offspring), not because it was perfect for a Ball Python. The argument that BPs spend most of their lives in burrows is always brought up, but BPs have been found climbing trees and exploring as well. What about other reptiles that we know for a fact utilize larger spaces. I am one of those that looks at a rack system and cringe, that is my personal opinion, and I am not bashing anyone that uses them, to each their own. Big breeders seem to keep everything from BPs, corns, carpets, Bearded Dragons, Skinks, the list goes on in rack systems with paper towel substrate or aspen and a plastic water bowl. The animals live yes, do they thrive, long term, eh that will always be debated. It is hard to determine quality of life in a snake, but if you look at some of the more intelligent lizard species you can definitely tell the difference in how they act when they aren't provided with proper caging requirements.