ball python caging questions ( please answer) for any year of experience

[bmeza2]

Hello ball python owners
i am asking the ball python community ( you) a few questions to determine the best enclosure for a ball python. And it will be much appreciated if you can answer as many questions as possible. Any answers can be as long,short, complex or simple as you like. And if you can, please ask fellow owners to answer too. Any age of experience, number of pythons, age can the questions. And fill free to ask me any questions you have, I will do my best to answer them all.

Questions

1. How many years (or months) of experience do you have with ball pythons
2. How many pythons do you own
3. what type of cage do you keep it in ( bio environmental, paper towel/ newspaper, soil, )
4. pros and cons of cage
5. behavior of the snake ( calm, anxieties, violent, always out and about, always hiding, etc)
6. Personal opinion on the reason why you choose this type of set up

[tttaylorrr]

Questions

1. How many years (or months) of experience do you have with ball pythons
2. How many pythons do you own
3. what type of cage do you keep it in ( bio environmental, paper towel/ newspaper, soil, )
4. pros and cons of cage
5. behavior of the snake ( calm, anxieties, violent, always out and about, always hiding, etc)
6. Personal opinion on the reason why you choose this type of set up

1. coming up on three years this november.

2. 3 beeps and a corn snake

3. Yellow: AP T8, ReptiChip substrate, RBI large hides

Spaghetti: 20gal glass tank, ReptiChip substrate, RBI medium hides

Coffee Bean: 15qt Sterilite tub, ReptiChip substrate, RBI small hides

4. AP T8 PROS: PVC enclosures are wonderful in how they maintain temperatures and humidity; simple to put together and AP will customize the enclosure however you need it; CONS: it's big and difficult to move!

glass enclosure PROS: you can create a lovely looking enclosure with plants and decorations that look nice being seen through the glass; CONS: can be difficult to maintain steady temperatures and needs constant monitoring and adjustments

plastic tub PROS: light-weight, portable, can customize ventilation to suit your needs, holds humidity and temps well; CONS: not the prettiest of my three enclosures

5. Yellow: my first beep. my lovable, shy yet easy-going old boy (he's almost 3 LOL he's still young); he's the one i let friends and family hold and interact with because i trust him so much; my picky eater but he's been doing wonderfully these past few months

Spaghetti: calm but always alert, likes to do her own thing; not the biggest fan of handling but she's just over a year so we're working on it. GREAT eater.

Coffee Bean: my confident and feisty new addition! i've only had her for 3 weeks so i don't know her personality yet, but she settled in RIGHT away (ate two days after i got her, and on the same day i changed her entire set-up) and has been doing so well! i can't wait until she has some size on her so she can relax and enjoy handling!

6. i chose the T8 for Yellow because he'd gotten entirely too big for the 20gal and really seemed like he needed the room. Animal Plastics makes amazing PVC enclosures that hold temps perfectly and their customer service is ABOVE and beyond. once Spaghetti gets bigger i will be looking into purchasing an AP T8 for her as well.
i chose the plastic tub for Coffee Bean because she's 90g+ and a tiny lil' thing!!! i think i'll be using plastic tubs for her until she's full-grown, and hopefully get her own T8. the plastic tubs are very practical and easy to set-up, keep and maintain. we recommend new owners use tubs for their ease of set-up and care.



hope my answers helped!!!

[Craiga 01453]

I will answer solely based on Ball Pythons, though I have other species, have kept BPs as well as other species in the past as well...

1. about 5-6 years
2. Just one BP, for now...
3. 20 gallon Long glass enclosure with eco earth and repti bark substrate blend
4. pros: visually appealing, relatively inexpensive
cons: doesn't hold heat and humidity as well as other types of enclosures
5. happy, healthy, generally stays hidden and explores a bit at night.
6. I chose this setup based on what I had used in the past as well as cost.

That being said, when I have the cash I will be building a PVC stack of enclosures. I am also in the process of refurbishing a wooden enclosure that I got free and my plan is to move my BP to that for a while since he is outgrowing his 20 gallon.

[JustinGatCat]

Hello ball python owners
i am asking the ball python community ( you) a few questions to determine the best enclosure for a ball python. And it will be much appreciated if you can answer as many questions as possible. Any answers can be as long,short, complex or simple as you like. And if you can, please ask fellow owners to answer too. Any age of experience, number of pythons, age can the questions. And fill free to ask me any questions you have, I will do my best to answer them all.

Questions

1. How many years (or months) of experience do you have with ball pythons
2. How many pythons do you own
3. what type of cage do you keep it in ( bio environmental, paper towel/ newspaper, soil, )
4. pros and cons of cage
5. behavior of the snake ( calm, anxieties, violent, always out and about, always hiding, etc)
6. Personal opinion on the reason why you choose this type of set up

1. Only a couple months. I just got my first Ball Python in may but I've had lots of experience keeping reptiles

2. One, for now

3. He's in a 40 qt Hefty tub. He's on coconut fiber bedding. I try keeping hot spot at 90-94 and ambient around 80. Humidity between 60-70( I learned that I'm the Ball Pythons natural range in Africa the average humidity can shoot into the 80s so I like to keep it at 70) he has two hides

4. Cages are good for viewing animals. They're relatively cheap and readily available. But They're a pain to maintain humidity and heat, and they're heavy and hard to store.

5. Pua is relatively friendly, curious too but likes to hide. He tries to act tough but he's just a goofball

6. I don't have enough room to house a vivarium or tank and tubs are cheap and easy to clean. Also keeping heat and humidity is easy too. Being in college and my living situation is subject to change, I need something I can easily move



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[SDA]

1. How many years (or months) of experience do you have with ball pythons - Just shy of or close to 20 (my baby is coming up on 7 years now)
2. How many pythons do you own - Just the one now
3. what type of cage do you keep it in ( bio environmental, paper towel/ newspaper, soil, ) - Glass with front sliding doors and partitioned screen tops blocked off, reptile prime substrate
4. pros and cons of cage - Pros: it allows for access through the top of the enclosure as well as sides. Cons: glass is harder to keep conditions under control
5. behavior of the snake ( calm, anxieties, violent, always out and about, always hiding, etc) - Sweet as can be. I got a defensive strike once in 6 years and that was after moving the enclosure to a new room and changing around the decor stupidly while he was in shed. Likes to hide during the day, stretch out at night and has never been a problematic feeder. He does not mind being handled and loves to be walked outside (I never let him on the ground outside however... to many bugs living in a wooded area)
6. Personal opinion on the reason why you choose this type of set up - Honestly it was the best looking enclosure I could get back then and I just haven't swapped it out because I have never had a problem with his health or sheds. If I did ever need to swap out I would most likely choose an AP enclosure or vision cage.

[ViolentTides]

Hello ball python owners
i am asking the ball python community ( you) a few questions to determine the best enclosure for a ball python. And it will be much appreciated if you can answer as many questions as possible. Any answers can be as long,short, complex or simple as you like. And if you can, please ask fellow owners to answer too. Any age of experience, number of pythons, age can the questions. And fill free to ask me any questions you have, I will do my best to answer them all.

Questions

1. How many years (or months) of experience do you have with ball pythons
2. How many pythons do you own
3. what type of cage do you keep it in ( bio environmental, paper towel/ newspaper, soil, )
4. pros and cons of cage
5. behavior of the snake ( calm, anxieties, violent, always out and about, always hiding, etc)
6. Personal opinion on the reason why you choose this type of set up

1. I have 5, almost 6 years of experience with ball pythons

2. I have 21 ball pythons

3. I have wooden vivariums for a few of the adult royals and two big RUBs for two adult male royals, all baby royals are also in RUBs, I use kitchen roll in the enclosures for the ball pythons

4. PROS:
RUBs are easy to clean and maintain and they come in all sizes so it suits the snake a little more individually (some like lots of space to explore and some like feeling more secure etc), RUBs are also inexpensive, ventilation holes can be added easily to control humidity and they're secure so no escapees, they also seem to have not great visibility through them which might add to the secure feeling for the snakes.
Wooden vivariums look really great, can have locks on the front which adds to security, they hold heat and humidity really well and you can make them really beautiful inside and they're spacious for snakes that like to explore which is great.

CONS:
RUBs in all honesty do not look great, sure they come in different colours but they still don't look like much of a display for such beautiful creatures, they also make it hard to see the snakes colours through the plastic but this is probably good for the snake so it's more of a pro than a con
Wooden vivariums can be a pain to clean and with the bigger vivariums you have to really get in there to do it properly, also it's hard to put ventilation in a wooden one unless it's done at the place you order it from otherwise it gets way too humid in there, I've also had a ball python rip out one of the vents and go for an adventure (luckily I found her before she got very far), they're also really not cheap where I get them

5. Every single snake (or any pet) has a different personality and I won't list them all since that'd be an extensive block of writing to read through but some that stand out would be that my very first ball python named Susie (she's a normal, coming up to 6 years old) is the nicest most docile snake I have ever come across and I can do anything with her and I trust her completely, she doesn't jump or hiss and has never struck at me and if anyone ever wants to handle one of my snakes I get her out first and she has helped a few friends to get over their fear of snakes and a couple to actually admire them, Susie is however a very picky eater.
Another to note how drastically the personalities can differ is my stinger bee named Beast, and she is just that, when I first got her she was very aggressive and would strike out if I passed her enclosure with all the huffing and hissing of a hognose, she has now calmed down a lot but is still not without her huffy attitude but she now doesn't strike out and I can handle her for short amounts of time without it being an issue, hopefully with more work and time she'll continue to calm down.
There's two royals I have that have a wobble, Nugget, a bumble bee and Salazar, a queen bee dinker paradox (he's a little bit worse than nugget as he really waves around sometimes and has really bad aim whereas nugget likes looking at ceilings and has bad aim as he's a bit wobbly) and despite the extra effort at dinner time they are both sweet and easy to handle and even with this they both eat very well and are both big or are going to be big respectively.
Quite a few of the baby royals enjoy exploring their enclosure when it starts falling dark so I like to change it every now and then and they all get to come out for some adventures sometimes, especially so a little albino male named Tesla, so far it looks like he's going to be a big boy so some bigger branches will be in order it seems!

Honestly I could go on for hours about them

6. I chose the vivariums at first as I thought I would only get one ball python (oh how long ago that was) and as the numbers increased (okay only one more, no more than 5, but this one is special, no more than 10 etc etc) I realised that it would be much simpler and easier to go with RUBs on a rack (after the third royal).
Now I started with the thought that I would never breed reptiles as I didn't know they were so loved by so many people but soon realised that of course they were look how great they are and will be this year starting my first breeding project (yay) and with this it's pretty clear that RUBs is the way to go for me due to the expanding collection.
I would have preferred to have them all in amazing naturalistic matching vivariums but it's not that great when you have so many. (Even with the reptiles having a whole room in the house, I figured a rack would be the way to go)
I did put a lot of research into a rack system with RUBs before hand before I got more snakes as I wouldn't have any more if it was going to cause issues for them being in RUBs and they were shown to work even if they aren't the prettiest enclosure.


Wow that's long, sorry I tend to ramble about them once I get going
Here's a free young Salazar:





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[artgecko]

Questions

1. How many years (or months) of experience do you have with ball pythons
2. How many pythons do you own
3. what type of cage do you keep it in ( bio environmental, paper towel/ newspaper, soil, )
4. pros and cons of cage
5. behavior of the snake ( calm, anxieties, violent, always out and about, always hiding, etc)
6. Personal opinion on the reason why you choose this type of set up

1. 4 years
2. 3 BPs (soon to be 4-5) but 7 other snakes
3. Racks for my BPs, use pvc cages for other snakes and have used tubs in the past
4. Racks- Pros- Great humidity and temp retention (closed-sided unit) and easy to clean
Cons- Visibility is poor
Tubs- Pros- Hold humidity well, semi-transparent for visibility, easy to move and clean, cheap
Cons- Do not hold temp well, especially ambient, cannot place heat source (lamp or CHE) directly on
tub and must use a lamp stand to do so, Visibility is not perfect. MUST secure lid with other
means (i.e. bulldog / binder clips, luggage straps, etc.)
PVC- (have used for other species, not BPs) Pros- good temps, humidity, visibility, and security (locking
doors). Cons- Expensive, can be heavy / hard to move
5. Not much effect. I give my BPs hides both when they were in tubs and even now when they are in the rack. Not much change in personality or activity level. I have some that are shy / defensive and others that like to explore. With my other species, they increased activity when given a larger pvc cage and places to climb.
6. Really just see the pros and cons. I used tubs until I knew I wanted multiple BPs, then purchased a rack to house multiple snakes in the same footprint as a single tub. I purchased pvc caging for my other species when I had the money and space to do so. I may purchase a pvc cage for one or more of my BPs down the road as well.

[Newbie39]

[QUOTE=bmeza2;2557617]Hello ball python owners
i am asking the ball python community ( you) a few questions to determine the best enclosure for a ball python. And it will be much appreciated if you can answer as many questions as possible. Any answers can be as long,short, complex or simple as you like. And if you can, please ask fellow owners to answer too. Any age of experience, number of pythons, age can the questions. And fill free to ask me any questions you have, I will do my best to answer them all.

Questions

1. How many years (or months) of experience do you have with ball pythons
2. How many pythons do you own
3. what type of cage do you keep it in ( bio environmental, paper towel/ newspaper, soil, )
4. pros and cons of cage
5. behavior of the snake ( calm, anxieties, violent, always out and about, always hiding, etc)
6. Personal opinion on the reason why you choose this type of set up

1. 1 month
2. Getting a female normal on sunday
3. Plastic bin. Pros temps easy to control. Took a day to get it going at proper humidity and temps.
Cons. Not sure maybe not as nice to look at.
5. Not sure yet
6. Again. For me a novice I wanted something I wouldn't stress about. Like I said it has been easy to set up.

[JimHjr]

Questions

1. How many years (or months) of experience do you have with ball pythons
2. How many pythons do you own
3. what type of cage do you keep it in ( bio environmental, paper towel/ newspaper, soil, )
4. pros and cons of cage
5. behavior of the snake ( calm, anxieties, violent, always out and about, always hiding, etc)
6. Personal opinion on the reason why you choose this type of set up

1. 5+ years
2. 2 common beeps (1 male 1 female), California King Snake, Sand Boa, BCC RTB
3. Glass, Repti-Bark Substrate (Sand boa on aspen)
4. My beeps are very docile, handle well, Hide a lot during the day, more active at night. Old saying says a hiding beep is a healthy beep.
5. Chose glass because I have the time for the extra monitoring and I enjoy watching them instead of just "keeping them"

[PokeyTheNinja]

Questions

1. How many years (or months) of experience do you have with ball pythonsI have 4 years experience with Ball Pythons and another year for Boas.
2. How many pythons do you ownI sold both of my Ball Pythons roughly 4 months ago
3. what type of cage do you keep it in ( bio environmental, paper towel/ newspaper, soil, )I keep all my snakes in plastic storage totes until they are matured. I then switch them over to PVC enclosures. I will also be switching over to aspen bedding because my humidity is doing so well and I have no way to help the air flow without lowering my ambient
4. pros and cons of cage-Plastic Storage totes
   Pros: Easy to maintain and clean. Relatively zero tweaking involved. Humidity is kept well and no insulation issues compared to glass. Inexpensive. Can be stand alones or made into a rack system for space.
   Cons: Ambient temps can be difficult to raise if you live in a cooler climate.
   -PVC Enclosures
   Pros: Also easy to maintain and clean. No tweaking required. Humidity is great. Ambient temps can be achieved no matter the climate. Insulation is beast.Cool LED light fixturesas well as it looking neat and having the ability to stack.
   Cons: Can be pricey.Although some spend the same on tanks with all the add-ons.
5. behavior of the snake ( calm, anxieties, violent, always out and about, always hiding, etc)Ball Pythons should be hiding and only cruising out during dusk and night. Since I have Boas now, they tend to be more curious and lounge about in the open. When I had Ball Pythons, they were hiding about, never missed a meal and shed perfect.
6. Personal opinion on the reason why you choose this type of set upBecause I like simplicity and catering to my snakes needs instead of making it visually appealing to myself.