Comparable or no?

[the_rotten1]

My feelings and this may diverge off topic, is that if you are not a commercial breeder, why not offer your snake the best possible environment for them over one that is simple to maintain for you? If it does not negatively impact their welfare including heat and humidity, why would room to explore, enrichment items, and a larger space not be a benefit?

Because sometimes larger spaces do negatively impact an animal's welfare. This is probably more true for ball pythons than other types of snake, but some animals just won't feel comfortable in larger enclosures no matter how many nice, comfy hides and pretty decorations you put in them. There's also the fact that it costs time and money to maintain a larger enclosure with cage furniture and decorations, but there's no indication that it's beneficial to the animal. Why make all that effort when there's no proof it helps?

I will say that some snakes do better in tanks. My rosys in particular seem to need the lower humidity a screen top provides. My female hognose spends a lot of time roaming her tank and she does just fine. But as far as ball pythons go, I see no discernible difference between the health and happiness of the one I keep in a big glass terrarium and the ones I keep in racks. If anything, the ones in racks typically fare better. It provides the security necessary to get stubborn eaters to feed and my rack setup is simple enough that it's easy to detect, prevent, and cure most illnesses and parasites.

I keep most of my BPs in racks because it's better for them.

I know when I add a new item to my enclosure, my snake is curious and will explore it for the next week or so. I know that my snake does love to climb and bask in the open at night as well as find a safe spot to hide during the day. I don't feel I am anthropomorphizing my snake or placing non reptilian husbandry needs on him...

You say you're not anthropomorphizing your snake, but how do you know for sure that your snake is exploring because it enjoys it's surroundings? Yes, ball pythons are curious creatures, and probably more intelligent than people let on, but that doesn't mean they enjoy being out in the open and looking at new things. They explore to familiarize themselves with their surroundings, so if anything bad happens they'll know where to hide.

I rely on my snakes' behavior to tell me how they're doing. I can tell when they're thriving or when they're not. But I can't tell how they feel, and neither can you. When you say your snake "loves to climb" that's an inference. You can't read his mind or know what he's thinking. I have a feeling that if we both observed the same snake at the same time we'd both come to different conclusions. If you take your snake out and he slithers freely over your body and onto your furniture you may believe that he's enjoying the change in scenery. When my snakes do that I think "Oh, he's looking for a place to hide. He must feel uncomfortable."

Those are both opinions. And unless we ever find a way to scan a BP's brain and read it's thoughts I doubt we'll ever know for sure what a snake is thinking. But I guarantee you that eventually any wandering BP will find a place where it feels safe and curl up and hide there.

Ultimately, I don't put much stock in the opinions of people who are against something they're never tried. There are people who've never owned snakes that talk about how awful they are, but how would they know? There are also people who say it's unethical to breed the spider morph, even though they've never owned one and never will. And there sure are a lot of people who love their big, fancy enclosures. You seem to think that they're the only way to go. Have you ever tried a rack?