What's With Keeping Snakes In Racks Small Without Hides?

[redshepherd]

I don't think OP is vouching for glass tanks or vivariums like what's typically posted of these topics, but just for larger tubs and thus larger racks that fit larger tubs. Which I think is what they meant by "not against racks or tubs".

I don't know what image was originally posted, but I've seen how some people keep 1500g ball pythons in 15 qt tubs and I honestly don't agree with that either. They should have enough room to stretch out the majority of their length in one direction, at the very least... in my opinion.

I keep my adults around 1000g in 41qt sterilites myself.

[MD_Pythons]

I don't think OP is vouching for glass tanks or vivariums like what's typically posted of these topics, but just for larger tubs and thus larger racks that fit larger tubs. Which I think is what they meant by "not against racks or tubs".

I don't know what image was originally posted, but I've seen how some people keep 1500g ball pythons in 15 qt tubs and I honestly don't agree with that either. They should have enough room to stretch out the majority of their length in one direction, at the very least... in my opinion.

I keep my adults around 1000g in 41qt sterilites myself.

Thank you for taking time to read what I posted, I never meant to say tubs and racks were cruel or anything I was trying to advocate for bigger ones. I am well aware that tubs and racks are more space efficient and keep heat easier and the like. The picture was a breeding pair of bps in a little tub that they barely fit in, I can send it to you if you want. This whole thread turned into a mess that I wasn't prepared for

[redshepherd]

Thank you for taking time to read what I posted, I never meant to say tubs and racks were cruel or anything I was trying to advocate for bigger ones. I am well aware that tubs and racks are more space efficient and keep heat easier and the like. The picture was a breeding pair of bps in a little tub that they barely fit in, I can send it to you if you want. This whole thread turned into a mess that I wasn't prepared for

It's alright, it is a touchy subject, and there's honestly random newbies every couple months who come online telling everyone to put their ball pythons in tanks/give them more room in tanks. So I think it's easy to jump straight to that response, because that is pretty annoying. Dr del also makes a good point... a surprising amount of newbies don't do "large setups" correctly, and encounter problems. So it's always better to push newbies to start out safe before venturing, unless you are smart.

And I see, it is a bit different for breeding purposes actually, because you want the snakes to interact and thus some breeders intentionally do smaller tubs, sterile, with nothing else. If you put too many hides and stuff, it actually lowers their chances of breeding since they can hide away from each other. they don't live like together like that permanently, only a couple days at a time.

[Deu2e]

I'm sorry for making an idiot of myself, I thought I'd just share my opinion and I didn't mean to rustle any feathers or anything, I'll just go for a while. Peace out

Don't feel bad this community well some of it say that it's o.k to have an opinion then want to throw how long and how many snakes you have owned in your face when they disagree. It's very funny actually, it's your opinion so why does it matter if your a novice. I hate racks maybe because I can't see my expensive snake I bought so I opted for an apt8 but that's my right, does not mean I can't have an opinion on racks. But I guess when you have done this for 30 plus years you know it all and that's all that matters

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[Starscream]

It's alright, it is a touchy subject, and there's honestly random newbies every couple months who come online telling everyone to put their ball pythons in tanks/give them more room in tanks. So I think it's easy to jump straight to that response, because that is pretty annoying. Dr del also makes a good point... a surprising amount of newbies don't do "large setups" correctly, and encounter problems. So it's always better to push newbies to start out safe before venturing, unless you are smart.

And I see, it is a bit different for breeding purposes actually, because you want the snakes to interact and thus some breeders intentionally do smaller tubs, sterile, with nothing else. If you put too many hides and stuff, it actually lowers their chances of breeding since they can hide away from each other. they don't live like together like that permanently, only a couple days at a time.

As much as I like going on about my enclosure for Maze, I wouldn't recommend it to someone who isn't willing to put in the time, effort, and money to get the husbandry how it should be. Smaller tubs are easier to maintain, and the height on taller tubs and glass enclosures can make it harder to maintain consistent temps. Again, you gotta want to get it right.

And they are a bit more maintenance. On cleaning day, I spend about twos hours (I don't keep track, I just focus on getting it done honestly) on cleaning the tub, all of the decor and enrichment items, and setting it back up again before I even plug the CHE back in. And it takes a lot longer than the sterile tubs to find messes. I have to lift up the lid (heavy, CHE +light fixture on top lol), then a fake plant, then the hides if I want to spot clean thoroughly. I just added water to the substrate on the hot side to get the humidity back up today, too. Admittedly it's been about a week and a half since cleaning day, so to be expected, but it brought the humidity to 75% from the 47% it was before. I'm not trying to complain, just pointing out the differences in time I spend verses how much easier it would be in a smaller tub.

Not discouraging large enclosures, but yeah, they're a lot more work to maintain, and that's probably why folks direct newbies to easier enclosures that are easier to get husbandry right before they start experimenting. As a newbie myself, would I do Maze's enclosure this way again? Abso-fricken-lutely! lmao. She's all over the dang thing at night, so the more space the better for her .

[Godzilla78]

My setup includes a glass tank, and a rack with tubs.

Here is my large male adult, roaming his tank (below)


Here is a juvenile female in her medium tub (33 quart I think? below)


Here is my huge female adult Godzilla, she prefers the privacy of a tub (55 QUART tub!) in the rack over a big tank. (below)

Here she is deep in BLUE (about to shed) hence her gray-blue covered eyes and very hazy colored scales. (below)

[Momokahn]

Or could it be both tubs and tanks are giving our snakes a much better living environment than inside the confines of a termite mound with exposure to termites and parasites. Even though our pets can't show it or say it, my guess is they prefer option A or B way above option C.

[redshepherd]

I still think it's funny how the topic somehow reverted to tanks vs tubs, when the OP didn't even mention tanks LOL. It's like an automatic response at this point.

[zina10]

I always love when people (with 3 snakes first one acquired in June) disagree with or pass judgement on others that have been keeping snakes SUCCESSFULLY for years sometime, decades or more.

The bottom line there is more than one way to skin a cat, if what works for you works for you then GREAT, not sure why you feel compel to disagree or making judgement such as but yeah like you said

It's not about being a breeder or pet owner it's about providing the proper environment for your snake, now tell me how many people using tanks or large enclosure do you see all the time on forums with the following issue.

My animal is stressed, it won't eat, it has a RI etc.

An enclosure, any enclosure whether it's a tub or a tank or a cage can be wrong if it does not meet the animal's need and vice versa.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I had a loooong (and hard) day and you saved me writing this out. A lot more can be said, but this is it, in a nutshell

[DLena]

I have both cages and racks of different sizes. I have 11 species of snakes...climbers, burrowers, hiders and hang-outers. Different ones have different types of hides, branches, vines, jungle gyms, small water bowls, big dish pans, different substrates. I believe that snakes appreciate both security and enrichment, but that there's no one-size-fits-all; these are all defined differently by species, and tweaked by an individual's personalitiy.