Question for those who you barren tubs

[the_rotten1]

Me asking others for their opinions and sharing mine is not judging anyone.

If you open a thread with a quote about how small, sterile encloures are only fit for temporary housing and not for the long term then you should expect some people to be upset. You say that you're not judging anyone, but it sounds like you are very much insinuating that anyone who keeps their snakes in a way you disapprove of is abusing their animals.

While the article states multiple times that "reptiles are not the same as mammals" it says nothing about how reptiles are different from one another. Snakes are very different from animals with legs, who need more space to get proper excersize. This includes lizards, frogs, tortoises, and other legged reptiles. The article you linked to doesn't even have a reference that studies ball pythons specifically, just rat snakes. Meanwhile it cites multipe articles on mice and rats... even though the article is primarily about reptiles.

I agree with most of the revommendations the article makes. I would never think of keeping a rhino iguana or a large water monitor in a rack, but it does state that you have to be aware of species specific needs and snakes are a different story.

I've used tanks, terraruims, and racks for my snakes. Some have a preference, others don't. Of the five species I keep, only ball pythons seem to have a preference. The rest of the snakes do well in either type of enclosure. Some of the ball pythons do too. It really comes down to personality. However, many of them just don't like being in a wide open enclosure. This article claims that bigger is better. I respectfully disagree. Keeping the needs of the snake met is better.

No article or scientific study is going to convince me to move one of my female ball pythons to a large terrarium if I know doing so will make her feel insecure enough to stop eating. I know my snakes and their behavior. I know when they are scared and stressed out. I will not keep them that way. A great many of them prefer the small, sterile enclosures that you may consider inadequate for permanent housing. Should I just drop them in a larger enclosure and watch them suffer?

I'm happy to keep snakes in tanks and terrariums when I know they do well in them, but I don't think large and well decorated enclosures are universally better. Enrichment is fine for snakes that can handle it, but ball pythons are a more reclusive species and not all of them are up for that. The health of my snakes comes before what I think is pretty or "natural". Predators, injury, and disease are all natural too. I'm not going to expose my snakes to any of that.