Heating Q's For Home Made Cage

[SUDISTIK]

Ok here's the deal..me and my wife bought a baby ball python two weeks ago, Ive Decided to build a big enough cage that can be it's perminant home. I built this thing out of MDF board and lined the inside with a stone looking linolium with four 3 inch circular vents. Now this is my first snake of my own and i bought a heat rock the same day i bought the snake not knowing that it was a "Big NO NO" but before i found out it was a no no i set the tank up laying the heat rock on top of some subtrate and and then covering it with more subtrate..right now the snake is still in a little pet container while i get this situated, the temp is at about 75 at night and 80 during the day... but i know thats not good enough yet...now im seriously thinking about changing the heat rock to a heat pad but im worried about it getting hot enought to melt the linolium or burn the wood...is that possible? what do i do? also the humidity stays between 50% and 60%...is that ok?

here are some pictures of my set up..i still have to buy a hide rock,but maybe someone can help me with this issue

[JoshJP7]

I built a custom cage kinda like yours and used thin vinyl to cover the bottom for cleaning purposes and also to cover up the heat pad... I used flexwatt which supposidly never gets higher than 95 degrees so that isnt hot enough to burn the vinyl or the wood... On the other hand if your using like a zoomed heat pad or others you find in pet stores those get like 115+ degrees so thats a possibility... Either way all heating elements should be hooked up to a thermostat to ensure nothing serious happens... a snake burn or even worse your house burning down. Check out my gallery and youll see some pics of my cages...

Good work on making that cage! Looks real sweet and I like what you did with the doors being rounded and what not. Looks like a light bulb in the back?? Might wanna consider getting that outta there cause lil snakies love to climb on stuff and thats a burn waiting to happen... Lemmie know if you got any other questions and Ill try to help ya out... I think im one of the only ones whose built a special cage for thier BPs but I could be wrong.

Can the rock hide idea and get 2 zilla hides... Pending size you can prolly get 2 for the price of 1 rock hide.

[SatanicIntention]

That enclosure is not suitable for a baby Ball Python. The space would be overwhelming and the snake would be stressed beyond belief.

Try a 15qt-32qt plastic tub for a year or more and then move the snake to that enclosure. Or get a larger snake that would appreciate the space.

I would recommend reading the caresheet so you will know what the husbandry requirements are so your snake will thrive in your care, and not just survive(maybe).

To set up that cage to actually use it in the future(not now, as the snake would not do well at all in that cage, WAY too big)
You're going to need a high quality thermostat, flexwatt or a radiant heat panel to get the temps on the warm side up to 92-94, and the cool side to 82-84. You'll need many hides, a digital thermometer/hygrometer.

To set up a tub for the hatchling Ball you'll need:
-15qt tub
-HIgh quality digital thermostat(johnson controls, ranco, helix, herpstat)
-flexwatt
-digital thermometer/hygrometer
-two small, low to the ground, dark hides that are IDENTICAL
-small water bowl
-hobby soldering iron for making air holes in the sides of the tub
-binder clips or a small bungee cord to hold the lid on

And Josh, flexwatt WILL get above 95 if left off of a thermostat, it will actually melt itself. It REQUIRES a thermostat or you will burn the house down.

As I said above, your little snake isn't going to thrive in that huge enclosure. Ball Pythons prefer small spaces and too much space will cause them to be very stressed, go off feed to an extreme, not properly thermoregulate which will cause illnesses such as respiratory infections. Definitely go with the small tub set up until the snake is older or just get another snake such as a boa that is more active and would appreciate the space. With the Ball, you would be looking at an empty cage 24/7.

[SUDISTIK]

i keep reading about this flexwatt but im also reading that you have to make it yourself....can you give me some pointers or point me in the right direction?

as for the light its basically a rounded off and isnt even an inch thick or wide. while i was working on it the other night i left the light on all night from about 8pm til about 11am and it never got hot...i just have it in there for a luxury for me whenever i want to turn it on and watch her at night

Thanks on the compliment on the cage...i think i did an awesome job for my first one....ive only had the snake for a two weeks but i feel an addiction coming on.

[Spaniard]

Reptilebasics.com is a great place for heating supplies. Rich has amazing customer service and will even pre-wire the flexwatt for you. He has a heating FAQ on his page that should answer most of your questions. A good thermostat is essential for stable temps, proportional would be ideal, but a Ranco or Johnson is the next best thing.

[SUDISTIK]

That enclosure is not suitable for a baby Ball Python. The space would be overwhelming and the snake would be stressed beyond belief.

Try a 15qt-32qt plastic tub for a year or more and then move the snake to that enclosure. Or get a larger snake that would appreciate the space.

I would recommend reading the caresheet so you will know what the husbandry requirements are so your snake will thrive in your care, and not just survive(maybe).

To set up that cage to actually use it in the future(not now, as the snake would not do well at all in that cage, WAY too big)
You're going to need a high quality thermostat, flexwatt or a radiant heat panel to get the temps on the warm side up to 92-94, and the cool side to 82-84. You'll need many hides, a digital thermometer/hygrometer.

To set up a tub for the hatchling Ball you'll need:
-15qt tub
-HIgh quality digital thermostat(johnson controls, ranco, helix, herpstat)
-flexwatt
-digital thermometer/hygrometer
-two small, low to the ground, dark hides that are IDENTICAL
-small water bowl
-hobby soldering iron for making air holes in the sides of the tub
-binder clips or a small bungee cord to hold the lid on

And Josh, flexwatt WILL get above 95 if left off of a thermostat, it will actually melt itself. It REQUIRES a thermostat or you will burn the house down.

As I said above, your little snake isn't going to thrive in that huge enclosure. Ball Pythons prefer small spaces and too much space will cause them to be very stressed, go off feed to an extreme, not properly thermoregulate which will cause illnesses such as respiratory infections. Definitely go with the small tub set up until the snake is older or just get another snake such as a boa that is more active and would appreciate the space. With the Ball, you would be looking at an empty cage 24/7.

thanks for the info...i dont know how much of a baby it is, its about two feet long...how big do you think i would have to wait for it to get before it goes in there?

[JoshJP7]

Kind of along the lines of what becky said... The cage isnt too big as of now... Its only too big if you snake has problems eating and what not... My cage size is 4x2x1.5ft and the smallest snake I have in there is 600g. If your planning on using that cage for a baby your going to need to make sure you got some nice small tight hides for them. I have yet to run into an issue with a cage being too big but I havent put a baby in a cage that size so you may run into an issue. Most importantly is making sure you have the right temps and right humidity. Thats the most important part of keepin BP's. Your humidity looks good your just going to need to work on getting the temps up.

[Spaniard]

Thats a very large enclosure for a bp, I don't think I would even attempt to keep one in there. Looks better suited for a boa in my opinion.

[SatanicIntention]

Yep, 2ft is still a juvie. How big is the cage?

If the snake is 2ft, I would try a 15-27qt tub.

Flexwatt you don't have to wire yourself. www.reptilebasics.com will wire it for you for free. It lasts longer and is more reliable than any "reptile" undertank heater. They use it in houses to heat the floor, so it lasts a LONG time

For properly heating the big cage, flexwatt likely won't work as you'll have to take the linoleum out, put flexwatt down, and put the linoleum back in. Flexwatt also won't heat the air. I would get a radiant heat panel from Pro-Products(www.pro-products.com). Just tell him the size of the cage and he will get you the right size panel. They also aren't dangerous for the animal to touch and they don't dry out the air.

[CntrlF8]

I used flexwatt which supposidly never gets higher than 95 degrees so that isnt hot enough to burn the vinyl or the wood... On the other hand if your using like a zoomed heat pad or others you find in pet stores those get like 115+ degrees so thats a possibility... Either way all heating elements should be hooked up to a thermostat to ensure nothing serious happens...

Flexwatt will most certainly go above 95, but the manufacturer warns that anything above 95 is dangerous. Glad you clarified that you are in fact using a thermostat to regulate the temp of your flexwatt.

And, just for the record... I've recorded 140 degrees surface temp with a zoomed pad.