I have seen oh so many lovely tub topics where people ask questions about what size tub to get for if they build a rack system or whatever. The general consensus seems to be a 32q for an adult ball python.

So I went a hunting at my local WalMart for one, and I decided to get 41q since they only had that or 28q. Well I went over to get the drill I will use to build my rack system and decided to get a spiffy one with a ton of bits and all sorts of extras (I will never need to buy a drill bit again, lol), however weighing in at a good 15~20lbs and being extremely awkward, and since I generally walk everywhere, I decided not to get the tubs at the time.

That was like 6 or 7 hours ago and since then I decided to go back. And when I got there I did some final measurements on the tubs (why yes I am that cray guy who uses walmart's measuring tape to measure plastic bins, thanks for asking) and I decided that instead of just buying 7 41q containers now, I would rather come back here and ask you guys what you think I should do.

Pretty much I looked in the 41q containers and saw a heck of a lot of space... and I know my adult ball would be content in a 15q with half of it completely darkened for him to lay in and the other half a water dish, haha. So I was wondering if I should go for the 41q or the slightly smaller 28q.

I grabbed the measurements for each so you know what I'm working with here:

41: 31.5" x 13"
28: 20" x 13.5"

Note: These measurements are based on the BOTTOM of the container, while listed measurements tend to be for the top. I kind of think measuring the size of the outward slant and lip of the container is a waste since the snake will not be using that space and is using just the surface area of the bottom of the container.

Also, they are both listed at 6" in height, however are actually 5.5" (they're measuring the lid which I probably won't be using).

So, what do you think? Should I give them space to roam around and thermoregulate or should I give them a tighter home that I will probably just end up having 2 hides and a water dish in, with little to no room otherwise?

(mind you I will be using 4" flexwatt placed 2 inches from the back of the rack on the bottom, so roughly 4.5 inches into the container will be where the flexwatt ends. Also the 41q will have the long side facing outwards, while the 28q will have the short side pointing outwards)

And as another note I'm basing this on adult ball python size, I'd rather buy all my containers sized for when all the snakes are grown up now, than not be able to find the right sized container when they get discontinued.