Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can someone give me a list of exactly what I need to keep a healthy ball python enclosure. Id prefer useing a glass tank but am open to options.. The snakes are being kept in my house I live in the south and its always HOT outside so my house is A/C'ed year round please keep that in mind. I plan to purchase a pair of albino hets and a pastel.. So want to make sure everything is on the up and up.. But am 20yrs old so a bit of a budget...

i too live in the south and my house is ac'd year round. This does one thing that prevents me from using glass enclosures, removes all humidity from the house. In my experience, either using prefab'd enclosures, like vision or boaphile, or a closed rack system is best. For a small collection a closed rack with heat tape and a reliable thermostat can be built for less than $400. You will also need a thermometer to monitor the temp of the cage over the heat tape. You will also probably want to purchase enough water bowls to have a spare for each cage. Also the number one thing you need to do ahead of time is find a herp vet before you have an animal get sick, it sucks to sit around all day trying to find a vet that will take your animal in and who know's what they are doing. There are other small things that you will need eventually but with proper caging and having a good vet lined up for when or if you will need it, the big work has been done. You will also want to find a source for quality rodents, either live or frozen, they are not all created equal which is why I breed my own so I have no questions whether my snakes are getting top quality feeders.
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Josh Hutto
JKReptiles

2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
1.0 Spider Ball python (Ballroom pythons south)
0.1 High Contrast Albino (Gulf Coast)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, Gulf Coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(Gulf Coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (Gulf Coast line)
1.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
0.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

To be honest, Sterilite boxes (available at walmart) are GREAT!
They maintain humidity and temps really well.
I just put my snakes in Sterilites, and Eve shed in a solid piece for the first time since I have had her.

You can use standard heating pads with them, or get some heat tape and a thermostat.
Look around...prices vary.
From what I have read, Ranco and Helix are some of the best. It's worth it to spend the extra too, to insure your snakes don't cook.

I built a rack out of a plastic rack at Home Depot. It was on sale for $30. All you need is the rack and a hack saw to cut down the tubs to the tubs height. The rack is like a grate, so you need to leave the tops on.

I've included a pic of the rack.

How you wire the heat is up to you, but that rack can hold all kinds of different sized sterilites.

Go to Walmart, into the gardening section, and get some of those little round frisbee-like trays that are used for under plant pots. Cut or drill a big hole in the top and you have a perfect hide box. Low to the ground, snug, AND the snakes can drag it with them as they decide where they want to be in the cage. They're only like $1.00 each.

The beauty of these snakes is that their setups can be anything from a huge plant filled vivarium to a plastic sweater box with newspaper substrate and a water dish.

The sku for the rack on Homedepot.com is 129632.

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-Man fears the beast in the Wolf because he does not understand the beast within himself.

I saw that same idea some where on ks I think in the cage and habitat forum, I think. but they used peg board on the bottom of each shelf so if you don't want to use the lids.
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1.2.0 ball python (aragorn, arwen,`eowyn)
1.0.0 100% het pied (frodo)
1.0.0 columbian boa (squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
0.0.2 whites tree frog (trevor, kirmet)
0.0.5 pacific green tree frogs
3.2.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy
"snakes are kind of like potato chips, you cant have just one"

I just wanted to thank you because this message helped me sooo much I've been worried about how i was going to house my new snakes and I've wanted to have things ready before they get here. And I have like NO MONEY, I did want to ask about heating though...the tubs can handle heat mats without being a fire hazard?
Also I have a room about the size of a closet that I will be keeping them in..would it be a bad idea to use a heat bulb in the light fixture to help have a more controled temp and save on buying a lot of heat supplies?
Thanks again

If you live in Louisiana, the first thing that you need to do is call your state senator and tell him or her to oppose HB 783. This bill would ban the possession or importation of "non-indigenous constrictors" in Louisiana. If you live in this state and care about keeping ball pythons, you need to oppose this bill at every turn.

Thanks,

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

I appreciate all the concern and help.. I live in the Florida Keys..
Thanks

First off, welcome to the ball python world! You now have "the ball python bug" and I'm sorry to say, it doesn't go away without a lot of theropy... All that to say,

Glass Cages:

Glass cages are not too bad to work with in the south. I live in Houston, so our humidity here is really high. I am assuming that where ever you live, humidity is not much of a problem either.

There are two major down sides to glass tanks:

1.) They do not effectivly hold humidity, without any modifications done at least.

2.) Heat transfer is poor at best, again, without any modifications done.

There are ways around these problems, at least ones that I have found to work for a tank I keep. To regulate the humidity levels, assuming your using a screen lid, you can place something on a portion of the screen lid. Some use masonite (can get this at home depot, lowes, etc.) others use expanded pvc. From what I can tell, they all do the same thing (pros, any suggestions here). You can also use wide water dishs that will increase the surface area of the water to help raise the moisture level in the air. Lastly, you can use cypress mulch which holds humidity very well.

As far as the problems with heat transfer, a good thermostat, a temp gun, and checking your under tank heater is vital. Okay, I guess a temp gun is vital, but personally I am a temp gun nut.. The first under tank heater I had was just a sticky pet store type. The problem with these types of UTH's when used on a glass cage is that there is almost zero heat transfer. This meaning that the heat is only right above the UTH, and no real heat gradiant. Just a hot spot and a cold spot, with nothing in between. To get around this problem, I attached a 12"x12" tile to the sticky mat, giving it a much better gradiant. This is also useful if you are going to be changing around tanks and UTH's, as the usual sticky type mats are a "one shot, one kill" product. Once you stick them to a tank, you really can't ever use them again.. With the tile attached to it, you can move it how ever you want. You will also want to be able to regulate the temp of the UTH, rheostat, or a t-stat. Do your research on this, as t-stat/rheostat failures have claimed the lives of many snakes, not to mention houses burning down due to electrical fires.

Now, all that being said, glass cages are only one route. I only have one glass tank (aside from a dart from tank I am currently building!!), and the rest are all in sterilite tubs in a rack. A rack can be made, as others have suggested. They can be purchased, or the tubs can simply be stacked one on top of each other. Stacking is pretty much a royal pain in the butt, but it can be done.

It sounds like your planning on a small collection, and with a pair of hets, are probably going to expect babies some where in the future. I currently have a small collection (for now, hehe) of 8 bp's. Since I could not go out and buy every snake I wanted, I want to grow into my collection. Thus, I designed my set up with expansion in mind. If this is your case, glass tanks may not be the way to go. On the other hand, if your getting 05's or 06's, it might be a while before you have any young-ins to worry about and glass would be okay. Do your research, weight your options, and then do more research!!

Good luck, I hope this helps,

~Johnny

Pros, any thing I forgot?

Thanks for the help... I live in South Florida and mainly keep chameleons and leopard geckos.. I have breed both before with great success but never seem to be able to get snakes to produce.. Living in Florida my Leopard Geckos are able to live in my screened in back porch year round except for the few days a year it gets cold here.. Why I have never realy had to heat enclosures.. But with these snakes I am keeping them inside because I am investing so much.. I was thinking of going with the glass tank but the screen on the top will cause to much airflow I think in my house with the AC. My question with the rubbermaids/sterilite containers is.. 1. how much ventilation is required.. With a water bowl inside the container even with airholes wouldnt it cause to much humidity?
For a successful enclosure all I need is the sterilite some heat tape or heatpad hooked to a thermostat I have lots of problems with mulch I think its unsafe for the reptiles I use papertowel.. I have a couple digital thermometers from my incubator... Should be ready to go, can anyone give me a rough estimate on what this is going to cost me??
Jbugg