Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been out of the hobby for several years so I need some help. My daughter wants a snake so I'm going to pick up a 06 normal female ball. It's been so long since I kept a single snake in a display tank that I have no idea where to start. What would you guys recommend for a basic ball setup? Clay

If you want an elaborate display cage you can build some hides out of wood etc.
Maybe give her some vines or dowels to climb around.
Add some fake plants and that whole deal.

Basic set up though would be a hide on the warm side, a hide on the cool side and water.

Substrate could be shredded aspen, newspaper or that "reptile carpet" stuff.
I like aspen.

Just remember, the more elaborate it is, the harder it will be to clean.
-----
"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

>>I have been out of the hobby for several years so I need some help. My daughter wants a snake so I'm going to pick up a 06 normal female ball. It's been so long since I kept a single snake in a display tank that I have no idea where to start. What would you guys recommend for a basic ball setup? Clay

What has worked best for me as a display tank for a young (less than a year) ball python is a 20 gallon, long tank. For bedding I use ecoearth (some kind of coconut fiber mix) mixed with repti-bark. I use that particular bedding because where I live it's rather dry, and that keeps the humidity up where the balls like it. A water dish big enough for the snake to soak in is also in there, and I like to keep mine right inbetween the warm and cool sides of the tank (more on that in a sec). Also in there is a hidey, which could be a half log, fake rock cave, or a shoebox. With my baby there's a branch for climbing and she does like to use it, but it's harder finding a branch that'll hold up to my larger adults.

Heating is important. You want your hot end to be 90-95 degrees, and your cool end to be 78-82 degrees. In a 20L I have success with using an undertank heater which is always on and the right size for a 20 gallon tank, along with a heat lamp. For my 20L I have a 60 watt red bulb on there, and when the house is in the 70's or lower it creates the heat gradient I mentioned. When it's warmer than the mid 70's you HAVE to monitor the temperatures in there - it can get really hot really fast.

For an adult snake, a 55 gallon or a 40 breeder works well and looks nice - the snake can stretch out and watching them in the evenings is pretty neat. However, a bare minimum is having a smaller adult male in a 20L and a female in a 30 gallon. Not really recommended, but if you're in a pinch it can be done.

I hope that helped!

~jenny
-----
1.1.1 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
2.1 betta fishes (Vicious, Killer, and Butters)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
2.25 chickens (Jacques the rooster and his harem)

but what I really want is more ball pythons!