Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im going to get a red blood python soon and i was wondering if i could keep a red bulb(which is a night bulb)on it 24/7.Also would a ruber maid that is 3ft long x 1ft wide be to big for a baby?
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Zac

0.0.1 Savannah monitor

How do you plan on using a plastic tub AND a heat lamp?? I personally prefer undertank heaters (with a thermostat) and can't quite understand how you would safely use a heat lamp over a tub without melting the plastic or possibly creating escape routes for a curious snake.

The size of the cage really depends on the baby. I thought I might have trouble with mine when I used a large, tall heavy duty storage tub for her first cage. I had no problems whatsoever. I think if you have good hides, a thick substrate for burrowing and good temperatures you'll be ok. Keeping the cage in a low traffic area helps too.

Always have a backup plan ready, just in case. You'll have to move up to the 3 foot tub within a year anyway, so might as well keep it around.

I wouldn't advise using a heat bulb for a blood enclosure. It will tend to make it too hot and dry out the enclosure drastically. As for size, the one you mentioned is wayyy too big. Bloods need small tight enclosures especially as babies. I would advise something like a 12q rubbermaid/sterilite enclosure for a baby with some holes in it with some heat tape on the back or a small piece under the bottom. With the little enclosures its better to go for a basking temperature instead of a hot spot because you can easily cook your animals. If you need any more help with setting up an enclosure or whatnot feel free to ask, there are alot of people to help around here.

Jordan
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior

I have modified the cage were it wont melt.Ive housed other things in it and and with the red it makes the cage 95-75.

Im debating between a black blood or a red.
I want a red because of there size.
But I want a black because there temperment and color.
I like reds color but the black is just better looking to me and blacks arnt as common as reds.
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Zac

Whats the average humidity level in this cage?

When i had the last snake in there it was 55%
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Zac

Ok im just gonna go to wal-mart and buy the appropriate sized rubber maid.So can a heat pad be put on the rubber maid without it melting?
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Zac

Yes, if you have the mat connected to a thermostat. Which you should have anyway...

I wouldn't use a uth to heat the rubbermaid, buy some low wattage flexwatt heat tape, and put that on a thermostat, or dimmer switch.Under tank heater say specifically not to mount to any plastic and if you don't have a quality thermostat it can burn your rubbermaid and heat up your snake really fast.Also flexwatt is pennies compared to a uth.Ask these guys for some pics of their set ups, I'm looking for one of my pics now to show you.

As long as you have a thermostat it doesn't matter whether you use an under tank heater or flexiwatt. Personally, if you have the $$$, I'd go with the UTH for a couple of reasons. Firstly, flexiwatt heats up QUICK and can get HOT HOT HOT if your thermostat fails. Secondly, UTH's are prewired and hard wired...I've wired a basement and wiring flexiwatt still scares me (loose connection = short which can = fire).

Matt

P.S. I gotta go with everyone else when it comes to the light bulb...skip it...too many things can go wrong.

Flex watt can get hot but every uth I've had a regular temp of 125 degrees.Maybe it was the brand I was running but also from what I've read on packaging it specifially says not to stick to any plastic caging.Again that might just be the brand I was running back then, but I far favor the flexwatt.

"Im debating between a black blood or a red.
I want a red because of there size.
But I want a black because there temperment and color.
I like reds color but the black is just better looking to me and blacks arnt as common as reds."

Me too, I'm probably going to go with a red, because I already have Ball Pythons, and the Blacks aren't really much bigger than them.

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MY COLLECTION:
1.0 Columbian BCI
0.0.1 Crested Gecko
1.2 Ball Pythons

MY WISHLIST:
A Northern Blue-Tongue Skink
1.1 nice Jungle Carpet Pythons
1.1 Hogg Island Boas
0.1 pastel Columbian BCI
A Blood or Short-Tail Python
A Dumerils Boa
1.2 Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rankins Dragons
1.3 Crested Geckos
Breeding groups of various Leopard Gecko morphs (including Tremper Giant, Patternless Albino, Blazing Blizzard, and Bell Albino).

n/p

How big do Blacks get? I'm just going with what the caresheets on NERD's website say. According to the caresheets, Blacks reach an average length of 2'-4' for males and 3'-5' for females, with a max length of about 6', and Reds reach an average length of
3'-5' for males and 4'-6' for females, with older females occasionally reaching 8'-10'.
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MY COLLECTION:
1.0 Columbian BCI
0.0.1 Crested Gecko
1.2 Ball Pythons

MY WISHLIST:
A Northern Blue-Tongue Skink
1.1 nice Jungle Carpet Pythons
1.1 Hogg Island Boas
0.1 pastel Columbian BCI
A Blood or Short-Tail Python
A Dumerils Boa
1.2 Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rankins Dragons
1.3 Crested Geckos
Breeding groups of various Leopard Gecko morphs (including Tremper Giant, Patternless Albino, Blazing Blizzard, and Bell Albino).

The sizes on those care sheets are maximums & averages - please keep that in mind.

I have a 5.5' female Black that DWARFS a 5' female ball python, and 5' balls are impressive in and of themselves. Those who were at the Chicago show met her - she is a BIG girl!!! She's bigger than many of my red females.

K~

>>How big do Blacks get? I'm just going with what the caresheets on NERD's website say. According to the caresheets, Blacks reach an average length of 2'-4' for males and 3'-5' for females, with a max length of about 6', and Reds reach an average length of
>>3'-5' for males and 4'-6' for females, with older females occasionally reaching 8'-10'.
>>-----
>>MY COLLECTION:
>>1.0 Columbian BCI
>>0.0.1 Crested Gecko
>>1.2 Ball Pythons
>>
>>MY WISHLIST:
>>A Northern Blue-Tongue Skink
>>1.1 nice Jungle Carpet Pythons
>>1.1 Hogg Island Boas
>>0.1 pastel Columbian BCI
>>A Blood or Short-Tail Python
>>A Dumerils Boa
>>1.2 Bearded Dragons
>>1.1 Rankins Dragons
>>1.3 Crested Geckos
>>Breeding groups of various Leopard Gecko morphs (including Tremper Giant, Patternless Albino, Blazing Blizzard, and Bell Albino).
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Bloodpythons.com - Whats YOUR Blood Type?

My big female black @ Tinley, with the esteemed Rich Crowley (during our blood/STP talk)...

And me holding her...not the best pic for reference, but I'm 5'4"...just to give you an idea.

Thanks Jason @ redpython.net for these photos!!!

K~

>>How big do Blacks get? I'm just going with what the caresheets on NERD's website say. According to the caresheets, Blacks reach an average length of 2'-4' for males and 3'-5' for females, with a max length of about 6', and Reds reach an average length of
>>3'-5' for males and 4'-6' for females, with older females occasionally reaching 8'-10'.

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Bloodpythons.com - Whats YOUR Blood Type?

>>"and the Blacks aren't really much bigger than them."

Just to give my $0.03 cents on this topic: I had 2.4 P. curtus curtus (Sumatran Black) in the mid-90's and two of the WC females were nearly 6 feet and probably 20 pounds. Mind you, the largest Ball Python I keep is 6.5 feet and 9 pounds! So, this was effectively DOUBLE the mass and therefore MUCH larger in comparison than a huge Ball Python. I also once saw at Mike Ellards (Burgundy Reptile Traders in Ft Meyers Florida) a fresh WC female Black (I swear) that was very likely 7 feet or just over that and EASILY 35 pounds or more!!! She was hands down the largest I ever saw. I could hardly believe how big she was AND she had a WC attitude that was second to none! This is NO way should influence you to not acquire one, but it is to inform that there is a 'common' size but it's not always the norm. These critters can get pretty hefty and are a heck of a lot of fun to keep! Just ask the breeder how large the adults are and you will have a pretty good idea of what to expect in size.

Matt