BP enclosure

[Wizwise2000]

I've been talking with Don Patterson about a pair of 100% het albinos.

They are '03's and I'm wondering what size of a rubbermaid I will need to house them in. I seen some nice ones tonight that had two locking clips. The measurements are as follows.

15x11x6 inches (LxWxH)

Would these snakes be too large to house in something like this?
Asking because I bought my first snake a month ago and I had bought an enclosure I feel was too big for him.

Thanks in advance to everyone.
Shane

[snakehunter]

I might be a little biased, but i like to give my snakes plenty of roaming room, i think a 36x?x? would work well, but thats me

[tHeGiNo]

Snakehunter, with ball pythons you don't give them plenty of roaming room. Ball pythons will appreciate small environments. The one you saw is perfect for his hets. As an adult, you will want to increase the size of the rubbermaid.

[sapphire_moon]

I would give them atleast 20-24inches long of space (seperatly). SOME may not like roaming space, but both of mine do. They are in 4ft long rubbrmaid like containers and they use every inch of space. Don't forget that 2 hides and a water bowl big enough for him/her to soak are going in the cage to, and maybe even a climbing stick, they will want some floor area to crawl (sp?) around on, and they themselves will be in there.

You just go with how ever big you feel it should be.

[marisa]

The whole point is yes some like roaming room, but this doesn't matter when you have purcahsed two new snakes who are both very young and need time to acclimate to your house. Especially since these aren't normal BPs you want to ensure easy eating and big appetites right off the hop.

If they are young, a shoebox sized rubbermaid (they also have one thats one size larger than a shoebox which is what I use) is 100% FINE! Your new snakes will feel safe and secure, and once you has established a feeding pattern you can really move them up to anything you want. That's what I would do and IMHO.

Marisa

[mykee]

For that size snake, I'd go with Marisa and start out with a shoebox rubbermaid, and then progress in size as your snake grows. Putting them in enclosures that are too large may stress them out causing them to not eat. At a year, (1000g-ish) you can throw them into a 26x16x9. I keep all of my full-grown adults (2000g+) in a 34x16x6 underbed rubbermaid. Good luck.

[foman]

I don't believe that a large encloser will stress out Bp's, what do they do in the wild? When i bought my first bp i house her in a 33 gallon aquarium(36lx18hx12w), never did she refuse a meal. I just don't buy that you can have a rubbermaid too big for a bp they just don't make them that big, with good secure hides there is no way that a rubbermaid is too big. Out of my 3 bp's two of them are out of there hides roaming every inch of there cages 80% of the time, well the other is in a hide most of the time.

[marisa]

It's not that a big enclosure stresses them out. Its when a fairly new snake owner purchases some relatively expensive snakes and places them (not knowing anyhitng about each specific one) in a huge enclosure which is already harder to hold enviroment stable, in a new enviroment (your house) and expects them to eat a week later.

It happens. But lots of times they won't eat.

My point, you want to know 100% SURE your hatchling BP's will eat within the week, and keep eating? Put them in a smaller sized rubbermaid or at least a smaller sized tank. You want to try and achieve and enviroment in a larger space, fine. But also don't expect the large amount of success that you will have using a smaller enclosure like thousands of breeders have been doing with great success rates. That's what it is. A differance between fast and better results, or slower and the possibilty of not so great results for awhile.

Marisa
P.S. check out Grant VG's post in the blood forum. He just posted a great post about this explaining this far better than I ever ever could.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Wizwise2000, you are buying from one of the PREMIER snake breeders in the country, why you just didn't ask Don is beyond me, ha ha!
:p :rolleyes: :confused: :eek: :) :D

I've been to Don's and seen the hets he has for sale, and they are not babies anymore. Stick them in 11.4L Rubbermaids (style #2220). After about 2-4 months, they will outgrow that and need to go into the 26.4L Rubbermaids. Get a longie heat pad ($29) and put it on low and stick it under 1/3 of both Rubbermaids, and that's it. Done.


Piece of cake.

[tHeGiNo]

I don't believe that a large encloser will stress out Bp's, what do they do in the wild?

In the wild, they live in burrows. As marisa mentioned, some ball pythons are more tolerant then others. Providing a small enclosure ensures the ball pythons security, reducing stress levels and increasing a new owners success with their ball python.

[mykee]

Exactly, why take the chance, you have but three balls, trust me, I have quite a bit more than that, and you've been lucky.

[beaglegod]

If an enclosure seems a bit too big for some of your younguns a piece of PVC pipe (3 or 4 inch) running from one end of the enclosure to the other, can help with security, since the snake can go from hot end to cool end virtualy unseen. My guy loves the pipe since he can stretch out in it and still feel hidden.

[Wizwise2000]

Thanks for the info Jeff, I'm unsure of what heat pad you mean. I went and bought a human heat pad with 4 settings, and most of the human pads I've seen have an automatic shut off after 30-60 minutes. Thanks again for the info.

Thanks to everyone for your info and input, I appreciate it.

Shane

[Jeff_Favelle]

Sunbeam heat pad (king size) that has 3 heat settings (not including "off"). Its at WalMart, CT, Home Hardware, London Drugs, etc etc. They sell for around $29. I would use the long one because it can do 2 cages, and is the same wattage as the square ones.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Not to mention, if DON P. is the one making the sale, ask him!! His a VERY good source of info! Talk to him. He'd be more than happy to help you! trust me. :D

[BoidKeeper]

Jeff's right. I bought two of Don's hets this year and they are great! And Don is always top notch to deal with.
Cheers,
Trevor
PS
I started mine off in shoe boxes and now that they eat hopper rats they are in 10 and 15g tanks on their side.

[Wizwise2000]

Great! Well, thanks again, I really appreciate it. I'm still reading different care sheets and learning what I can.

Thanks everyone! :)