Pros and cons of a natural vivaria enclosure for a snake?

[MaddieSnakes]

My ball python is getting to the size where I have to get him a bigger enclosure; as of now, I've got him in a pretty simple (boring) set-up. It meets his basic needs, sure, but it's a bit of an eyesore. I would love to have a natural set-up with live plants, but I'd like to know what's good and bad about that kind of enclosure for a ball python. I would think it'd be a pain in the butt to clean, but other than that I think it'd be kind of fun.

[infernalis]

A heavy body snake like a BP will mash down whatever you put in there.

Use some soil with grass and a burrow for a hide, I would be impressed.

anything else would just get crushed.

[alessia55]

Wayne (Infernalis) is correct. A heavy-bodied snake like a ball python will trample everything with its weight. Your best bet for something that looks nice is to include some fake plants that might be more resilient. I wanted a simple set up that looked good and was easy to take care of and looked somewhat natural too. I have the same set up for both of my BPs. This is what I have:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/alessia55/IMG02441-20120307-2149.jpg

[USMCgunner11]

You could always go for some hanging vines. They hold up a lot longer. I went through lots of ground based plants that ended up looking like crap after just a few days. Here is my BP's enclosure...

[Trollbie]

You could experiment with live plants and see which ones will endure. They tend to be cheaper than fake ones anyway. I left my plants in their pot thingys they were sold in and just buried them. My snake is a little baby still, but I dont think it will be an issue if you choose the right plants

[UwabamiReptiles]

Like everyone said, ball pythons will most likely crush any live plants you put in there. If you wanted to try it out, you could buy two or three of each plant and rotate them all out when you see they need to recover. Fake plants can be expensive but I buy all mine at the dollar store and at yard sales. Its better than paying ten dollars for a two foot vine.

[zaroba]

besides plants, I imagine that waste might be an issue.

Yea, in a natural viv waste will naturally break down, but would it happen fast enough to prevent the snake going threw it over and over and over? The tank would have to be very large (likely +100gal) to prevent this.

[CDN_Blood]

If you use a good substrate, clean-up is easy. One thing about Royals is that they're awfully active snakes and they sure do like to climb, so some good heavy branches would be appreciated by your snake.

I concur with the live plants being of not much use because they will get crushed and uprooted, but a little green something is always nice to look at in a tank.

The only con to using a spiffy vivarium as opposed to a basic setup is that with certain snakes which may be much more shy in nature, they can get really quite insecure when you remove them from such a setup. I keep Blood pythons and I can tell you that they're a good example of this. Since they're so insecure to begin with, if you give them hides, branches and other things to take cover with, it can be quite a stand-off when you try to get them out, so for them it's always easier to use a basic setup so they get accustomed to being visible. It helps them get more used to people and their movements, and that can be something some Royals also would benefit from. Food for thought :)

[MaddieSnakes]

You could always go for some hanging vines. They hold up a lot longer. I went through lots of ground based plants that ended up looking like crap after just a few days. Here is my BP's enclosure...

Oh wow, I LOVE your enclosure, where'd you get the stone-looking backdrops and the nice, thick branches?

[Simon17]

You could always go for some hanging vines. They hold up a lot longer. I went through lots of ground based plants that ended up looking like crap after just a few days. Here is my BP's enclosure...


Mate, what type of background are you using for your BP? Looks cool!! :)

[USMCgunner11]

Mate, what type of background are you using for your BP? Looks cool!! :)

I have since changed the background. That particular one was made by Universal Rocks which I bought off Amazon and cut to size. I decided to make my own background and switched him over to this recently...

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/enclosure-reptile-room-showcase/92215-new-diy-viv-project.html

[msavary76]

Wayne (Infernalis) is correct. A heavy-bodied snake like a ball python will trample everything with its weight. Your best bet for something that looks nice is to include some fake plants that might be more resilient. I wanted a simple set up that looked good and was easy to take care of and looked somewhat natural too. I have the same set up for both of my BPs. This is what I have:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/alessia55/IMG02441-20120307-2149.jpg

Hey alessia what is that fake green plant in there. Im loving the way it looks???:D:D:D

[msavary76]

You could always go for some hanging vines. They hold up a lot longer. I went through lots of ground based plants that ended up looking like crap after just a few days. Here is my BP's enclosure...


Hey what in detail do you have in your BP cage? I mean like could you give me a list of the items you used in this cage. Im loving it so much. That is what i wanna do for my JCP.

[DragonsEye]

Live plants in any viv can be difficult -- if you actually want the plants to thrive, that is. Meeting a plant's light requirements is not as easy as many people assume it to be. (Just because the light looks bright enough to you does NOT mean it is good enough for the plant's needs.)

As has been mentioned, heavy bodied animals make live plants an exercise in futility the vast majority of the time. Fake plants are the way to go. Dollar stores, second hand/thrift stores (Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc) are great places to look for cheap fake plants.

The fake plant in Alessia's set up looks like a fake schefflera.

[shaunyboy]

i use silk leaved,plastic stemed plants,as my carpets would just wreck live ones:D

cheers shaun

[jarich]

I have to keep telling the thriving plants in my snake tanks to just die already. They dont seem to be listening however. It might be because I took the time to place them correctly and chose the right kind of plants. Either way, its frustrating that they dont seem to listen to the fact that snakes will kill plants. Darn plants ;)

[shaunyboy]

I have to keep telling the thriving plants in my snake tanks to just die already. They dont seem to be listening however. It might be because I took the time to place them correctly and chose the right kind of plants. Either way, its frustrating that they dont seem to listen to the fact that snakes will kill plants. Darn plants ;)

^^^^^
best method would be.....

add one carpet python to your tank,plants destroyed,job done mate :laugh:

cheers shaun

[jarich]

It aint the size of your snake mate, its how you use the enclosure... (hahahaha, sometimes I crack myself up!)

[shaunyboy]

It aint the size of your snake mate, its how you use the enclosure... (hahahaha, sometimes I crack myself up!)

a Carpet Python makes EVERY enclosure their biatch mate :cool::laugh:

regardless of how you use your enclosure ;)

cheers shaun:D

[Phantaizm]

Hm. I intended to move my tropical plants into Pujas big enclosure eventually. She loves the aurelia and I have an orchid in her "plant basket" (see pic). Now u guys are ma.king me rethink. I mean, she's small right now, and I realize when she's much bigger many fragile plants won't work... but for a few years? No? And I have carpet too like Shaunyboy...aw but I dislike fake plants , although they are easier to clean.

[Kingsnakechris]

A heavy body snake like a BP will mash down whatever you put in there.

Use some soil with grass and a burrow for a hide, I would be impressed.

anything else would just get crushed.

How would you go about building the burrow? I mean I know with what I've learned about monitors, you need a solid 24 inches of sand/soil mix but wouldn't that be a bit much for a BP enclosure?

[Gungirl]

Building a burrow would be fairly easy. I would use a log hide or something else of that sort to hold the form and bury it.

[DragonsEye]

What kind of plants are you using, Jarich? I'd be interested to see pictures of your enclosure.

[MoreliAddict]

You could always go for some hanging vines. They hold up a lot longer. I went through lots of ground based plants that ended up looking like crap after just a few days. Here is my BP's enclosure...
^ that's awesome, dude. You should get a Carpet too. :)