90 Gallon for a BP?

End Times · 02-27-05, 02:55 PM

Hey all,

I was planning on buying a 90 gallon aquarium (48"X24"X18") to house my future BP (will be my first snake, but after countless hours of research I think BP's are the species for me!) but after reading some more, it seems that most people seem to think that would be way too big. I was thinking "the bigger, the better" as I want my snake to have a good home, but now I'm wondering if indeed a smaller tank would be a better home!

What does everyone think? Has anyone successfully kept a BP in a 90 Gallon? I'm hoping so, because I've already purchased a top that would fit one (48" long by 18" wide), although the top would also fit a 65 gallon because they too are 48" long by 18" wide (just 6 inches shorter in height).

Well, is a 90 gallon too big?

Thanks all! Oh, haven't introduced myself in the proper section yet so, my name is Rob, I'm 23, live in North Bay Ontario and work as an animal control officer.

Edit: Forgot to mention that although I've never owned a snake that I did have the pleasure of babysitting a ball for about two months time a couple of years ago. So I have the tiniest, tiniest, tiniest taste of what it would be like to own one.

malaysianbloods · 02-27-05, 03:02 PM

Yes I think that would be too big and think that they do alot better in smaller shorter tanks. I think that if you buy the 65gallon instead and put alot of hides in it then that might be ok, but then again if you are able to sell the lid then go with a 30gallon long. HTH

End Times · 02-27-05, 03:05 PM

What the dimensions of a 30 long?

Oh, and whats HTH? (sorry forum thing is still kind of new)

zero&stich · 02-27-05, 03:27 PM

What's up Rob? I'll share my experience with glass vs "the rubber enclosure". When I had them in glass, each in their own house, I run into a few problems with glass enclosures.
First the cons-
*Hard to maintain temps(was usin cermanic heat emitters for them, til trial and error made me switch to pads)
*Awful difficult time to maintain the proper humidity
*Skittish feeders
*Glass is very heavy and hard to clean, let alone move
Pros-
(Actually can't think of any, at the moment, sorry)

Rubbermaid/Sterlites
Pros-

*Opaque(sp) enclosure, made my snakes feel more secure as I can walk by without them darting and pulling the "Ball"
*Feed better for me, because of the security of hides and the opaque enclosure
*Much easier to maintain temps with pad/thermostat
*Ten times easier to maintain humidity levels
*Stackable, more free room
Cons-
Only thing I ran into was having my cooler side, too cold(68-70) And high humidity. I forgot the basic physics of heat and air. As heat rises, air drops and was reminded to raise my enclosures 2 feet off the floor. Since I had no means of doing so, my comp desk is metal. I remembered how cermanic heat emitters dry out the air, so I rigged against my comp desk, bout 3 feet away from the enclosures. It allowed my cooler temps to rise to 75 degrees and dropped the humidity in the mid 60's.

Sorry for the long post, but hope this helps.

End Times · 02-27-05, 06:56 PM

Thanks, that is helpful. I certainly see why some people, particularly those with many specimens, would go with rubbermaid housing. My only problem with that is that I want to be able to watch my snake! It's much easier to observe them in an aquarium. If I used rubbermaid, I'd only get to see my snake when I took it out for handling. That kinda bugs me...

Iceman · 02-27-05, 07:21 PM

Lol i went through the same thing when i joined this board, i argued with some people, i thought it was crule to keep a snake in a rubbermaid, but after much consideration, i ended up using see through rubbermaids, but the best thing for snakes besides rubbermaids is custom cages(i am building 6 in a few weeks, lol) and vision style cages, there is a place near my house that makes them(reptic plastics)

but honestly, ball pythons do better in smaller cages, and honestly untill you can get a vision style cage, or build your own, keep it in a see through rubbermaid.

my ball python always had problems shedding in a tank, in a rubbermaid she does so much better..

Asian Jon · 02-27-05, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by End Times
What the dimensions of a 30 long?

Oh, and whats HTH? (sorry forum thing is still kind of new)

HTH = Hope This Helps

.

End Times · 02-27-05, 07:34 PM

Ahhh. Got ya, HTH, should of figured that out on my own...

As for clear rubbermaids, well, they're not totally clear, doesn't that sort of "wreck your viewing pleasure"?

peterm15 · 02-27-05, 07:38 PM

ya if your wanting to view the snake a custome may be the best choice.. only the front as glass.. good for security and viewing

Iceman · 02-27-05, 07:49 PM

end times, i am not sure everyone on this forum thinks this way, but alot of people pick proper housing for health reasons over a "pretty tank" set up..

i'll say like the great jeff favelle once told me "aquariums are for fish"

lol

but if you can do it your self, or get someone to help you, custom is great, you can make a few 4'x2'x18" cages for the price of one big tank at a store..

zero&stich · 02-27-05, 07:58 PM

Quote:

As for clear rubbermaids, well, they're not totally clear, doesn't that sort of "wreck your viewing pleasure"?

Well seeing how they are nocturnal, you usually don't seem them out much anyway

. And opaque just means the enclosure isn't translucent, like a plate of glass. but rather looking through a sheet of plexi glass.

I had the same problem as most people, not being able to view them and such. But in reality, I can see them well enough and it is all about what is best for the animal's needs, not the person staring at them all day.

My suggestion to you, would be if you have your heart set on an aquarium, then try it out and see it fits your animals needs. I would go for the 65g. I know of a couple people where the rubber enclosure did not work and just found that glass enclosures worked for other species of snakes. In a BP's case you will have to really be on top of humidity and kinda working double time to make them feel secure.

Best of luck, whichever you choose. I know I had to try out the glass enclosure for myself before making a final decesion.

Jeff Hathaway · 02-27-05, 08:06 PM

Rubbermaids do have many advantages, but you can do just fine with a tank. 90 gallon is more than you need; the footprint is fine but it is quite tall so harder to maintain. A 65 gallon would be easier and cheaper. The 48"x18" footprint will give you lots of space for a hide at each end for warm and cool, and a water dish in the middle. I use rubbermaids as hides in mine (a 48"x18" tank that is custom made to be only 12" high) with dampened mulch in one so that it is a warm and humid hide. Since it stays in the rubbermaid most of the time, in a sense, I'm keeping it in a rubbermaid within a tank:-)

Covering the top partially will allow for easier humidity maintenance.

As already mentioned, they'll hide a lot, and you won't see them much of the time. Most snakes are like that, and the exceptions are often not very good pets.

Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!

End Times · 02-27-05, 08:19 PM

Thanks everyone, I think I've decided what I'll do. After perusing some more of this great site, I located a thread that gave a link to this awesome business out of Montreal that does custom tanks. They look great, and are fair priced IMO. Can't remember what the business was called, but here's the link!

http://balls-o-philiak.tripod.com/re...ics/index.html

Iceman · 02-27-05, 08:51 PM

lol, they are 5 minutes from my house..
it's reptic plastics

Spirit · 02-27-05, 08:52 PM

As to not get into a whole glass vs rubbermaid thing, I won't comment on the plastic...

Glass viv. To put it simply.
Pro's:
* Looks nice.
Cons:
* MUCH more difficult to get temps and humidity right, let alone maintain.
* Much harder to clean.

My ball is out cruising close to 18 hours a day. He seems to be rather curious about his surroundings, fearless (nothing seems to stress him out) and the least agressive snake I've known. He's only 5 months old, and in a 30 gallon glass aquarium (36Lx18Wx12H). He eats like a champ and is seemingly a very healthy, well adjusted snake. He has lots of hides but doesn't always chose to use them, and when he does, his head is ALWAYS sticking out.

I say it has a LOT to do with the snake you're going to house. Balls in general get stressed out VERY easily, so if you were to throw one into a large glass viv, husbandry is likely going to be the least of your problems.

Having said that, the floor space is more important than the height, but my ball in particular loves to climb and is always out exploring, climbing (and mostly falling lol), so as an adult, I might concider it... but no sooner.