Building a BP enclosure.

[MikeSantor]

Hey VF!

So Im about to finish my sons second Frog viv and Im itching to pull the trigger on something I have wanted for over 10 years now. An albino BP. Considering this is something i hopefully have a while I Really didnt want to skimp out on his cage. I have 2 old friends who have BPs cramed inside of a 20 gallon aquarium.

So for the past week I have been looking at tanks and cages on line and as you all know, you can blow a lot of cash pretty damn fast on a tank. This brought me to the idea of making one. I see a lot of people on line that have made cages.

I guess my main question is, is this an ok way to go for a BP? Any hiddend dangers or things that Might come up to make it not a good idea to build a tank?

Also, are there any makers of snake tanks that are good quality at a decent price?

Im looking for something nice and roomy for him that looks decent and is easy to get into and clean yet is secure for my BP?

Any general info on snake enclosures would be great. Thanks guys!

[Grimm]

I dont know much about BP's, and I have never actually met a BP owner who actually cared about building one a nice enclosure lol...It seems BP owners are more interested in adding snakes to their "collection" rather then carring for and owning happy "pets". Finally someone who wants to break the steriotype I have made! Haha good on ya!

Id say make plenty of hides for it, have rugged and tough interior construction, and if you plan on having plants go with something that wont get trampled if the snake wants to explore.

Were you planning to custom make the interior, or just do with the traditional method of throwing in a few pre-made hides, some substrate and a water dish?

[MikeSantor]

Yea, for me the tank is the most fun part. Atleast it was for my son's Frogs. He was exited about the frogs, I was excited about building the viv.

What do you think about wood enclosures for snakes? I dont know how that would be with heat and moisture. This guy is about 2 hours from me and builds nice stuff.

CUSTOM WOOD REPTILE CAGE for Lizard Snake 60 x 18 x 18 - eBay (item 200422424136 end time Apr-27-10 09:19:45 PDT)

I would totally buy something like this...

[beckdg]

that price seems a bit much for a diy'er. the cage does look nice and the price is competitive to say the least. BUT... check out the vid here... how it's done... favorite links thread

take the styro cage, seal the inside corners, wrap it with thin veneer, stain it instead of the black paint and you have yourself a nice setup. while you're at it you can get some 3/4" plywood and a pocket hole guide and make a stand also. stain it and trim it to match and you now have a show quality setup.

mind you, i don't really agree with the stick on vinyl tiles but that's where creativity comes in.

there's also a good bunch of diy melamine snake cage designs on line.

[MikeSantor]

Wow, that thread lead me to another page of DIY threads, which lead me to another page of DIY threads that let me to 10 more... Awsome stuff. The foam route would be cheap. im going to keep reading.

[beckdg]

glad you liked it.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Not exactly a fair characterization!
You must understand, ball pythons spend most of their time in the wild hiding inside termite mounds, and rarely come out, other than to find mates, or perhaps water--most food comes to them, as they are ambush predators. If you want to build a naturalistic enclosure that looks like the inside of a termite mound, well, that's cool...but most of us use racks because they do the trick nicely. Dark, private, and enclosed. Sticks, rocks, live plants...nice, but not really ball python habitat. They live in open forest and savannah areas--dry brush and grasses most of the year, and they don't spend a lot of time out in the open.

The pretty vivarium with the nice pleasing branches and rocks and plants--that is mostly nice for you. They just want lots of cover to hide under, and a good tight-fitting hide.

A ball python living in a rack is a very happy ball python. One living in a tank..possibly not as much.

So why do people have ball pythons 'crammed' into 20 gallon tanks? Because many ball pythons despise large cages, and will refuse to eat if you put them in one. Too much open space freaks them out. Termite mounds, remember?

Having coaxed many ball python hatchlings into eating their first meal, I can testify to this. There are a certain percentage that, being in an enclosed dark bin that they take up 1/4 of the space in, with a water bowl and a hide, are still unhappy, and need their bin to be filled with crumpled newspaper before they will feel safe enough to eat.

Before you go hog wild on a huge, elaborate cage for your ball python...particularly since it is an albino and likely to have hampered eyesight as a result--find out if it is one of the many that dislike a big cage. It would be disappointing to set all that up for it, and then discover that your snake has no appreciation for it whatsoever, and refuses to eat until you put it into a tiny shoebox. Much the worse if you don't have a small cage handy, and have to fill your elaborate big cage full of crumpled newspaper, lol...

[MikeSantor]

Awesome info wolf, None of which I was familiar with. I do have a 24''x12''x18'' glass tank sitting in my closet so I would have a backup. I went to the Chicago Reptile House this weekend and they said Albino BPs would be available in July. Which is good for me because that gives me enough time to do all my research and get my cage set up.

Wolf, What is the biggest tank you would get for an adult BP? Im limited on room in my house. That being said, whatever tank I chose has to look good for the simple fact that its either going to be in the living room or the dining room. Thus the reason I was looking into the "nice" wood cages. Obviously I want the BP to be happy though and if I cant do that then I would rather not get one. That being said, I can just build or buy a smaller wooden cage that I can stain and make it look presentable.

Would something like a 36''x18''18'' be to big for an adult male or even smaller like a 30''x14''18''? What I would do since Im getting him as a baby is keep him in the 24''x12''x18'' till he gets bigger then switch over to the little bigger "nicer" tank.

Thoughts?

Its good to hear from someone that seems to have some BPs because I must have read 25 caresheets and none mentioned what you did. All I read was "make sure you have a nice hide" thats about as elaborate as they got.

[beckdg]

this seems to be an intermeshing of 2 worlds of thinking. i do not disagree with either world but i do like to have more than just a snake in a box. for the hardcore snake keeper with a collection tubs are absolutely doable. for the person who wants a display piece where he/she can observe their pet from time to time a big fancy cage is also absolutely doable. there's nothing wrong with wanting to enjoy your setup for more than a snake hidden in a box if that's what you prefer.

the absolute necessities imo would be your appropriately size hide or hides, a water bowl and whatever it takes cover wise to create security. in this sense the opaque bins will lend themselves to an ideal yet simplistic, easy to wash out setup. for someone looking for a bit more of an enjoyable setup a couple hides and adequate cover would be necessary. cover can be provided with some ground creeping vine like plants with large leafs, grass and/or some large leaf litter and by keeping the setup in a less traveled area. i mean if you think about it any animal in the wild searching for water would not be confined to a hide so certainly at some point in their lives they'd see some plants, leaf litter, branches and maybe an open area near the water, etc., etc.. surely no matter how large the cage in a persons living room was it would not compare to the size of nature on earth itself so there are ways to provide that security and still get what you want.

so, while bp's would need a pretty tight hide, a water bowl and to not be bothered by the constant traffic of passers by there is no reason to think it's absolutely necessary to keep them in something you could never just peer into.

one thing to keep in mind is that many bp keepers (even those with snake rack systems and opaque bins) will take their guys out and place them in a box to feed. it's a common practice and beings it's usually only once a week it's not something too intrusive to the daily goings on of life. i, personally don't see it as always necessary. especially for a species with such docile tendencies as a bp.

with the appropriate size and number of hides one could absolutely get away with as large a setup as one would want to make. surely the more distance a bp has from random people at all times the more secure it would feel. if one were to have a 20 gallon setup in the hallway between the bathroom and the living space with a hide, water bowl, etc. and host avon parties (have company) on a weekly basis of course the animal would be spooked from time to time. if that setup included a plant that hangs over the hide, a little space from the hide to the glass front and be located in the far corner of the living area or in a bedroom where company isn't usually welcomed of course the bp would feel more secure.

36" x 18" is a common footprint used for adult bp's. height is really a non issue.

[MikeSantor]

Originally Posted by beckdg

this seems to be an intermeshing of 2 worlds of thinking. i do not disagree with either world but i do like to have more than just a snake in a box. for the hardcore snake keeper with a collection tubs are absolutely doable. for the person who wants a display piece where he/she can observe their pet from time to time a big fancy cage is also absolutely doable. there's nothing wrong with wanting to enjoy your setup for more than a snake hidden in a box if that's what you prefer.

the absolute necessities imo would be your appropriately size hide or hides, a water bowl and whatever it takes cover wise to create security. in this sense the opaque bins will lend themselves to an ideal yet simplistic, easy to wash out setup. for someone looking for a bit more of an enjoyable setup a couple hides and adequate cover would be necessary. cover can be provided with some ground creeping vine like plants with large leafs, grass and/or some large leaf litter and by keeping the setup in a less traveled area. i mean if you think about it any animal in the wild searching for water would not be confined to a hide so certainly at some point in their lives they'd see some plants, leaf litter, branches and maybe an open area near the water, etc., etc.. surely no matter how large the cage in a persons living room was it would not compare to the size of nature on earth itself so there are ways to provide that security and still get what you want.

so, while bp's would need a pretty tight hide, a water bowl and to not be bothered by the constant traffic of passers by there is no reason to think it's absolutely necessary to keep them in something you could never just peer into.

one thing to keep in mind is that many bp keepers (even those with snake rack systems and opaque bins) will take their guys out and place them in a box to feed. it's a common practice and beings it's usually only once a week it's not something too intrusive to the daily goings on of life. i, personally don't see it as always necessary. especially for a species with such docile tendencies as a bp.

with the appropriate size and number of hides one could absolutely get away with as large a setup as one would want to make. surely the more distance a bp has from random people at all times the more secure it would feel. if one were to have a 20 gallon setup in the hallway between the bathroom and the living space with a hide, water bowl, etc. and host avon parties (have company) on a weekly basis of course the animal would be spooked from time to time. if that setup included a plant that hangs over the hide, a little space from the hide to the glass front and be located in the far corner of the living area or in a bedroom where company isn't usually welcomed of course the bp would feel more secure.

36" x 18" is a common footprint used for adult bp's. height is really a non issue.

Great read beck. This is one contradiction that I keep getting. I keep reading that BPs are docile and like to just hide all day and not be bothered then I read that BPs are one of the best constrictors to have if you plan on handling the snake a lot. It seems like the snake would be one or the other, not both. If a snake likes to hide and be docile I would imagine it wouldnt like to be handled 3-4 times a week which is what im looking for.

I would say at the bare minimum I want the snake to be out of his cage twice a week. back when I had my bearded dragon he was out about 5 times a week. Any time I would watch tv, Play some xbox, etc he would be out chilling on my shoulder. Thats kind of what I would do with the BP. Again, I was told by a few breeders that that is no problem with the BPs.

And like you said beck, I want a little of both worlds. I want the snake to feel 100% good/happy/whatever in his cage yet I also want something semi appealing to look at. Thats half the fun of owning it in my book.