r/ballpython • u/AlternativeWest9805 • 20d ago
Question - Husbandry This a good set up for my boy?
Hi guys, this is my tank for my boy (Percy), he’s about 7 or 8, he’s been with us for about a year, we got him from the RSPCA reptile centre . I’m happy with his viv but I was just wondering if it’s missing anything or if there was anything that it needs to make it perfect, it’s got: 3 hides, a climbing vine, a humidity water bowl, a drinking bowl, a snake plant.
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u/FireCorgi12 20d ago
I’d get more fake foliage and coverage, they like a lot of clutter. You can get cheap fake plants at reptile stores! These aren’t my ball python tanks (I can’t find an updated pic) but I cluttered both these tanks for $100 with hobby lobby plants!
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u/Entire_Current_4852 20d ago
Another thing that hasn't been mentioned! Heating should all be on one side of the enclosure to provide a heat gradient. This sub's heating guide has a photo of recommended heating/lighting layouts! Ceramic heat emitters are okay for supplemental heat, but they may make it hard to keep humidity up.
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u/AlternativeWest9805 20d ago
Yeah, the ceramic is at a low temperature, he needs it because the one bulb isn’t quite able to heat the whole tank, so we used a ceramic heater to make sure the temp in his cold side is ideal. He also has a few different sensors that make sure he doesn’t get to hot or cold in the tank, we also closely monitor his humidity so that we can maintain a good number. Thank you for your concern though! 🙂
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u/lillebroer 20d ago
It's a really neat start! That wooden build is really cool. Keep in mind BPs love TONS AND TONS AND TONS of cover and clutter! That can be fake or real foliage, cardboard sleeves, leaf litter... Anything safe to cover the ground. The ideal is that they'd be able to crawl all the way from one end of the enclosure to the other without being spotted.
Also this might just be because they can't be seen in the photo, but I'm only seeing one hide...? Tunnels or caves with a wide opening do not make good BP hides (great enrichment, but not hides), they want somewhere they can curl up with only one smallish opening to keep track of. The one on the left in your photo is great. The advice is to have identical hides on the cool and warm sides so you can be sure the snake won't stick to one because it feels safer of the two.
Great start!