I have done My research

[Tylervsmith]

This is ironic that L_C posted the same day but w/e.


Ok, My mom lives on her own, except for my older brother. He Just Graduated and is leaving for the military on august 5th. So she told me that she wanted a companion, but this companion had to be a snake.


So i said, hmm why not a ball python. And she loved the idea. But the only thing was that she needed a bigger tank. She has a ten gallon right now. And I was talking to a friend of mine, and she said "you need a tank?, well i have a 55 i could give you for free if its ok with my mom." I couldnt turn down the deal. So she still hasnt spoken with her mother yet, but she said its almost a sure thing.


Now onto the question.

Can the Ball growout in the ten gallon, and then be put into a 55 gallon? OR i can get a glass divider, and just put the divider in the middle of the 55, until the ball gets bigger, and slowly move the galss divider over to make more space. Because if i do number 2, i dont think she would want only half a tank for the snake.

 

[KenyanSandBoa]

The problem with using a ten gallon tank is that it's very difficult to establish the proper heat gradient. Any heat emitter you use will heat the whole tank up, no doubt. Factor in when you add a water dish and hide spot...that doesn't leave much room for the ball.

Personally, I don't like the dimensions of the 55. For a reptile like a ball python, you will have to invest in some serious heat emitters to penetrate the depth of a 55. You would be better off using a 40 breeder that gives you an extra 1/2 foot in width and not nearly as tall.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Tylervsmith]

The problem with using a ten gallon tank is that it's very difficult to establish the proper heat gradient. Any heat emitter you use will heat the whole tank up, no doubt. Factor in when you add a water dish and hide spot...that doesn't leave much room for the ball.

Personally, I don't like the dimensions of the 55. For a reptile like a ball python, you will have to invest in some serious heat emitters to penetrate the depth of a 55. You would be better off using a 40 breeder that gives you an extra 1/2 foot in width and not nearly as tall.

Just my 2 cents.

Well the 55 is free. The heating i was gonna use is heating pads. how About that>?

 

[KenyanSandBoa]

Well, that can be tricky.

You need an ambient temperature of about 80 degrees, with a basking spot of about 90 degrees so that can be impossible to do with some heating pads. It's imperative that the ambient temp does not ever fall below 75 and a heating pad can only do so much.

If you can use something like Flexwatt and maintain proper temp then you will be ok. Just remember that with a 55 you really have to monitor the humidity in the tank...maybe more than another tank because you will create a substantial column in the tank and it will dry out REALLY fast.

 

[Tylervsmith]

what about, turning thaa tank on its side, and the view is from the bottom of the tank? less height=more width?



Like this

 

[elevatethis]

This is ironic that L_C posted the same day but w/e.


Ok, My mom lives on her own, except for my older brother. He Just Graduated and is leaving for the military on august 5th. So she told me that she wanted a companion, but this companion had to be a snake.


So i said, hmm why not a ball python. And she loved the idea. But the only thing was that she needed a bigger tank. She has a ten gallon right now. And I was talking to a friend of mine, and she said "you need a tank?, well i have a 55 i could give you for free if its ok with my mom." I couldnt turn down the deal. So she still hasnt spoken with her mother yet, but she said its almost a sure thing.


Now onto the question.

Can the Ball growout in the ten gallon, and then be put into a 55 gallon? OR i can get a glass divider, and just put the divider in the middle of the 55, until the ball gets bigger, and slowly move the galss divider over to make more space. Because if i do number 2, i dont think she would want only half a tank for the snake.

I guess the first question that you have to ask yourself is this, "Do I want a display vivarium that will be a lot of work to set up correctly, or do I want a more utilitarian type setup that won't look all that great but will easily meet the needs of the snake?"

Once you answer that question, we can go from there. Either way works GREAT when set up properly.

 

[Tylervsmith]

I guess the first question that you have to ask yourself is this, "Do I want a display vivarium that will be a lot of work to set up correctly, or do I want a more utilitarian type setup that won't look all that great but will easily meet the needs of the snake?"

Once you answer that question, we can go from there. Either way works GREAT when set up properly.

Ok from there. I would like the set up to be nicely viewable, Looks realistic and nice, but i would like easy maintenance for my mom.


She works a lot. And this will be SO CALLED my snake, but it'll be hers, because i rarely go over.


SO is there any way to display the ball nicely and make maintenance easy on my mom with the 55?

 

[TheBloodyIrish]

Well... how realistic you want it to be? You might need to look into doing artifical walls and floor if you don't want to use loose substrate while still making a naturalistic setup.

 

[Tylervsmith]

Well... how realistic you want it to be? You might need to look into doing artifical walls and floor if you don't want to use loose substrate while still making a naturalistic setup.

ok i said my thing wrong, i want it to look NICE, and yet it is still easy to maintain.

but how would i make the artificial stuff?

 

[TheBloodyIrish]

Look up DIY fake walls on this forum or any other reptile and or fishkeeping forums. There are several methods where you can do this.

If you set it up simple enough, you can just wipe it down with an animal-safe disinfectant... let it dry then put the snake back in.