Enclosure Upgrade! Part 1

As the semester now draws to a close, I've decided it is time for Marbles to get a bigger enclosure. She is currently about 500g and 3' 4" long now.

I am moving Marbles to a 45 gal tank that I got off of Facebook Marketplace (I got a great deal on the tank, lid, lights, and accessories might I add!).

As I did for her current enclosure, I created a custom background. The last one was made with expanding foam, and I enjoyed making it, but for this enclosure I decided to try a new method.

I started out with a base layer of Styrofoam. I then added a few inches to the top to make it to size.

Next, I started carving the rocks out of more Styrofoam into the shapes of different size rocks by pulling out different sized pieces and placing them on the base. To give the rocks a more realistic look, I used sandpaper and a hand file to bevel the Styrofoam.

After I got everything placed where I wanted it, I used caulk to stick the rocks to the base.

The next steps are to cover the background in grout and paint then to clean out the new enclosure and add everything in!

I can't take credit for this idea though. I found a video on YouTube by LizardLandscapes and just modified it a little. You can find their website here to see more of their ideas.

Ball Python Setup #3

So now that the background is complete, I added some begonias that I bought from the local hardware and garden store and one Pothos plant I bought from Josh's Frogs. I also added some spring tails from there as well so they can be the decomposers of the environment.

It looked beautiful!... for about a week. For some reason the begonias didn't like it and decided to die which was very rude but honestly it's okay because I thought they were ugly. I only bought them because I did not know what I was doing.

Okay take two. I went to a different store that had a much wider variety of plants and chose some that were better suited for higher temperature and higher humidity (the names escape me). But so far they've flourished in the enclosure. I water them twice a day and they seem fine.

(also added this light the guy at the expo I bought it from was kinda mean though)

Ball Python Background #2

 Onto carving! So this was by far the most tedious and time consuming part of the entire process. I had a mini angled hand saw, a carpet cutter, a utility knife, and a scraper.

Cut off the top layer of the foam. Basically any shiny part of the foam needs to be cut off because the silicone won't stick to it.














*Four hours later*

 So, I picked up some caulk and rubber gloves (this stuff will get everywhere I promise) from the hardware store and loaded that in a caulk gun.

Squeeze some caulk in generous amounts and then rub it in every crack and crevice. I'd start at the back because those spots are harder to reach.

Afterwards take a cup full of Zoo Med Eco Earth Coconut Substrate and pour more than you think you will need onto the silicone and let it sit.

In the end, you should end up with something that looks like this!

Make sure you get every part of the foam covered with silicone! I had to go back and redo a couple spots because I missed them.

Ball Python Enclosure Background Part #1

Today I started the make the background for my snake's enclosure. I have seen a couple of methods for this but I decided to go with the expanding foam method.

*Please keep in mind this is just a journal of how I am doing things not a how-to*

1.  I put my 20 gallon long on its side after taking off the lid and locking clips. The face its resting on will be the back wall.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. I got my two pieces of cork bark and cut them down to sizes that would fit my tank and my design.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. I then arranged the pieces to make a background. I figured that the large round piece wouldn't fit so I decided it'd serve better as a hide.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. 
   I cleaned the glass with rubbing alcohol. I put my rubber gloves on and got to work with Great Stuff expanding foam that I got from the local hardware store.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. About 10 minutes later, I was done. I foamed all the areas around the cork bark and all the glass. I have to wait 8 hours for it to cure before I can continue.

Next steps:

• Carving the foam
• Painting the foam with silicone
• Added Zoo Med Eco Earth substrate to the silicone.

Petco Cork Flat Story

I am getting my snake in less than a month! I am almost done collecting the things I need for her enclosure.

Supplies Left

• Thermometer (temperature)
• Hydrometer (humidity)
• Food
• Bioactive kit
• Microorganisms

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Petco Cork Flat Story

All of the local pet supplies stores near me did not have any cork flats- only cork rounds. I need the cork flats for a specific project coming up soon so I decided I'd have to order them. I ordered two large flats from Petco Online. I paid extra for two day shipping so they'd be here within a few days. The next day when I tried to track them online, I saw that one was going to arrive until the original day and the other would arrive a few days later (even though I had ordered them at the same time).

To figure out why, I decided I'd call Petco. Well the number they have posted on their website doesn't work. So after jumping through some more hoops, I managed to reach Petco HQ. After being on the phone for twenty minutes, I explained my situation to a representative. Apparently, one warehouse ran out of the cork flats and it had to be shipped in from a different location. The representative was extremely nice and refunded me half of my shipping cost since one item was arriving late.

Overall it was a tedious experience but I was very happy with the representative that helped me!

Ball Python Setup #2

So I have my enclosure and lid. Time to get more supplies!

Next on the list are items dealing with temperature and safety!

Heat

Ball pythons are not basking animals. In the wild, you wouldn't find one out on a rock soaking up sun. To summarize all the research I've done, ball pythons prefer belly heat.

So, I went out and got a Zoo Med Reptitherm Under Tank Heater. Since my enclosure is a 20 gallon long, I initially went to go buy the U.T.H. for a 10-20 gallon tank. But when I compared the size of the mat to my tank, it just seemed too small.

I ended up buying the one for 30-40 gallon tanks at the suggestion of some people online that have more experience than I do. The 30-40 gallon one covers about 1/4 of the bottom of the tank. I also read that the 10-20 gallon U.T.H. doesn't have great heating for a 20 gallon long like I have.

***DISCLAIMER***
These U.T.H.s have a reputation for getting unreasonably hot (up to 106℉!) So always use a thermostat and a thermometer for the snake's safety and your safety too!


Thermostat

As these U.T.H.s are notorious for getting super hot, I bought Hydrofarm's Jump Start Digital Controller Thermostat. This was recommended to me because of its built in safety feature. The heat mat is plugged into this which is plugged into the wall.

You can set the temperature you want the heat mat to be, lets say 88℉ for the hot side, on the thermostat and it will slowly raise the temperature. If the heat mat starts to go higher than the set temperature, it will shut off the heat mat until it is back down to a reasonable temperature.

Ball Python Setup #1

Buying for a ball python can be cheap or expensive- depending on how much you want to spend. In all practicality, ball pythons are perfectly fine living in a rack system. But, I'd like to have mine in a tank because its more aesthetically appealing to me and more enriching for the snake.

So this blog series will be about my experience buying and setting up my ball python enclosure.

The first items I bought were an aquarium and a screen top.

Aquarium vs Reptile Enclosure

There are a few options when it comes to enclosure type that both get the job done.

Reptile Enclosure

• Front opening
• Screen Top
• Glass
• More expensive

Aquarium

• Open top
• Glass
• Cheap

I personally opted for the aquarium because it was cheaper and I like the glass look of the aquarium more than the black bars that help open the front doors of the reptile enclosures.

Size

From what I was told at the reptile expo I went to, a ball python can live its entire life in a 20 gallon long, so that's what I bought.

Screen Tops

There are a plethora of options when it comes to screen lids: mesh cover, mesh covered with a square hinge, and mesh cover half hinged are some that I found to be the most common. I chose the plain mesh cover just due to costs. Because I have an aquarium that does not have grooves for a slide in lid, this one worked best for me as it just fit over the top of the aquarium.