Quote:
Originally Posted by pythons9991
Ball pythons are shy secretive creatures and using bright basking lights on them can cause them undue stress and is a common cause of the snake going off feed. aquariums are also very hard to create the proper heat and humidity that balls require, your best bet would be a plastic enclosure with a hinged or sliding door on the front, flexwatt heat tape covering 1/3 of the enclosure heats this type of enclosure nicely without needing any kind of bulbs and the snakes feel very secure my ball pythons rarley miss a meal except when in shed and their sheds are always perfect.
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Basically, all snakes are shy and secretive, but in my experience BPs as a species do not seem to be any more so than any other snake. Of course, individuals have their own "personality", but this seems to often be the result of how they were raised rather than any inherent trait of BPs. Ive had some that were very shy, and others that were the polar opposite.
As for your assertion that a light source often causes them to go off feeding, I'd be curious to see the information behind this. These animals live in the open grasslands and savannas of Africa, a very sunny place indeed. In fact, the easiest way to catch them in the wild is by "sun traps". While Im not comparing a heat lamp to the sun, it seems unlikely that the snake would stop feeding because of a bright light source. Unless, of course, there was no where for it to go to escape said light source. Then it would be a matter of not providing proper hides that caused the problem, however, and not the light.
Obviously when we talk about what is best between a tank or a tub, we are often talking about small differences. You can create a good environment in either one with enough care and attention. I think that my biggest concern with tub set ups is the ease with which they are ignored. Of course there are many people on the forum who take good care, whether it be tub or tank, but the number of pictures I see with a tub set up where there is just a water dish and paper towel is pretty incredible. If there is a glass enclosure it at least seems to motivate people to put some effort into creating an
environment for the snake, with hides, plant decor, etc.
I think we need to get beyond the idea of our reptiles living and breeding as the indicator of health. We now know the conditions for those things to easily happen, whether it be tub, tank, closet, or cardboard box. Now lets take it a step further, how do we recreate as closely as possible their natural habitats? Its definitely not easy, and I know I dont do it all the time either. (God, my bearded dragon is a pooping machine and is really testing the limits of my set up for him) However, its something we should try to keep in mind when deciding to purchase or create an enclosure. There are some brilliant examples of great enclosures on this forum, and all of them are either custom built or are in glass set ups. I cant think of a single example of an amazing enclosure Ive seen in a tub because they are, rather, the example of a
convenient enclosure. Its convenient for the keeper, that is, because they have so many snakes, or not enough floor space, or not enough time or whatever else is the reason. The thing about those reasons is that they are all about the keeper and not about the reptile.
Again this is just me thinking out loud, not trying to tell anyone that just because they have tubs there is something wrong.
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