I’m seeking guidance on the appropriate tub sizes for my scaly companions (this will be on a rack set-up) at different stages of their lives. I understand that hatchlings, juveniles, and adult ball pythons have distinct space requirements, and I want to ensure their comfort and well-being.
I would greatly appreciate your expertise in recommending tub sizes for ball pythons based on their life stages. What dimensions have you found to be suitable for hatchlings, considering their small size and potential growth over time? For juveniles, what tub sizes allow them enough room to thrive and develop properly? And finally, for adult ball pythons, what dimensions should I aim for to ensure they have ample space to stretch and move around comfortably?
If you have any personal experiences or specific measurements that have worked well for your ball pythons at each life stage, I would be incredibly grateful if you could share them. Additionally, any tips on providing proper enrichment and accessories within the tubs to enhance their overall habitat would be highly appreciated.
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In my experience the most important enclosure size measurement for ball pythons feeling security is height. There’s a huge range of tub size that will work, and it’s really up to what will work best for you. Want to go thru less sizes so you don’t have to own so many different racks? Need to be more space efficient?
This year I wanted to just fully empty the hatchling / juvi rack and I put 10 ~250g grow-outs into 23x16x5 clear tubs with appropriate sized hides. Zero issues with feeding or defensiveness.
That said, every snake is unique and some here and there might really need a smaller enclosure and a slower progression. I think anyone should be prepared to adjust if something’s not working for their particular animal. But I’ve found if you keep the height low (5 or 6 inches) and give secure hides it’s the exception that they need really small enclosures.
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Hey there! I can’t give you a ton of dimensions, but I can tell you what has worked well for me so that you have a lot to work from.
Personally, I use V-18 tubs for fresh hatchlings and animals for sale. The dimensions of these are around 18″ L x 7 1/2″ W x 3 1/2″ H if I remember correctly, and this gives plenty of space for fresh babies to stretch and move around. Personally, if I’m keeping an animal (either one I’ve bought or one I’m holding back) I switch them straight from a V-18 to an adult size tub as soon as they’re eating regularly, so I don’t have a juvenile size tub - I have found that putting them directly in an adult size is best for long-term comfort and adjustment. For my adults, I currently use V-70s (33 1/4” L x 17 1/4″ W x 5 1/14″ H) but this is due to lack of space on my part, and I would like to upgrade them to a larger size when I am able to move to a house with more space - particularly something with a bit more height. My general rule of thumb is that an animal should be able to stretch fully out along the long side of the enclosure.
I prefer clear tubs to opaque ones, as the animals will be able to have a normal day/night light cycle. I also provide all of my animals with enrichment in the form of substrate (I use coconut husk, reptichip), a large water bowl, multiple hides, and pieces of cork bark, branches, fake plants, etc. Because my animals have a little less space than I’d like, I also take them out regularly for handling and climbing. I bought a canvas playpen that I will set up in my yard in the spring & summer months for natural UV as well.
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I appreciate your insight! Do you have a racking system you’d recommend for them sizes you have listed? Currently I’m looking at ap375 rack, but the tub dimensions are 14(3/8)"W x 9(3/4)"D x 5(5/16)"H
- 570 TUB SIZE: 22(1/4)"W x 14(1/2)“D x 5(1/4)”
So I don’t think it would be a good investment for when my buddies get full grown.
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Hello, just for another perspective, my husband and I built our own racks to house mostly Sterilite 41qt storage bins, 35.3" x 16.75" x 5.9". We have only 1 juvenile who uses a 28qt Sterilite bin 23.5" x 16.9" x 5.4" roughly. We have had the juvenile since he was a baby and once he got to about 175g we moved him into the 28qt bin from I think a 12qt Sterilite bin. The juvenile’s bin fits pretty well into an empty level in our 41qt racks. We moved our subadults to 41qt when they were around 600g because buying tubs and tubs and more tubs didn’t make sense since they didn’t develop feeding issues moving into the largest bins. We do have a very big girl who we bought another brand for because it had more surface area for her. Plus we take them out to the yard for enrichment when weather and other circumstances allow.
You’ll get some really great answers from some really good people here. And in the end you can do what feels right and works for you. Good luck to you!
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I would like to build my own racks, just debating the cost and materials to use. So in your opinion do you think a 41qt tub is big enough for a full grown ball? What material did you guys use to build the rack?
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Ideally they’d have bigger but I don’t remember seeing any larger big name racks than 41qt or minimally larger. I am definitely not 100% sure that there aren’t. Ideally we would have used PVC at .75" thick but heck it is probably close to that prive for a well-known brand’s racks. A 4’x8’ sheet here is $150 at that thickness. I had bought a pvc rack on Craigslist and it held up, but not well, because it was made with the thinnest sheet, .375". Then add in the heat tape/heat source and bins, etc. The only possible advantage to doing .75" one yourself besides saving a little $ is if you’re in relatively immediate need for one. That’s just my opinion though.
We went with melamine board, suuuper heave but $50 per sheet for .75" width. 1 sheet of 20" x 40" plus scraps was enough to put together 3 shelves and using the scraps. We put wheels on those 2 and couldn’t build high because of the weight. I liked that we were able to build one where shelves pull out from the long side and the other pulls out from the short side. And sealed off the bare edges with sealer and a heat gun. With our tiny room it was nive to save a bit of money, do it in 1 day and be set. Eventually we will probably go with a brand name rack but this works perfectly fine for now. Craigslist, of course, can have a nice rack for sale every once in a while but definitely need to inspect before purchasing. Let me know if you have any questions!
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This is one of the rack systems I’m looking at, 5 shelves, with heat tape around 200 something dollars is well within my budget, just trying to think long term for when my babies get fully grown and I don’t know if they would be comfortable in this. Please give me your opinions.
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Hello, so I was trying to think of a helpful reply but have a few questions:
How many ball pythons do you have now?
What are their sizes?
Are you planning on getting more in the future? If so, how many?
Are you currently breeding or planning to breed them?
I’m sorry if I missed any of that information, I can’t find my reading glasses either haha.
I dont know if you figured in the tubs in the cost plus shipping, I really like the idea of the combo rack because it would be great for growing up your snakes and graduating them into bigger tubs as they grow,.I would check out if each rack can fit tubs from the others manufacturers like Freedom Breeder, Iris, etc. To me, the rack you linked would be too small especially for my adult females. I feel like they’re a bit cramped in the 35.75" long ones they’re in now.
I’m definitely not an expert lol. I’m solely a keeper and have 10 babies. I’m just throwing out ideas 
I currently have 2 and do plan to get 2-3 more in the future, the current 2 I have my male is new I got him last week but he is 150g, my female is 350g so they are both fairly young. I do plan on breeding not on a large scale but just as a hobby. I’m still researching trying to find the perfect rack that won’t run me an arm and a leg. So far this has been my biggest issue, granted they don’t need a full adult setup right now, I tend to think ahead and try to buy everything at once lol. I appreciate your reply!
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Depending on how many tubs you are planning on having, will depend on what way to go.
If you use a shelving system, you can get several small tubs on it. Then you can change them out for larger ones and then adult ones. For juvenile and adults mixed, you can get up to 9 on them. Or just adult, one per shelf. Here is a picture of what we did before going to professional rack.
Apx $130 for the rack, adjustable heat pads $10 each, power strip. Used tape to secure the pads, and also an option is a very thin sheet of wood to make a solid shelf to help deflect the heat up. You could buy some heat tape and use in place of the pads, but you can’t change the layout as easily.
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I think I’m going to go this route for now, I’m not a big time breeder, and don’t plan to be. On the bright side tho, I did find a complete PVC hatchling rack with a ve-200 on fb for $150. I could use that for hatchlings, then get a wire shelving unit. What size tub did you guys put your adults in? Also do you happen to know the dimensions of that wire rack?
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@sinisterpythons you will need something 18inch deep to fit most tubs.
This is 18x48x82
Tubs, we use ezy storage with moisture seals. The longer ones where a different brand and i do not have the name off the top if my head right now.i just made sure it fit the the 18in.
Here is a link to some videos we have of them.
Anything you can find used, may also work. We started with this system as we wanted the flexibility to go any route we needed to. This is still being used for smaller ones and temporary housing. We just switch out tubs as needed.
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