Im thinking about buying a baby BP. Ive been doing alot of research on housing while it grows. I understand the process of enlarging the enclosure while the BP grow with time. I have a 75 gallon tank can i put a lot of hiding places for thhe baby bp?
Way way way way way wayyyyyyy too big.
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75 gallons is going to be absolutely huge for a young ball python, my best advice would be to either start it in a small tub and then move it up to the bigger tank when it’s closer to adulthood, or to use a divider to partition up the tank. Ball pythons are used to living in underground burrows and really like small, warm enclosed spaces, so if you use a tank you’ll need to find a way to give your ball python that happy claustrophilic feeling.
It’s also much harder to keep a tank (especially one that large) at an optimal temperature/humity, so I’d experiment around with it before getting a ball pythons to make sure you can provide a warm side at ~90 degrees maintain humidity of ~65%. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it will be very difficult I think
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75 gallon is extremely large for a full grown adult.
If you’ve done “research” and come to the conclusion that a 75 gallon tank is suitable for a baby BP then throw all that research out and start over. I’m not sure who even on google I could possibly find that would recommend something that extreme.
Not to sound like a jerk! You should definitely get a BP they’re great. but you’re going to need to start from square 1 on planning.
I would recommend no bigger than a 12 quart tub of some sort with a lid for starters til they eat a few times.
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Oh, it definitely is, but I think it would be possible to make it work for an adult if you put a gazillion hides, fake plants, all kinds of other stuff in there while maintaining optimal temperature/humidity. A baby? No way
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Definitely possible but so much extra work for a potatoe species get a carpet get something else more active that will actually enjoy it.
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If thats what you really want yes I’d get a 75 gallon TUB with a locking lid and about three hides with only one entrance that are not see though.
Also I’d get a lot of newspaper and ball it up and throw them in there to take up space plus a lot of fake plants it can be done.
Also make sure you put a good size water dish in there, it’ll help with humidity, shedding, and it’ll allow him to soak his whole body at his leisure instead of soaking him in a bath tub which ball pythons hate but some people force them to do anyway.
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Absolutely not. Absurdly comically large for a baby.
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Seconding this. There are many active species of snakes that’d get way more use out of that size of an enclosure. It’s certainly possible to set it up, but it’d be a hell of a hassle. Especially while trying to keep humidity and proper temps for a ball python if the ambient temps of the room aren’t up to snuff.
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carpets definitely do love to move around and climb, however at adult size from what ive seen, even a 75 would be lacking for space. But that would be a problem for years into the future.
Everything doesn’t have to be done your way, they do just just fine in the wild where there is NO limits, we’ll just disagree and leave it there
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You can keep heat/humidity easier in tubs than any size tank, with half the work.
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If course it doesn’t! Never said it did. I said 75 gallons for a baby is absolutely absurd, and it is. There are so many issues new keepers face that boil down to stress/lack of feeling safe and secure, and suggesting to someone to use something that large is just shoving them down the path towards likely having to deal with unnecessary issues.
Anything can happen but you want to put people in the best situation possible where they are least LIKELY to run into some of these issues.
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The wild argument really has no place here. What percentage of babies survive in the wild? Do they really do “just fine?” Idk about you but I am DEFINITELY not trying to copy the wild in my keeping.
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Not advocating that any ball python of any size could easily work in a tank, but if a 75 is what they already have (mind you tubs aren’t expensive) why not try the baby out in there with tons of hides, foliage, ect. Along with working with humidity? My 2 year old has been in her 50+ gallon (not sure of the size anymore) since she was first bought. While we had humidity issues at first, she still ate (and still eats) like a champ, sheds good, ect. Ect.
They could always either move to a tub, a smaller tank, or even somehow blocking off a portion of the large tank and slowly increase it as the snake grows. There are some options to try before simply disregarding the large tank from the word go.
Again though… Tubs. Easier. Less likely to cause stress if your snake seems the nervous type. But I say anything is try able as long as you are prepared to make changes quickly before anything long term sets in or whatnot.
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I will weigh in based on 14 years of trouble shooting new owners that get their first snake and have issue.
In 99% of the cases they have issue because the enclosure is too big and even filling the enclosure does not compare to providing a tight, low ceiling space.
I don’t recommend what I do for people I recommend what is optimum, because if I was to recommend what I do, new owners would fail too.
Sure there is always that one person with one or two snakes that they have had for a year that will tell you to do it, the truth is, it’s not optimum and combined to with experience will most likely fail.
You don’t have the time to fail and tweek around for weeks with an hatchling because even if they can go weeks without eating (which will be your main symptom that something is wrong), you do not want them to enter that vicious circle of the less they eat the less they want to eat. Getting an hatchling is not the time to experiment, that’s what you do when you have learned the triggers and learned how to recognize issues and troubleshoot them yourself.
I will be honest I have been approached in the past by people wanting to do something similar with hatchlings they wanted to buy from me and I turned down the sale. Why? Because I care about my animals and want new owners to be successful.
So get a 10 gallons and start from there.
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I had my baby carpet python in a 55 gallon tank when i first got her. She wouldnt take food for the first 3 weeks i had her and was losing weight fast, i moved her into a 10 gallon tank and she ate that same day. She is in the 55 gallon tank now and thriving, but when she was a baby she was NOT a fan of a large enclosure and i almost lost her to not feeding. It CAN work, but with my experience, i would say grab a 10 or 20 gallon from petco (itll be like 30$) and use that until they grow up. Its easier to heat and maintain, and the snake will be more comfortable in the long run. If my active carpet couldnt handle a 55 gallon as a baby, i doubt a sedentary BP would.
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I would go with the advise of more experienced keepers on this one. Definitely not me on this but I will put in my short experience. With the 3 years of keeping BPs I can tell you most can be very finicky on enclosure and hide size. They like smaller/tighter enclosures and hides. Not to say you have to keep them in something tiny. All of mine have room to stretch and move but they are not in a “mansion”. You will have your rare gem that could care less but they are few and far between or have settled into your habits. You maybe able to eventually put the new BP in the “huge” enclosure but not for a long time and maybe never depending on the snake. If you do you will have to stage up to that size with other tubs/tanks over time and cross your fingers when you move it the the large enclosure. To big of a risk with a new BP and especially if it is a juvenile.
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The wild has nothing to do with anything. There hasn’t been a ball python in the wild since the original ones were imported here. Since then, they’ve all been hatched in tubs, and not a one has spent any time in the wild.
I mainly keep sand boas and corn snakes, but I do have a male ball python as a pet. He is in a 20L tank, and honestly it is a good size for him. He’s been in there all his life, and he’s 4yo now. I was even considering if it were a little too small and he may enjoy moving up, but I will most likely keep him in there. However, a 75 gallon is much larger and would be huge for a baby bp; however, I think it may work for a larger female if there were various hides and things.
My bp has a fake log hide that he likes to spend most of his time in, and a large water bowl. He used to have a smaller water bowl and an enclosed hide that had moist sphagnum moss which he really loved, but he grew too large for it. He would use it for every shed. I’m going to make something up for him to have moss again, but for now he has the larger water bowl.
I’ve never had problems with bad sheds, and he’s never missed a meal. He does cruise around his tank daily in the evening so he does use the space. I don’t have a problem with humidity levels since I live in Florida and don’t air condition. 
When it’s drier I cover part of the tank lid and it holds more moisture in. I understand that most people probably will have more problems with keeping humidity levels up, but this is my experience. I also use a bark substrate that can hold some moisture if necessary by spritzing it with water. I just monitor his levels and adjust as needed.
I know I keep only one bp so I’m definitely not an expert, but this is my experience, and my snake has been happy and healthy, so I feel bp’s can be kept in tanks successfully. I agree with chesterhf that it would be a good idea to experiment with keeping the tank warm and humid BEFORE getting your ball python to be sure you can meet its needs.