So I’m ordering a first baby ball python next week and I’m planning on having everything ready beforehand. Just wondering what size hide would be just snug enough for a 135g 3 month old male. Any recommendations? Thanks!
I’d say a medium or small black one from reptile basics
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If you are on a budget remember that it doesn’t have to look pretty. Snakes grow rather quickly so, unless you plan on buying another any time soon, small hides will become redundant and wasted money.
Any small plastic tub can be used as a temporary hide and easily cleaned and cheaply replaced.
Chocolate tubs like this:
Can have a archway cut into it to become a hide, also the lid can be popped open and closed for easier checks.
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My first hides were plastic mushroom containers from Walmart with doors cut 
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While the hides from reptile basics are really nice (I mostly use these - especially for my adult snakes), they are a bit more than you really need for just having one snake to use it until they grow out of it.
I would second the idea of reusing some packaging for hides while your snake is still growing. (I also still do this to this day whenever the number of snakes at a certain size exceeds my hides.) When picking out containers the lessons I’ve learned based on my own experiences:
- Best if what becomes the walls of the hide are vertical to the ground, not slanted outward or curved too much like a bowl.
- The thicker the plastic the better so that the hide is heavier and doesn’t get tossed around too easily.
- Cut a single “door” hole that’s just a bit bigger than your snake.
- Using sheet metal shears has been the best method I’ve found for making the hole and cutting the container to size.
- Find something that is big enough that the snake can easily fit in there, but small enough that it takes up most of the space and can feel the walls holding them in there.
- I usually make the height of the hide about 1.5x or 2x as the thickness of the biggest snake I’d expect to use it.
I’m sure others can add some good pointers too.
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For my ball when she didn’t use a hide in the traditional sense. Instead she liked cork bark flats to get underneath and a cork bark log she still crams herself into this day despite being to big for it. But I’ve also used metal or solid plastic cups (she still has a purple Tumbler she uses mostly in shed). Anything they can cram into or under and feel secure is a good bet.
you can also cut a bucket in half and possibly stick it full of moss on the outside. but that is not necessarily better