I wasn’t 100 percent sure where to post this. 3 of my ball pythons are 9 months old and between 600-700 grams. I have made new enclosures for them. The enclosures are 42 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 16 inches high. I have them in plastic tubs now, but would like to move them into their new homes. Do you think I should wait until they get a bit bigger? Or just move them in and see how they do. Thanks for any advice. Once again, I love this site and have learned invaluable information from you all.
Actually, the one pictured is 24 inches high.
1 Like
It’s a case by case basis there is no one way fits all, they might do well right now in their new enclosures, they might not, the key is to be observant, understand your animals and be a problem solver if an issue arise and the enclosure does not seem to work for them.
1 Like
That’s pretty huge. Even cut in half that’s pretty huge for a snake of that size. You can definitely try it if you want, and find what works for YOU, but you’re going to need to be observant and see if they acclimate well. BE WILLING to change them back if they don’t acclimate well. I think many of us like the IDEA of giving them tons of space, but they don’t “need” it, and some won’t like it.
I do have one comparison in my collection, this pvc enclosure is 24 x 20 x 13.5”, and I moved my lesser fire girl into it when she was somewhere in that 800-900 gram range. I almost moved her back as she was not comfortable the first few weeks, she developed a bump on her nose from what I believe was stress rubbing and I was about to call it, but she did end up settling in and I do think she’s doing great since. She’s grown faster than my other 2 comparably sized girls that have stayed in tubs, and personally I think she has the best “body condition,” she feels lean and strong and is pretty active at least at night.
(Now please take with a grain of salt this is a sample size of ONE individual. She might have done the exact same if I had kept her in her tub…can’t say definitively this was why, I do think it’s a good possibility. I have a couple I strongly believe would hate it and I will never try them in something like this. I decided to try with her as she definitely had the most active “personality” of mine.”)
So…I think those are extremely big enclosures for them right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try it and see how they do. (I hear you @enrichmentcrowd… but at the end of the day they aren’t horses that need flowing pastures to majestically prance in. 
) You’re not going to get much more viewing pleasure because except at night they won’t be out and about hardly ever, and those enclosures are going to be several times more time consuming to clean and maintain than tubs. If you’re taking that into account and are willing to put that extra time and effort into keeping them as clean as you would tubs or a smaller tank then yeah give it a try and let us know how it goes.
Sidebar but related I do think there is a percentage of people that naturally gravitate to BPs because they’re so popular and available, but would enjoy a different species more because they seem to want more interaction and to be able to observe their animals more. Nothing at all wrong with that and I’m certainly not going to tell someone else what they should or shouldn’t have but it does seem some of us are trying to fit a square peg in a round hole just because we really want a round peg, if that makes sense.
Sorry for the long post basically you can try moving them if you want to but don’t be so decided YOURSELF that it’s what’s best for them, just pay attention and let them tell you. Good luck!
And @enrichmentcrowd don’t hurt me too badly on your rebuttal if your snakes enjoy being free range BPs then keep doing what you’re doing 
I have seen some benefit with mine and am glad she seems to thrive in this bigger enclosure.
3 Likes
