We want to make absolutely certain you’ve thought of everything before you place your order for your ball python. Once it’s on your front porch it will be to late to run out and get a lid for your snake cage. It’s also pretty important to know where you’re going to get food for your ball python. Lets get started discussing all the things you need to have on hand before you place you order.

Snake Cage Setup

1. Snake Cage – There are so many choices for a snake cage it’s hard to cover them all. The absolute minimum you can start with is a 10 gallon glass aquarium tank. If you want to go ahead and invest in a tank your snake can grow into, buy a 30 gallon tank. This tank should be 36″ long in order to accommodate a full grown ball python.

You’ll also want to make absolutely certain you get a locking lid for your cage. There are several different styles available, but just make sure it remains locked so your ball doesn’t escape.

2. Substrate – The bottom of your snake cage should have some sort of bedding. You can use anything from torn up newspaper, paper towels, and nice piece of AstroTurf, or ‘reptile bedding’ purchased from a local pet store. A more economical route is a bag of cypress mulch from Lowes or Home Depot as its only about $4 a bag and will last several months. Whatever you do don’t use Pine Needles, Pine Mulch, or Cedar Mulch as it’s toxic to reptiles.

3. Lighting – A snake is like a human, it needs day and night to survive. It keeps the biological clock ticking and keeps them happy, calm, and rested. You can literally use any form of lighting from incandescent to florescent as long as it gets turned off at night. We don’t recommend putting the bulbs directly in the tank unless safeguards are provided so the snake doesn’t burn itself or even worse electrocute itself.

4. Water Bowl – A nice large bowl of fresh water is essential to a healthy ball python. This water is used for drinking as well as soaking. Ball pythons soak in water to assist in the shedding process as the snake grows. It’s important that the water bowl is large enough that the entire snake can be submerged in the water and that it isn’t accidentally tipped over.

5. Heat Source – Improper heating is the #1 killer of ball pythons. Snakes have no way to create body heat which is why they need a constant source of heat. We recommend you have a temperature gradient of 80° on the one side to 90° on the other. A ceramic heat bulb is the best way to achieve this gradient but a heat rock can also be used. If you chose the heat rock make absolutely certain it’s covered with bedding so the snake isn’t accidentally burned.

The heat source is also responsible for the humidity in the tank. Both the temperature and the humidity should be monitored for 3 days before ordering your ball python. The humidity should be between 60% and 70%. If you need to raise the humidity simply spray the bedding around the glass with a misting spray bottle and the heat will evaporate the water, thus increasing the humidity.

Food Source

Have you considered where you’re going to get food for your ball python? Scour you’re local pet stores for feeder mice. Most will have some assortment of mice they can get their hands on. When your snake is a baby you’ll want to feed it “hopper” mice. Once your snake is full grown you can feed it a medium rat, but it’ll take one of our ball pythons probably 2 years to get that big. If your local pet stores don’t carry mice there are frozen mice you can purchase and have shipped, but it can be difficult getting your snake to eat frozen mice.

You’ll want to wait 2 weeks before trying to feed your ball python. We feed them every week, so before its shipped its got a full stomach. It needs some time to get acclimated to its surroundings. It’s also important that your snake is moved to separate tank for feeding. Nothing fancy here something like a 20g plastic bin which can be purchased for around $10.