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Help with royal python set up!

7K views 24 replies 12 participants last post by  Malc 
#1 ·
I've recently put a deposit down on a pied royal and I've ordered a customise Viv (30"x18x18) but its my first royal so would like some advice on the set up.

Many people I know use a heat mat, some people say to use a ceramic bulb.

I'm not picking him up for around 2 weeks so plenty of time to sort out his setup.

Please could anyone advise me on substrate, heating, water (do they like to bathe?) also will he need a hide? If so how big?

Many thanks!
 
#2 ·
Substrate - A number of options. Reptibark, the Trixie stuff etc even newspaper is sufficient.

Heating - Heat mat. My male royal has no problems with them.

Water - Depends on the snake most don't, mine thinks its the reptilian Michael Phelps.

Hides - A MUST!!! One on the hot end (heat mat underneath) and one just on the cold end in case he wants to chill there. Snakes like tight spaces but make sure its big enough so the snake can move around in it.
 
#4 ·
Looks like you need to do alot of research. Why buy a snake when u have no idea how to care 4 it. Royals can be very fussy eaters and there tanks need to be set up right to stop them getting stressed. At least 2 hides is a must. Lots of plants and cover. A thermostat is a must. A guard if your using a ceramic heater. A couple of digital thermometers.
 
#9 ·
A set up for a royal isn't exactly a mammoth task. Pam keeps a mahoooosive female burm in an 8 x 4 x 4 viv. She is used to heating snakes from above and most breeders seemed to heat from below. This appears to be used typically with RUB set ups.

IMO 2 weeks is plenty of time to sort a set up for a royal. Even though the specifics aren't known it isn't exactly a mammoth task... I've never kept leopard geckos and don't know the specifics about their set up but I'd bet my right nut I could set one up in a few hours. It's all about having equipment available and experience in setting up vivaria.

Pam I have several spare pulse stats. about 30 ceramic bulbs of varying wattages, spare flex cable, plugs. About 50kg of fine/coarse orchid bark. Plenty of spare plants/decor. You just need to supply the viv and the hides. You don't become one of the biggest Tokay breeders in the world without a bit of spare kit :p Have the viv delivered to my shop and I'll whip it all together for you.

HerpHunter. Any chance of a couple of pictures of your set up for reference? Most peoples set up's I see are basic RUBs for breeding which isn't really what Pam is going for. Also, thanks for the help ; )
 
#6 ·
Pfrank
I'm always scared of asking for help on here because of people like you, I don't have the snake yet, AS I ALREADY SAID. I have two weeks to set up correctly for it so was there really any need for your comment?

Thank you for the helpful part of your comment but maybe you should think before you write sometimes because like me people will be scared to ask for help knowing people like you are just waiting to jump down their throat...

I could have googled all of the info but thought it better to get more than one opinion on now to set up correctly for my viv.... Next time I won't bother.
 
#8 ·
I was going to say something similar to pfrank, because it's true, more than 2 weeks is good for research. But if thats all you have then theres not much bellyaching will do about that! :lol2:

First off, great choice in snake ;) Pieds are one of the very few morphs that I like (and so make a friendly demand for pictures when you get him/her)

Personally I use bulbs for royals, royals are heavy bodied snakes and when they are bigger they will/can sit on the heat mat and cause thermal blocking. This is when the snakes body stops the heat escaping and it builds up damaging the heatmat, potentially burning the snake and/or starting a fire! Not to mention that it wont actually heat the whole viv. So unless you have a hatchling personally I would use a bulb and this is ample to heat the viv to 31 degrees for the hot end. A thermostat will indeed be needed to control this :2thumb:

Substrate I use is aspen for my normal and orchid bark for my albino, both of these are suitable, and I've chosen them purely because it shows off thier colour better :2thumb: you can use newspaper or kitchen roll if you wish, people say its easier to clean?? But Just picking out a poo from the substrate rather than replacing the whole lot just seems easier to me.

My two have large water bowls, large enough for them to climb into at the moment, however they don't but large bowls help keep the humidity up a little if moved nearer the warm end during a shed. When shedding, they will appreciate a moist hide, normally a normal hide with moss inside :2thumb: My 2 are in 3ft vivs and so have 3 hides so they can choose easier where they want to go. They have one each side and one in the middle. Hides are normally suggested to be big anough to allow the whole snake inside comfortable, but small enough to allow the snakes body to touch 3 sides of it :2thumb: make sure you stick in various branches and plants because they will use the space you give them....just not when your awake, usually lol!

That pretty much covers it I think :hmm: hope it helps.
 
#16 ·
^^^^^^^^ what he said. Wouldn't use orchid bark though. Definately use a ceramic with stat and guard, hot end basking area should be 32 celcius and cool end is as room temp. I only keep royals, I'm not as experienced as some on here but any questions feel free to pm me. Welcome to the addiction of royals :2thumb:
 
#10 ·
Thank you so much for your help, as it happens I now have until the 21st to cram in even more research!

I appreciate that I need to do my research but I wouldn't even consider housing the snake until it's set up was correct, £650 is a lot of money to waste if it dies of stress!
there are just more tactful ways of putting across an opinion and it annoys me how quick people are to belittle you on this site :(

All help is very gratefully received
Thank you!
 
#11 ·
Im not trying to scare anyway away from asking questions. But when someone has put a deposit on a snake they know nothing about it shocks me. Questions like will it need a hide? Lead me to believe u have done no research and yet u have put a deposit on a snake. Wot if u did ur research then realised u don't have the time/money/experience to look after it. There are plenty of people on here willin to help. But in my opinion the research should be done well before puttin a deposit or purchasing the snake.
 
#12 ·
Thought I'd stick these up as reference if needed. The females has more cover as she is much more timid than the male so she has planty places to hide. The male however always comes out as soon as you go in the room to see what you're doing :2thumb:

Females:


Her 3 hides in identical set up to the males:
Hot side

Cool side

Center, facing away from room traffic


And the males:
 
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#13 ·
Thought I'd stick these up as reference if needed. The females has more cover as she is much more timid than the male so she has planty places to hide. The male however always comes out as soon as you go in the room to see what you're doing :2thumb:

Females:
image

Her 3 hides in identical set up to the males:
Hot side
image
Cool side
image
Center, facing away from room traffic
image

And the males:
image

Thanks very muchly : )

I noticed you use the exo terra snake hides. What size do you use for your male?
 
#18 ·
Heating- Ceamic, Guard & Pulse Thermostat.
Substrate- ReptiCard.
Hides- The more the better really. Make sure you have at least one in the hot end and one in cooler end. They need to be big enough for the royal to get under completely.
Water- A bowl big enough to fit the royal in is beneficial but not essential.

Two weeks is plenty really. One to purchase everything and one to have the setup up and running so you can tweak it accordingly.
 
#20 ·
Under or over?

Okay, so I've read don't use a heating pad, a lamp is fine and I've also heard yes, use a pad because they like belly heat. Which is it? Or should I just remove the pad once my royal gets big enough? Will a thicker layer of substrate prevent potential burns?
 
#22 ·
Okay, so I've read don't use a heating pad, a lamp is fine and I've also heard yes, use a pad because they like belly heat. Which is it? Or should I just remove the pad once my royal gets big enough? Will a thicker layer of substrate prevent potential burns?


You have to use a thermostat to regulate any heat source and then there’s no danger of any burns .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#21 ·
For what its worth.. When i started looking after snakes I also had to go through the different advice and sort through what made sense. For my Royal when she was a baby (as with all my baby snakes) I kept her in a RUB with a heat mat and stat. When she got bigger, I moved her into a 2ft viv with heat bulb and dimmer stat. She outgrew her hide and in order to give her a bigger one, I moved her into a 3ft viv which seems the perfect size for her. I only use the heat mats for my baby snakes and when move them into vivs, switch to bulbs. I personally use red night bulbs which some people dont like, but might upgrade to ceramics soon.
Dont worry about all the different advice... people do things differently and its not always the wrong way and the right way, although I dont like heat mats in vivs covered with substrate, that seems like a fire risk to me🔥😁
 
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