- So, can an enclosure be too large
for a reptile or amphibian?
I would say my short answer is no,
but with an asterisk there, like a really big asterisk.
Because there's a lot of important stuff with
my opinion on this, before you go throwing
your Kenyan Sand boa in a 300-gallon enclosure.
So this is kind of a controversial question
that I get very often, like maybe someone
wants a ball python and they have this empty
80-gallon enclosure from their old aquarium that
they want to use and they ask if that's too big,
because a lot of people said they shouldn't
be in something higher than a certain size.
The same goes with a lot
of different snakes and lizards.
Usually lizards are fine
in something even bigger, but a lot of
these animals prefer very small areas.
There are definitely minimum sizes on the
enclosures to make sure they do have the space
and the right thermoregulation and everything.
But then a lot of people do say, like once
you hit this certain gallon amount
or dimensions and that's too big
and the animal is not going to be comfortable
because they do like the small areas.
If there are all these big open spaces
in an enclosure, animal might end up getting
stressed out, which is a big deal with reptiles,
that can be very dangerous, and it can just simply
lead to things like them not eating or just
other not-so-fun issues that can be avoided.
However, I think that a large enclosure
can be made properly.
Because if you think about it, animals out
in the wild, it has an entire planet.
It's not an actual confined area.
But the thing is, they're all about finding
the small areas, especially snakes.
They want to find the little nooks
and crannies and holes that they
can hide in and feel comfortable.
So I think we really need to think about
is can you supply the right amount of
small areas and the right size areas that
the animal can feel comfortable.
But there's still a lot more than that.
For example, the cost.
Paying for these extra things
is going to be cheaper, even if you do
have some big hundred gallon lying around,
so you don't feel like you need to go out and buy
a 20 or 40 gallon, you're still
gonna have to buy not only extra things
like substrate, depending on the animal,
and probably more decor and hides and things.
There's also the electricity aspect and
the ways that you're heating the enclosure.
A bigger space means more heating and stuff.
So you might have to buy extra bulbs
or larger bulbs or larger heat mats,
or more powerful devices to do whatever you need.
And not only do you have to pay that upfront,
but you have the electricity charges
that come with it.
So it might not necessarily be as energy efficient.
Or if maybe that's worth it because you
do just really want a huge enclosure, or you want
to give your animal a lot of space.
Overall, I think if everything went perfectly,
it would be way nicer.
A ball python in like a 200 gallon, if it
was done correctly, depending on what you
think correctly is, I think that would be
amazing because ideally it would have
lots of very small spaces to hide
all over the place and get around.
But at the same time, it has a huge area
where it can explore if it wants to
and find new little spots that it wants to find.
Now, like I said, I'm not just like
suddenly trying to grant you permission
to put an animal in a large thing, this is just
my opinion, there's a lot of varying opinions.
So make sure to leave yours in the
comments of this video.
For example, Sonny, my ball python,
is now in that 40.
Originally he was in a 20,
and I was planning on upgrading him for a little while,
and in the 20 gallon, he really had two spaces
to go, the warm side and the cool side.
It's everything he needed.
At night he would kind of move back and forth.
But now that he's in here, he still has his
warm space and his cool space, but he has
more little spots around to hide.
For example, he has behind his
water bowl there's some space,
there's a little spot under the foam background,
which is like a second cool hide almost.
Then there's the normal hide.
Then there's behind the hide and next to the hide.
And each of these are a little bit different,
whether he wants to try a new spot or
if he wants like a new temperature
if he wants to stay warmer or cooler.
So basically he has a lot more options,
while still staying confined.
Now, a 40 gallon, that's a normal size for a ball python.
It's not like I'm giving him something
gigantic, like a hundred-plus gallon.
But I think the same thing can happen in there.
So, like I said, you're going to need more stuff
in there, which if you don't have enough stuff,
I think the main issue would be the animal
not being able to get to certain things.
For example, if you have like all the stuff
that it needs on the cool side and then all
the stuff on the warm side, but there's a lot
of empty space in the middle, it might not be
comfortable getting across that area if it
feels like it's open space, so it could be
grabbed by a nonexistent predator in your room.
It doesn't know that there's no predators,
so it might end up getting stuck on one end or one area.
Like if the water bowl was all the way
over there and then he was hanging out
on the warm side, but there was this like
empty glass space, he might not be able
to get to his water.
However, if all this stuff is close together,
or if there's enough stuff to really
make it feel secure, so there's lots of
plants and decor and hides and different
maybe even multiple water bowls in certain spots
then that is probably beneficial to them.
Something else that's been proposed to me
from people that have very large enclosures
is like can I put everything in one area
and then section off the rest?
And I think that'll be fine, and even if you
didn't section that area off,
they would probably kind of avoid that empty space
if everything was concealed together.
Basically like if you built a 20-gallon size thing in a 40.
But, again, I haven't actually seen that happen.
That's just more of an idea, so no
guarantee as to whether it works.
But you're going to have the same issues
with trying to regulate the temperatures
and humidities with something much bigger
because it's more space for all
the moisture to move out to.
Like in a 20, it's going to be way easier
to keep it at 70% humidity, compared to
a 50 or 55, I don't know a 50 exists,
because it's a more concealed and confined area.
So is a larger enclosure inherently bad,
like some people have told me?
I don't think so, I kind of disagree with that.
But at the same time, I think you could have
a ton of downsides by giving your animal
an enclosure that is too large for them.
And, like I might have mentioned,
some animals really do always do better
in something much larger, like I know monitors,
based on every care guide, like every species
they always say, the bigger size the better,
but then with snakes they often say,
the bigger not the better, because
it will kind of freak him out.
It would be kind of an inconvenience to you
to have to do all of that extra work,
but maybe it's worth it.
Like I said, it would be pretty cool.
But leave your opinions on this below.
Again, this is not granting you
permission to just suddenly go out and
make something gigantic just because you want to.
This is just some more ideas that you can kind of
think about when deciding how you're going
to build first or your next enclosure for an animal.
But that'll be it for my opinion on this.
I guess now I have something to send
people that ask this question, because
there really is no yes or no answer,
it's a very gray area, with a lot
of different answers from different people.
So that's the final for the reptile community.
Don't yell at each other in the comments.
But that'll be it for this video.
I'm Alex, and thanks for watching.
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