Okay, lets see if I can remember it all. If I wasn’t so lazy, I’d just find an older post of mine and paste the list, lol.

1. Cage - Appropriate sized rubbermaid container. They usually cost around 5-10 dollars depending on the size.

2. Heat - Human heat pad. Any brand should do, as long as it doesn’t have auto-shutoff and is large enough to cover a half of the tanks bottom. I found my Dunlap heat pad at Walmart for roughly 15 dollars. But I heard they’ve phased out these brands and have most of them with auto-shutoff, so it may be hard to find now. You can always look at drug stores and other "marts" of course.

3. Substrate - Newspaper is probably easiest and most cost efficient. So yeah...whats the price of a newspaper these days? A looney?

4. Hides - Probably the best hides to use are clay pot bottoms. I found a bunch of them, all different sizes, at Walmart for a dollar each. Just get a nice small one that is just big enough for your snake to squeeze into. They like small tight hiding spots. Click HERE for more info on proper hide spots.

5. Thermometers - Usually the best way to go is to find the Acurite Digital Thermometer at Walmart. It’ll look like that, but instead of having time and such, it’ll have two temperature readings, and a humidity reading. Thing is, at my local Walmart, I couldn’t find that model, or anything similar. So I’m not sure on the price. I know in the States people find them at Walmart for 15 dollars. I had to go to my local Home Hardware and buy a knockoff brand for 20 bucks, lol.

6. Water Dish - Anything heavy enough that it wont tip, and big enough for the snake to soak in will do. I just used a tupperware container for my 5 month old bp. But usually a dog dish will do. You can get a simple one for a dollar or two.

7. Plants/Leaves - I went to a dollar store and bought a load of fake greenery for like a dollar each. It was enough to fill a 20 gallon nicely(had lots of excess) for 5 dollars.

I think that’s it. Now to tally it up.

Cage - 10 dollars
Heat - 15 dollars
Substrate - 1 dollar
Hides - 2 dollars
Thermometer - 15 dollars
Water Dish - 2 dollars
Fake plants/leaves(optional) - 5 dollars

Total = 50 dollars

Setting up: Drill holes on the sides of the rubbermaid for air ventilation. Place 2-3 layers of newspaper on the bottom. Take a hammer and knock out a piece of the clay pot bottoms. The link I provided in this post has a video on how to do such a thing. Put a hide on each end. Place fake leaves and plants around as you like. Put the digital thermometers base unit on the cool sides floor, and the wire probe inside the warm sides hide. Place water dish where you think you’ll produce the best humidity(maybe in an area where the heat pad is). Plug in the heat pad, put it on low, place it under the rubbermaid so its covering about half of the bottom. Get temperatures to about 90-warm and 80-cool. Try to get humidity to 55-60%. Secure top with bungee cords or heavy objects to stop escapes.

1. They’re more cost efficient. For 15 dollars I can get a nice sized heat pad that’ll cover half of my tank easily. Whereas reptile heat pads cost quite a bit more.

2. Most human heat pads(atleast the ones I buy) have low-med-hi temp settings, so you can sorta control the temperature. Whereas reptile heat pads don’t have that. It’s just plug it in and hope the heat pad doesn’t get too hot. Unless you run it with a thermostat(which you should with any heat pad).

3. I don’t like how you’re supposed to stick a reptile heat pad to the bottom of a tank permenantly. Having a heat pad that close to the glasses surface causes heat spots, doesn’t allow air flow to get between the heat pad and the glass for proper heat distribution, and makes the pad and the tank useless if you ever decide to switch tanks.

Some may argue that a human heat pad wasn’t meant to be on 24/7, but there are many who use them with no problems. I know someone who had their Dunlap human heat pad(same one I use) work excellent for them for over a year and a half. I think that’s pretty good considering its only a 10-15 dollar investment.