Summary:
Enclosure Size Golden Rule: The length of one side of the enclosure, and the width of another must at least be equal to the size of the snake. Even better would be having the length equal the same size of the snake.
Enclosure Packing Golden Rule: If the enclosure is “too big” for the snake you must ensure that the snake can travel from one side of the enclosure to the other without being seen. If the snake has the bare minimum of 2 hides and a water bowl they will get stressed out.
In Detail:
As stated above it is strongly advised you get an enclosure that equals at least the same length as your snake, this gives them rooms to “stretch” their metaphorical legs.
Royal Pythons get up to between 3-5 feet as Adults depending on their gender (Males 2-3 Feet & Females 3-5 Feet). This means that for the largest size Royal Python you’ll be looking at a Vivarium that is at least 4 feet long by 1 foot deep. Royal Pythons are not aboreal snakes so it isn’t really expected to go above 1 foot in height either.
Decoration is more imporatant than you think:
There is another rule that you shouldn’t give a Royal Python an enclosure that is too big for them. This rule is true if you’re packing (or decorating) the enclosure with the bare minimum, that being 2 hides and a water bowl. An enclosure too big and also empty will stress out any snake.
To combat this issue it is highly recommended you pack out your enclosures as much as possible, this keeps your snake happy and also usually produces a very nice looking set up.
The rule of thumb for keeping a snake in an “over sized” enclosure would be pack it out to the point where the snake could travel from one size of the Vivarium to the other without being seen (or at least rather difficult).
