New Girls' Setup - Comments & Suggestions welcome!

[rabernet]

Mods, wasn't sure if it was appropriate to place in husbandry or pics, so feel free to move if needed!

Hey all, I am so excited about getting my three girls (yes, I decided to go for the dark girl with all the blushing too!) later this month!

Part of the fun is setting up their enclosures. I just took some quick shots of what I've got so far. I haven't decided the substrate yet, and will be placing my order for flexwatt and a thermostat later this month (another reason I haven't added substrate yet). Will probably start off with newspaper and then go to Aspen after they've quarantined.

These girls are quarantining in my bedroom on an improvised "rack". It's a computer desk that I have in the bedroom and I've checked with Matt about stacking two tubs on top of each other - he assures me that will be fine!

So, what do you think? Any suggested changes? The purple box is something I picked up at Dollar General tonight and I'm trying to decide if I'm going to make it into a third hide. That's the general layout if I use it.

Of couse, ignore the temp readings, as there is no heat source yet (but no babies in there either - so no worries!)

[rabernet]

Oh, and in the stacked picture, everything slid around since there's no substrate yet, which you can especially see in the middle tub that I picked up tonight and it's too darn cold to go outside to solder the holes tonight! LOL

[tigerlily]

It looks a little big for babies, but with the three hides you'll probably be fine. Looks like those girls should be set for some time!! I'm so glad to hear you'll be getting all three. They're all just gorgeous!

I also moved this to the caging forum, since it's more about the cage setup. (I hope you don't mind, sometimes I'm not even sure where to put stuff )

[snakebitten69]

hmm seem to look like it will work out great! i just wonder what u will use for a 12hr light cycle? and will the flex watt heat the air in the cage! and how will u get humity it there?

see i wanted to do this same thing but i did not find it to fit the need for a snake! mabie some one can clue me in :}

[rabernet]

I wondered where it went! LOL


And here I was thinking it was looking a little crowded! LOL. Well, of course, I'll probably also fill their enclosures with crumpled newspaper when they first get here too, so that should help as well!

[rabernet]

hmm seem to look like it will work out great! i just wonder what u will use for a 12hr light cycle? and will the flex watt heat the air in the cage! and how will u get humity it there?

see i wanted to do this same thing but i did not find it to fit the need for a snake! mabie some one can clue me in :}

There will be natural light in the room during the day, no external light is needed (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

Flexwatt will heat it just fine and humidity is much easier to maintain in a tub system. Here's a good link on making one:

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=40

[snakebitten69]

i under stand it will hold the humity well but how will u creat it? ex misting, put flex watt under water bowl? i use a heat lamp with a water bowl under it and it works out well. on my baby balls 10gal i use wet hand towl over ther screen! and it keep it about 60% but here in houston my house stays @ 45% lol

how about temp drop>? this can be done very eazy with @ day time light and a timer!

[tigerlily]

Natural light works fine.

Humidity is just the level of moisture in the air. When the heating element warms the air, some of the water in the bowl will evaporate. This will give you a pretty good level of humidity. The trick is not to have stagnant air. Moisture + heat = bacteria. So you have to have some air flow to prevent that, thus the holes in the tub. Looking good ROBIN!! Crowded is good for babies!!

No need for a temp drop, unless you're breeding. Keep temps steady and constant!!

[rabernet]

You don't want temp drops, temps should remain constant.

Combination of water in the water bowl and ambient heat will produce the humidity. If you have trouble keeping humidity at 50%, you close off some of the ventilation holes. If it's too high, you add more ventilation holes.

That's why it's important to get your enclosure set up and your temps and humidity regulated before introducing your snake to it.

Also, I've heard that wet towels can breed bacteria. A better option would be sealing your screen top with contac paper or something like Glad Press & Seal.

But hopefully someone who keeps their animals in tubs (this is my first time) can better answer your questions.

[snakebitten69]

People tend to set up cages with ideal temperature gradients geared to day time temps. It's important drop the temps at night 5 or 6 degrees so that your snakes will cool off and be forced to thermoregulate every morning. Getting them moving around to do this will increase muscle tone, help with digestion-metabolism, shedding,... overall well being. Otherwise, they find a comfortable little spot and become stagnant little hide potatos.