My Setup *lotsa pics*

http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/a...4-19175717.jpg

Huge tank is huge. I've heard a lot of people say that it's really hard to maintain correct temps/humidity/ambient in tanks this size, but I haven't had a problem from the tank itself (the UTH dying on the other hand... >.> ). I've edited it slightly since registering, but with this setup Quetzal's got a hot spot of 88-92 (Hydrofarm thermostat controlled), ambients of 82-80 on the warm side, 80-78 on the cool, and without shed refreshing the substrate once a week seems to keep humidity a nice range of 65-45% (75-55% in shed).

http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/a...4-19175540.jpg

I like keeping a naturalesque look to it, not for his sake, but for me to have something interesting to look at since he's on my dining room table. Perhaps it's just me, but I'm fine with scrubbing/baking everything in there every cleaning day. It does take about an hour to wash everything, admittedly, and longer for me to feel comfortable putting him back in.

I put reptile carpet down over the bottom glass, then pile the cocohusk on top. PITA to scrub the carpet but it keeps him from scorching himself on the hot glass if he decides to push his substrate out of the way. Measuring temps are Radioshack brand indoor/outdoor thermometer/hydrometer combos with probe.

He's just about outgrown the warm hide and his water bowl needs a scrub (I think he peed in it :puke2: ), I'm probably going to replace that hermit hut with something soon anyway, don't like it and he seems to prefer the Petco cave on the cool side. He's got 5 hides in here since a little snake in a 55gal is probably going to feel secure: the hermit hut, Petco cave, two logs, and one half log. The silk plants and branches give him a nice covered pathway to the hides.

2 branches from outside; I had more but the big plastic one in the middle was thicker and I trust that to his weight more easily. 3 plastic climbing branches; big one plus two over the warm hide holding up the plants. Debating getting 2 more little ones to match it on the cool side. Various silk plants though none that look like cannabis... my mom still comes into my apartment and I think that might be the last straw for her lol. 2 other petstore-brand real branches, not sure what wood they are because I got them with the tank and some of the decorations off craigslist. Debating removing the fern/bamboo plants in front of his warm/cool hides... They're beginning to get annoying and he just breaks them as you can see.

http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/a...4-19175605.jpg

On the top I have aluminum foil taped down with aluminum tape. It's one of those lids that has a hinge in the middle so I don't have to completely remove it to fetch the snake, and I've cut two approximately same sized holes in the middle and cool side for ventilation. "Non-locking screen clips" for security, 3 on the long sides, one on the ends. Lid doesn't budge even when the cat tries to make a soaring leap onto it (and promptly gets sprayed by the water bottle :D ), so I don't think he's got much of a chance to escape.

The tank also came with stick-on dials for temps and humidity and I cannot get them off for the life of me, so I just covered them in substrate :P If you see hints of silver poking out of the substrate against the walls, that's them.



I had a bit of a different setup when I first joined. Used a wet towel instead of the foil and discovered I was tired of the stink, plus had some different hides in there that he's since outgrown. As he grows I'll move the log hides and yard-branches out since he'll need the space to move between hides, and I might still get that T8 (and herpstat is definitely going to be ordered), but other than that I don't think I'll change his setup much from here :3

Looks like you've pushed the glass tank technology about as far as it can go. Good job! Glad it's working out for you.

wow! amazing looking tank! but an hour to clean is a long time to spend on one animal:O

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Originally Posted by 1nstinct

wow! amazing looking tank! but an hour to clean is a long time to spend on one animal:O

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:rofl: I guess it's a good thing I'm not planning on having too many snakes. There's a lot of morphs I want but they're very expensive, so I'm thinking of just getting a nice 2012 girl and being done with snakes for a while (or maybe a brb or a ksb). Of course a breeder or someone who has a lot of snakes would have a much different set up than me... time and space with this complex of a setup would be a nightmare.

Back when I had gerbils, I had 4 cages of varying sizes all hooked together with a complex tube system plus toys and decorations plus rather dusty substrate. For 2 gerbils, no less. Needless to say that took me a lot longer to clean everything :rofl: But they were happy and active at night like gerbils are supposed to be, so I was willing to make that happen for them.


Thank you both for your kind words though :3 If we get an actual cold winter this year I'll look into ways to insulate his tank better or just bite the bullet and buy a space heater so that his ambients stay steady, but otherwise as long as he's eating, shedding, and hiding, I'm happy with what I got. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Jazi

If we get an actual cold winter this year I'll look into ways to insulate his tank better

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Back when I still used a tank, I covered the back and sides with black foam core from the craft store. Helped a little with the insulation, and a lot with making the snake feel more secure.

i had a nice set up for my JCP when i first got her but after i got everything clean(about 45 mins) she would then decide she has to poop, so now she's in a simple cage until i have her adult cage set up fully

Nice set up!
I would recommend covering the back and sides with black on black foam core!
It makes your cage look better, but most importantly your snake will feel more secured!

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Originally Posted by Slim

Back when I still used a tank, I covered the back and sides with black foam core from the craft store. Helped a little with the insulation, and a lot with making the snake feel more secure.

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Eeyup, I've also heard using actual insulation works too; next time I order his food I'm keeping the insulation pieces just in case. I'd have to figure out how to attach it to my tank, but if my apartment ambient gets too cold then I'll have something for him. Not sure if he feels insecure now though... he's eating, pooping, shedding, growing, hiding... seems like he's perfectly happy with his nice cozy tank.


@1nstinct
Back when I had gerbils, my setup was two of these, one of these, and one of these hooked together with tubes, plus toys/decorations/climbing things/whathaveyou. Every month: take everything apart, soak the cage pieces/tubes in bleach, scrub the toys and decorations in dish soap, wait for everything to dry and not smell like chemical, and then put it back together with fresh bedding. That was a project I had to reserve an entire night for.

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Originally Posted by Jazi

I'd have to figure out how to attach it to my tank

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http://www.officedepot.com/a/product...ve-Dot-Roller/

This is what I used. Worked good, lasted a long time...

Haha as long as your willing to clean all that up, it looks SWEET! I always appreciate a sweet display enclosure for an animal :gj:. That snake should feel right at home in that setup :D