preparing terracotta hides

Couple of questions here....if using either a terracotta plant pot or it's base as a hide for a snake

1) how do you put a hole in it? have been referred to a video but my darn slow dial-up can't handle it so what tools and method please...hammer?....masonary drill?

2) have heard you have to either clean or bake the terracotta.....any comments or suggestions

I am not too much of a terracotta fan.....I use plastic hides...they don't crack up... wish I could help:)

i use the wack it with a hammer method. however, this method has only proved successful for me with the pot bottoms. i successfully shattered three pots in a row and then tried the bottom with much better results. if you have a router you can use that to cut out a hole--i tried it but didn't have the right tip so it was taking ages and my a.d.d. kicked in and i went back to the hammer method. :)

as far as cleaning, i soak my pots/bottoms in a 10% bleach/90% hot water solution and then soak in clean water and rinse until there is no bleach smell. you can also bake them--i think 350 is a good temp? better wait for confirmation on that though--last time i tried the baking method for something i about burned the kitchen down...lol, yeah so for personal safety reasons i tend to stay away from the baking method.

I've "made" about 6 of the terracotta pot base hides in my short time of keeping my bp(she just keeps outgrowing those suckers, lol). I just had to do two of them last wednesday, actually. They're fun, lol. I just stand over my kitchen garbage pail, hold the pot bottom in one hand, and a hammer in the other, and whack the lip of the pot bottom with the hammer. Doing it this way, I've never had a problem with it breaking or cracking badly.

After that, I sand all the sharp or rough edges down with some sand paper, since I'm a safety/neat freak or something.:crazy: Then I scrub them/soak them in some chlorhexidine, then rinse them off.

They're my favourite type of hides. Low, snug fit, so the snake feels secure. And they have some weight to them, so you don't have to worry about the snake clunking and throwing them around, lol. Plus they're only like a few dollars each. :)

good point about sanding the edges. they can be kinda sharp depending on how they break. i use a metal file to smooth the edges down on mine which makes a nice smooth hole for my babies. :)

Thanks for the instructions. Our local Wal-Mart has tons of different sizes so since we haven't actually had our hands on Punkin yet we'll just buy a variety and smash away LOL. If all else fails I'll figure out a use for terracotta "mistakes" (scottish ancestory here....I waste nuthin!)

Yeah that's what I did when I was about to get Pelota. I had no idea how big she was, and never seen a 2 month old bp before, so I didn't know how big the hides should be. I bought the smallest one they had, and one that was palm size. Needless to say, Pelota was so tiny at her ripe young age, that I had to use the tiny hide, and even that was too roomy for her. It took her a few months to grow into it, lol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by daniel1983

I am not too much of a terracotta fan.....I use plastic hides...they don't crack up... wish I could help:)

---

I agree with Daniel ... plastic flower pot bottoms from Home Depot (or outlet type store with garden stuff of your choice) are cheap and so much easier to make holes in than TerraCotta. I drill my holes with a 2 or 3 inch hole saw that you can pick up for around $5.

http://www.8ballpythons.com/images/small-hidebox.jpg

-adam

Adam, what type of water bowl is that?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by daniel1983

Adam, what type of water bowl is that?

---

It's a Van Ness midget crock with a 1/4 oz plastic deli cup insert.

-adam