There has to be an easier way....

I agree it's all about the aesthetics.


Plastic tubs = quick, simple to maintain and cheap.

Glass Viv = expensive, time consuming, and requires much more effort to maintain.

Vision Cases (or similar) = a half way point, but very expensive.


For me, I don't want to keep snakes in tubs, thats my choice and I'm sticking with it heh :) We have two, with an outside chance at a third (will be an orange Corn for Cass). Now if we were planning on lots more I would go tubs in flash. But as it stands I find the whole set up with glass to be a challenge and enjoyable. Plus it gives me something else I want, to look at our snakes in a visually pleasing enviroment, somewhat resembling (as best we can) where they would live in the wild. I can't go to W.Africa to see Balls, or S.America to see BCC's. Also part of me thinks that the snake would be happier in such an enviroment (with the corrent enviromental control) - but that's a whole other discussion!

It costs $$'s to do it my way, but I'm happy doing that too. The snakes are pets, and thier enviroment is another hobby I enjoy.

Thanks a bunch for all the great advice guys! I just shot Matt an e-mail and am considering a few different options.
elevatethis: I have him in a nice little rubbermaid right now, the main problem is the heat lamp just won't keep anything steady. At a given point in time during the same day, it can get down to 82 all the way to over 100 on the hot side. Fortuantely I'm usually able to check on him pretty regularly but I want to KNOW that he's not getting baked or cold (it's mostly the baked that scares me) just in case I can't check on him. Plus there's the humidity issues and the fact that it's basically bright as midday in there....not cool.

Ok I see, with a tub though, flexwatt is a much more efficient way to heat the tub relative to an overhead lamp. Just something about incandescent bulbs that dry the crap out of the air and surrounding environment. It allows you to seal your tub with minimal adequate ventilation to maintain humidity and will conserve lots of heat as well, requiring less energy. Also, there's no light- a very good thing for a ground-dwelling, nocturnal animal such as a ball python!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

For anyone keeping snakes....Plastic is your friend.

Simplify your life with a rubbermaid/sterilite/whatever tub, about 10" of flexwatt, and a thermostat. MUCH easier!

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:yes: I wholeheartedly agree! It also helps curb the OCDness just a bit!

I agree with you Rick that as long as you have the time to handle the glass enclosures for a couple of snakes and they are set up properly they can be very nice to have. For me and Mike, with 6 ball pythons, 1 BCI and 1 milksnake (let alone the rapidly expanding breeder/feeder rat colony) it just would drive me nuts trying to maintain the bp's in glass tanks so the plastic is just the right decision for us completely.

I think like the decisions we make on what to feed and how to offer it, the decision of glass tank vs plastic tub comes down to the particular person's decision (as long as the snake is maintained well then it's all good right?)


~~Jo~~