OK kids, give it to me straigt on the housing issue

Well than, Wizill just summed up everthing in just one post.

that's usually my goal, first time herp.. :)

Somehow it seems liek anytime I go to answer I question it takes me quite a few posts to say what I want to.

Will, you are the man!!

Robert, I am not gunna get into a urinating match with you. Trust me, I know how much it costs to properly care for my snake. I am not on of these people that gets one for the cool factor without knowing what they are getting into. I have the funds to give her the food she needs, to buy any new enclosure accessories she needs & to get her to the vet if she needs it. I just have other things that NEED my money at this point. So, I take the idea that there is no need to spend a couple hundred bucks on a tank when I can get a rubbermaid for 15 bucks. I understand that you probably weren't trying to come off as though you were lecturing or trying to be snooty in any way, but that is how I initially took it. Trust me though, I take very good care of my little angel.

More to the point though, Will, while I appreciate your post, it isn't a matter of whether or not I will get a rubbermaid/sterilite style container, it is where can I find the one that I need. I have not been able to find the proper size!

And to Green Man, I will check that site out shortly. I know that BP's don't want too much space. I do want to get the tub that she can live in for life but believe me, i WANT to decorate, I enjoy it. So I will put a TON of stuff in there so that she can feel secure in her enclosure. Then, as she gets bigger, I will take some things out so she has a little more room to get from thing to thing. As a matter of fact, I will probably just get bigger stuff when she gets bigger! :P

By the way, on the site posted by Green Man, VE175 looks like a good one! What do ya'll think about that!!??

That's what I was thinking. That tub looks pretty awesome. Also cheap too. Great for all of us budget-minded people. :) Those hides are pretty cool lookin too, did you check those out? I think I'm going to email them and ask what shipping would be on that big ol' tub.

FWIW, if you can just hold out a few months, the big retail chains will have the tree-storage bins available in Nov or Dec, and they'll be perfectly-sized.

Here it is for ya - I'm giving it to you straight - 36longx24deepx12high should be as big as you need to go to house anything but a huge female BP. Before anybody cries foul - I would rather the cage be 36x24x18 but hey we can't have everything - where would we put it. Anyways you can really get as big of an enclosure as you want as long as you put enough accessable water dishes and hides. Some may say that even smaller is fine - but there's my two cents :) *and lots of people here have much more experience than I ! :)

EDIT: Disclaimer: "You can't have everything, where would you put it?" is a quote from comedian Steven Wright (check him out he's hilarious)

EDIT 2: and just to chime in, I know none of us college types have any extra money - that's for sure! Plus we got loans to pay when we get out - but a one time puchase of 150 really isn't too bad considering it'll last you the life of your snake and if you get a quality one like vision or animal plastics it'll last the rest of your life as well! That's just something to tack on there - if you can afford it I think it's well worth it - if you aren't in a position to drop that kind of cash you can make a much more inexpensive one that works just fine :)

I think the bottom line is that if you provide your snake with a properly-sized, secure enclosure that will hold the proper levels of heat and humidity, it doesn't matter whether the enclosure costs $12 or $1200. When Smulkin and I first started keeping snakes, we figured it was glass tanks or nothing. 12 snakes later, we've learned that rubbermaid-type enclosures beat glass hands-down for holding humidity. Currently, we use both types of enclosures with equal success, the glass containers just take a little more effort, which we are willing and able to put forth. Would we like to spend $150 on an enclosure for each of our 14 snakes? Sure! But it's not going to happen. We need to buy other things - like food for our kids. It doesn't make us irresponsible keepers - or parents, for that matter - on the contrary, we take our herps seriously and do what we know will work best for them. The people on this forum use many different types of enclosures, but we're all here because we care about our pets and want to do all we can for them. So whether someone spends $15 or $150 on an enclosure, they should be commended for being here, learning all they can.

Green Man - thanks for that link!

Indeed Green - kickass resource there - they'll wind up with some of our dinero I am sure!

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