tank size

just wondering what size would you suggest im going to buy a new tank for sage even though he/she doesn't really need it yet i heard 30 gallon is the best but im having a hard time finding a long 30 gallon.

I am looking into buying a new tank myself, and leaning towards a 40 breeder. With this tank hopefully this willbe the last one that I will have to buy for Zeus, maybe he want out grow that one.

I use a 29 tall and don't care for the height as I need to use a larger wattage bulb to maintain proper temps. Thus making humidity levels challenging to achieve. Got it working well, (many of you know all the things I've had to do-you've been there yourselves!) but can't help but wonder if a "normal" height wouldn't be at least slightly easier.
I will no longer purchase a snake enclosure.......I am building my own from now on. Have been working on designing a simple to make enclosure with not a chord or hose or peice of duct tape exposed (god forbid, LOL) Taking my time though, as since I've got Xaero's tank at ideal conditions I'm gonna use it out of principal.
But I'm born to tinker so most likely I'll be boring you all with new cage pics more sooner than later :wink:

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But I'm born to tinker so most likely I'll be boring you all with new cage pics more sooner than later

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I'll be looking forward to it! I love seeing other people's ideas for cages...especially simple ones...and especially those that can hide all the cords and such that we have to deal with!

We have Suki and Neph in 30 gallon "Snug Fit Critter Cage" tanks. http://www.all-glass.com/products/cages/ccsnugfit.shtml We purchased them for around $60 at Pet Supplies Plus. Although we have the 36x12x16 size because both snakes like to climb, they also make a 30 gallon breeder which measures 36x18x12. I love the sliding tops on these, even though we have to cover the screens to preserve humidity. I don't think we'll need to get anything larger for Suki, but Neph will certainly outgrow his, and we'll pass it along to one of the babies.

My cousin is using the same type enclosure for her bp, but has been having humidity challenges with it. I think with a more determined owner, though, that it could be made to work.

The tanks do require a lot of vigilance, and screen tops have to be covered to maintain any acceptable humidity levels. We've handled it by using generously-sized water dishes, regular misting, and we've tried the Repti Flo 250, but we've had trouble getting it to stay in the water dish (Neph loves to knock his around). If our collection grows any more, we'll be switching to the Rubbermaid/Sterlite option. We bought our glass tanks before we knew any better.

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If our collection grows any more, we'll be switching to the Rubbermaid/Sterlite option. We bought our glass tanks before we knew any better.

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If you get as addicted to collecting snakes as many people do, you can switch over to the rubbermaid stuff for the boids, and then get some other species for the glass tanks that require less humidity. My cape gopher does very well in his glass tank...has perfect sheds with no effort to maintain any specific humidity level. (It's fairly dry, but I don't have a hydrogometer(?) to measure the exact humidity.) Many other gophers and bullsnakes also make great pets and do well in a dry environment.

Judy has a good point, especially if West Virginia has looser laws about snake ownership than Georgia (it must because I understand only Cali has tighter regs). I like the Sterilites, but I am partial to boids and to bp's in particular and can't legally own a lot of colubrids. I did get my cousin to cover the tank and place the digital thermo/hygrometer properly for good readings, but unfortunately I can't be there all the time to supervise her husbandry.

Marla....in Georgia...isn't it that you can't own anything native to GA? If that's the case, you can still own a wide variety of western colubrids, including all the ssp of bullsnakes and gophers. Pine snakes are the only Pituophis native to Georgia. Unless they have regs that also try and keep "foreign" snakes out for fear of them getting loose in the ecosystem??? If that's the case, then you're pretty much FUBAR'd on all fronts. :(

Smulkin and I are still learning and trying different things to see what works. I'm sure it'll be much easier maintaining humidity once the weather warms up. Our springs and summers are generally pretty humid, and we don't have central air, so the humidity inside our house is directly proportional to what's going on outside. Hopefully by next fall we'll have the whole humidity issue sorted out, either by switching enclosures or tweaking what we have to the point that it won't be an issue.

I'm partial to the boids myself, but I'm sure Smulkin and our boys will want a colubrid or two at some point. I'm not sure what WV laws are with regard to snake ownership (which is a little embarrassing since I am a legal assistant - I should probably do some research on the subject). Everything we own can be purchased at pet stores in our area, so I know we're safe for now. I've also seen corn snakes and a couple other types of colubrids at the local pet stores.

Hehe - I confess I am already eyeing some stuff but enough on that. The humidity seemed problematic until we threw the Con-Tac paper on the top. We monitored temps and humidity and with a razor cut a right-triangle out of the con-tac paper one corner at a time. We went from low-humidity problems to humidity being too high and wound up taking the repti-flows out of the smaller cages. Neph still has hers running in the critter cage.

The height of the cage makes for an interesting temperature gradient in another dimension. The warmest basking spot can be reached via one of those "poseable branches" which has been twisted around to allow just that. THe warm hide is below this and the far bottom is the cool hide which averages about 78. Twice so far though she's gone nuts swimming and "hugged" the reptiflow clear over to the edge of the bowl soaking the tank. We replaced the green bowl with a glass one with a flat spot near the center and inward curving rim to try and counter it. With very minimal misting her cage holds fairly steady in the low 60%'s.

http://www.angelfire.com/ultra/bramm...age_afrock.jpg

Heck of a set up! When do I move in?

Wow! Beautiful viv!!! Will you come do mine? LOL

PS - I'll bet Tigergenesis goes nuts over this one! :)

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Originally Posted by JLC

Marla....in Georgia...isn't it that you can't own anything native to GA? If that's the case, you can still own a wide variety of western colubrids, including all the ssp of bullsnakes and gophers. Pine snakes are the only Pituophis native to Georgia. Unless they have regs that also try and keep "foreign" snakes out for fear of them getting loose in the ecosystem??? If that's the case, then you're pretty much FUBAR'd on all fronts. :(

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Yes, it's supposed to be nothing native to Georgia except venomous non-pit-vipers, which means I can have all the Eastern Coral Snakes I care to catch -- guess how many that is! However, the regs are written so that they actually say "no corn snakes" as opposed to "no corn snakes native to Georgia" and you have to be very careful because the state "wildlife expert" doesn't know a gopher snake from a rat snake.

If I were to start keeping colubrids, I'd print and laminate reference cards with name, species, and locale and stick 'em right on the cages in case I got raided as people sometimes do. Otherwise the "expert" could very well come in and decide a Western Hognose was an Eastern Hognose and have 'em haul off the whole crew and give me a huge fine.

That aquarium backdrop stuff in the background is pretty cool; - can be bought by the foot at your local pet place - I wrapped it around the 3 non-facing sides and the result seemed to be a more secure snake (or seeming). I'm not sure if it was feeling less exposed (from all sides) or more related to color (beat the hell out of the harsh white background from the walls) - but there was a lot more activity in the tank. I know there could be hundreds of reasons for that though in temp, humidity, the gurgling noise from the repti-flo etc etc. When we moved the baby balls into thier individual setups we did the same in terms of covering 3 sides of the glass - and it does SEEM (my empirical data. . . bwaaahaha) to make em feel a tad more secure.

One note on that though - if you use a lot of dark objects, substrate and even background in your setup it will result in a bump in temperatures (the same way asphalt will heat up beyond ambient temps in direct sunlight) - so when you make changes that don't seem like they would affect much still a good idea to monitor those temp zones.

And gracias, all!

Smulkin, that is a great-looking setup! Heat gradient, humidity gradient, places to hide, and aesthetically pleasing too. Very nice.

Wow....Nice set up. If I was a herp that's the home I would want to live in....Talk about some spoiled herp's!

Only downside is if she doesn't want to come out and play you aren't going to make her without yanking a bunch of stuff out of the way. Seems only to be the case during her sheds though - the's been in the arm hide about 2 days now gearing up for her new skin. Otherwise she'll usually make a dash up the branch when she hears the top open and sees the light shift!

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If I were to start keeping colubrids, I'd print and laminate reference cards with name, species, and locale and stick 'em right on the cages in case I got raided as people sometimes do. Otherwise the "expert" could very well come in and decide a Western Hognose was an Eastern Hognose and have 'em haul off the whole crew and give me a huge fine.

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Wow...that really stinks. Sounds like GA is a bad place for herp-lovers to live. Yeah...if you ever do start keeping colubrids, that's a good idea to have them VERY clearly identified. They're as addictive as pythons, IMO. I've only got my one little gopher, but I've seen many different kinds I'd LOVE to have in my collection someday.

And yet, this law from Georgia: GA. COMP. R. & REGS r. 391-4-11-.02 An alligator farm permit may be issued to any person who is eighteen years of age and has not committed any crime relating to the illegal taking of a crocodilian species; the applicant's facilities are subject to inspection prior to issuing the permit. Annual Fee $50.00.

And apparently West Virginia has no laws that apply to keeping exotic pets. Here's an interesting link: http://www.api4animals.org/372.htm
Judy, that might come in handy the next time you move.

There is an effort underway to have the laws changed, but it's just such a low priority that the legislature doesn't even put it on a committee's agenda apparently. The DNR apparently even requested changes and went ignored. I have had native species before, and had friends who had them, but not since I found out they were illegal and how much hot water I can get in!

It's pretty obvious that a ball python looks nothing like an Eastern Diamondback or an Indigo (except for the lack of legs, of course), so I figure even the most clueless cop or animal control officer won't haul me in for ball pythons. But like I said, if I ever do get colubrids, I will be making it very easy for inspectors/cops/DNR/etc. to see what they are and where they come from.

That's a great link, Smynx! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Smynx! I bookmarked that. It'll be very helpful in the future!