Best way to house 1 snake

Hey guys Ive had my BP for a few weeks now. I am just debating between a tub set up or keeping my tank. Also debating about keeping it natural looking or basic with paper towel and plastic hides. My tank is fine but the only thing is that it requires misting alot and all the decorations and substrate hold in feces and the smell is bad no matter how much i spot clean. If i was to switch to a tub with plastic hides and a water dish would i be able to in a house with a ambient temp of 70-73 degrees? If i switch to paper towels and get rid of all the decorations and keep the tank I am sure the humidity will drop. What is my best option? Thanks

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/27/8edapu6a.jpg

There is a pic of my current tank

I'd switch to a tub and an under tank heater and a t-stat. paper towels, plastic hides, and a water bowl. Better yet, just build a rack! We all know you'll be getting another snake eventually. I built my own rack for around $80. Now I've got two snakes and two tubs of dubias in it. I bought all the stuff from home depot.

Frankly I love my tank I have a 55 gal so you can imagine my humidity problems to me it just looks better in my living room it takes up half my wall but I love to watch my guy be active. Sometime my temps get crazy but that is Texas weather for ya. I thought about the tub but I just like my tank I say stick with what ya got it looks really good

If it were me, I'd cover more of the screen with plexiglass, leaving a small area on both sides for ventilation. I leave a small cut-out in the middle for lamp usage (on a dimmer). My 100 watt IR bulb is dimmed waaay down to raise ambient air maybe 5 degrees. Ambient is currently 80.4* in my tank. T-stat regulated uth.

I live in NE, as well, and only need to mist once-twice a day to keep it at 60%. He is in shed now, so of course more misting is required (2-3x a day, maybe ;)) to achieve 70%. I don't see occasional misting as a chore.

Good luck with your decision!

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...94#post1498294

I prefer plastic enclosures however the DIY I linked is a close second it solves humidity issues with out sacrificing ventilation. Open tops actually don't move air well so I have serious concerns with restricting that down more.


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Originally Posted by 33rpm

If it were me, I'd cover more of the screen with plexiglass, leaving a small area on both sides for ventilation. I leave a small cut-out in the middle for lamp usage (on a dimmer). My 100 watt IR bulb is dimmed waaay down to raise ambient air maybe 5 degrees. Ambient is currently 80.4* in my tank. T-stat regulated uth.

I live in NE, as well, and only need to mist once-twice a day to keep it at 60%. He is in shed now, so of course more misting is required (2-3x a day, maybe ;)) to achieve 70%. I don't see occasional misting as a chore.

Good luck with your decision!

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I may do just that.. Im going to see if i can get plexiglass to cover the screen top and cut a hole in the center for the lamp so its not to hot on one side. The lamp bumps the tank to about 81 degrees on the coolside. Im going to have some plexiglass cut and experiment later. Thanks for the replies!

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Originally Posted by shelby9189

Frankly I love my tank I have a 55 gal so you can imagine my humidity problems to me it just looks better in my living room it takes up half my wall but I love to watch my guy be active.

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I have a 100 gal with 90% of the screen covered with aluminum foil held in place with aluminum foil tape. I have no humidity problems because I have a 5 quart water dish sitting directly over a uth plugged in 24/7.

I love to watch my 7 pound (5 foot long) girl be active ......

Harry

Yea where can you get foil tape? I have over half my lid covered in foil just have electric tape on it right now :). Can you post a pic of your set up old sloppy?

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Originally Posted by dave21

I may do just that.. Im going to see if i can get plexiglass to cover the screen top and cut a hole in the center for the lamp so its not to hot on one side. The lamp bumps the tank to about 81 degrees on the coolside. Im going to have some plexiglass cut and experiment later. Thanks for the replies!

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Just remember to leave "small strips" of screen uncovered on either end. I'm eventually going for a T3 or (most likely) a T8. I like their ventilation strips in the back of them. My tank works great, for now. Just ask my snake! :D

Oh, 1 more thing...plexiglass has a tendency to warp a lil bit around heat lamps. I put a layer of HVAC tape on one side of the plexiglass (tape side UP), for a bit of heat shielding and privacy from above for the snake. I posted some pics of mine awhile ago...where the heck did they get off too....?

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Originally Posted by shelby9189

Yea where can you get foil tape? I have over half my lid covered in foil just have electric tape on it right now :). Can you post a pic of your set up old sloppy?

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Home Depot, Lowes, hardware stores, etc. Around $8 a roll.

I don't understand how it smells. I have several naturalistic terrariums with cypress mulch or eco earth, fake plants, live plants, climbing structures, and hides. The only things I have ever smelled is the fresh substrate smell.

What are you cleaning with? I use healthy habitat and really like it.


For spot cleaning:
I remove all snake waste and the substrate to the cage bottom. I then spray and clean with healthy habitat. Then I spray with water and wipe it again.

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Originally Posted by KMG

I don't understand how it smells. I have several naturalistic terrariums with cypress mulch or eco earth, fake plants, live plants, climbing structures, and hides. The only things I have ever smelled is the fresh substrate smell.

What are you cleaning with? I use healthy habitat and really like it.


For spot cleaning:
I remove all snake waste and the substrate to the cage bottom. I then spray and clean with healthy habitat. Then I spray with water and wipe it again.

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Where do you get healthy habitat? Do you clean the whole tank with that to ?

http://m.petco.com/product/13344/Nat...y-Habitat.aspx

Petco. It is safe for the whole cage even with the animal in it. It's all natural, which I like.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KMG

I don't understand how it smells. I have several naturalistic terrariums with cypress mulch or eco earth, fake plants, live plants, climbing structures, and hides. The only things I have ever smelled is the fresh substrate smell.

What are you cleaning with? I use healthy habitat and really like it.


For spot cleaning:
I remove all snake waste and the substrate to the cage bottom. I then spray and clean with healthy habitat. Then I spray with water and wipe it again.

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Well my snake seems to like going on his fake plants and substrate right under the heat lamp and the lamp just makes the whole tank reak of feces and even after spot cleaning everything will just have a lingering odor. Even the vent in the accurite smells like feces lol. I think the heat lamp just makes it worse. A full cleaning and substrate change and soaking all the decorations eliminates the odor completly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KMG

http://m.petco.com/product/13344/Nat...y-Habitat.aspx

Petco. It is safe for the whole cage even with the animal in it. It's all natural, which I like.

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And i will deffinitly look into buying this, thanks!

Okay thank you I will def look in to buying this. And you can spray it on all the hides also?

You can clean everything with it. I even clean glass and plexi with it. If my snake gets things dirty I will remove the item(s) and spray them with the cleaner, scrub it, rinse with water, then place it back in the cage.

You should not have any smell. This is an ear mark of poor ventilation and or poor cleaning. Oder is caused by bacteria. Proper cleaning kills bacteria and Oder with it. Poor air flow allows excellerated bacteria growth = more odors.

Healthy habitate is a great product but it is an enzyme and is neither a cleaner nor disinfectant. It is a post cleaning and post disinfectant.

I would suggest proper cleaning materials (f10 or Chlorahexidine) • follow the instructions • and more ventilation. This is the problem with reducing the air flow of a open top it is poorly vented to start with.


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Originally Posted by kitedemon

You should not have any smell. This is an ear mark of poor ventilation and or poor cleaning. Oder is caused by bacteria. Proper cleaning kills bacteria and Oder with it. Poor air flow allows excellerated bacteria growth = more odors.

Healthy habitate is a great product but it is an enzyme and is neither a cleaner nor disinfectant. It is a post cleaning and post disinfectant.

I would suggest proper cleaning materials (f10 or Chlorahexidine) • follow the instructions • and more ventilation. This is the problem with reducing the air flow of a open top it is poorly vented to start with.


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Im not saying my room smells just inside the cage. Only half the top is covered so it is deffinitly not a ventilation problem. I only had the snake 3 weeks and spot clean every time. All poop smells i just think the wood absorbs it more and the heat mskes it worse. Its faint but still there. Never had the problem when i had colubrids because i housed them on paper towel in a rack. I will just clean more often and remove the bedding in the spot where he defecates.

I think you mis understood my post I was bouncing around on a bus writing so forgive me this. I did not mean your room smelled but the enclosure should not. Tanks by the rules of air movement do not vent well. A fully open top will only vent about 60% so covering up 1/2 depending on how you do this could reduce this to less than 10%. The best way is leaving the both ends open and covering the centre promoting air movement. Remember 7 times the height on the horizontal will have poor air movement. Most tanks that means the whole bottom is poorly ventilated. Why I'd use side turned it allows low vents so only 5-6 inches in suffer from lower ventilation levels.

http://images61.fotki.com/v666/photo...airtank-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

Disinfecting removes smells. Many fail to follow the instructions on the particular chemical of choice so it does not disinfect at all. Following the instructions (duh) they work well. Odours signal one or both of these issues there should be no smell at all but the smell of the substrate. Nothing ever should smell close or 'basement, old, musty' smell usually this usually signals poor ventilation.