Batttle Of Glass And Plastic!!!!!

Ok Alot Of People Have Been Talking About Plastic Enclosures Versus Glass. Lets Here Some Pros And Cons On The Subject. Any And All Opinions Are Appreciated!!

-adam And Tiger


Ps I Am Getting Another Python Today Named Chaos, Hopefully With The Help You All Have Given Me He Will Be Calmer Than Tiger Th Biter!!!

Plastic is better than glass because:

1. Holds heat and humidity better.

2. Is lighter to move around.

3. Is much cheaper for the initial cost.

4. Is shatterproof.

5. Is usually at least partially opaque, giving the snake a little greater sense of security.

6. Only has as much ventalation as you put into it.

7. Comes in a much greater variety of sizes/shapes than glass aquaria.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ken

Plastic is better than glass because:

1. Holds heat and humidity better.

2. Is lighter to move around.

3. Is much cheaper for the initial cost.

4. Is shatterproof.

5. Is usually at least partially opaque, giving the snake a little greater sense of security.

6. Only has as much ventalation as you put into it.

7. Comes in a much greater variety of sizes/shapes than glass aquaria.

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YEah what he said:)

...um...DOUBLE ya!

I think Ken covered everything and major things they are. I know when I first made the switch I couldn't believe the time it saved with having several snakes. Cleaning is SO much easier and faster...well I won't repeat what was said but I 110% agree that using plastic is the way to go.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ken

Plastic is better than glass because:

1. Holds heat and humidity better.

2. Is lighter to move around.

3. Is much cheaper for the initial cost.

4. Is shatterproof.

5. Is usually at least partially opaque, giving the snake a little greater sense of security.

6. Only has as much ventalation as you put into it.

7. Comes in a much greater variety of sizes/shapes than glass aquaria.

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Right on!

I agree with everything said on the pros for plastics. I just love being able to look into my cages and see my pets. All of my reptiles are housed in wood cages with sliding glass doors. The cost me a fortune, but they seem to be hands down the best way for me to care for my herps. I also like the option of locking the glass if need be to keep my other pets and children out. I have pics of all my set ups on my website. They are not the most attractive or easiest to work with, but do a great job of showcasing the animal. I love my pets and strive to take the best care of them, however I also enjoy just looking at times. We have about 5-10 kids come in our house a day to see what the reptiles are doing and glass fronts are perfect for allowing children to look and not touch. Shannon and I just work a little harder on the husbandry. We probably put at least 3-4 hrs a day into our pets between the two of us.

Does The Plastic Work For All Snakes?

What About Visibilty From The Pics It Looks As Though You Cant See You Friend Through The Haze.
Adam

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TIGER_BALL

What About Visibilty From The Pics It Looks As Though You Cant See You Friend Through The Haze.

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If I ever tried to stuff one of my friends into a plastic reptile cage I'd probably get my a$$ kicked. :D

-adam

it really is a trade off...if want something strictly for display then glass is definately for you. For ease of maintence and husbandry plastic is much more "efficient". I keep all of my reptiles in their own room in the back of the house with the door shut anyway so displaying them is not really a concern. Plus once start collecting a "few" those heavy glass tanks are a real pain.

Yes when I retire from the Air Force I am thinking about greatly increasing my snake collection, I will probably go to something like "Boaphile" once I do that. I know it is pretty expensive, but I also think they are very attractive cages. The cages I have now are built by the guy who builds them for most of the pet stores in town.

I am the proverbial "square peg" when it comes to this subject. I prefer using tanks for cages; I set them up pretty with cypress mulch, fake plants, etc.
BUT they are only good if your reptile room is the right temp.

All my cages at the moment are glass, but the only reason for that is that I had no knowledge of plastic before I purchased my tanks. I totally agree that plastic is the way.

Another plastic convert here. :D Sobe had his best shed ever since I moved him to plastic. :)

I also prefer homemade with glass doors, but the question was a choice between glass and plastic, so I didn't get into melamine. : )

We have 5 ball pythons in sterlite and 1 BCI in a glass tank. That darn glass tank takes more time daily to manage than all 5 sterlites!

For me with my busy daily schedule the plastic just wins flat out, hands down for all the already stated reasons. The sterlite bins with use are fairly clear so actually I can see in quite nicely and since they open on either end (without removing the whole big lid) they are super easy to spot clean w/o throwing off the whole environment (or getting nailed by Bran the Witch LOL).


~~Jo~~

i have my bp in a 20 g glass tank and i have to say its workign out fine for me. my bro has his bp in a large rubbermaid contianer and its also workign out great. from what i have seen the plastic is more practical so i will be switching to it when my bp gets larger.

i have also gandered this topic. the one thing keeping me from plastic is having a scientist friend of mine in the plastics industry. he will not have plastic anywhere near him for eating or drinking. he drinks water out of mason jars when he hikes. he told me that all plastics leech. they are toxic. period. i wonder what the long term affects of this could be on our snakes in say ten years or more. i am in limbo on the subject.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by landofthelost

i wonder what the long term affects of this could be on our snakes in say ten years or more.

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I have snakes that have been kept in plastic cages for over 10 years, they are fine. I know others that have snakes that have lived 20+ years in plastic cages and they are fine.

In quantity anything can be toxic to some degree ... I think your friend might be a little extreme.

-adam

plastic is better

Unless you are keeping fish...

.....no contest there.... plastic is the best :D

I have all my snakes and my mice in plastic tubs...works great...would never waste my money on a tank again ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by landofthelost

i have also gandered this topic. the one thing keeping me from plastic is having a scientist friend of mine in the plastics industry. he will not have plastic anywhere near him for eating or drinking. he drinks water out of mason jars when he hikes. he told me that all plastics leech. they are toxic. period. i wonder what the long term affects of this could be on our snakes in say ten years or more. i am in limbo on the subject.

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I think your friend is too paranoid. Plastics do not just leech out deadly poisons for no apparent reason. Most plastics are made out of Hydrocarbons and Chlorine molecules combined under tremendous heat and pressure. The only way they can be harmful is you hold a flame under it! In other words plastic has to burn, melt and give off toxic fumes in order for it to be considered harmful, period!

i like my glass tank for several reasons


a- it was free

b-i only have one snake and i dont mind taking the extra time to clean o=it out because i have the luxury (and parental limit might i add )of only haviing one

c i cover 4 sides of it bottom right left and back with opaque stuff the front with transcluent covering and the top is see thru (the top is the side u see it from at my eyelevel---so i feel my pet feels secure

but my reasons only work for me

Great thread! I KNOW that plastic is better for ease of cleaning and husbandry, and I know that I will switch eventually when I begin to add more BP's to my home, but for now we're working with the glass aquarium, partly because we already had it when I began researching about balls before getting Kashmire.


And I just got a 20 gallon long from Matt, so I'm going to have a case of empty tank syndrome soon. I think I've talked my pet store into letting me give them $10 to take one of the adults they have to the vet to get vet checked (and probed - but I'm not telling them that) and hopefully will get a clean bill of health and a sexed female! But that's not for another month. They keep the $10 whether I purchase the snake or not. They said they were comfortable with the vet I used. I didn't remind them that they called him an idiot since he said that you could safely probe (although they didn't know it was him when I said "my vet said....") ....best not to remind them of that when I'm trying to "work" them! LOL

I don't see why everyone says that tanks are hard to clean. When my snake "goes," I just remove the mess and the cypress mulch that has become soiled. Then I fill it in with clean mulch. About twice a year, I take each tank down completely, bleach and strip it, but I don't see it necessary to do this very often. I will change the mulch completely, roughly once every two months, and I wipe out each tank when I do that using a paper towel and water.
I just preger the display properties of the tanks. They look sweet with their green plants (I use aftificial; they are easy to bleach and clean every few weeks.) My house always stays at 75 degrees; my boyfriend has a thing for coolness in the house; he can't stand it. And we don't pay for heat, so it stays warm. My UTHs keep the warm hides in my tanks at a consistent temp. So I don't see anything whatsoever, wrong with my glass tanks.

EDIT: let's not let this actually become a "war", where we harbor resentments and hatred. We all have our own ways of doing things, and if it works, that is fine!

Maybe not harder to clean per say (though rounded inside corners are easier to clean than right angles) - but when dealing with a lot of them it is easier lugging 14 plasic bins for cleaning than the same number of appropriately sized in glass.

I was all about glass for the longest time simply because i loved the perfect transparency - I've learned to deal with settling for transluscent when it became obvious housing numerous in glass just would not be practical. At this point even Smynx's beloved Zephyr outgrew his glass tank (the rats are happy for the new communal housing btw). But we do have about 3 "spares" which make swapping/cleaning easier - no more moving the snakes twice to accomodate them in that process.

It is all a matter of preference balanced with the effort you are willing to put forth to make it a healthy environment for your snake - there is no right wrong, etc. And no - we didn't buy a bunch of fish to fill the tanks (for those tanks r 4 fish folk) but rather rats :P

Gin, before I make this comment I want to say I'm not trying to bash you and definately don't want to start an argument.

That said and I appologize for using your post as an example but to me...personally thorough cleanings need to be done more than 2 times a year. For me personally...and this is just what I do...but I clean tubs at least once a week and that includes a full enclosure wash. Any snakes that leave me a poo present in their tub also get the thorough wash down...just because its that easy to do.

Again I in no way mean to direct this at you (Gin) personally or mean for it to insult you. If it does please have a mod remove it. Its just to give another possitive reinforcement for the use of plastic.

I really do clean the tanks in between; when I do my bi-monthly mulch change; I do hose the tank down to remove the old stuff; I guess I will start bleaching the tanks down when I change the mulch after all. I am always just so paranoid about bleach residue, and it seems like I can never get the smell of it out no matter how much I hose it.. I had this trouble with rubbermaids as well. I kinda feel like a dweeb because it did come across as though I was saying you can get away with only cleaning your cages, twice a year!

I didn't mean to point you out and I have no doubt you take the best of care for your animals. I don't like using many chemicals if I don't have to either and definately not at close intervals.