big boa hide box dilema

Ok, I bought a BIG female dumerils. She's around 6-7' and very girthy. She's in a 4.5' cage, and I have no idea what to use for a hide box for her. Right now I just covered the whole cage with a dark cloth. She is possibly gravid.. but does she even require a hidebox being so large?

Some of my larger stuff still use hide box's others do not but I still offer all of them a hide, I find that cereal box' work great for some of my larger snakes give the the hide feeling and its nice and tight for them.

There is no cereal box on the planet that this snake will fit in.

Is the cloth over the cage not good enough?

She probably won't care one way or another, but if you're just looking to offer her something, a jumbo plastic cat litter pan make a great hide for larger boids.

-adam

Cat litter pan was the first thing I looked at, as I use it for my hogg island boa. The largest one just wasn't big enough. I even looked at doggie pans.. no good.

You could try building him something... a few pieces of plywood screwed together (and make sure the screws are in where they can't scratch themselves).

What are you keeping him in, if you don't mind my asking? I keep my 5.5 ft boa in a tub that's long, but very short (Sterilite 1996 version) and she feels safe enough with the lid being so low. Plus, she's on the bottom level of a shelf, so it's stays pretty dark most of the time.

I've never built anything in my life..

She's in a big tub from reptiletubs.com (their largest one) it's fairly tall and semi-clear.

Hmmm... I don't know. What you could try:

I dont know if you've seen them or not, but Target has some "college" shelves that are fairly easy to assemble (obviously, for college students). They come in all different shapes and sizes. You could purchase one of these that would fit in the tub (they have taller ones that aren't as long, and longer ones that aren't as tall) and just assemble the bottom shelf. It would give her something nice to hide under. The run fairly cheap, too.

Horizontal shelves
Vertical Shelves

Or just get a nice long sterlite and melt or cut a hole in it. :)

is she big enough to where a toy box would be a good enough hide? i would get a toy box for her and cut a whole in it with a serated blade and sort of saw the hole.

Problem with sterilite tubs is.. they're clear. Not much of a hide box that way.

Here's a retarded idea.. somehow rig up a pillow case with a pvc frame to keep it open.. then just throw it in the wash when it's dirty and replace with a new one.

Hey, that may actually work..

Or give her something to burrow in (like pillow cases :) ) Dum's like to burrow.

not all tubs are clear. my baby sister has like 2 dark green ones for here toys

I have been unable to find opaque tubs.

I will ask my vet what he thinks when I take her to him.

shelby...get a big dark rubbermaid

I can't find a big dark rubbermaid.

Are you talking a tall tub, or a low blanket box type thing? Because a tub wouldn't fit, and wouldn't be that secure of a hide anyway.

At the big lots by us there are a bunch of dark colored bins there, you may want to try lookign there before anywhere else, much cheaper, and fairly wide selection

Our big lots tends to be fairly pricey, and they don't have a lot usually. I'm not looking for a dark 'bin' (ie deep) I want a dark 'tub' (shallow).

do you have any left over cardboard boxes that would be sufficient? you know for like TV's and stuff?

I may.. but once she poops, it's out the door. I need something to last.

As a side note, I used the snake measurer program.. and she's over 7'! :O

you could cut the bottom out of the box... thats what i did with zulu's shoebox.

Still, big snakes pee a lot, and it'll soak in. I need a plastic thing.

If you have any farm supply/feed/tack stores nearby maybe check those out. Our local farm supply store has great stuff that makes nice hides of all sizes.....heavy black rubber bowls, huge rubber feeder buckets and so forth. Might be workable for this big snake. We found with the big rubber feed bowls we use that using a set of wire snips worked best as no exacto knife in the world was going to cut into that thick rubber.


~~Jo~~

That's a good idea, Joanna. I know the things you're talking about as we use them for the horses.

Hope you find something there. We get these really heavy, thick black rubber dog dishes (2 qt) from our local farmer's supply store. They work great for the snakes (though the big girls are outgrowing them already!). Easy to keep clean, heavy enough they don't get shoved around too badly, nice flat "roofs" for snakey lounging on and completely black...I think we pay around 3 or 4 dollars each for them but they should last for years and years.

Good luck shopping!


~~Jo~~

If you can find a sterilite tub large enough why don't you just paint it?

I'm using a plastic trash can cut in half longways.

I don't want to paint it because the paint could be toxic, and it wouldn't stick to plastic anyways, so I'd have little flakes all over.

You really couldn't find any opaque tubs? We got some a while ago, at Target I'm pretty sure, fairly cheap, too.

No opaque tubs.. well, yes I found opaque iris tubs for $15 each.. forget it!

Keep in mind I need a hide over 2 feet long for this girl!

How bout a big ole litter pan bottom? I've used those of varying sizes - just upended em after making an entry hole. Place I get mine has some as big as 18x24" and well over 6" deep. Works well on the AfRock.

I already found hides for her, everyone! lol

Where the heck do you find 2' litter pans? For a lion or something?

Maybe they are for aiming-challenged felines - right past the kitty Depends

Ah yes, I've had one of those kitties before.

You just find one of the big enclosed litter boxes. My cat uses one of those.

My kitty uses one too, but it sure ain't 2' long. I looked all over Petsmart when I was searching for a hide, and the biggest ones they have were around 18".

hey

i have this same problem, as i have a big 6ft+ girl too. I have found larhe hides at reptile shows, and also made one out of a plastic flower pot turned over with an entrance cut into it. Bonnie (RTB) did barely fit into this one tightly coiled, and she seemed to go into it quite frequently.