Jag playing around..

On his new (bigger) home made shelf. There will be a thicker plant curtain to hide behind, soon.

I made 2 shelves. While he can enjoy this one, I will waterproof the second one with pond liner and add driftwood, bamboo and fake plants to it. Letting it all air out thoroughly and finally switching out the shelves and then doing the same to the first one [emoji6]

They make nice hiding places underneath them and a extra real estate on top of them. With some driftwood and plants on the edge he can even hide on top of it somewhat.

Here he is being nosy. He looks so small in pics. He is huge for a male. His middle is bigger around then my upper arms.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fc24120dc9.jpg

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Beautiful digs for a BP & he obviously appreciates your efforts. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Beautiful digs for a BP & he obviously appreciates your efforts. :gj:

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Thank you! I hope he does! In reality he is probably all over it, investigating it and thinking to himself "this smells all wrong, where is MY small shelf!!!"

Thankfully he is fairly easy going, I guess some self confidence comes along with age and size. He takes small changes like that in stride. It takes him a day or two of moving around and checking out every square inch of anything new, then he's cool with it :)

The shelf needed an update. The old one didn't go all the way into the corner, so it had a large gap and part of his body would slide into the gap. Last time I had him out I noticed a red line on his belly. At first I freaked out, but then I realized it was from laying on that edge of the gap. The red line disappeared within minutes but you betcha my butt was on the way to the hardware store that very same day! Can't have this happening to my big boy !!!

We always have to stay ready & willing to modify our cages as our snakes (herps) grow or just need something different. It's part of why I love keeping
snakes though, new challenges to figure out & creative uses for otherwise familiar things.

Also, his light is not for heat, it is a tiny and very weak/dull LED bulb, just for some light.

I have no idea why it looks so BRIGHT in pictures. In reality it just barely puts out light. I guess I need to get out the good camera every so often or play around with settings that give a more realistic look to everything. My color and brightness always seems off, unless I take outdoor pictures..

Guess he likes it. He is just chilling now [emoji4]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...313f5f5853.jpg


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Originally Posted by zina10

Guess he likes it. He is just chilling now [emoji4]

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...313f5f5853.jpg


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He looks like he's smiling!

And one more...just because he is so cute [emoji4] it's a dark pic and taken through glass, but it shows more of the enclosure.

The shelf 2.0 will have more plants hanging down..to hide behind/under.

Not sure whether I will use the black pond liner or clear. Need to sleep on that before I buy that stuff. A can is $70 but I like it because it can be used within a day or so and safe for animals. Although supposed to be a bit tricky to apply.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4d568de85f.jpg


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That's awesome, he looks SO comfortable...feeling safe with back pressure and a view too! :D Beautifully done! A++++++++++

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

That's awesome, he looks SO comfortable...feeling safe with back pressure and a view too! :D Beautifully done! A++++++++++

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Aw, thanks :)

I know the stuff I come up with is not very high tech, but I try to make it work for the animal :)

The problem with that cage are the angles, the back corner is not at a right angle, its wider. But I bought this nifty tool on Amazon that you spread out and it will hold the position (and angle) for you to draw it on the wood.
Therefore the shelf fits so much better now.

Its made out of hardwood plywood, a bit better quality then the run of the mill. Everything is sanded down very well. Now I just have to waterproof it. I never did that to the smaller shelf that was in there, and I had no problems, but I want to make this shelf nicer, more functional and more pleasing to the eye.

That's why I made 2. So I can experiment around with the second one, while he can use the first one without his body getting squished in a gap. Once I got the second one just right, I'll swap them out. Shouldn't upset him to much, they will be quite similar, only waterproofed and more plants hanging down. I might re-use the same driftwood that is on the shelf now. It was also on the old shelf, and he seems to like it. It will make it seem more familiar!

Jag spent the whole night rolled up on his shelf behind the driftwood [emoji4] he must approve and he fits so much better.
Here he is waking up and getting nosy about me opening the glass door...

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I put a piece of nice branch/like log thing for snakes. All natural, and my purple passion has a ritual of eating and hiding in his warm hide on Tuesday, then on Sunday and Monday when he knows he getting fed soon he balls up on the top of the branch and waits for me to feed him. I have a small 25 watt bulb that shines down on the branch and he loves it. He has done this for the last 3 weeks lol

I really like how that turned out Zina...and he looks very comfy. :P

Please share how the waterproofing works on the second shelf. I know I’m interested. After seeing some of the naturalistic setups here, I want to try that out with my Solomon Island ground boa. He’s the most active and visible of my pets, but leaves little poops and urates everywhere that are potent. I quickly quit using branches in his enclosure because I couldn’t get the smell out. :( He has a plastic/resin rock hide that actually looks like a rock, and a plastic/resin big cat skull that he hides in and crawls on. Those I can clean and rinse without a lingering odor, but I’d like to provide him something more to hang out on.

I've been lucky so far that Jag has never peed on his shelf. I still would like to water proof it because the spraying and higher humidity isn't good for the plywood, even the better quality one.

Polyurethan is often used but you have to let it air out for a long time to make it safe. The smell is potent!

I've come across this on my research. Very safe and non toxic and one good layer should do it. It's expensive though and not easy to work with...esp. using a brush. But I will give it a go. Need to figure out whether to go with clear or black, but I'm leaning towards clear.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...60443de6be.jpg


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Originally Posted by zina10

I've been lucky so far that Jag has never peed on his shelf. I still would like to water proof it because the spraying and higher humidity isn't good for the plywood, even the better quality one.

Polyurethan is often used but you have to let it air out for a long time to make it safe. The smell is potent!

I've come across this on my research. Very safe and non toxic and one good layer should do it. It's expensive though and not easy to work with...esp. using a brush. But I will give it a go. Need to figure out whether to go with clear or black, but I'm leaning towards clear.

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Thanks Zina, I’ll check that product out. There are a couple of pond centers near here that may have it as well. My Solomon Island, Merlin, is my only little poop-monster that gets it everywhere...so far anyway. :rolleyes:

I’ve used polyurethane in the past on other projects...definitely not something I’d want to put in a heated cage. Merlin doesn’t have the body mass to push much around, but the balls definitely do.

I've never heard of Pond Shield before but that sounds like a great product! I think I'd go with clear too, since the wood color showing thru will look more
natural, especially if it ever gets dinged.

Beautiful! Seeing this reminds me how much more is possible with enclosures. :) Zina, could you tell me some of your thoughts on the classic Neodesha (NPI?) cages? OK to PM me if you don't want to get off topic. I may have the chance to acquire 3 of the 48" cages + rack for what seems like a decent price. Just waiting on more photos to better assess their condition. But I don't know too much about this style of enclosure! Any input, good or bad, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

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Originally Posted by WhompingWillow

Beautiful! Seeing this reminds me how much more is possible with enclosures. :) Zina, could you tell me some of your thoughts on the classic Neodesha (NPI?) cages? OK to PM me if you don't want to get off topic. I may have the chance to acquire 3 of the 48" cages + rack for what seems like a decent price. Just waiting on more photos to better assess their condition. But I don't know too much about this style of enclosure! Any input, good or bad, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

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OMG, I would snatch those up in a heart beat !!!!

I badly want a 4 foot one, but my luck, they just stopped making them. After having been in business for many, many years. I can't find any used ones near me at all :(

I used to have 2 stacks of 3 4ft cages. Total of 6 of them. I think they are awesome. About the only "bad" thing one could say about them is that they don't stack on top of one another. You have to have a rack (if more then 1) or a table to put one on.

But so many positives. First of all, for Display nothing comes close. That big slant front gives full view of the interior. The 4 ft. cages have 2 sliding glass doors. So much nicer then the 3 foot ones, which have just one large glass door.

They are easy to clean, heat and maintain. They are long lasting. I find them visually pleasing. They do have weird angles, but that is geared to have the great visibility into the inside of it. You will also not have the concerns of PVC, being that it is known to be the most toxic plastic ever. Esp. if heated. Granted, many snakes are in PVC and seem to do just fine.

The older Neodeshas (older then 15 years) were made out of a slightly different plastic that tended to turn a deeper yellow. It turned more brittle with age. But even the cages I had 13 years ago were already the lighter tan colored ones that don't have those issues.

I love em. Another member here (Godzilla) just bought a stack of 3 used. You can ask him about his, too :)

My current 3 foot Neodesha (deko inside has changed a bit, he crushes all plants...)


http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...g/large/c3.jpg


an old picture of one of my 4 ft racks. The third cage is on the bottom, behind the couch. That was a good 13 years or so ago. And I don't use stick on guages anymore, LOL !!!


http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...2006%20006.jpg

Thank you, Zina! The seller only has one photo posted and there is newspaper and hides in it, so I can't really tell whether the cages are in good shape. Glass looks good, though. He did say the bottom of one is discolored from heat tape but not warped or brittle. The biggest thing giving me pause is the venting. I can tell from the picture that the top cage is vented like yours, so I think I could attach an RHP pretty easily, but the middle cage looks like almost the whole top is vented. I really don't want to use belly heat, and I'm not sure if I can attach an RHP in that one. We'll see if he takes more photos... :)

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Gorgeous snake Zina. He's held his color really well. I remember the pics you posted last year. He is massive!

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Originally Posted by cletus

Gorgeous snake Zina. He's held his color really well. I remember the pics you posted last year. He is massive!

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Those pics ? They do show off his size. I can't make pictures holding him straight up for long, to heavy, haha !!

http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...16869767_n.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...rge/cache2.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...17070094_n.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...92917590_n.jpg


Like all my babies, he's been allowed to grow up slowly, I don't power or even "quick grow feed" any of my snakes. Not my breeders either. To this day Jag continues to grow. They all do really, with him its just always been "more" from the day he was a little one :) He's my little freak. He seems to like to slither around my desk, behind the monitor, checking out everything and anything, and then returns to me/my chair and I put him back into his cage. Has just become a routine in all those years..

Wow, he IS a big boy. Those pictures really show it. Such a beauty, too.

I’m a believer in slow growth myself. My adults are all fed on 2 week intervals, sometimes a few days over that, depending on my schedule. They typically get 1 prey item each, except Yang (male corn) who gets 2 mice, and Buttercup (3 year old albino bp) who gets 2-3 mice because he doesn’t like rats. I could grow them faster by feeding heavier, but I would rather they be healthy than big. Big will happen eventually.

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Originally Posted by Dianne

Wow, he IS a big boy. Those pictures really show it. Such a beauty, too.

I’m a believer in slow growth myself. My adults are all fed on 2 week intervals, sometimes a few days over that, depending on my schedule. They typically get 1 prey item each, except Yang (male corn) who gets 2 mice, and Buttercup (3 year old albino bp) who gets 2-3 mice because he doesn’t like rats. I could grow them faster by feeding heavier, but I would rather they be healthy than big. Big will happen eventually.

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I absolutely agree. Common sense dictates that over feeding isn't good nor healthy (nor indicative of a long life) in ANY species. Neither is forcing rapid growth. Some parts of the body don't keep up with that rapid growth. Just nothing good coming out of it, imho.
Well, one can get them up to breeding size faster, but even that isn't a good thing for the animal.

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I don't have to make profit a priority, so I couldn't care less if I loose profit by producing possible morphs a year later then I could have. Or even if I decide to never breed them. I just don't like to stress over getting them up to size or watching the grams shoot up there fast.

Like you said, Big will happen in time. Not like feeding them more will magically create larger (then genetically predisposed) snakes. They just get up to size faster, and then they get fat.