For all of you who use tubs...

What do you use as a lid? How do you secure it? I'm going to upgrade soon and I'm just reviewing my options. I won't be using a rack or anything, as I only have one snake.

Usually the lid that comes with the tub works best, lol....

After that, the large binder clips you can get at any office supply store work well.

Here's a picture of what Brad's talking about...


http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...r/DSCN3493.jpg

(Credit for pic to JasonGranger)

Those seem to work really well, and they're very easy to slip on and off.

See that was my first thought, but how does that work with a lamp? Would it allow natural light in? Also, can uths be used with a rubbermaid?

Plenty of light gets into the tubs...BP's don't need a lot of light to begin with. And with a tub (rubbermaid or sterelite or whatever) I would MUCH rather go with a UTH than a lamp. Since you have to regulate the temperature of the UTH to keep it from burning your snake, you also keep it from being a risk against the plastic...won't hurt it at all. If you use a lamp with a tub, you'll have to cut an opening out of the lid and cover it with hardware cloth or some sort of screening....big pain in the tushie, I would imagine, and would also likely defeat much of the benefit of having a tub in the first place.

our tubs are in a rack, so we dont use the lids that come with the bins, we built the rack to sit tight against each bin.

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Originally Posted by jenaero

Also, can uths be used with a rubbermaid?

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Sure they can. I also only have one snake (for now). Here's some pics of my setup with UTH's. I had to use two UTH's to get the desired temps on each side of my tub and two t-stats to regulate these temps.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../tubsetup1.JPG

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...xwattsetup.JPG

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...lixt-stats.JPG

Hope this helps with your questions and good luck with your setup.

Ok, can I use a taller tub? My girl's been climbing a lot lately. This idea sure beats the hell outta having something built! I was thinking about getting an old dresser or something and converting it into a snake 'tank' but I have niether the time, space or money for such a thing.

What is the best brand of uth to use? How much do they generally cost? If I were to put the tub on a coffee table would the uth damage it at all? What is the best brand of thermometers or whatever you use to keep the temps?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RockSolid

Sure they can. I also only have one snake (for now). Here's some pics of my setup with UTH's. I had to use two UTH's to get the desired temps on each side of my tub and two t-stats to regulate these temps.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../tubsetup1.JPG

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...xwattsetup.JPG

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...lixt-stats.JPG

Hope this helps with your questions and good luck with your setup.

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Wow, You went all the way. Great stuff you have there.....When you get more snakes and switch to racks, those t-stats will be able to run a bunch of tubs!

to OP: I would go with UTH and T-stat, just make sure you get a UTH that covers 1/3rd to 2/3rds(correct me if I'm wrong) of the tub. Lights and CHEs just cause too many headaches IMO..

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...h-21/cage4.jpg

here is a pic of mine.

just thought of another question..possibly a silly one. What would I use to put holes in it? How do you know where to place the holes and how many to make?

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Originally Posted by jenaero

just thought of another question..possibly a silly one. What would I use to put holes in it? How do you know where to place the holes and how many to make?

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An inexpensive soldering iron melts holes in the plastic very easily....just be sure to do it outdoors as it is a very fumey process. As for placement and number...just do whatever seems good to you. You can look at some pictures of folks tubs to get an idea....most make neat rows along 3-4 of the tubs...I've seen some where they made neat swirly designs.....and some just punch holes willy nilly without caring how neat it looks. How many you need will depend on the ambient humidity in your home as well as how you eventually get the tub set up...you may need to be ready to add some holes or tape up a few if you make too many.

The thing is to set it up before ever putting the snake in it...run it for a few days and tweak it as necessary until you're sure it is running with proper temps and humidity....each "tweak" you make you should give it at least a day to see how it worked. Once it's all fixed up...put your snake into its new home!

ok thanks.

oops...one more question. She's a bit over 2ft now. What size tub should I buy? Would it be ok to get a larger one that would accomodate her as an adult?

I've also used bungie cords to add in securing lids down before.

I have one tubbed snake right now, and I just use the lid that came with it. The latches are pretty secure on either side, and I have binder clips that go over the center part of both sides to clamp it tight.
Welcome to the forum by the way!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jenaero

ok thanks.

oops...one more question. She's a bit over 2ft now. What size tub should I buy? Would it be ok to get a larger one that would accomodate her as an adult?

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32 quart sterilite should work.

I have the 74 Qt Sterilite, it measures at 44"x 19 3/4 x 6 3/8.
The BP's I have in mine are all around 3-4 feet, we had the one in the 32 and I hated it personally, I dont know how she liked it I never asked her.....lol. But it seemed tight, with the 2 hides and water dish there was hardly any room, so we switched them over to the 74qt, and I like it alot. The lid that comes with this one is split, so you can lift up one side or the other, we dont use them because of the rack, but if you were going to use them I think that would be a plus....just dont forget to clip them down, the ends have the locking handle, but the middle of the lid is a weak point.
We also just burned holes in them, I'm wishing now I would og gotten facny and maped out a neat design.....maybe next time.

Good Luck!

~Audrey:sunny:

You can also use a drill. That's what I use, but only because my mom won't let me get a soldering iron for some reason... :rolleyes:

I personally hate the drill; I spend like 15 minutes smoothing out holes, and sometimes it puts a big crack in the tub. I've got a nice 4-inch crack in the tub setup for my BP. It freaked me out, LOL. I was drilling the hole, and a split second later, BAM! and there's this big slit in the tub I just bought. Man I hate that thing..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JasonGranger

You can also use a drill. That's what I use, but only because my mom won't let me get a soldering iron for some reason... :rolleyes:

I personally hate the drill; I spend like 15 minutes smoothing out holes, and sometimes it puts a big crack in the tub. I've got a nice 4-inch crack in the tub setup for my BP. Man I want that soldering iron.

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Yeah that is exactly why we bought the iron...I got sick and tired of cracking the crap out of new tubs...then you have to put zero pressure on the drill gun so you dont crack it..but after a million holes your arms are killing you and it takes so long and leaves those rough edges. The iron stinks....thats about the only complaint on my end.

And it's much easier to make homemade hides with a soldering iron than a drill. Took me about an hour to make one humid hide, which is just embarrassing...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JasonGranger

And it's much easier to make homemade hides with a soldering iron than a drill. Took me about an hour to make one humid hide, which is just embarrassing...

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lol.

Although I did try and melt holes in the litter boxes we use as hides for ours....that was hell and turned out like crap!

i use binder clips for mine, i use 8 for a regular sterilite tub, but if they have locking lids on both ends, i only use 6

i recomend a soldering iron, walmart has one for 10 bucks. i remeber i bought a drill, thinkin that was what people used to make holes, i was wrong!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TheAudOne

lol.

Although I did try and melt holes in the litter boxes we use as hides for ours....that was hell and turned out like crap!

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Have a picture? :P

Why yes I do.....I had to get out the sand paper and try to "fis" it......lemme get pictures of this crap!!! BRB

Here ya go.
Crappy one first.....
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...erBoxCrap2.JPG
Crappy one AGAIN!
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...terBoxCrap.JPG

Scissor made one....took 3 seconds compared to the 15 minutes the stinking crappy ones did!!!
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...erBoxGood1.JPG

Hahahahahahaha... LOL That's too funny. :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JasonGranger

Hahahahahahaha... LOL That's too funny. :P

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oh shut up! :sabduel: :groinkick
Just consider my horrible trial and error a plus for you..now you dont have to go through all that crap and not to mention the horrible cancer causing smell of burning plastic just to realize it was the WRONG way to do it. Next time I will know better.