baby snake Husbandry

Hey everyone ok so next year im planning to breed 3 of my females, so im already getting ahead of myself i know but i like to be preparied so i was thinking what kind of baby racks do you use, i was thinking about building my own or buying one like this
http://www.boaphileplastics.com/rhin...sterilite.html

Then just putting something in the middle to seperate it into smaller tubs so the babies dont freak out, and this way i can use it when they get bigger kinda saving money instead of buying a baby rack then having to buy another rack when they grow up, let me know what you think,,, or post your baby racks,.. thankx andrew

TOOOOOO BIG!!!!!
Look at this: http://www.reptilebasics.com/Interde...k-p-16255.html or this (at the largest) http://www.reptilebasics.com/Iris-Sh...s-p-16181.html. Remember, back heat for babies.....
Talk to Rich....

haha thankx starmom it looks like i will be building my own :gj:

When you're finished, can you come and build me one?? ;)

hahahahaha, you pay the airfair would love to see oregon, i want to move there i hate living in a desert :mad::rage:

why do you say back heat for babies starmom?

and only $260 for 32 tubs, heack i might buy that

yea i would to but they will out grow that in like 4 months then im buying another rack, so thats my point i could build one for like 50 bucks, most of the money would be the heat tape. :D

well i actually like the second one better, its 60 bucks cheaper and its the right size, the good thing about buying it would be it comes with the tubs and heat

Well, Drew, we don't live in the valley or on the coast... we live in the high desert of central Oregon :rofl:
You'd like our ranch though in eastern Oregon; a little bit of everything: desert, deciduous trees, y/r creek.... :love:

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Originally Posted by starmom

TOOOOOO BIG!!!!!
Look at this: http://www.reptilebasics.com/Interde...k-p-16255.html or this (at the largest) http://www.reptilebasics.com/Iris-Sh...s-p-16181.html. Remember, back heat for babies.....
Talk to Rich....

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starmom, may i ask why you say back heat for babies?

Woops, sorry, I meant to answer that: because they are to young for belly heat...umbilicus and all...wind up frying the little buggers :P

oh i see

sweet, thank you for letting me know that :D

I've used belly heat for all of my babies, and they are definitely not fried. They can thermoregulate easily in a 6qt tub.

Back heat is used alot on baby racks because it's less expensive and less time consuming to manufacture, I am guessing.

Back heat CANNOT be used in a room that is not heated. It is not as efficient as belly heat.

I'm not gonna lie, I've seen stuff for 20 dollars that looks darn similar at Mejier (like a Walmart, I'm not sure how widespread they are).

I mean, whats the difference between those, and the shelves at the store? The plastic seemed pretty thick (so you'd have to poke holes and such and there were no lids) but it was pretty well sealed at the top that looked like it could easily be clamped down.

??

Hey Becky-
I was always told that belly heat was wrong for hatchlings, by some breeders and also some forum members. What temp do you have the stat set to? Is it lower than for older hatchlings?

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Originally Posted by starmom

Woops, sorry, I meant to answer that: because they are to young for belly heat...umbilicus and all...wind up frying the little buggers :P

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What are you talking about?? :confused:

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

I've used belly heat for all of my babies, and they are definitely not fried. They can thermoregulate easily in a 6qt tub.

Back heat is used alot on baby racks because it's less expensive and less time consuming to manufacture, I am guessing.

Back heat CANNOT be used in a room that is not heated. It is not as efficient as belly heat.

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Good post Becky!

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Originally Posted by jglass38

What are you talking about?? :confused:

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More book knowledge I'm guessing :rolleyes:

as long as you have the heat source on a set thermostat...there shouldnt be any chance of burning the babies

Ambient room temps for me are around 83-84 depending on the time of day. Belly heat temps are 93-94. I control the baby racks with a Helix.

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Originally Posted by starmom

Woops, sorry, I meant to answer that: because they are to young for belly heat...umbilicus and all...wind up frying the little buggers :P

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May I ask exactly where you got this information from? Is it personal experience where you accidentally fried a hatchling? If it was from your research then I would expect a link to be provided.

I have 11 hatchlings on belly heat right now. 11 perfectly healthy "un-fried" hatchlings. I'll happy post some belly pics if need be.

My experience - personal hands on daily experience - is that belly heat is fine as long as it's controlled as all flexwatt must be anyways.

I think I can answer that: Since hatchlings live in such small tubs, belly heat would most likely upset the gradient and not allow for a cool side. Therefore, back heat is used to still give a warm side but not overheat the entire tub.

At least, that's my take on it from what I've heard.

EDIT: Geez you guys type fast!! An entire page while I was writing this! :)

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Originally Posted by Argentra

I think I can answer that: Since hatchlings live in such small tubs, belly heat would most likely upset the gradient and not allow for a cool side. Therefore, back heat is used to still give a warm side but not overheat the entire tub.

At least, that's my take on it from what I've heard.

EDIT: Geez you guys type fast!! An entire page while I was writing this! :)

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Let me address this if I can.

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1) You want to create a basking area for your reptile, not a hot plate to sit on. I like to have the tape cover no more than roughly 1/3 of the floor surface area when it is used for belly heat. This will provide your animals with a nice thermal gradient so they can decide how warm they need to be.

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In most small to medium shoe and sweater boxes the 3 inch or 4 inch tape will do the job. Unless your room temperature is unusually cool you should get good results. For larger sweater or blanket box applications you would probably go with the 11" wide tape.

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These are quotes directly from Rich at Reptile Basics. This is an acknowledged expert in the field of safely heating snake enclosures. The Flexwatt FAQ page can be found here:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/Flexwatt-FAQ-sp-4.html

Now let's do some math. I have in front of me a Sterlite #1851 6qt/5.7 L hatchling box. The measurement of the bottom of this particular tub is exactly 11 and 3/4 inches (that's actual interior measurement). Now using 3" flexwatt (the recommended one for belly heat for a hatchling box) you easily have what is recommended - that being approximately 1/3 of your snake's "floorspace" heated with at least 2/3 available off heat.

That flexwatt again must be controlled by a tstat or very carefully monitored rheostat but that's good common sense and the recommendation of Rich at Reptile Basics.

This is what I do, what I know - not what I've read or heard - take that for what it's worth. :)

I stand (or rather, sit) corrected. :) I suppose back heat is just cheaper and easier, since it would be one long strip rather than a daisy chain on a rack. I had heard good and bad for both back and belly heat in hatchling racks... but I trust Rich's words.

The information has been stored. Thanks Joanna. :D

Belly heat is what I prefer for all my animals. Heat travels vertically upward, not horizontally, so back heat is not what I personally would choose to use. I've used belly heat even for my youngest and smallest ball pythons (the smallest having been about 70 grams when I acquired her). I've never fried any babies.

I plan to put my hatchlings that are due this week on belly heat as well.

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Originally Posted by Argentra

I stand (or rather, sit) corrected. :) I suppose back heat is just cheaper and easier, since it would be one long strip rather than a daisy chain on a rack. I had heard good and bad for both back and belly heat in hatchling racks... but I trust Rich's words.

The information has been stored. Thanks Joanna. :D

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I think back or belly heat is fine if you're paying attention to your enclosures/racks. We have both employed in our racks and the snakes on back heat are doing just as well as the belly heat snakes. I think problems could occur if a person builds there own rack and doesn't employ the right size flexwatt for the tubs they are heating or runs flex without a controlling device on it or doesn't have a good idea of the actual temps in their tubs. Other than that flexwatt is a proven safe heating option for a wide variety of tub sizes in both belly and back configurations.

Hmm... I'm planning to build my hatchling racks myself - for BPs (before Jan.) and for corns (in a year or two). The BP rack is going to hold 12qt rubbermaid Clear Impressions tubs without lids and will use 5 melamine shelves and 7 2x4 legs for the frame - i.e. an open rack since it's all I can afford or lift. I had intended back heat, since it would be easier and cheaper... but with the open design and a cool apartment it sounds like belly heat 3" flexwatt strips would be better if pricey. Comments?

You can still do a closed rack system. Just use a piece of hardboard for the back. A large sheet of hardboard from Home Depot is well under $20.00 and it is safe to lay flexwatt on it. When we built our two new melamine racks recently we used hardboard for the back to lessen some of the weight and I made sure and phoned Rich at ReptileBasics to confirm that is was quite safe to lay flex on it. :)