Kalatoa 100% Pure SD Retic Progression (Pic heavy...)

[jmcrook]

That was my exact thoughts lol. I could make some cool perches like Gio has going on with that height and have a super slick looking display cage


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[Sauzo]

You could. While I like looking at display cages, not a fan of having to clean them and as I have my snakes out a lot, I tend to change their substrate fairly often as I don't want a snake who cruised across a turd or a pile a piss crawling all over me lol.

[jmcrook]

I hear ya on that. I generally try to strike a good balance between decked out display and minimalist aesthetics. Couple hides, a branch or two and a bit of fake vines or plants. Still looks nice but not a huge hassle to clean.


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[Sauzo]

Yeah. I used to do the silk vines from Michaels craft store but my snakes pull the stuff down and then poop or pee on them. And then I am stuck with silk leaves that smell like snake poop. I mean even hanging them in the shower and spraying them down with F10SC, letting them soak and then rinsing them off doesn't really get the smell out lol. I gave up and now just give all my gals and guy hides and a water bowl and of course the shelf. They seem fairly content. All really mellow, eat like horses, poop like horses and growing.

If I had display snakes like GTPs or ETBs, I would definitely set up a sweet cage with tons of perches and vines hanging down and even maybe one of those Zoo Med waterfalls. Give it a total jungle look to it but those snakes I probably wouldn't "play" with as much as my boas or retic. I mean my boas come out with me in the summer at least 3 times a week if not more and the retic will be getting that too so having a really cluttered cage would just make taking them out a pain and trying to find poop and pee a pain. Not to mention, I have enough work cleaning out 6 snake cages every month. Couldn't imagine having to do that as well as washing all the decorations for 6 cages. Would take me a weekend a month to do it lol.

[jmcrook]

Hanging out with Phyllis earlier today. The flat file drawer is 54" end to end for size reference. So she's still somewhere in the 5 1/2' range at almost 10 1/2 months old now.


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[Sauzo]

Awesome looking. She is getting huge.

[Gio]

You could. While I like looking at display cages, not a fan of having to clean them and as I have my snakes out a lot, I tend to change their substrate fairly often as I don't want a snake who cruised across a turd or a pile a piss crawling all over me lol.

Guess how long it takes to clean these,,,,,,?????





All of those perches pop right out. Bing, bing, bing. Dust pan scoops out substrate when doing a deep clean. Shop vac takes the rest. Scalding, close to boiling water and solution goes on the floor of the cages to remove any traces of urates and the filth. I'll dump a bag of coco husk, cypress or repti-bark in and replace the hides in less than 15 minutes. That is a TOTAL clean/change out.

You can't spot clean news print or paper towels, but natural substrate is easy to scoop and replace, literally minutes is all it takes when just spot cleaning. It actually absorbs waste and minimizes smells, and isolates most defecation.

Really, the only things I need to clean are the hides, water bowls and substrate.

Unless your cages are always ripe with humidity, nothing really happens to the perches and fake plants. My snakes don't defecate on them, at least not in the last 5 years.


Again, each to their own, but don't be turned off from enjoying the beauty of a naturalistic cage based solely on cleaning. Its not that difficult if you think it through.

I draw the line on the number of snakes I have when the work to keep them overshadows the fulfillment of having them.

With four currently, I'm not at all over my head.



That SD you have there sir is absolutely stunning!

Every time you update her pictures she looks better and better!

[Sauzo]

I'm mostly talking about spot cleaning and trying to find those hidden poops and pisses.

I don't doubt full cleanings are fairly fast.

I'm just saying I do full cage cleanings at least once a month for most of the snakes. The retic is a poop and pee machine so he sometimes gets full cleanings 3 weeks. Also i'm not sure if its just my guy but do either of you guys ever have your retic pee but not leave urates? Caesar sometimes leaves those and I can smell them when I open the door and see the spike in humidity so I have to literally feel around the cage until I find the wet spot haha and then spot clean that area.

Plus I also take my snakes out a lot so I just picture a "full" cage making it harder to get some out.

Also I finally decided to switch substrate. Ordered 3 bricks of ReptiChips to test them out as Jmcrook and some other retic and boa owners I've talked to have said the stuff is awesome. So my boas and retic will be the guinea pigs for it next week. Also finally got my stand put together and set up. So now I got the 3 stack of T10s and later I can put a 3 stack of T25s with stand next to it to make an awesome condo set up haha.


I'll have to sell off my normal Herpstat 2 and 1 and get me 2 more Redlines so it all matches lol.

[jmcrook]

Thanks guys! She really is quite the animal to have the privilege of working with. Very spirited critter as well. I think she must be channeling Allie recently haha. Took a shot at the glass last night and took a half hearted shot at the hook when I just went in to clean up some urates. Which of course she left for me immediately after having her out for an hour after having cleaned up a small pee spot. She then proceeded to smash around everything in the cage and is currently staring at me through the doors lol. Only 3 days since she ate last. I think she's just built up some confidence since her tiny reticulated worm days haha. Really doesn't feel or look like an almost 6' snake until she stretches out along something. Still very trim and lean for her length. She's going to be very impressive at 8'+


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[jmcrook]

I'm mostly talking about spot cleaning and trying to find those hidden poops and pisses.

I don't doubt full cleanings are fairly fast.

I'm just saying I do full cage cleanings at least once a month for most of the snakes. The retic is a poop and pee machine so he sometimes gets full cleanings 3 weeks. Also i'm not sure if its just my guy but do either of you guys ever have your retic pee but not leave urates? Caesar sometimes leaves those and I can smell them when I open the door and see the spike in humidity so I have to literally feel around the cage until I find the wet spot haha and then spot clean that area.

Plus I also take my snakes out a lot so I just picture a "full" cage making it harder to get some out.

Also I finally decided to switch substrate. Ordered 3 bricks of ReptiChips to test them out as Jmcrook and some other retic and boa owners I've talked to have said the stuff is awesome. So my boas and retic will be the guinea pigs for it next week. Also finally got my stand put together and set up. So now I got the 3 stack of T10s and later I can put a 3 stack of T25s with stand next to it to make an awesome condo set up haha.


I'll have to sell off my normal Herpstat 2 and 1 and get me 2 more Redlines so it all matches lol.

Oh yeah Phyllis leaves straight liquid pee more often than urates by a long shot. She pees probably every other day until she finally drops a deuce. And yeah it stinks worse than any other snake I've worked with, though the reptichip does a good job of soaking up odors but makes it tougher to spot the pee in the cage.
I think next time I order substrate I'm going to try Plant!t/Grow!t coconut chips. Pretty sure it's the exact same stuff as reptichip. Same size brick, same package... http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/p...oil-amendments
About half the price and seemingly identical. If I go that route I'll give a review of it compared to reptichip. Deborah posted in a thread about it recently and said she gets 10 blocks shipped for like $120 total. Pretty good deal in my book
Those stacks of APs are going to look way slick side by side with glowing red Herpstats! I've got the redline too just for the simple fact that it looks awesome haha


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