Some Pics of Agatha

[danimal]

Agatha shed last night and was out and checking out her new cage this morning so I got some pics. They aren't real good though, kinda grainy. What's cool is she moved from the hide we moved over from her old tank to the cool side hide with the moss in it. I was worried she'd stay in the old hide all the time. The other good thing is after her last shed her one eye stayed cloudy. This time both eyes are nice and clear.

This one is last night, before she shed


These are from this morning
Here she is going into the new hide


And then coming out to check things out

[WizzySRT10]

She's purdy. That waterdish looks HUGE.

[pillowtalk6188]

man she's big and beautiful. i love your setup. how do you clean the carpet?

[danimal]

Thanks! She's not so big but she is beautiful... I think she's a little over 3' long and she weighs right around 1kg.

The water dish is a small size kitty litter pan. It's probably a little over a foot long. We wanted something big and shallow to help with the humidity, and to give her room to soak her whole body if she wants.

I have 3 pieces of carpet to rotate, so when we do the heavy duty cage clean once a month, we swap out the old one and put a new piece in. The old one gets washed and put away for another time.

[Pandora]

That is a very nice looking set up
Nice and spacious, and very well furnished

I have 3 pieces of carpet to rotate, so when we do the heavy duty cage clean once a month, we swap out the old one and put a new piece in. The old one gets washed and put away for another time.

You may or may not already know this but the issue things as as repti-carpet or the carpet you're using is that because of the solid surface area and the porous nature, it will harbor bacteria like there's no tomorrow. Even if you frequently rotate and clean the carpet, moisture and humidity will sink deep into the surface and with heat, will present the IDEAL conditions for the nastiest type of stuff to grow in. If you chose to consider it, I would recommend switching to some form of substrate (not sand, which is what I originally thought you had in there) such as aspen, cypress mulch and several others.

If you're looking for a cheap supply of aspen, there's a company called Sun Seed that makes dust-free shredded aspen. It comes in a value size called the 'Press Pak 3200'. It's compressed volume is 1250 CU IN and expands to 3,125 CU IN. I get it a pet store for $11CAD. It lasts me just over 2 months for one 20 Gallon tank, regular spot cleaning and fully renewed substrate. They normally make it for rabbits and small rodents but it's super money efficient as apposed to buying "reptile specific" substrate in a quarter of the size.

[rabernet]

Are those lights INSIDE the enclosure? If so - you need to get them out to avoid her coiling around them and burning herself (it's happened to many a keeper).

I'd also recommend that you get a digital thermometer/hygrometer to accurately measure the temps. She's a very pretty girl!

[danimal]

Rabernet- I'm working on getting a protective screen or something to keep her safe.

I have a digital therm/hyg- you can see it mounted to the wall in one of the pics. I have the old dial one in there just for comparision. The thermometer is an indoor outdoor with the unit on the cool side and the probe on the warm side (the little white thing sticking out from under the rock in the 1st pic)

[rabernet]

Excellent! She's a beautiful snake!

[danimal]

That is a very nice looking set up
Nice and spacious, and very well furnished



You may or may not already know this but the issue things as as repti-carpet or the carpet you're using is that because of the solid surface area and the porous nature, it will harbor bacteria like there's no tomorrow. Even if you frequently rotate and clean the carpet, moisture and humidity will sink deep into the surface and with heat, will present the IDEAL conditions for the nastiest type of stuff to grow in. If you chose to consider it, I would recommend switching to some form of substrate (not sand, which is what I originally thought you had in there) such as aspen, cypress mulch and several others.

If you're looking for a cheap supply of aspen, there's a company called Sun Seed that makes dust-free shredded aspen. It comes in a value size called the 'Press Pak 3200'. It's compressed volume is 1250 CU IN and expands to 3,125 CU IN. I get it a pet store for $11CAD. It lasts me just over 2 months for one 20 Gallon tank, regular spot cleaning and fully renewed substrate. They normally make it for rabbits and small rodents but it's super money efficient as apposed to buying "reptile specific" substrate in a quarter of the size.

I got rid of the carpet today. It was already stinky, after 3 days. Our local Tractor Supply has aspen bedding, so I got a large compressed package of it for under $10. I also got a 50' roll of clear plastic sheeting that is 4' wide, so I can cut off 2' lengths of it to line the bottom of the cage, and then put the bedding on top. This way no waste will soak into the wood. Even though it's painted, I think the plastic will work better.

Another upside to the aspen- much easier to keep the humidity up. I misted it well and it was around 75% humidity, and even now, after several hours, it's still 60%.