New guy here!!

[Juan89]

Gocha, yea looks like i might get a med tub for "containment" while i clean lol i plan on gettin a young one, maybe mot hatchling young but still a baby. My biggest fear would be run away. I still live at home wit my folks and my ma has 4 cats. They are my biggest fear for it as they're not declawed. She'l be in a tub in a enclosed rack in myroom which will be inaccessible to the cats so keeping it safe isn't an issue just like i said when cleaning would have to be my biggest scare since i cant keep an eye on her 100% of the time haha n i def wont be able to hand her off to someone unless a lucky friend is over cus my dad dosent like snakes....at all and my mother well lets just say shes not as scared as him but not the fondest either haha i guess i can ask away but real questions are answered by just doing and being careful right! Hopefully il be ready in a month, im building the rack this week. And slowly gona start gettin supplies to get her new home ready! (I know i say her even though i dont have a snake yet but thats cus i decided on gettin a girl already haha)

[Inarikins]

I would probably buy my first rack and not make it, especially if it's my first time with my first snake. I would do either a standalone tub with a heat pad, or buy a rack. I love Cserpents racks myself. They're very solid and well-made and come fully assembled with heat tape and tubs and everything. It's much less headache-inducing to buy a rack instead of trying to figure out how to make one. Plus, there's essentially no wait time for a rack. I placed an order in the morning and had to cancel it and by that afternoon it was already boxed up and ready to go. I personally can't stand having to wait for a rack.

I would aim for 400 or so grams, then, if you want a baby but not a hatchling.

[Juan89]

I think i may have miss-used the word rack, what i meant was a shelving unit that has a top n bottom cover with chicken wire on the sides and the tub the snake will live in (along with heating element n whatnot) will be inside that (im just doin that for safety of cats room is inaccessible to them but better safe than sorry) we had birds before in something similar to that pretty much a cage for the container is the best way of describing it! haha My bad if i used the terminology wrong.

[Inarikins]

It seems unnecessary...? I have four cats and two dogs in my house and have never thought about going to such extremes. As long as the lid locks on, it's impossible for a cat to get into a tub. And most cats avoid snakes anyways.

[Juan89]

I agree wit the unnecessary part, but im just bein safe. Id love to keep the tub just on top of my dresser but if they got in we have one that loves to climb on EVERYTHING so i just dont want the tub to get knocked over since its not gona be as heavy as say a glass tank or somethin. I know im prolly just bein paranoid. Haha

[Inarikins]

Here's my single tub setup



The lid locks down tight and even if a cat did manage to knock it off the dresser, I doubt it would open. (It's a 30 gallon Rubbermaid I bought at WalMart for... $8, I think?)

Besides, by design, the tub you would want to keep a BP in would be wider and longer than tall and those are pretty hard to knock over, especially if you end up getting something like a ZooMed heat pad they come with feet that have the handy side-effect of making the tub harder to move around.

You are being paranoid, but if you really want to do it, I'm not going to be able to stop you.

[Juan89]

That was the EXACT tub i was lookin to get the other day haha yea maybe i wont build my cage haha wel see how bored i get in the next few weeks haha. Also i do plan on getting a baby, from what iv read that they like to feel i guess cramped is the word, would an enclosure like that be too bi for a baby? Think like 2-400gr range? Also again thanks for all the insight! Really helpfull!

[Inarikins]

I started my 100 gram boy in it. It'll be plenty big until your snake gets to be almost 1000 grams, then you'll want to move a female up to a 41 qt. That's a long ways away so that tub should hold you over probably until you feel the need to buy a rack. If your snake is acting stressed (constant roaming, not eating) then you can ball up some newspaper and put it around the edges to clutter it up.

[Juan89]

Also, what kind of thermostat setup should I use for regulating the heat source or how do you guys regulate the heat source? I read a good write-up on here that showed the perfect setup and how to do it cept they had a Herpestat pro. Seein as how im going to have only 1 snake and the herpestat has 4 built into it and is also $100 is there a different option for regulating just 1? Money isnt the issue, if thats the thing to use even for just one then thats what il be getting.

[Inarikins]

http://www.spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

I would get at least a Herpstat basic, but a Herpstat 1 would be a better choice as it fails off instead of off (meaning if something goes wrong it turns the heat off instead of letting it blast and burn your snake). If (when) you move up to a rack, you won't have to invest in another thermostat. You an also look into Reptile Basics thermostats (reptilebasics.com) but the prices are comparable to a Herpstat.