cages

[ffighterstu]

Hi everyone. I'm pretty new here. I'll be getting a baby BP within the next couple weeks and needed some advice on cages. I purchased a big rubbermaid container yesterday from Walmart, a heating pad (no auto shut off), a digital thermometer with humidity guage, and 2 clay pots to try and make into hides. My attempt to chip out a curved opening in the pots didn't work so well and they both cracked and fell apart. They were only 75 cents each, so it doesn't matter much.

Have any of you tried this? What tools did you use?

I've also seen pictures of some BPs that like to climb a little. I was planning on making a jungle gym out of pvc pipe to put in the cage as well. Do you think the snake may like something like this to climb on?

Any other tips would be appreciated.

-Stu

[mlededee]

i did the same thing with the clay pots but then i read some more and found out that it actually is better to use the pot bases, and not the pots themselves. they are much more secure, especially for babies. i just held the base on a hard surface and hit the inside of the lip with a hammer and it knocked a nice chunk right out of it without crumbling the whole thing like with the pot.

[Brandon.O]

I have a pot in my tank for a hide.MY dad did it with a dremel (not sure if i spelled that right) tool. it took a little bit of time but its all good in the end good luck.

[elevatethis]

Thats a good start. If the containter is very large, I would want to consider adding some plastic plants that you can get for cheap at a craft store to make the young bp feel more secure. Even though its a rubbermaid and pretty cozy and private, the space may still freak the baby out a little. So other than providing some cover on the floor of the tank, your setup sounds good. The DIY rubbermaid setup on here is awesome. You'll need to drill some air holes too if you haven't already or forgot to mention it.

As far as the clay pot idea goes........i'm not sure at all.

And the PVC jungle gym....combine that with the fake vines and leaves I just mentioned, and you should have a very happy baby bp.

[mlededee]

check this out for the clay hides (thanks to Cody in a previous post)

There's nothing wrong with the hides. They're just too big for him right now. I myself would swap them for two small clay pots with a hole knocked out for entrance.
Here's a site that helped me out when I was wondering about a cheap and efficient way to provide hides to my snake.

http://proexotics.com/FAQ_answers_Hide_Spots.html

And a video on how easy it is to make a hide spot.

http://proexotics.com/FAQ_answer_making_clay_hide.html

[Smulkin]

I use the 80 cent plastic planters/bases (sometimes sand pails lol!) of various sizes - cheap, easy to cut (rough edges melt smooth easily enough after the jigsaw treatment), less porous, lightweight and easily cleaned.

Wound up having to cut 4 of those and two small cat-litter boxes as hides yesterday as a couple of the young'ns needed bigger hides/containers.

[Anonymous]

I have a pot in my tank for a hide.MY dad did it with a dremel (not sure if i spelled that right) tool. it took a little bit of time but its all good in the end good luck.

Yeah I actually used a Dremel too. They own

[ffighterstu]

Thank you for the great tips and ideas. Anotherthing I was wondering about is which side should I put the water bowl on? The heated side or cool side or in the middle?

I've read a lot already, but any other tips/ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Marla]

You put the water bowl wherever it best helps you achieve the humidity you want. You may also need to move it to adjust for weather changes.