Came across this great blog by Scott Borden the other day and made me think a bit more in depth about my approaches to keeping and how I've changed over the years, as well as what I'd still like to be better at.
https://medium.com/@morelialife33/to...1-84523abb8bd1
Maximizing my useable enclosure space while also diversifying the range of micro climates within that space is something that interests me and I'd like to explore more fully. Different varieties of hides, perching, heat/cool options, means of providing humidity, tactile sensory enrichment... These are many of the ways I'm considering tapping into these areas of improvement/change/etc. Humid hides that can also act as a perching shelf on top, cork bark hides that also provide some interesting textures for the animals, sky hides mounted under shelves and on ceilings.
Another consideration I'm making is how to do all of these things in a way that is also efficient and easy to manage and clean on a day to day basis. Storage totes as hides with holes cut in the side so animals can be removed for enclosure cleanings without having to disturb them unnecessarily is an idea I picked up from listening to Morelia Python Radio. I've actually done a variation on that with Thai takeout containers in two of my Morelia enclosures currently and I must say, it's a very nice feature once the animals decide to use them. My Rockhampton coastal carpet likes to perch on top of hers and uses the hide feature of it from time to time as well. My female Brisbane coastal carpet has recently decided to use hers as a hide and spends much of her time in there. She's also pretty shy so that makes it much easier to remove her for enclosure maintenance without stressing her.
Temperature stratification and using heat transfer to my benefit is something else I want to make better use of in my room. Cooler climate critters near the bottom of enclosure stacks, using heat transferred from lower enclosure's heat panels to the enclosures above them. Using that transferred heat to reduce the amount of power needed for heating elements in enclosures higher in the stack. Ordered a bunch of new enclosures today with this exact concept in mind.
What are some things that y'all might be considering exploring in greater detail or from a different angle this year? Curious to see how other folks' gears are turning in this regard. Cheers!
Reply With Quote