help with first terrarium/vivarium

[Sravis]

Hello all, ive been reading posts on this site for awhile and like the community here so ive decided to come to you all for a little help. Here is my situation, i have an almost five foot bp in a fifty gallon terrarium, i want to build him a vivarium. The dimensions being 4 ft high by 4 ft long and 20 inches wide. the bottom area is to consist of a medium plexiglass (or plastic tub depending lol) pool with undergravel filter and drain system on the right and a dry area with a climbing plant and deep substrate dish for fun to the left. The middle section would have a ledge along the left side and back wall to a larger platform on the right with a hiding spot and some sticks to lead to the third level. Which in turn would be mostly taken up with a single shelf unit with a few sections cut out to allow lighting and ventilation to be proper. I want to make the back out of plywood and the front and sides of plexiglass with two 16"x48" fold out doors consisting of most of the front. What i need to know is what kind of plywoods are suitable for bp's (can i use red oak?), do i need to get a special kind of polyurethane to seal it and is any aquarium grade silicon alright for the joints and the pool? Thanks in advance to all of you and i hope this post wasnt a little to much info and not enough question..

[Adam Chandler]

It's totally up to you but BP's tend not to be the best show snakes. Your BP just wants to find a nice secure place to hide out all day, It's not going to care about a climbing tree or multiple levels or a pool with undergravel filter and drain system, in fact that pool sounds like it would be a huge pain cleaning with a big potential for a bacteria breeding ground.

Again if you want to make an awesome looking terrarium go for it, is does sounds like an awesome idea for some other reptiles, but just remember whatever you build will be for you, your BP will not appreciate these little decorative things.

Just make sure none of the "features" will adversely affect your BP. Remember BP's are VERY security minded animals, the enclosure should be overall secure feeling (at least 3 sides covered up, not much exposed) with a cool side and a warm side with a 88-92 degree in hide warm spot. Having Identical hides would be best , otherwise your BP will pick the most secure feeling hide as its favorite and stay there, even if the temperature becomes uncomfortable for it.

[Sravis]

thats what ive been told about them but he is very active and easy to handle. Honestly he does enjoy climbing and spends a good amount of time doing so now. Ive also heard that bp's never eat their food backwards yet desmond has done this on many occasions. I think however that i may extend the wood to cover an additional side, however that still leaves the problem of what kind of woods are exceptable to the bp's and what types of polyurethane are appropriate? thanks for your help so far and your considerate answer.

[Sravis]

After some more research and a good bit of speculation ive decided on regular aquarium grade silicon and 1/4 in red oak plywood. Is there a specific type of polyurethane or is any Polyshades ok, and what would i seal (not sure if thats the correct term i meent to coat entirely after coating with the polyurethane) it with? also flooring, can i use any vynil tile or can i get a list of options that you all have used? Thanks again - Sravis

[Adam Chandler]

thats what ive been told about them but he is very active and easy to handle. Honestly he does enjoy climbing and spends a good amount of time doing so now. Ive also heard that bp's never eat their food backwards yet desmond has done this on many occasions. I think however that i may extend the wood to cover an additional side, however that still leaves the problem of what kind of woods are exceptable to the bp's and what types of polyurethane are appropriate? thanks for your help so far and your considerate answer.

It's actually very common for BP's to occasionally eat their prey backwards, especially younger BP's. Also something to keep in mind when you see a BP climbing most times they are just trying to climb up to escape, they are not doing it for pleasure.
The only wood I know of that is hazardous to BP's is Pine, and that is because of the oil contained in the wood, so avoid any woods that retains the trees natural oil like Pine does.
I used regular silicone caulk to seal up my incubator with no problems, as long as you give it enough time to properly dry.
For the floor you want something with a flat smooth surface, something that will be easy to clean and sanitize with no ridges or nooks for feces to get into. On top of that you are going to want some sort of absorbent substrate over it, I've recommend cypress, it's the best at retaining moisture and naturally inhibits mold and fungus, something like this:www.serpenturf.com

[Sravis]

Good to know that them never eating backwards was bogus information. As for him escaping you may not like this and i dont but, he can escape if he wants because the fifty gal i got him in has one of its latches broken and he can push it open if he really wants. He has done this twice the first time he just went to the lid of his tank and waited there till my gf noticed him, the second time he pushed his nose through but when i noticed him he just looked over at me and waited for me too take him out. i have had him for almost two years now the person who owned him before me never held him but he is such a docile snake, lol. Hmm maybe im just personafying onto him to much. Sorry for rambling there... Ok so i can use almost any tile i want and im deffinatly going to go with aquarium grade silicon. As for the substrate i just changed it to t-rex snow, as every wood or coconut fiber i have used got lodged in his lip below the sensor pits, and i had to remove it with a wet cotton swap which did not make him a happy boy at all. Thank you for your help Agent73!

[EvilLost]

@Sravis: What you are talking about is actually part of my fascination with herps/amphibians. If you have not already checked out the following sites, I highly recommend them for exactly what you plan on doing:

I would roughly order them like this for the best info on vivarium building:

www.dendroboard.com (poison dart frog community, they ALL build vivs; TONS of info here)
www.vivariumforums.com (the link in the upper left is a redirect to OrchidForums another decent site...to get to the actual vivarium forums forum use the other set of forum links...this site is good but not very active at all; however a fairly good chunk of info is stickied here)
www.chameleonforums.com (most cham owners dont build vivs, but check out the PYGMY CHAMELEON subforum; those particular kind DO need vivs)

Also, I've been building my own vivs for a little while now so feel free to shoot me a PM if you had any questions (or email might get you a faster response

[Sravis]

Thank you Evillost those sites are great!! I had thought my knowledge of bp's was on the high side but the more i read everywhere the more i see that random people and pet stores dont really know much about there pets (an opinion ive had for a bit now lol). Having read some of the stickeys around the site ive learned that my snake barely needs his light, that im going to get a rheostat asap (tomorow afternoon) and that im going to use the tin foil screen lid idea to try and help with the temp and humidity for now (i can never seem to have both just a messed up mix) and hope that that combined with the lamp stand im making and the repti shed ive been using will help to stabalize his evironment and him to shed his retained caps. Until i can come up with the full plans and funds for his new viv!! thanks again to all of you