| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| snowstripe420 |
Posted - 17/05/2011 : 05:54:36
Few quick questions.
I have a glass aquarium with a laminated wood lid. The same type of thing you would see on a wall unit or dresser. I drilled about 50 6mm holes in the lid. I had to use the same type of lid temporarily for my corn and it held the humidity in very well (too well). My question is, Will this cause a lack of air flow that could be dangerous? How fast would the oxygen cycle? More holes the better?
Would the constant humidity destroy the wood? What would be the best alternative? Or is this perfectly fine?
I plan on using paper towel as a substrate, 3 hides, one cool, one moist, and one warm. Got water dish covering just under 1/3rd of the floor space. Bushes. Vines. Thermostat and under tank heat mat. fogger will be here soon enough. Snake once everything is under control and is perfect :D
Snake approx. 2ft long. floorspace- 2 square feet
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| 5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| flaboye |
Posted - 18/05/2011 : 01:55:22
Great! Congrats on getting a BRB. They certainly are a breed apart.
Joe |
| snowstripe420 |
Posted - 17/05/2011 : 20:31:22
Thank you Both :D Il post pics once i get everything in order. And hopefully in 2 weeks ill have myself a 10month old brb :D |
| flaboye |
Posted - 17/05/2011 : 20:26:46
Cliff your too kind :) Perhaps one day I may get a front load type of viv, and I could compare them, as I wonder if there really are any advantages or strengths to an aquarium for a species that needs higher humidity at least. I probably spend more time with my two as I only have two. In fact, if they haven't eaten in the preceding 48 hours, I have them out everyday for about 30 minutes or more individually.
By the way your example of tubs and hoarding is a good point. I'm sure having tub racks makes it much more tempting to have more snakes than one really needs otherwise. I know my two get daily attention from me, in one way or another, and always will.
Joe |
| Snakesitter |
Posted - 17/05/2011 : 18:57:57
^^^ This is a great example of knowing the strengths and weakness of a particular enclosure type, and managing them well! ^^^
Kassady, welcome to the forums! As for air exchange, rainbows actually do better with limited airflow. It keeps the humidity in. Snakes use very little oxygen anyway, so as long as you are in there regularly doing maintenance, I suspect you will be fine. |
| flaboye |
Posted - 17/05/2011 : 16:14:02
I have a 75 gal for my rainbow. She's a little over 3 1/2' I estimate. I use cypress mulch as it retains moisture and she likes to burrow into it. I have a screen lid, but I keep approx 85% of it covered. I keep an eye on the humidity level and the overall temperature which is ambient. She has a very large pool she can completely get in, climbing wood, and a large hide with two heat pads on that end of the tank. She is either in the pool, buried under the mulch, or sitting in the hide over the pads. So she has 3 areas of differing temperatures she can select from. She comes out at night, so I did buy a moonglo bulb (not a heat lamp type) and sometimes have that on if I'm in the back room and wish to watch her. Otherwise during the daytime she stays hidden which is normal for a rainbow.
Lots of people discourage glass enclosures. They are a little more difficult to deal with, just remember your temperature range and a safe humidity level and you should be fine. They also make the snake feel exposed thus she is always burrowed under the mulch or in the hide during the daytime. At night she's perfectly happy to roam around and do things.
I mist my mulch every other day or so with a little spray bottle, and give it a sniff as that will tell you when it is getting time to replace the substrate. It will eventually become moldy or just not have a pleasant scent as it does when it's fresh. This usually takes about 2 months to happen. Of course I keep it clean of urate and poo anytime that happens, and grab a bit of mulch from the surrounding "event". A very large bag of it is 2.99 at the local lowes so it's a non-issue.
Controlling the humidity level is, as you say, directly related to how many holes is in the lid to let it escape. You can get a set of analog guages for about 7.00 off of ebay or about 12 at a local pet shop.
Since I'm in my rainbow's enclosure almost daily, either to bring her out, feed her, change out the pool's water, etc., air exchange happens regularly. I have not heard this issue come up before (air exchange). Interesting question.
Good Luck with your new snake. I'm sure lots of others will have some other suggestions for you.
I just thought I'd let you know what I do, since I do have a rather large tank mine is in, 48x18x21. Luckily my girl is very tame so the height isn't a problem for me :)
Glass certainly isn't the recommended enclosure but it's what I have and that's how I work with it. |
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