Hi there, you sound like you did your homework. That's great to see.

When you say you've got cut out flower pots for hides, are they plastic or terra cotta (clay)?

Personally, I use newspaper for substrate, because my husband and I are college students, and the campus paper is free - so I can get stacks of newspaper at any time and for no cost. Can't beat that! It's also pretty hygienic: when dirty, pull out the soiled sheets, replace with new. Very simple! I still spray down and wipe the glass of the cage to make sure that is clean too, but the whole process is very easy.

I prefer to use modified terra cotta flower pots for hides because they also serve as something of a slow-release humidifier in the cage when soaked in water or misted.

I use glazed ceramic dog bowls for water dishes, and clean them with vinegar and a little scrub brush thing (then rinse with water of course).

These don't make for terribly attractive enclosures, but even the most attractive enclosure loses it appeal if it is difficult to clean. Wood chips and aspen shavings might look nicer, but I have seen enough problems with these materials that I don't even consider them. Whether or not you feed your snake in his enclosure (and kudos to you for not ) splinters can still make their way into his mouth and cause trouble. Splinters and/or loose substrate can also get stuck to the snake's vent area and cause issues there.

One thing I use for my Dumeril's Boa, in addition to the same set up I give my Ball Pythons, is that I lay down Spanish moss in a 2-3" deep layer on top of the newspaper. For my boa, this actually replaces the need for a flower pot hide, as she likes to burrow around in the moss. Unlike Sphagnum moss, the Spanish moss is pretty open and airy, so good for burrowing around in and hiding in. It can also hold a fair amount of humidity withouit geting wet, and doesn't form a hard crust when it dries (same reason orchid growers hate Sphagnum moss). Spanish moss is usually sold in any home improvement/gardening/home decorating store because people like to use it to top off real and fake flower pots to make them more decorative. I suggest freezing a package of moss for about a week before you intend to use it, just in case there are any bugs. It smells really nice, and looks great in the cage - and isn't terrible to clean either; I either cut away any soiled parts, or replace the moss (it pretty much forms a mat) when it needs to be cleaned. Also, if you garden, soiled moss could be turned around and used for compost or something along those lines.

No matter what you do, keeping the proper temperatures is one of the most important things, along with keeping an eye on your snake for its general health and well-being. Pro Exotics (and I'm sure a few other companies) sell hand-held "temp guns" which can sense the surface temperature of many different materials. Apparently a lot of "gear heads" like the same kind of surface temperature sensor because by sensing the temp, they can more finely tune an engine or something. I have one of Pro Exotics' temp guns, the PE-2, which also has a laser pointer that gives you more of an idea where you are actually reading the temperature from - and I love this thing! It's up to you what you use, but you will want to have something that can read surface temperatures if you are going to set up a decorative cage. That way you will know for certain if anything is too hot or too cool.

Good luck to you! I've been keeping snakes of many different species for around 15 years, so take this for what it's worth.
~Rebecca
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0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
1.2 Ball Pythons



0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)

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• homemade enclosure/substrate - dito, Sat Dec 2 09:24:45 2006
• RE: homemade enclosure/substrate - amarilrose, Sun Dec 3 12:01:14 2006