Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Rob,
I wanted to ask what you would or could suggest to me for "burmese enclosure decor" for logs/branches things for him to climb, or hide in to make it look more natural? I like that sand blasted grape vine stuff but I can't find any near big enough for an adult burmese. So what do you use in your displays at the wildlife center? Any tips/suggestions would be aprreciated. Thanks for reading. (also if someone else can help, please by all means chime in on this one.)

Our large burm exhibit is VERY basic:

Cage: Habitat Systems
Size: 14' x 4' x 4'
Custom add-ons: natural rockwork on side walls with two sided viewing windows so that people can view them from either side of the exhibit
Set up: BASIC, BASIC, BASIC!! Aspen bedding, large water bowl, that's it. People just love seeing the big snakes but if you make the cage too complicated, it becomes very difficult to service. Small burms can have furnishings and various hide areas and I feel that they are important for a growing burm but once they get to be full grown adults, they seem to do just fine in a basic set up.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center

>>Hi Rob,
>>I wanted to ask what you would or could suggest to me for "burmese enclosure decor" for logs/branches things for him to climb, or hide in to make it look more natural? I like that sand blasted grape vine stuff but I can't find any near big enough for an adult burmese. So what do you use in your displays at the wildlife center? Any tips/suggestions would be aprreciated. Thanks for reading. (also if someone else can help, please by all means chime in on this one.)
>>
>>
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

I use newspaper as a substrate and proper sized water bowl for all my snakes, neonates I use Scott Paper towels moistened until first ecdysis. Like Rob said, imagine a large burm defecating all over those "extras", keeping a clean environment would become a very laborious task to say the least, and when adults Burmese/Reticulated/Rocks etc.. urinate by the half gallon sometimes, so news paper or aspen would be your best shot, as long as I have humidity correct, my larger Boids shed without problems, I also mist them down towards end of the "blue" and then daily till they shed, they seem to slowly crawl out of there sheds without anything besides walls/water bowl to get them started and then it's usually left in a large ball on the ground instead of all stretched out. Cleanliness helps keep harmful pathogens and other micro-organisms down to a minimum, this is easiest to achieve in a basic setup, and the snakes aren't any "happier" either way, they are wild animals and are oblivious in my opinion to such things as decor. They carry on all biological functions if either method is used, one is just less aesthetically pleasing to some than the other, I prefer basic setups for said reasons.
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Frank Roberts
R&R Herpetological
Roberts'Realm of Reptile Research

Thanks for the replies..
I understand decorating a burm's enclosure could lead to it being a hassle to clean, but let's suppose I am willing to deal with that. I guess my real question would be where would you get something like "burm size" logs, and vines, and branches to decorate with? I mean sure I could go outside, chop down a tree and use that, but I feel that would lead to bugs, and dirt and other things I don't want in the enclosure. Do you guys know a site or somewhere that sells really large pieces of that sand blasted grapevine or similar? Thanks for reading.

Try here
http://www.bigappleherp.com/

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Frank Roberts
R&R Herpetological Frank Roberts & John Rodriguez
Roberts'Realm of Reptile Research