Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I loved the idea of the runs you have in your cages. My question is how did you fasten the pvc to the cage?
Thanks,
Jonathan

Hi Jonathan, Thank you, they do love and frequently use the tubes during breeding season when they are open. For the rest of the year, I keep them closed off so I can isolate and individually track my adults.

They are constructed from 4" PVC pipe and fittings. Not exactly cheap but they work great. All the fittings are attached with screws so I can disassemble when I want to. Also, the ends of the pipes are slotted so they will insert and extract easily.

NOTE: DO NOT use the 3" pipes. I had a gravid female get stuck in 3" piping. I had noticed her tail sticking out of the pipe, normal sight. The following day it was still there, by that evening I was getting worried so I disassembled and found her stuck, head down, in the tube. Her head was swollen twice it's normal size. As I disassembled it became easier for her to move and she came right out. Within minutes the swelling went down. I never had a problem with the 3" prior to that, is ok for adults, NOT adult GRAVID females.

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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
10.22 BRB
10.15 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

So you didn't use pvc glue at all on the tracks? May I inquire as to where you got the fittings that are threaded?
Thanks,
Jonathan
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Jonathan
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

1.1 BRB
2.2 Het albino western hognose
0.0.1 Kenyan sand boa

no glue used at all. I got it all from the local hardware store, Orchard Supplu Hardware. Took several trips to several stores to get all the fittings, most only stocked a few of each. If you don't have OSH, maybe a local plumbing store could hook you up?
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
10.22 BRB
10.15 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Thanks for the help. I'm just hoping that I don't mess up the tanks that I built.
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Jonathan
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

1.1 BRB
2.2 Het albino western hognose
0.0.1 Kenyan sand boa

Cutting the holes for the pipes was fairly easy, get a pro grade hole saw with a cutting bit just larger then the pipe. Mandrel is sold as one piece as are the individual saw blades. Probably run ya $30 - $40 but worth it to not ruin the cages. I did my first ones as an afterthought. So was cutting holes into already assembled cages. For the second cage, I cut the holes prior to assembly, Much easier and way easier to control exact placement of holes.

The first cage really posed a challenge as I already had holes for 3" pipe. Then wanted to increase to 4" pipe (3" and 4" are pipe ID, holes are larger). I cut some circles the same size as the 3" (plus) holes and glued them in place to provide a solid panel for the pilot bit. then had to mark and drill/cut offset so the fittings would not be to far into the corners for cleaning.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
10.22 BRB
10.15 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I had forgotten that the measurements for pvc are inside diameter. I will give that a try, I don't live far from a good hardware store. I will keep tou posted on the results. Thanks f0r all the info.
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Jonathan
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

1.1 BRB
2.2 Het albino western hognose
0.0.1 Kenyan sand boa

Dave,
I was curious; do all your males voluntarily visit the females or do you occasionally have to introduce them yourself? I love the idea of letting the snakes decide when to introduce themselves.
Paul

All the breeding is done with no intervention from me. when the female is ready, the male finds her. Just as in the wild, they must emit some pheromone or musk or ? smell the male follows to find his prize....wild snake sex!

Last year, set up two seperate colonies, 1.3 and 1.4 , the 1.3 had two good litters and one slug out 46 babies, the 1.4 had all 4 good litters, 90 babies sired by one male! Total of 136 from 6 litters.

Doing the same this year (swapped a few females around) and now waiting on results pace - pace - pace - pace
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
10.22 BRB
10.15 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

DAVE,

Wow, you had one male successfully breed four females. That is fantastic. I have had one male breed three, but the last litter had lots of slugs, so I went back to pairing up 1.2.

Do you know of anyone that has successfully bred more than 4 females with one male??

ANYONE??
BHH

Yeah and the odd part was the other male bred three females and had one slugout! He only fathered 46 babies last year.

I have been male short for the last few years, Have two new ones for next year and several more for 97/98. Will finally be able to get away from the larger groupings.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
10.22 BRB
10.15 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats