Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What have y'all found to be the most efficient way to house hatchlings? Right now I'm thinking either shoebox size Sterelites (the ones you find for 0.99) or larger deli cups. Wanted to see what everyone thought. Thanks a lot.

They are cheap, easy to clean, and house a snake comfortably til almost 2'. I have found better growth in tighter quarters, and snakes almost always take a step backwards when changing caging. I can lean them against rope light, and adjust the temp easy too.

What size do you use?

I use the 1# size. If you get a sleeve of plastic dixie cups and cut a v in the top for the snake to climb in...the dixie fits nice and snug into the deli so you know if its snapped closed or not. Snake has cover(paper towels),water and is easily moved about. I also think that moving them, roughing them up, always is good for the appetite. I get rope light at home depot, and will line up delis tipped up right on the light for warmth. I even have a system if they are tipped away from me they dont have a food item, and if they are tipped toward me they do....this helps me monitor the cleanliness(which is very important in tight quarters). Imagine a row of delis on top instead of these tanks.....J

I use Sterilite shoebox size that you mentioned. I have a homemade melamine rack but I have also used these boxes stacked one atop another with rubberbands around them to prevent escapes. If you don't use rubberbands and/or weights, they will get out. I velcro 4x5 ZooMed heat pads to the back (removable for cleaning). The hatchlings stay in these until they are 24-30 inches long and I haven't had any health problems yet. Newspaper substrate, tp tubes to hide in and ceramic or crock water dishes.
-----
---

1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

They get out of there? The lids seems to snap pretty thight.

Most of the shoebox size boxes with the snap on lids are far from escape proof. They are pretty safe though if you keep the tops weighted. Most of the professional shoe box racks are virtually escape proof and are great for hatchlings. RW

I wont even get started on why snakes shouldn't be kept in deli cups... if its not obvious that delicate hatchlings need better care than that I don't know what to say. On top of this, they are a royal pain in the butt to work with and are not space or time efficient.

Check these out...

That king is not a hatchling...hes a few months old and 18 inches

Each tub measures 3Wx12Lx2H. This is twice the size of a deli cup and the snake can stretch out. They are heated with heat cable so they have BELLY HEAT and can give a 15 degree gradient from front to back. I can house 20 hatchlings in one cubic foot.

You can get the tubs from the container store (look under drawer organizers) and make them yourself, or you can buy racks ready made from me.

That is a great looking rack Zach! I use racks with 6 qt sterilite shoeboxes and they work very well, but you definitely have the temperature gradient thing going on with these. Most of my racks have belly heat, but I did buy one back heated hatchling rack in a pinch and my snakes are doing great and growing fast in there too. I do prefer belly heat though.

I must say I'm not crazy about the deli cup thing either. To each his own, but I can't imagine the animals are too thrilled being in deli cups. Not a lot of margin for error as far as temps and humidity go in a deli cup either. One of my local reptile stores does keep their hatchlings in deli cups inside a temperature controlled case, but I think they do that partly because they want the animals to be visible to potential buyers.

I bought a similar rack (from Reptile Basics) that holds these boxes and it works great. There is enough length to create at least a little gradient and baby kings (easterns anyway) do very well in it. I filled up a 68 tub rack and every baby has done very well in it.

Will

I checked them out on their website and they look really cool. I do have one question though, how tight do the boxes fit? Could you put baby temporalis, for example, in there and not worry about them squeezing out? I would mainly use them for graybands but they vary in size alot so I think if they were safe for temporalis(as a size reference) they would be safe for graybands.

Aaron I got one from them that I use for new born thayeri, corns and other real small babies and I love the rack. I have some BARRS shoe box racks that are extremely tight that I have never had a baby escape from and the reptile basics fit even tighter. They have a very precise fit with just the slightest gap. Very solid rack too. They told me that if I put anything in it that escaped the would refund my money and more. One of the guys said him or someone he knew used them for baby scarlet kings and never had a problem. Randy W.

Thanks! I think I might get one or two.

I built my first one for baby cal kings and left a decent gap. The kings never got out but when I started using that first rack for anthills I shimmed them up. I just put a sturdy manila folder under the boxes to tighten it up. Since then I have made each rack tighter.

Thanks I would like to build my own but I don't have the tools. They charge $260 for a 32 box rack and that includes shipping. I think it's a good price. I will probably buy 1 and if it's good buy another.