Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,
I don't know if any of you have seen the new 6.44 quart storage boxes, by RubberMaid, at your local WalMart.
I think they are called creative lock or something like that.

Well, when I saw these and at $1.27 each I thought they would be excellent for my two current hatchlings and the five more I should be getting in the next week. I liked the hinged and latching lid.
When I got home, I drilled my air holes in the boxes and switched my two current hatchlings to their new boxes.
Luckily I placed these in a large RubberMaid box just in case.
After about an hour both snakes were loose in the larger box.
After looking the new boxes over I found the escape route. In the lid there is a gap large enough for any small snake to squeeze though.

I was upset when I thought I had just bought seven useless boxes. Then I had an idea.
I knew where they were escapeing so all I needed to do was block the opening. I had some aquarium silicone so I ran a bead of silicone on the inside of the lid to block the escape route.

My two hatchlings have now been in their boxes for several hours and they can not escape. The bead of silicone did the trick.
Now my $1.27 boxes will work.
Just thought I would share the warning and the fix if anyone else saw these boxes and decided to give them a try.

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Remember, my posts are MY opinion only.
Jimmy (draybar)

I had the EXACT same thing happen to me when I bought those. Fortunately i only bought two and tested them out first by putting them inside a larger open rubber maid container. Sure enough, the snakes got out several times. So now they're collecting dust and used for storage in my basement. I try to ALWAYS test new containers and cages out in a controlled setting first so I don't lose a snake....and I've been lucky so far (knock on wood)!

Walmart/Target never have any good rubbermaids or sterilites by me....The ones they do have need weights on them to prevent the snakes from pushing up and out. I guess rubbermaids are simply best used for a rack of some type.
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carl3
www.members.aol.com/northeastsnakes

well,
Now all you need to do is get some aquarium silicone and run a bead, as pictured, and they will work.
Of course for two boxes a five dollar tube of silicone might not be feasible but at least there is a way to make them work.
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Remember, my posts are MY opinion only.
Jimmy (draybar)