Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just a few questions about them, as i am buying a neonate next week. Firstly, tank size. I have a 36" x 18" x 18" plastic (black plastic with glass sliding doors) vivarium which i was going to use. Someone who breeds them says this is a good size for an adult, but as the one im getting is only a few months old i thought it would be ok in there for now at least, am i correct? I was going to use 2 'sets' of 1/2" wooden dowels as perches, with each set being a triangle of perches (horizontal perches, 2 on bottom row one on the top - think Predator laser targetting for an idea, those of you who have seen the film) one lower in the tank, the other higher. Again is this ok? For a hide i was going to put a small plastic tupperware (UK equivalent of rubbermaid) on the warm side, half filled with sphagnum moss so it is humid, about 6" x 12" x 12"?
Finally, what is the best way to heat them? I was going to use a red bulb on a stat, but surely the shape of the bulb would mimick the shape of a bird, as they hunt with their heat receptors?
Not sure what i'll do to ventilate yet, as it only has 2 small circular vents in the top right of the cage and 2 in the bottom left,, but i could always drill some holes in the roof, with it being a plastic vivarium.

Thanks in advance for your replies, and for a picture of the vivarium, check out http://www.livefoodshop.co.uk/catalog/images/penine.jpg
The image is of a smaller size, 24" x 18" x 18", but i have one of these too, if its a better size.

Thanks again

Lee

A quick answer for now: you can't have too much room for a snake. You CAN have too little.

Go to

http://www.amazonbasin.com/

and read everything there. Stan Chiras raises emerald tree boas specifically, but what he says about caging applies to you, too.

One warning: his pages take a LONG time to load. As each one of them finally loads, save it to your hard drive and then you can more easily refer back to the info later.

Good site. I'm not sure what you were getting at with the 'too little' space thing, the cook's im getting is this years hatchling, and after 2 weeks in it's 'observation' sweaterbox, i shall be moving it into the 36" x 18" x 18" (50 gallon) vivarium to spend another 8-12 months, before building it a 3' x 2' x 3' (130 gallon) vivarium. This seems more than enough space for an animal that grows to 4.5'.