Ellie has grown to the point that I can think about moving her from the Kritter Keeper. I've been playing a bit with what I'm going to do for her, and I moved her tonight. Just for fun, I put together a little step by step photographic description of the process of putting together the new cage.
First, I put expanded polyethylene sheets under the cage to hold her UTHs. Whether the space under a heater should be open for air circulation or closed could be a bit of a controversy. The Flukers UTH that I use still recommends insulation under the UTH in the instructions. On the other hand, I've heard many people recommend that the space under the UTH be open. Personally, I see no advantage to having open space, and because I'm using a thermostat, I'm not worried about too much heat building around the UTH. Another advantage is that using these sheets means that I don't need to tape the UTH to the cage. That means I can move the cage outside for cleaning more easily.
I've given her two UTHs. The one to the right is a Flukers UTH that is made for full heat range for most reptiles. I'm expecting this one to be able to give her a hot spot of around 85 to 90 °F. Generally, thayeri don't need anything very warm, but she's small enough that giving her a little extra will give her more range to use as she wants. The second UTH is made by Exo-Terra and is their lower power UTH. This one is only supposed to give enough heat to provide a warm spot in the low 80's. I may give her another hide that will let her make better use of this temperature if she wants.
Obviously, the next step is putting the cage on the stand.
Next, I put down the newspapers that will be the under substrate. I can't stand the look of newspaper as a primary substrate, but as something cheap to go underneath and provide a little extra absorbency, they are okay. I tape the probe to the newspaper. I use a special painter's tape that is less sticky than regular masking tape, and I apply to the newspaper directly. I've never seen this tape pulled away from the newspaper. I wouldn't trust taping anything to any other surface, but the probe should be okay. This step keeps the probe from moving around and not controlling the temperature properly.
Next, I put down the paper that I like to see on the cage floor.
Finally, I decorate the cage.
I've always liked having ground coconut for kingsnakes as a burrowing substrate. I think burrowing is good for their muscle tone, and as instinctive behavior, I think they "like" burrowing. I found this cooking dish at a garage sale a few weeks ago. The lady tried to tell me how to prepare the dish for the best non-stick properties. I told her that I needed the dish for something else and wasn't worried about food sticking.
The big cave hide is one that I bought some time ago and never put to good use. Ellie is still small enough to use this hide, so I'm giving it to her. The moss will give her another material in which to burrow, and the hide will give her another cool hide.
The plants are mostly for my amusement. Two of them were in her Kritter Keeper cage for some time. I've washed them, but she may recognize their smell and be a little comforted by the familiarity.
The climbing branch on the far right may eventually get some use.
The warm hides were both from her Kritter Keeper cage. I like moving hides to a new cage with snakes so that they have some familiarity. When I put her in this cage, she immediately went inside one of these hides. I think she recognized the look and the smell. She'll outgrow these hides before too long, and I'll upgrade them.
I've probably filled the big [bleep] water bowl too much for now, but I have no doubt that she could climb out of that bowl with no problem. That one gives her a big source of water, and she'll likely never outgrow being able to soak in that dish. The small ceramic dish will be another source of drinking water that's too small for soaking. The little black water dish is from her previous cage. I may upgrade that one someday.
She had been in the new cage for less than twenty minutes before she discovered the dish of ground coconut. Here she is in the dish.
Before another ten minutes had passed, she was burrowing. For a while, she had her head at the front corner of the dish and was watching me. Now, she's exploring again.
I hope she'll be happy in this home.
Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.
