Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've often heard people on the forums say they use shoeboxes for hides... My question is, are you talking about real cardboard shoeboxes... or something else?

Plastic shoeboxes:

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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

my snakes are in aquariums and 1 snake in a 40 gal had a reg cardboard shoebox for a hide. He used it all the time.
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This is courage.. to bear unflinching what heaven sends. -unknown

1.0 Chocolate lab (Harley)
1.0 Basset Hound (Capone)
0.1 German Shepard (Misha)
0.1 leopard gecko (Nacho)
1.0 Normal ball python (Arwen)
1.0 pastel ball python (Merlin)
0.1 Spider ball python (Rogue)
1.0 100% het pied (Dojo)
1.0 Normal male (Rebel)

and the humidity wasn't too much for the cardboard to withstand? I'm using cocunut husk substrate....

speaking of which, how much humidity is too much?

Sorry - I thought you asked about keeping snakes in shoe boxes -- not using them for hides. Need to learn to read better. You can use cardboard boxes (shoe boxes cereal boxes, etc.) for hides -- throw them out when they get icky -- and yeah they will get icky. But they will work for a short time. You cage shouldn't be wet enough to destroy cardboard too quickly.
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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

eheheh...
i plan on putting a shoebox in for a hide for one or two of mine.
when i had a corn snake a few years ago i had forgotten to buy two hide boxes. i wanted to give it the best home (he was my first snake) and i was on a budget so i was trying to think of stuff around the house that would work in a pinch...so what did i use?
half of a mac n cheese box. i just cut the opened end off, and used the bottom of the box.
he was still a baby, so it was the perfect size.
the snake was an albino (orange, yellow and white colorings) and he spent the first few days in the mac n cheese box....so what did i name him? NOODLES! ahahah

anyways, just sharing..

you can use almost any CLEAN SAFE plastic or cardboard or other materials like terra cota pots, etc. theres lots of creative ways of decorating and providing for your snake(s)..
have fun with it too .. as long as its healthy for your snake it can help the environment too- reduse, reuse, recycle..and save you some money for more snakes

tc
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~Snake Charmer~
0.1 russian tortoise (natasha)
3.1 dogs (church, bandit, willy and tonka)
1.2 cats (taz, squeaky, cami)
0.1 king snake (q aka curly q or queenie)
2.1 'normal' ball pythons (zenith, butters, zahara)and i want more snakes. guess you can say im developing a "reptile addiction"- lol

any humidity over 70% for balls..

Basically, there should be enough humidity to fall in the range of 50-70% humidity but substrate should not be excessively damp at all, or at least not all the time...its ok to mist till its damp as long as it dries out between misting. Too much humidity and not enough air flow allows for mold and bacteria to grow, creating an unhealthy environment for your snakes. This can lead to scale rot, blister disease, respiratory infections etc.
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PHLdyPayne

I like cardboard hides because you can throw them away when they get dirty. I use paper towel substrate for babies and save all of the cardboard rolls... they make great hides as well.

I had the same reaction when I was new to this forum. I still stick to wood and corkbark on coconut husk. Cardboard and newspaper make a terrarium look like my recycling bin. I understand it's the most convenient and economical solution particularly if you have a lot of snakes, and I can't argue that the snake cares so long as its needs are met. But, why keep such beautiful animals amid household junk? That may offend some people, but consider if you had no snakes, that old news paper and cardboard would be sitting by the curb.

One mans trash is another snakes treasure!

Thanks
Anthony

what age/size constitutes a "baby" ball?

What about juvenile? Adult?

just wondering...

Try beer boxes

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Christian Clodfelter

christian@redwoodreptiles.com