Reptile & Amphibian Forums

could a copperhead deliever a bite through a vent hole drilled into 1/4" plexiglass? i'm going to assume, yes, it can.

anything is possible. I would not risk putting my fingers or hands over the holes when moving the cage.
Kevin

Kevin gave a good answer. I wanted to add that there's an article over at the SHHS website about a guy who gets bit riding home in the car with a snake in an inappropriately constructed container. It's a good read and an eye opener. I liked your tool box / transporter idea myself.

I'm building some boxes for that very purpose, tranportation of snakes, and plan to market them in the future.

Have a great time at the show.
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"Seek first to understand, then to be understood"

Good idea. One of our local (S. Florida dealers) made some and did good sales at Datona. Frank

Or ideas on design you'd like to offer? I've been leaning toward a plain box with locking lid, a handle and a couple of vent holes, but I'm open to suggestions, and constructive criticism when I "unveil" the first in the "line."

I'm building a few trap boxes to order now, and the size, shape and coatings people have requested have been as diverse as the individuals that ordered them.

Tom
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"Seek first to understand, then to be understood"

Sounds like a good basic design. Mine has a three by five rectangular(double screened 1/2" space)hole in the top for vent. Of course my box is wood. I don't think that would translate to plastic too well. Another thought is to make a VENOMOUS label for the box. Post me a pic when you have a design...Frank

I planned to use 1" shelving grade pine for the body of the box with 1/4" hardware cloth (with aluminum screen sandwiched between it an the wood) for vent cover, inside and out. I've been jointing the corners, but just bought a dovetailing template so I can start dovetailing corners together for a better looking and stronger corner.

Size is a consideration, as the bigger the heavier of course... and then there's the issue with number and size of individual compartments within the box... can't have those rattlers biting each other through the bags... I can make some 1/4" dividers that can be removed to haul one BIG animal, or they could be put back in order to make four equally sized compartments... something like that...

Thanks for your thoughts.

Tom

>>Sounds like a good basic design. Mine has a three by five rectangular(double screened 1/2" space)hole in the top for vent. Of course my box is wood. I don't think that would translate to plastic too well. Another thought is to make a VENOMOUS label for the box. Post me a pic when you have a design...Frank
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"Seek first to understand, then to be understood"

As I said, I prefer wood but with the weight factor,have you considered using plastic for the dividers? Frank

I had not, as of yet, considered plastic for much of anything until I did a search over at the "cage" forum the other day and found out people are using "expanded PVC" to build things out of now. I wrote to one fabricator of caging to inquire about where one might buy womthing like that, as it apparently is easy to cut and glue and it is lightweight and fairly strong as well. I would not bet my life on the stuff, but I did think about trying to build a trap box out of it, and maybe a transport box or two, just as an experiment mind you.

I took the "prototype" trap box, built between the hours of 0300 and 0500 this morning, to the Columbia show today, but it didn't look as good in the daylight as it had in the dark, so I left it in the car. There is one really good thing about having to drive 5 hours one-way to get anywhere, and that is that I get a lot of time alone to think without interruption. The radio in my car broke, so it's pretty quiet in there while I'm driving... I figured out a cool way to work the door and I'm going to disassemble the box I built this morning and try the idea for a trap door on it to see if the mechanics work as well in reality as they did in my head...

I had about a dozen designs working in my mind and I think I've got a good one.

Thanks for everything.

Tom

>>As I said, I prefer wood but with the weight factor,have you considered using plastic for the dividers? Frank
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"Seek first to understand, then to be understood"

That PVC thing sounds interesting...have to post a shot of it when you get done....By the bye... I write fiction and am trying to break into the professional end of it. I am published as a poet and lyrisist....which only goes to tell you that I speak with experience when I say that the muse that gives us great ideas, loves to do it at the most inoportune times.......good luck!
Frank

My wife, Susan, is a published non-fiction writer and I can tell you that she works very hard at her craft. I do not know where she finds the inspiration for her work, mostly in our daily lives I suppose, but as a mother of five she rarely gets any time to herself...

We're getting ready for the hurricane, so it will be a day or so before I build anything....

Tom

>>That PVC thing sounds interesting...have to post a shot of it when you get done....By the bye... I write fiction and am trying to break into the professional end of it. I am published as a poet and lyrisist....which only goes to tell you that I speak with experience when I say that the muse that gives us great ideas, loves to do it at the most inoportune times.......good luck!
>>Frank
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"Seek first to understand, then to be understood"

My hatsoff to her...It's hard enought to write fiction...I hope that she only has a good story about the storm that missed...Good luck,Frank