Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so -- I've made snake racks before and I get the general gist of how to make a rack that holds tubs- thats not my problem.

I am currently filling up 2 dozen water bottles twice a day-- its a major pain.

I have enough rats going that I need a rack (and I'm still having to buy 20-30 rats once a month just to keep everyone fed- so my collection of breeders needs to double at least)
I have about 25 breeders (20 or so are female) and its just a huge pile of 10 gallon tanks- a total nightmare.

so my questions:
The watering systems that are home-made... There is one a few posts down with orange buckets- posted by Markru-- the orange buckets are connected to black tubing. What is the black tubing and whats on the end of the tube so they can drink and it's not just free flowing water?

Also-- the tubs and lids-- I have heard ppl use sterilite 90L tubs but that doesn't have any room for them to stand up- is that ok? I've seen the cement tubs as well-- do those come in different sizes?

Lids-- I see wire mesh-- how is it attached, etc-- if its on a wood frame wouldn't they eat the wood frame away and get out?

I see the rat blocks ontop the mesh- ok- how are other things fed like seeds, oats, fresh fruit, mine love cherrios- how do you give those things to them?

Thanks-- I've got my little colony going great but its developed into a massive pain in my rear to maintain-- almost not worth it but we need to save money somewhere.

~beth
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Until there are none, Rescue One! Get ready to welcome the new and improved Oklahoma Animal Rescue Group -- Just a few weeks away from getting our 501c3 status!!!!!

....bucket, black water lines, sipper fottings on the ends...tube wears out and fittings wear out...connectors wear out too......look in classifieds...I forget which one....they sell sipper tips all the time....

....seeds and stuff....some fall right through the screen/wire mesh some don't....it's all good....1/2 inch square wire mesh .....

...the wood frame has the mesh attatched to the bottom of the wood...the rat cannot chew wood, just wire....

.....make extra, buy extra tubs....

go to Exotics By Nature's site, they have plans for snake racks and or rodent racks...all the same basic plan......there are other plans online...Google or search Kingsnake...

....
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JY
Scales-N-Tails
reptiles ltd.

you can feed Treats directly on the substrate or on top of wire.
the wooden frame of the lid is outside the box.so out of reach.
have a wonderful day .Chris
BTW tell us more about Reptile rescue,do you rescue and re-home or do you euthenize,reason i ask is there are Humane societies(notice plural) here in central Fl. that are not affiliated with THE Humane Society who actually ********* the un or non adopted animals.But re-home animals for a price$(adoption fee)lol.i guess donations are not how they used to be.
Thanks, Really have a wondrful day and rescuing is needed especially when the economy is in the dumps

Thanks for the help- hadn't even thought to check classifieds.

As for the rescue-- we have only ever euthanized 2 animals in a little over 5 years.

One was a baby ball python a breeder had actually brought to me. He was kinked about 3 inches from the head, had just hatched that day and was thrashing his head around and could not stay on his belly his was thrashing so hard. Still had yolk attached and the breeder said he didn't want to pay to have him euthanized.

The other was an iguana that someone had run over in their car. Its spine was crushed and it was not able to function.

As for other animals- I can house about 6 adult iguanas and quite a few smaller iguanas. We get snakes of every flavor and can house and care for them.
We do adopt a lot of our animals out. Its gotten to where there are only a select few people that adopt from us on a regular basis. There is actually a younger kid that posts on kingsnake that has adopted 6 or 7 animals from us-- mother came and approved and such of course. I've got another good friend a few hours from me that gets a lot of our bigger snake and monitor species- owns a warehouse. He breeds some smaller species but not the big kids-- but he can give them a home we know is permenant and such.
Outside of that- we have a few new people adopt.
If the animal isn't adopted- it stays here. We don't have a time limit or anything. OUr local dog pound has 3 days in quarantine and 3 days to get adopted or they are killed and we don't do anything like that. We are set up to keep them as long as they need. Some of the animals in our personal collection we "adopted" and use for our educational 'stuff'.
As for adoption fees.... That gets to be a touchy subject. We do ask fees/prices/donation-- however you want to label it HOWEVER. I was once upon a time in our humane society and they wanted $250 bucks for an adult iguana in horrible shape and mean as all get out. Also had a normal ball they wanted $200 for.
My fee's are no higher than $75 and I have only ever ONCE had an adoption fee of $75.
Iguanas are $25 and that gives me a 5$ "profit" if the animal is healthy when i get it. A fecal test costs me $20 bucks- if it needs no other exams or tests or medical anything-- that gives me 5$..... which SOMETIMES covers food while its here-- lol
Various snakes I range from $25 to $50 depending on the species.
All our adoption fees are negotiable as well. For instance- the friend that gets my big species-- he has gotten close to 15 animals from me--- and donated countless feeder rats and supplies.
Any of that make sense?
I absolutly disagree with trying to get 200 bucks out of a 20 dollar animal- that is just stupidity.
We rarely get donations but thats not why we do rescue. There are so many people that call the zoo here only to get a voice mail that says "we do not take burmese pythons, reticulated pythons, green iguanas, oklahoma native species, blah blah blah but you can leave your number and we'll try to help you find a place for it"
I call once a week and they give me the "unwanted animal list" and I round them up-- most of the time the people tell me they took it to the pet store (uuuuggghghhh!!!!)

so- there it is

~Beth
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Until there are none, Rescue One! Get ready to welcome the new and improved Oklahoma Animal Rescue Group -- Just a few weeks away from getting our 501c3 status!!!!!