Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm building a large, naturalistic dual enclosure for my two FL kings. It will have fake limestone background, live plants, lights and watering on timers, the works. I've got it all worked out except for a couple of details concerning my automatic watering system. I have a 10-gal freshwater holding tank and a powerful 12VDC water pump. I'll have no problem doing all of the plumbing and fittings, but my two issues are the timer and the delivery system.

I imagine that I'll only want the pump running for no more than a few seconds each day, enough to water all the plants and add some fresh water to drink. But the only timers I've found have minimums of 15-minute cycles. These are all manual timers, and I guess I'll need a digital one. Anyone using or know of a good digital timer that will allow me to tune in cycles of maybe as little as 15-30 seconds per day? Obviously cheaper is better, but I don't mind dropping more dollars for quality.

Second, and my biggest problem, is that I need to work out a delivery system for the water. I'm thinking maybe 1/4" flexible airhose tubing like they use in fishtanks, with a little plastic nipple at the end to restrict flow, and then run one of these hoses to each individual area of dirt that held a plant. Another hose would fill up the drinking pool, which would overflow into another area that needs watering. The drawbacks I see here are dirt clogging the hoses, and possible syphoning. The pump has an anti-syphon valve that'll prevent backflow, but nothing would stop the water already in the lines from dribbling out into the soil and overwatering. My other idea is to use misting nozzles. I've used these on my orchids, and there's very little or no syphoning because of the small size of the holes. The plants would get watered and the snakes could drink from the droplets and pools. But the humidity would probably get too high, so I'd need to buy and install fans, plus another timer for the fans. All this evaporating water might then cool the cage too much.

SO, now that you're bored from reading all that, any suggestions? I'd be glad to hear comments on my ideas, or even something off-the-charts different. Thanks for your time!

-j

You can buy solenoid valves that run on 28VAC and work with a timer. I have that for a small garden. I can program watering at any time on any day of the week for any duration in 1 minute increments. These valves assume you will use PVC pipe, which I recommend.

Honestly, kingsnakes are messy. They may make a mess of the whole setup.

I recommend trying manual watering (you turn ON/OFF the pump as needed) first to see how the kings do and treat the cage for awhile. Once you figure out if it makes sense to go forward, then install automatic watering using a timer and solenoid valve.
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Mark

I made an error - the solenoid valve assumes pressurized water.

The sprinkler timer idea mentioned can still work. It outputs 28 VAC (or whatever low voltage it is rated for). You use this to drive a relay to switch power to the pump. That easy. I can create a schematic. Really easy with low voltage devices.

If the setup "sticks", will you drown the animals or ruin the cage? That is what you must consider first. That is why it makes sense to run things manually first.
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Mark

mark, thanks for your replies. you bring up good points. i had only considered what might happen if the pump failed to turn on, but not if it failed to turn OFF. while 10gal of water wouldn't be enough to fill the enclosures and drown the snakes, it would certainly damage if not destroy the cage. i'll definitely need to create some kind of safeguard against that.

also hadn't thought of a sprinkler timer. the one i have for my yard is way more complex than i need, but a simpler one could be perfect.

i'm all for manual watering- keeping up with plants and water bowls in two cages should be simple enough. i just wanted an automatic system that would allow me to go on vacation for a week or two without bothering someone to come by and water my snakes. oh well, i'll keep chipping away at it (and taking suggestions!) but i may wind up skipping the water system. it will definitely be complicated to install, and potentially disastrous if it fails.

-j

Yeah, that is wise.

I am somewhat handy with controllers. I could buy a controller and write a simple program to turn on the pump at specified intervals, and test for water overflow in the cage (using a sensor to provide input to the controller). However, the cost of all this is just not worth the benefit.

The snakes can go a week or more without water; the plants can be watered heavily before you go on vacation.
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Mark