Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So after work on Saturday I finally went out to collect some dri-ki... picked up three new pieces, washed them and baked them at 300 degrees for an hour, washed them again and added to the enclosures... almost happy with it all, some fake Birds Nest Ferns, a couple more hanging plants for two of the enclosures just might do it, and...

Thanks to our fellow member Kerby I've been doing a little online hunting for taxidermist supplies... going to purchase some faux rocks to use as hides and get rid of the plastic planter saucers I have hidden under all the substrate as well as those stainless steel water dishes... was rather surprised to find the faux rocks could be had for a relatively low price... far easier and cheaper than my buying all the materials and learning how to make them myself.

Holding off on making the next set off enclosures because I have these ideas...

Hope you find the set-up as interesting as I do.

Gerry

Gerry, I tried this many years ago in setups for a boa and iguana. While I loved the look of the driftwood, it was a pain to keep clean with those animals. In a humid environment, I would think insects would also be a problem. Keep us posted how you make out with it.
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Joe

Real nice Gerry, but where's the tenants? LOL just kidding, can you build me like ten of those for my living room, they are awesome. I have drawn out some new showcases to build but haven't found time to break out the tools.
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Those wood cages are very beautiful, congrats on that.

I went into the naturalistic phase some years ago, trying to get more natural looking cages for rosyboas, kings and a boa constrictor. The process was enjoyable, and I learned alot about the benefits and limitations of the specific materials I used. In the end, the animals did no better in naturalistic vs sparse - something I wanted to determine for myself. Either approach can work extremely well as long as the key environmental conditions are enabled.

I consider snakes as opportunists - they will happily use anything that serves their purpose, whether it is hole-ing up in a piece of washed PVC pipe from Home Depot or taking refuge in a realistic-looking fake rock structure.

I hope to set up a few display tanks myself...when is the question?

I never seem to have time to do anything!

Very nice, I really like the look!

-Rusty

Appreciate the kind words

Joe... the thought of insect problems did occur to me... that's why I baked those pieces at 300 degrees, hopefully that will stop any problems before they start.

Jimmy... ten? I'll think about it as soon as I figure out how I'll find the time for my next one... work as gotten so busy again it'll take me months to fit that one in. Did include a picture for you though!

Mark... I do realize that the "naturalistic" approach is more for my benefit than the snakes... still a small part of me can't help but wonder why all the females are out and about more often since I spruced things up.

Rusty... thanks... that set of enclosures is my third try at what would be "perfect"... hopefully the fourth time will be the charm!

Gerry

Did you build these yourself? I love that pic by the way.
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What's wrong with using CAUTION?!?!?!
King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
~ Jorge Sierra www.SierraSnakes.com

Yes I did and thank you.

Although you can't tell from the photo the four enclosures are individual units stacked atop one another. The large oak side panels clip onto the four enclosures with french cleats to clean up the look... if ceiling height permitted I could have gone eight high... but the ceiling doesn't permit it, so... on to another set of four

Gerry