Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've got a baby blood on the way and am going to use a large rubbermaid tub but was wondering what you guys thought about possibly cutting the center out of the lid, just leaving the border, attaching screen and using a basking light on one side. Controlling the temps are not what I'm afraid of, I am afraid of the tub melting or causing an undo fire risk. What do you guys think? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've seen green tree pythons rubbermaids done like that.I wouldn't do it personally.They don't really need a basking light,just a hot spot up to 90 degrees and an ambient temp in the 80's.What are you planning on heating the rubbermaid with.Just run heat tape on the back side on a thermostat or a reostat and that should be fine.

I prefer to have a basking area, just a preference I guess but have never done that with a tub before. I have all arboreal snakes with very large cages, this is my first terrestrial in a long time so just thought I'd see. Thanks, Eric

Well if your going to do it, it looks like they didn't have a problem of going with that style.They just cut a circle out at one end and mounted some wire mesh for the dome to fit on.To bad I couldn't remember what site it was, it was a arboreal site.

Also you would loose humidity by using a screen top.And if you are getting a baby a large rubbermaid isn't the ticket.Get a sweater box size 12"x18" somewhere in that measurements.Do you have your hides, water container and have been monitoring your temps and humidity before you get your snake.Good luck.

I have a JCP and a Mangrove that require a lot of humidity and am used to dealing with that. I have my mangrove in a very large aqairium right now that I made a screen top on one side and covered with aluminum foil, cut out a circle for the fixture to sit on top. The humidity stays right at 75%. I was just thing of doing the same thing. Also, I usually use a lot of furniture in my cages so I don't think the large tub will be too much after it's filled with a large water bowl, hides, etc. Thank you for you responses I appreciate it. Eric-

Just keep in mind that baby bloods tend to be very touchy about large spaces. When it comes to babies, smaller is better until they grow some confidence...

Yea dude, little rubbermaid showbox with some holes, no lamp cause you'll fry a snake with a lamp in something that small. Just try to get ambient temps around 82-84, and maybe a small hot spot on a corner. Thats pretty much the ideal set up for a baby blood. If you throw it in a big container with a huge heat lamp and all sorts of other stuff it will FREAK. Then you'll have a pissy mean, non eating baby blood on your hands. Bloods aren't hard to care for if you do it RIGHT, but if you do it wrong there pretty unforgiving. Just my 2 cents.

J
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior

that as a rule they react to a large area? I have had snakes all my life but tend to like other types of snakes. In my experience that has not been true. I have handled, fed, and cared for bloods before but never actually owned one. And when I think about it they were always in very small enclosures. I tend to only buy snakes that I can display so I kind of go all out when it comes to their enclosures but if thats true I will tone it down a bit for her. Thanks again in advance. Oh and btw I have read every care sheet on the internet and have gone through the archives but this is all new. I understand the basic setup and the general requirements and I guess just wanted to try and provide the "ideal" setup, rather than the bare minimum, but if I'm understanding correctly, the smaller tub, with no basking light would be the ideal setup?

In my very limited experience, I've found that baby bloods won't eat and will be very upset when kept in too large a setup. Like Jordan said, they like very close, tight spaces.

Not sure what your "snake room" setup is, but if you've already got the bigger setup with the temps all right, you can usually just put a well ventilated rubbermaid inside the bigger setup so that the baby feels more secure. Then, when the animal is big and confident enough you can let it into the bigger enclosure. I've done this a couple times now and it seems to work pretty well...
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Kitt

I would definately say so... My blood now takes up about 1/4 of area of her enclosure, but unless its late evening and I haven't moved from my computer, I NEVER see her out from under her hide. She's starting to spill out from underneath it, and she still gets huffy without it. They like to feel like they're the only ones around, and nothing else can find them.

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