Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just purchased my first rack from boaphileplastics and it is great! But I have one question to rack owners, do you guys drill holes in your tubs? I'm just worried my snakes are going to suffocate, I know it may sound silly but for now I am just opening up the drawers at night just to make sure that new air is cycling in. I just need to know what are your experiences? Should I just drill a few holes just to let air in without letting the humidity out or just leave it alone?

Thanks,
Mohamed

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1.0 Piebald
1.0 66% Het Pied
1.0 Pastel
0.1 Spider
1.2 100% Het pied
1.0 Albino
0.2 100% Het albino
1.1 Normal Bp
0.1 Normal Bp ??
1.1 Albino Nelson Milk Snakes
1.0 Pekingese
0.1 Himalayan

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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

The reason: I open every cage, almost every day for inspection. They get fresh air during this time. I've never had any issues. I have a nice size gap above every tub that also provides air circulation. As hot air rises in the back, it creates a vacuum in the front pulling in fresh air.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

4 or 5 down each side of the tub (CB70s) just enough for a little bit of flow not enough to wreak havoc on the humidity or cause RI.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

Yeah you need to put some air holes in the tubs

The best way to do it is to use a soldering tool.(Or even an old philips screwdriver heat up on an elecric range).

Heat it up and make some quick pushes into the tubs along the top edge.(Make sure it is clean before burning the first hole though.)

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Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.

YES, you really do need to drill some ventilation holes. I'm very surprized that they didnt tell you that when you purchased the rack.

I use a cheap soldering iron from big lots to melt holes in my boxes.

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Sam Craver
Cage Crafters and The Blood Bank

because a mouse can turn a small hole into a large one in a matter of hours.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Why would you leave a live rat in there for hours....sounds like unsupervised?

Jason

>>Why would you leave a live rat in there for hours....sounds like unsupervised?
>>
>>Jason

Do you sit and watch each and every snake you have eat? Do all of yours eat immediately? How many snakes do you have?
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

I do not watch all 80 of them eat(70 of them ball pythons), but I do not leave a live rodent in the tub for hours either.

Jason

>>I do not watch all 80 of them eat(70 of them ball pythons), but I do not leave a live rodent in the tub for hours either.
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>>Jason

You must be pretty damn fast feeding them then. I feed live. I do not leave overnight. I usually put rodents in at dusk and remove a few hours later. All of my snakes have a hide that is accessed from the top so the rodent cannot get to the snake. I have never had any issues and I've been doing this for 20 years.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

That is good that you have never had a snake bitten or anything. I am glad it works for you. I have never left anything in that long, that is why I asked. Sorry if I offeneded you. That is just not the way I do it. To each their own.

Jason

he said mouse not rat

and I leave both in with them for hours...overnight if I forget....even found some days later....

and I never had one chew out......

I finally did have a mouse (small) eat a het albino male's head and kill it this year.....took 15 years to have a death or even a scrape....)...

........I use apropriate sized prey and I know who will ans won't eat usually.........

I also just hand the item to them usually and don't feed them if they don't take it.(usually)...

and I do just prekill if I am not checking them all day

like you said."supervised".....

sux that wild creatures need a baby sitter while eating??????
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"sux that wild creatures need a baby sitter while eating??????"

in the wild they do not. but this isnt in the wild now is it
when you stick predator and prey in a tiny box and leave them overnight abnormal behaviors will happen
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1.0 alb. okeetee "Grissom"
1.0 American Pit Bull Terrier "Vanyel"
0.1 Somali "Willow"

Thanks for all of your replies! I will put holes in them as soon as I get home.

Thanks again,
Mohamed

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1.0 Piebald
1.0 66% Het Pied
1.0 Pastel
0.1 Spider
1.2 100% Het pied
1.0 Albino
0.2 100% Het albino
1.1 Normal Bp
0.1 Normal Bp ??
1.1 Albino Nelson Milk Snakes
1.0 Pekingese
0.1 Himalayan

They said the tubs didn't need holes because of the gap at the top was plenty. I haven't had any problems.
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"I'll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you're using here: it didn't require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could and before you even knew what you had you patented it and packaged it and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you're selling it, you want to sell it!" Dr. Ian Malcolm - Jurassic Park

I assumed not to at first but as soon as I started placing the snakes in I noticed that the wight of the snake + water bowl slowly closed the gap between the shelves so I placed all of the lighter snakes on the top shelves and the heavier ones at the bottom but they still add up. I think I need to just add a few holes to allow them to breathe.

Thanks,
Mohamed

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1.0 Piebald
1.0 66% Het Pied
1.0 Pastel
0.1 Spider
1.2 100% Het pied
1.0 Albino
0.2 100% Het albino
1.1 Normal Bp
0.1 Normal Bp ??
1.1 Albino Nelson Milk Snakes
1.0 Pekingese
0.1 Himalayan

What can it hurt to add ventilation holes? Just keep them small and not too many. If you use something to melt the plastic, ensure the fumes have time to vent.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

YES

First off I love mine...overpriced, but quality. I used mine without any holes for about a year, but have since "drilled" holes in it and I'm VERY glad I did!

I moved my rack into another room and stacked another one on top of it. After I did this, I noticed that since my floor was carpet, the carpet pushed up on the base of the cage, CLOSING that small gap that's above the bottom slot that's supposed to be enough air. Thankfully I had punched holes into the tub so nothing happened, but it's VERY difficult to pull that tub out. I think that had the rack been put on a solid floor like concrete or tile, there wouldn't have been a problem, but if you are putting your racks on carpet WATCH OUT and DRILL HOLES!

I put "drilling" into quotations because I didn't drill them. Drilling tubs can lead to cracking, so an alternative is to use a cheapo soldering iron to melt several holes. I made up a template with cardboard to mark where I wanted the holes (with a sharpie) so that they would be evenly spaced.

Look at it this way, if you "drill" too many, you can always plug them up...but you can't get back a dead snake.