Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok well mainloy this is about heating....I cant think of any way to heat it without the overheead lamp...the cage is in my 4 ft. closet. Trust me its a good place...The usual is around 65 degrees., With the heat lamp danglkeing overhead it goes to about 75. What can I do? I would love a different way to heat the cage to the right ambient levels...Also for my basking spot heated with the heat pad it is a special kind I bought offline that doesnt heat over 95 so its very safe...And I have always used astro turf for my snakes I like that Im going to keep using it?? And also is it nessesary to have 2 hides in there??? Thanks alot
sorry for all the questions
Mike

Is this the 10gal tank? If so, you need to cut something like a piece of plexiglass and use it for the top. This will help retain humidity and heat. Ensure you have some ventilation holes on both sides.

If you use and UTH and you are able to keep most of the heat in with the plexiglass, there will not be a need for a light/heat source - at least not all the time. You can have a cut-out in the plexiglass for the heat lamp and just turn it on a couple of hours in the morning.

Astro turf is fine, but as Tosha pointed out, it's not the best at maintaining humidity. It can also be a source of "growth" if you know what I mean. There are better choices, but if the plexiglass suggestion works, you may be able to keep the turf.

If you want to spend the money, you could also use a heat panel instead of heat lamp.

Just make simple, incremental changes and see how it goes.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Pythons (even small ones like balls) ... release a lot of stuff when they urinate / deficate. Try prying a hard glob of urates out of fuzzy carpet. It ain't easy and it is gross.

The waste (especially when it has dried) sticks very well to the little fibers in the carpet.

Some people say they just toss it in the wash, but I know I don't want my clothes being washed with snake poopy / tinkle.

As your snake gets larger, this will become more and more of a pain. You will inevitable switch to something that is easier to clean.

Joel
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0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Leopard Gecko

I still use it in about half my enclosures, and one of those is a seven foot burm......yes, I know that'll get worse as he gets bigger. I just scrape off what I can and launder the rest. As far as washin' yer clothes in it, just run a cycle of hot water wash after you're done and it will rinse everything out. Sure, it's more time consumin' than swappin' paper, but I like the way it looks.

Quig

I use Repti-Carpet made by ZooMed and I love it.

http://www.zoomed.com/html/repti_cage_carpet.php

They come 2 per pack so you just swap them, then spray the dirty one with Chlorhexidine and toss it in the wash. It take me 3 minutes to clean the cage. How can you say that cypress mulch is easier to clean? I used to use Aspen but it was a pain in the arse to clean. Poo was alway stuck to the glass, and a full cleaning meant dumping out a huge pile of "sawdust" that gets everywhere, and a trip to the bathtub to scrub out all the poo. took close to 30 minutes then. But the worst part about aspen was trying to get the tank hot enough. with a one to two inch layer, the heat from the uth simply could not reach reqd temps. aspen is an excellent insulator. i have perfect consistant temps with the repti carpet and i dont have a thermostat yet, just a lamp dimmer.
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0.1 CB '05 Ball Python
Chlorhexidine

I use carpet for all of my burms and retics, ranging from 5 feet to 15 feet currently, and I love it. It is a lot more attractive than newspaper. Once a week I toss it in the wash. I have no real problems, as I spot clean as needed whenever I notice any waste. It usually doesn't have time to get dried out and stuck to the carpet. I usually swap the carpet out completely for a new one once a year. I use cypress for my ball pythons however.

-Andrew Varela, Serpentine Exotics

I agree, plus the reptile carpet or indoor outdoor carpet from the hardware store will cause irritations on the snakes belly , it will cause a "pink" look much like you see when a ball is going into shed mode, this red/pink can and will eventually cause infection so I would not recommend using any of those carpets, EVEN if it says it's safe for snakes, it is not , ask any good vet and he will hell you the same thing! Newpapers, paper towels, Aspen , etc, are a much safer substrate for them... Anthony McCain-McCain's Reptiles...

Sorry that was supposed to be "tell" not hell, didn't check it before posting sorry..

as for the carpet issue in the cage, i use indoor / outdoor carpet in all of my enclosures.
it is a low shag and very fast drying carpet.
usually the urates come right out, but sometimes they dont, when this happens i just wash it in my bathtub.
i let it soak a bit, then use the massage setting on my showerhead and a old toothbrush to clear any stuck on urates.
it is also fast drying, it will completely shed the water out of the carpet within an hour of hanging. and it is made to prevent bacterial growth in the carpet.
the risk of impaction is reduced, there is no danger of the snake ingesting part of he rug, and it looks nice.( i opt for green or brown)
oh and the nicest part, it is dirt cheap, go to your local building supply and ask if they have any end of rolls or cut scraps of indoor/ outdoor carpet.
last time i got 2 ft x 20ft for 5$