Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here are some photos of a water enclosure system that works well for me. I’ve attached a cover to a vision tub, added a drain to the tub, and created a rack with caster wheels so that it is mobile. It is heated with heat tape. The tub is separate from the animal’s enclosure which provides me complete access for maintenance. The key is having an available floor drain for ease in draining. Basically, I just need to pull a plug, strain out the big stuff, scrub, disinfect, and rinse. I use this tub to soak all my large snakes, but it is my green that really seems to enjoy it. When I enter the snake room she starts pacing her cage until I open the door and allow her to crawl in the tub. A by- product of this routine is that I do need to run her back up into her enclosure. I feel that this regular handling will keep her manageable as she continues to grow.
Please Note: After reading Kelly’s and Shane’s concerns regarding water availability for greens I established a few simple rules: 1) Don’t soak animals unless I know I will have the time to clean if there is a mess. 2) Don’t soak the green if she has recently eaten. These rules have basically eliminated fecal soup situations. I hope that others can use this simple design.
Please excuse the sub- par photos. I think I had too much coffee.

>>
>>Here are some photos of a water enclosure system that works well for me. I’ve attached a cover to a vision tub, added a drain to the tub, and created a rack with caster wheels so that it is mobile. It is heated with heat tape. The tub is separate from the animal’s enclosure which provides me complete access for maintenance. The key is having an available floor drain for ease in draining. Basically, I just need to pull a plug, strain out the big stuff, scrub, disinfect, and rinse. I use this tub to soak all my large snakes, but it is my green that really seems to enjoy it. When I enter the snake room she starts pacing her cage until I open the door and allow her to crawl in the tub. A by- product of this routine is that I do need to run her back up into her enclosure. I feel that this regular handling will keep her manageable as she continues to grow.
>>Please Note: After reading Kelly’s and Shane’s concerns regarding water availability for greens I established a few simple rules: 1) Don’t soak animals unless I know I will have the time to clean if there is a mess. 2) Don’t soak the green if she has recently eaten. These rules have basically eliminated fecal soup situations. I hope that others can use this simple design.
>>Please excuse the sub- par photos. I think I had too much coffee.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
-----
Thanks,

Frank Roberts

That looks like a very good idea. Nice looking anaconda too. This seems like it could be a really good option for those that want to give their anaconda’s the opportunity to soak without a large heated water source in the actual enclosure.

I think that is a great idea for a transfer unit. Not only do you get the handling benefits you spoke of for increased manageability, but for greens especially, it gives them the opportunity to soak for awhile and also clean up a little. How easy is it to get her back into the cage? I know some greens are somewhat difficult about being removed from a water source. Thanks for posting,

Kelly

Good question. Getting her back into the cage usually isn’t a big deal, but it has never been as smooth as getting her in the tub. I was particularly nervous about that this week because I wanted to soak her, but I had just had surgery. I’m on lifting restrictions for the next few weeks so I wasn’t looking to have to muscle her into her cage. I was also concern because she appears to be gravid and her behavior isn’t as predictable as normal. I didn’t want to try to lift her from the tub to her cage. She resists that approach and I was not in position to lift a large green. I did lift her front half from the soak tub onto the floor. Gravity helped along so it wasn’t a big lift. She shifted the rest of her weight and moved onto the floor. I allowed her to cruise around the snake room while I set up a ramp to get her back into her cage. Her cage door is about 2 feet off the floor so I placed a large Action Packer tub below the cage door. I also place an old hide box near the Action Packer. The hide box is about half the height of the action packer. This created a two step platform for her to crawl up. She moved from across the room to check out the Action Packer. She has spent a lot of time in that old Action Packer and seems to consider it her burrow. I hate to say this here, but she loves that thing. If I leave the top open she’ll crawl in by herself. This time the cover wasn’t open so she investigated any chance to get inside. She always checks this out. Once she was top she could sense her nearby cage door and crawled from the top of the Action packer right into her cage. This all took about 10 minutes.
FYI – I have a herper friend right down the street if there were problems. He was “on call” if things didn’t work out and I needed help.