Recently I became interested in getting a pet snake... but that's for a post in the Ball forum. So check there for the long version. Suffice it to say I'm probably going to get a Ball Python, but might flip flop to a
Corn Snake.
It's going to be at least three months before I can get a snake as I live in the dorms on an Air Force base, and snakes aren't welcome pets. (only fish) So I have a good three months to work on this project.
At lunch today I drew up preliminary plans for a 108x24x24 habitat (no, not on a napkin), and checked lowes for the materials. I'll try to put into writing my idea as best as possible. Oh, and at current, I only plan to have one Ball in the habitat.
The bottom, sides, and back of the cage are OSB board. On the front are three panels of plexiglass, each 36x24. They will be secured to the front framing with bolts. There are two vertical framings near the center to attach the frames of plexiglass to.
It should look like this:
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For the top will be three lids, hinged in the back with weatherstrip latches in the front (the type that hook onto the latch, then pull down as the latch is secured) There will be weather stripping along the mating surfaces of all three lids. Also, all three lids use "animal screen" which I found in the screen door section of Lowes. I plan to secure the screen by sandwiching the screen between two pieces of wood and securing with bolts or screws. I may decide, however, to just screen the center one, and keep the two sides solid covers so I can secure things onto them like vines or basking lamps.
Internally, I'm going for a mix of natural habitat possibly with a medieval motif. (I think those castles and ruins that are put in fish tanks would look neat) Branches, half logs, rocks and such. Hey, perhaps even some potted cacti.
Another thing I want to do is have a running water feature within the habitat where the water is continually filtered. It appears that none of the standard fish tank filters would work as they get water from the top of a tank. I'll probably have a tube running into the bottom of the cage where the water will drain down to a pump on the floor wich will push water up into a filter which will expel the water into the water feature.
Okay, for those of you still reading, here are my questions.
First, is there any type of wood I should avoid, or conversely, a type of wood that would be recommended? I want to use poplar for the trim, and OSB board for the bottom, back, and sides.
I'm also going to stain the wood on the outside. For the inside, I want to make the bottom of the cage waterproof so that any spills won't seep into the wood and cause rot. Should I seal the bottom of the cage, or should I rather put something like linoleum on the bottom, and use a silicone sealant around the edges?
For heating purposes, what's a good thing to put on the bottom for heating the floor of the habitat? Should I leave an area unheated so that the Ball will have more options? I do plan to have two or three hides in the habitat, and I'll be locating them in different temperature zones.
The final thing is I also plan to have an additional 36x24x24 habitat on the floor, and connected to the main habitat by either PVC pipe or preferrably those hamster habitat tubes - but it looks like an adult Ball will get too thick to fit through something like that. This cage, of course, is the feeding cage where it's food will be placed. Yes, I do plan to do either frozen or fresh kill. (I saw the flame war... I mean "Live Pile" thread) Any other types of clear pipes or tubing wich I can use? And how large in diameter to Balls usually get, so I know the minimum inner diameter to use.
Okay, so now that that's all out of the way, any advice, or concerns would be greatly appreciated! I haven't purchased any of the materials yet, but hope to start on this project later this month. So if I'm making any STOOPID mistakes, now's the time to to tell me I'm an
ID-10-T
Thanks!
Dan
