Natural Viv Almost Done!!

[Pottifer]

Hey I just wanted to share a video of my paludarium that's almost done. This is just a video of the waterfall being tested to make sure it works. I have a lot of holes and cracks to fill but this is just a test. More sand and rock will be going into the water section and fish of course :). Also I don't have any of the land substrate in yet. Again just a preview!! Any comments are welcome!!!

Drew

Paludarium Waterfall Test - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y25ib7lAHM0)

[Invisible Snake]

It's looking good! Do you have a water pump so you can change the water on a regular basis?

[Pottifer]

Yeah, I can do a full water change in just a few mins. :)

[Didymus20X6]

That's looking sweet!

[thamneil]

Psssshh its ok :p I love the sense of realism that you created. The only thing that would bug me is the sand. I could see that becoming gross over time and an inconvenience to clean. That and the fact that your snake will constantly drag substrate into the water. Looks great though! One of the nicest waterfalls I've ever seen.

-Neil

[Pottifer]

Thanks!! :) yeah I know it's more of a pain to clean and whatnot but I really don't mind that. To tell you the truth I did this cause I really wanted a cool looking tank and of course garters are amazing, but they were an after thought after I decided on the tank. I plan to do A LOT of trimming and cleaning in the tank, so I know what I'm getting myself into. I'm not a collector so I'll only have 2 males in there and then upgrade to a larger tank when the time comes :)

Drew

[Invisible Snake]

What species of garter snakes will you be keeping in there?

[Didymus20X6]

I've heard that sand is not a good substrate for garters.

But then again, I haven't heard a whole lot about natural substrates that are good for garters. All of them has some drawback or another.

[kibakiba]

It's not. Don't use sand with garters. From the caresheet:
Substrates to avoid:

Sand of any kind - it irritates the snake's scales, eyes, sticks to food, and if ingested in can readily cause impaction.

[chris-uk]

Very nice. I'd like to find the time to build something similar for some of my garters.

Regarding sand - in water it behaves differently, so the scale/eye iritation should be a non-issue. I also find it hard to believe that sand is so bad considering that the natural habitat for many garters will be sandy soils and even desert regions. As Didymus pointed out above, all substrates have some drawback or another, but if you're considering the sort of ground my marcianus and cyrtopsis would naturally inhabit sand may be a more natural choice than aspen.

[guidofatherof5]

Thanks!! :) yeah I know it's more of a pain to clean and whatnot but I really don't mind that. To tell you the truth I did this cause I really wanted a cool looking tank and of course garters are amazing, but they were an after thought after I decided on the tank. I plan to do A LOT of trimming and cleaning in the tank, so I know what I'm getting myself into. I'm not a collector so I'll only have 2 males in there and then upgrade to a larger tank when the time comes :)

Drew

Usually when designing an enclosure thoughts of the resident comes first.:confused:
I love the natural aspects to your tank but think there needs to be a lot of monitoring of the snakes. At the first sign of trouble I would get them out.
I mean no offense to what you have done but there are a few red flags that would make me concerned.

[Pottifer]

Well it's not like I just decided to throw some snakes in there haha.. I did a lot of research and of course I'll be monitoring them when they go in. I've kept many many reptiles/amphibians in my life and I know what needs to be done to keep them safe and happy. I've bred corn snakes and my brother even bred some checkered garters for awhile. I promise the little snakies won't be in any trouble. As for the sand, I'll watch them closely and make sure it's not a problem, and it's only in the water. I want to thank you all for your concerns and comments, keep them coming please! If it doesn't work out it's ok, I haven't put too much money into it so far. I have a warm and cool hide both in the tank now. The warm hide is actually a pvc pipe that I have hidden in the background of the tank with a heat strip that's on the back of the tank (outside). I have it connected to a temperature controller so that it doesn't get too hot. I've read a lot of people have a different range of temps they like so I'll just have to test what they like the most and keeps them active :). Anyways I'm typing too much now. Thanks again everyone!!

Drew

[d_virginiana]

If you plan on leaving the sand in the water feature, you may not want to leave fish in there (I think you mentioned that?). IMO it just wouldn't be worth the risk of the snake ingesting the sand when it goes after the fish. Mine used to eat fish, and we would feed them in a fairly deep bowl, and he often would pin them on the bottom before taking them out to eat them...
Just keep an eye on humidity. If it gets too humid or the substrate gets moist, it can cause scale-rot and irritation.

One more thing about keeping fish with your garters... They're going to end up being feeders, which I'm sure you know :) But there are a lot of fish which can be toxic to garters, so you'll want to check out the safe-fish list on the forum.

[guidofatherof5]

The safe fish list can be found on the care sheet. Here's a link.
Garter Snake Forum - Garter Caresheet (http://www.thamnophis.com/index.php?page=caresheet)