My new enclosure (still work to do)

[Barak666]

Hi

I started slowly to make an enclosure for my future garters snakes. I didn't take many picture of the building process, as I live in apartment, I have to work at my father house and I forget my camera must of the time.

The only missing things are stand door (where we see gloves box and tape), the windows on sides, the sliding doors in the front and the glass fiber in the aquarium part (who is in triangle shape to maximize the dry floor surface).

I just have one layer of resin and fiber done yet, cause even if there is a heat wave into the province, here it is particularly cold theses days (15-18°C) with fog and rain. So I have to wait for the sun to come back to ended the resin job.

So here are the 3 pics I got, new ones will follow once I have the opportunity to finish it.



http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/9246/terraserpent001.jpg
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5996/terraserpent002.jpg
and the screen top

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/3711/terraserpent003.jpg


It doesn't look on the pictures but the enclosure is in two sections, the enclosure and the stand (I made them sit in one and another) a got in mind that I will have to move it, so it is easier to move 2 smaller parts than a big one ;)

Mathieu

[mtolypetsupply]

Nice work, Mathieu!

Describe it a little more! It looks as if you have subterranean-type hides with viewing glass, am I seeing it correctly???

:)

[Stefan-A]

Looks promising. :)

[Barak666]

It is gonna be the aquarium part, it will be ¾ full with water (who will be filtrate into a bucket place under it, will work by overflow and the water will be pump back into the aquarium) I made it with wood/glass and glass fiber

[mtolypetsupply]

FABULOUS!!! With what did you waterproof???

[Barak666]

FABULOUS!!! With what did you waterproof???

That is why I coat all the aquarium surface with glass fiber and epoxy resin.

[adamanteus]

Looks good so far, Mathieu.

[Spankenstyne]

Looks great, can't wait to see it finished & with inhabitants.

[oki-inu]

That looks great! I want one.

[infernalis]

Very nice!!

[guidofatherof5]

Looks like it is coming along nicely.

[Zinco76]

Compliments is very nice.

[drache]

looks very nice
looking forward to see how it's inhabitants will like it

[ConcinusMan]

Looks good. That's a nice bright room you got there. I'd fill it with plants and garters!

[Barak666]

Looks good. That's a nice bright room you got there. I'd fill it with plants and garters!

That is part of my parents house (I'm building the enclosure there, cause in my apartment I doesn't have the place).

I'm almost done with the epoxy and fibreglass, I'm going to make the last coat of resin this week-end, then lets it dry and polymerized for fews days, maybe more, before testing with water, hoping there will be no leaks ...

[Barak666]

Well, I tested the aquatic part yesterday, and up to now there is no leak. So today I'm going to do one last coat of resin, spray with sand to make it look less artificial. I intend to end it this week-end. I will post a picture of it once finish.

[Barak666]

Sorry to keep you waiting. Friday evening I was putting the last touch on it, a small frame around the aquarium glasses to hide a bit of the resin been seen around the glasses, but then my f***ing badluck strike, a small nails bend and touch the front glass at 3mm from the top of it and it broke :mad:... I feel so mad a me. It is impossible to change the glass so I put glass fiber and resin all around the broken part, hoping it will be enough to maintain every thing in place. Once it will have dry I will do another leak test and if there is any I will have to use it for something else than an aquarium. So still have to wait few days to see the finish product.

[guidofatherof5]

Sorry to hear about your misshape. Take your time.

[Barak666]

While testing the sliding doors, I noticed the gap between them is about ¼", I don't thing a adult might pass trough but what about a young one? Should I put something between the sliding doors to prevent escape (otherwise there is no other gap into the enclosure)?

[guidofatherof5]

While testing the sliding doors, I noticed the gap between them is about ¼", I don't thing a adult might pass trough but what about a young one? Should I put something between the sliding doors to prevent escape (otherwise there is no other gap into the enclosure)?

You can cut a strip of cardboard that is just the right thinkness and tape it on the glass on the outside edge. This way the tape will not threaten the snakes.
Try a home improvement store to see if they have a piece of self adhersive foam/felt weather stripping that would fill that gap. Just an idea.

[charles parenteau]

NIce vivarium Dude!!Vas t'acheter un ruban collan style pour calfeutrer comme ca tu vas bloquer l'ouverture

[Barak666]

Thanks for the tips!

Here some picture I took this morning, I put in it a piece of wood who will be in the enclosure, for the substrate I will put sphagnum moss. The box cover with sand on the back wall will be use to pot some plants. And I intend to put some tree branches for them to climb if they want and more hides. I will test the aquatic part in fews days hoping it will be OK.

http://a.imageshack.us/img688/3526/terracouleuvres002.jpg

http://a.imageshack.us/img688/6320/terracouleuvres003.jpg

http://a.imageshack.us/img217/5296/terracouleuvres005.jpg

http://a.imageshack.us/img688/6134/terracouleuvres006.jpg
Here the repair done on the broken glass, hoping it will hold the small water pression (small volume so I think it will be alright) It is a bit ugly so I would probably put some black paper to hide it ;)
http://a.imageshack.us/img580/8706/terracouleuvres010.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Looking good. Can't wait to see the scrubs in their new home.

[Hollis_Steed]

looks very nice, good job!

[Snakers]

that is one awesome cage!

[Barak666]

Well yesterday we bring the enclosure to my apartment, so here what it look like so far

http://a.imageshack.us/img705/7824/terraserpent005.jpg

http://a.imageshack.us/img441/5277/terraserpent008.jpg

Next step is to planted and add hiding places.

And after that, it will be time to find garters to put in it (for now the only inhabitant is a wooden snake ;))

[Snakers]

very nice setup

[lestat]

That looks very good. Cant wait to see the garters using it. Hope they enjoy it, i'm sure they will.

[justme]

Perfect little spot for that beautiful setup you created! Looking forward to seeing the water feature in action! ;-)

[Barak666]

... Looking forward to seeing the water feature in action! ;-)

The resin still smell, so I'm waiting to let it dry well.




... Cant wait to see the garters using it. Hope they enjoy it, i'm sure they will.

Same for me :D Hope I will be able to find some soon, I'm waiting for news from a zoo who might have some soon.

[guidofatherof5]

It looks like a great setup.
You can sit on the couch and watch they take a dip in the pool and poop in it:D
My snakes seem to relish me changing the water. They come out to watch the whole process. They even jump in while I'm pouring the new water. Then within a few minutes they poop in it.
Then it's back to their hide. Probably laughing all the way. Once back in the hide the others give the perpetrator a high-five(metaphorically speaking)

[Jeff B]

Looks great, one of these days I would like to get around to building something like that for the family room.

[guidofatherof5]

Looks great, one of these days I would like to get around to building something like that for the family room.

What's stopping you, Jeff. Don't you have loads of down time when you have nothing to do?:D.............Oh, I forgot , that's called sleep time.:D

[charles parenteau]

What a nice vavarium sick!!
Do you have maritime garter snake in your area????

[ConcinusMan]

The resin still smell, so I'm waiting to let it dry well.


I recently built something out of fiberglass resin and cloth, like your repair. It took about 6 weeks in a hot part of the house to finally quit giving off a smell.

Can you show more pics and explain how this water thing is going to work? I'm confused... what's that thing on the back wall? The land area looks kinda small and almost a square.. how do you plan to provide a temperature gradient?

Don't get me wrong, the whole setup looks pretty cool... just wondering how it's going to function, how it will have a practical use for snakes... I see several design issues and it just doesn't look right for snakes and in actual use I think you'll find it to be a PITA. The water part will end up being a sewer, the substrate will likely be wet from snakes tracking water onto it, the humidity will probably be too high... I mean, I don't mean to sound critical as you have worked hard on this but these are things that must be addressed. The concept is good, I just think it needs to be a long design with some of the things I mentioned taken into consideration.

Looks like it would be fine for tropical amphibians but I have doubts as to using it for snakes.

[Barak666]

I don't really have others pictures of the water system, but it is quite simple, an overflow (black), a plastic container under it where is the submersible filter and the pump (and a UV sterilizer as soon as the budget allow it). So the pump bring back the filtered water to the tank (blue thing)

I intend to planted it for the plants to use part of the wastes (natural filtering) and with water changes as need. For the substrate, I was not thinking it would hold so much moisture, it will end up into my dragon enclosure, is the Aspen a better choice?

I'm still looking for the perfect piece of driftwood around here, it will serves as separator between dry and wet parts.

For the temperature gradient, over the aquatic part, it is a 26W CFL bulb for plants, so not to much heat and evaporation. On the other side it will be an incandescent light (Wattage to determine, will try 60W at first). Under this lamps, I was thinking of adding a plant style schefflera or another piece of wood to allow the snake to choice better is needed temperature. I need to find my 2 feet double neon to end the lighting part

The back box will hold floor-covering plants (I get a try)

The dry side is 38" long in the back, 30" in the front 24" wide.
Is it not enough?

At worst if the aquarium doesn't work well (too wet or anything else), it will ended up with a dry substrate and an hide or something like this ;)

With this information do you have other interrogations and amelioration idea?

[Barak666]

Error is it possible to delete this reply? Thanks

[Barak666]

Concinnusman, you convince me to try the fake plants, so here what it look like with plants (I still have to change the substrate, I will do it as soon as I receive my order).

http://a.imageshack.us/img831/5674/terraserpent010.jpg

http://a.imageshack.us/img163/479/terraserpent013.jpg

The wooden snake is 20" long. I intend o put more fern leaves, but I will have to wait, I take every ones they had ;)

[Spankenstyne]

That looks fantastic.

[radtad]

I will look forward to seeing the finished product. having it come apart will be a nice feature when comes time to move it . Looks great so far nice job!:)

[Barak666]

Do you thinks it is possible to keep a group of guppies into the aquarium with plenty of hide?

Having prey so close will the garters risk eating to much, eventually consumes them all and be overfed or might they just eat there needs and allow the fiches to breed?

I did that with my dragon, hopping he will delight on them, but he was never fond on fishing, so now the aquarium is full with these tiny fishes. By the way, I don't intend to put the guppies from my dragon tank to my garters tank, just to make sure I did not bring something undesirable with them.

[Stefan-A]

I don't recommend it, unless you have a problem feeder. I think over-eating may be a slight risk, but what might also happen, is that the snake starts to just grab them and then let go of them somewhere outside the dish when it has eaten enough. I've seen it happen with some of my snakes.

How many guppies do you have? With a small population, there is a real risk of the snake exhausting its food supply. Again, we need to use a little math. ;) The increase in biomass in the fish population, must be equal to, or larger than the biomass removed by the snake.

[Barak666]

... How many guppies do you have? With a small population, there is a real risk of the snake exhausting its food supply. Again, we need to use a little math. ;) The increase in biomass in the fish population, must be equal to, or larger than the biomass removed by the snake.

Into my dragon tank, I stopped counting them long ago, I started with ten and they are around 70-80 now (the population seems stable). Otherwise I have access to some others guppies at my job.

[ConcinusMan]

I don't really have others pictures of the water system, but it is quite simple, an overflow (black), a plastic container under it where is the submersible filter and the pump (and a UV sterilizer as soon as the budget allow it). So the pump bring back the filtered water to the tank (blue thing)


The dry side is 38" long in the back, 30" in the front 24" wide.
Is it not enough?

At worst if the aquarium doesn't work well (too wet or anything else), it will ended up with a dry substrate and an hide or something like this ;)

With this information do you have other interrogations and amelioration idea?

I was just wondering about the thing on the back wall. Was that intended for planting? BTW, I think you'll find that the fake plants was good idea. You don't have to worry about the plants needs (you can place them under hot lights and they don't need water/soil) and so much easier to clean. I would have went with a filter system that pulls water through a layer of sand and/or pebbles on the bottom. (under gravel filter) is that what you did?. One established, beneficial microorganisms in the gravel under the water act as a filter, a very good one.

The more I see the setup, the more I'm thinking you should use fir bark substrate. Setup looks really nice. I think it would look much better with cork tiles for the back, but they're not cheap.

[Barak666]

Yesterday I rinse the aquarium with hot water and at the end of day I notice a small leak, so I will finally forget the aquatic part. I wasn't surprise, so it will end up to be the cold side with fake plants and other hides. For water, I have bought a 2L Pirex container. I will put my pump and filter into the closet up to the next project. Will take a picture soon

[Barak666]

Here what it is look like today. The aquatic part is dead, and I find that a skull is a good representation of death, so that why I put it into the new cold side ;)

http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac44/Barak_666/terracouleuvres013.jpg

http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac44/Barak_666/terracouleuvres015.jpg

http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac44/Barak_666/terracouleuvres016.jpg

The biggest looking lamp is a 26W CFL bulb and the smaller one is a 60W incandescent bulb. The temperature seem to stay at 19-21°C near the skull and 24-25°C on the plants just under the 60W bulb, is that correct as temperatures? The substrate is coconut husk.

[guidofatherof5]

Very nice looking setup.
Looks like your running between 62-69 degrees if I converted it correctly.
I run warm sides between 80-85 degrees(27-29°C)
I give mine a warm side so they can thermoregulate from there.
I think there will be a lot of varying answers to your question.
Much depends on what your snakes want and what you want to do.

[ConcinusMan]

Seems a bit cool but turned out awesome! very nice setup.

If I were you I'd use a bulb designed like a reptile incandescent. They focus a narrow beam straight down to provide a nice hot spot without flooding the whole enclosure with heat. Be sure it's not too close to plants and be sure snakey can't get close enough to burn himself.

I run cool sides at 70-75 (try not to go higher than 75) and that usually makes the hot end 85-90 My adult concinnus will sit there at 90 degrees all day, they seem to like it a bit hotter than most garters. However, all heat and light is turned off at night. I think it's important that they get uninterrupted darkness and a significant cool down.

[Snakers]

looking like it is coming along nicely!

[lestat]

It looks very good. Cant wait to see some little ones in it. Hope they enjoy it.

[ConcinusMan]

I was at my local dollar tree the other day and saw something there that gave me an idea. They sell "moss sheets" which are just thin sheets of moss attached to a plastic net of sorts. I thought, even though they probably won't last long, they might look great as a background. I think that would look good in the back of my 55 gallon long, or even your new enclosure.

[Mommy2many]

Do you have a picture of that? I would like to see it.

[ConcinusMan]

Not really hard to picture a sheet of moss is it?

Kinda looks like this:

http://www.plantsplusinc.com/catalog/images/FS%20Moss%20Mat.JPG

It has a fine black plastic or nylon netting on the back holding it together.

[Mommy2many]

Thank you for posting that. I have actually never seen it in a sheet and I especially haven't seen it sold here. I would be very interested in purchasing something like that if I were to find it locally.

[ConcinusMan]

I would look for it in craft stores or floral shops but I'm sure it will cost more there. I got it 'cause it was only a dollar for an 8X10 inch sheet. I'm pretty sure the moss was just sprayed with starch and pressed hard onto the netting. It remains to be seen if this will work well for a backdrop.

[charles parenteau]

Finally I gave him my 3 last eastern garter snake from this years!!!
One have a lot of red hope they enjoy their new enclosure
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s152/parenteau/P1190998.jpg

[Barak666]

Well as Charles said three littles scrubs just started there new life into their enclosure.

One of them was more curious and active during the way here (near 7h into the car).The three of them ate an earthworm upon their arrival

As soon as they arrive into the terrarium they started exploring it, they seems to like climbing the plants to take refuge in them (was really cute tonight to see tiny faces popping out of the leaves). They got plenty of rooms to explore until they grow bigger.

I will try to take picture of them soon (if I'm able, cause they hide pretty well in there ;)

And thanks again Charles, we already love them :D

[charles parenteau]

Pleasure man !!!This is a new blood line by the way should be interresting to see them growing and bred together if possible!

[Barak666]

here some pictures of them.

First the enclosure, they are on the top corner, under the light digesting their earthworms.

http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac44/Barak_666/couleuvres004.jpg

Closer view (we see the three of them)
http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac44/Barak_666/couleuvres006.jpg

and finally the more colorful one, who ate less and is less active than the others two yet.
http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac44/Barak_666/couleuvres003.jpg

[charles parenteau]

Awesome!!

[lestat]

Great to see some little ones in it. They do like to climb from time to time.