Tragic,Preventable Death

[guidofatherof5]

By my own arrogance, I accidental killed one of my snakes today.
When I designed and built my new enclosures I knew there was a problem with the doors. They are bottom hinged. This means when you are closing them you have to make sure no snakes are in the area of the bottom. They could get pinched. Causing serious injury or death.
In my arrogance I told myself I would never let that happen.
Today, it happened and I killed a very beautiful 1 year old radix. She was one of my favorite young ones.
I should have designed a extruder device into the bottom of the door when I first designed it.
This has weighed heavy on me all day and I was unable to go to sleep tonight.

I've now designed a very simple extruder device to keep the snakes out of that danger area.
It's a simple design, one I should have thought of.
All that is needed is a bicycle inner tube and a staple gun.
The ends of the door were the first obstacle. Covering this area wasn't the problem, it was making sure no snakes could get behind the inner tube when the door was closed. I solved this problem by folding the inner tube over at the ends. When the door is closed the strength of two layers of rubber will keep the snakes out. Then it's just a matter of stretching the rubber over the bottom of the door.
This effectively seals the bottom of the door and hinges from the snakes. One nice thing about the inner tube is that it can just be wiped off if it gets dirty.
Why didn't I think of this before.:(
Now I just have to retrofit 22 enclosures.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Garter_snake_extruder_device.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Garter_snake_extruder_device1.jpg
As you can see from this photo the inspectors were checking my work.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Garter_snake_extruder_device2.jpg

[Stefan-A]

So sorry to hear it, Steve.

Good solution, by the way. The nice thing about preventable deaths, is that they are preventable.

[kibakiba]

Sorry for your loss Steve, but just remember that everyone makes mistakes. You've found a good solution to prevent it from happening again.

[infernalis]

So sorry Steve....

[indigoman]

So sorry to read about your accident, it did remind me of my potential hazard area with the hinges on my Exxo Terra enclosure fortunatly its only caught atip of a tail so far! Hope we all are taking a second look at our own set ups!

[Selkielass]

Man, sorry about your loss. The innertube solution looks like a good one- thanks for sharing it so others can avoid similar mishaps.

[snakeman]

That sucks.

[drache]

oh Steve, I'm so sorry
I've done something like this and know how awful it feels
that's a good solution
I've also used aquarium tubing of varying diameters for an assortment of sliding door and screen top issues - don't have any with hinges now, but if I ever get any, I'll remember this issue

[guidofatherof5]

Here is the finished product. I had to adjust the corners a couple times but now I know what to do on the rest of my enclosures when the time comes.
I'll be hitting the local tire stores for inner tubes.
As you can see from the other photos, I had a lot of help doing this project. Using the staple gun and all the other movements involved didn't phase these girls. They just wanted to see what was going on.
These two girls are sisters and seem to always be out together.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Garter_snake_extruder_device3.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Garter_snake_extruder_device4.jpg
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Garter_snake_extruder_device5.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Garter_snake_extruder_device6.jpg

[Mommy2many]

Sorry to hear of the tragic accident! Glad, though, that your inspectors seem to approve of the precautions put into place. You seem to have lots of good help.

[Snakers]

sorry to hear it steve..

[gregmonsta]

It's horrible to kill something you love like this by accident. A very unfortunate mistake. You always do what you can Steve and something positive has come out of it.
A good idea/simple solution. All those with bottom hinged doors take note.

[ConcinusMan]

Hey Steve, these things happen. Live, learn, correct the problem. BTW, I killed a baby concinnus last week and I wasn't about to go telling everyone but since you did...

I moved a piece of mopani wood and I was sure no snake was under it. I was wrong. I found a baby with his head smashed a day later. Broke my heart. This snake just happened to be unique too. I could pick him out of the entire bunch. Not happy about it at all. He was one I had planned to keep.

[guidofatherof5]

I've been working on finding some kind of material to use in place of the bicycle inner tube. I would need a lot of tubes to fix my problem.
I first thought about using a pond liner but was told it wasn't very flexible.
Then I called a roofing company and found that the rubberized material they used would work great.
The only problem is I would have to spend $120.00. That would be enough to fix a thousand enclosures. I don't have a thousand, yet:D
So, I made a phone call to a friend and he delivered just what I needed. Much more than I need but it was free. It pays off having good friends.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/rubber.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/rubber1.jpg

[ConcinusMan]

You get what you give Steve.

[guidofatherof5]

You get what you give Steve.

Thank you. My mother would be proud.

[Mommy2many]

It's called "Paying it forward":D

[guidofatherof5]

The installation of the S.E.D.(Snake Extruder Device, patent pending:D) continues.
I'm learning as I'm going. First, feed the little monsters or they will give you no peace while you work.;)

[kibakiba]

My new concinnus, Ember gives me no piece when I'm doing stuff in the tank! He's always so hungry. The first day I got him and his sister he snatched worms off my finger as if he were starved and even tried swallowing my whole finger ;) even after being fed he comes over and begs for more. I don't blame him though, he's growing a lot! he's grown 3-4 inches since I got him. :D
Even Runt will sometimes come up to my hand to see if I have food (probably since I use my fingers to feed them) and will slither around my hand and give a few squeezes. They are such little pests when I'm on "poop patrol" or changing the water.

[guidofatherof5]

My new concinnus, Ember gives me no piece when I'm doing stuff in the tank! He's always so hungry. The first day I got him and his sister he snatched worms off my finger as if he were starved and even tried swallowing my whole finger ;) even after being fed he comes over and begs for more. I don't blame him though, he's growing a lot! he's grown 3-4 inches since I got him. :D
Even Runt will sometimes come up to my hand to see if I have food (probably since I use my fingers to feed them) and will slither around my hand and give a few squeezes. They are such little pests when I'm on "poop patrol" or changing the water.

They are just doing their job. Isn't their curiosity something. After they trust you they just want to know what's going on.
Little punks.:D

[kibakiba]

No, they definitely don't care what I'm doing... I've had Snap bite and hang on for a while hoping that my finger had food on it... They want fed every second of the day... Even right after they have full bellies and wont eat another bite I'll go on poop patrol and then I have one biting at my finger again. :rolleyes: It's cute though, especially Snap, she didn't trust me the first week I had her but now when she knows its feeding time she pulls the "put food here!" move on me. If I don't, she snatches it off my finger and pouts in her usual hiding place until she's done eating that piece... Then pulls the same move again.

[mustang]

wow way to fix an enclosure i wouldnt have thought of that