Lola's new home

[Laura]

It most definately pays to watch out for things listed on ebay! Picked this 60cmx60cmx40cm exoterra in pristine condition for £20



Climby Climby



ALSO got this 4ft tank for freeeee, love the dungeon wall complete with door knocker!
Going to be an absolute pain in the arse to clean though

[guidofatherof5]

Sounds like you got a good deal
10 to 1 water/bleach mix will kill any potential problems, then a good rinsing with water and air dry and you're good to go.
Nice find.

[Laura]

Thanks Steve, I'll try that when I get home

[ConcinusMan]

The exo terra is very nice but I find that much of it is wasted on vertical space when it comes to garters. It would be much better if it was turned on it's side so that you can place heat emitters and/or basking/florescent lights no more than 18 inches above the substrate. For garters, think big area, low ceiling. Mostly, I buy low profile 10-40 gallon long slide-lock tanks through craigslist, for about a dollar a gallon. Also picked up plenty of dome light fixtures for around $5 each. By far, the most expensive equipment is the bulbs (ceramic heat emitters and basking bulbs) and remote wireless digital thermometers I have.

[Laura]

Very true on the vertical height, however it was cheap and I love the glass, looks fantastic in my living room
For some reason Lola likes to climb everything :/ lol kinda like a small child.
She's already been on the top of the wall and amongst the vines.
Not entirely finished with the set up, going to put some more plants/log things in there so she can climb about with a bit more ease.
Already came with a temperature on the side and ive vertically mounted a heat mat on one of the sides next to her favourite hide but there's really no need to turn that on at present as our house has been so hot lately, averaging 27 degrees!

[infernalis]

Yes Laura, Garters will climb when they can.

I saw an eastern basking on a tree limb once behind my house, the snake was a good 5 feet up off the ground at the time.

[Laura]

Yeah she showed a preference for climbing when she was in the nursery so I thought some vertical height may do her some good and perhaps stop her getting up on my shoulder coiling round my hair and effectively getting stuck!

[ConcinusMan]

I'm just saying, if you want to use basking lights or heat emitters, those tall tanks are kinda, well, dumb. You either have to use way higher wattage, or your snake is ALWAYS up on a branch to get closer.

If I had to use that tank I'd put a good sized undertank heater in the bottom, plenty of stuff to climb on and maybe even a platform (treehouse) about 12 inches below a 60-75 watt basking bulb at the top. Just some suggestions.

Oh hey, hang a cardboard tube or two up there. Garters love to "hang out" in those.

[Laura]

Very good suggestions! I'm totally for the treehouse and hanging tubes, I'm sure she'll go crazy for those.

Im not too worried about heating it at the moment because it's so warm, I was thinking of perhaps getting an under-tank heater but was curious as to the effects of using it for a glass viv?

[Laura]

As for basking bulbs, I'm going to need to go with ceramic right?