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venomus equipment recomendation.
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by Stinkfoot74 on September 26, 2007
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I have decides to start with Sistrurus miliarius miliarius as my first venomus snake. I have a $1,000 dollar budget for suppily's. I will be headed up to San Antonio in November to buy suppily's . I was looking at the inclosures from cages by design and Vision. I am the only one who go's into my herp room so I am leaning twords the Vision product. Any input as to what it would be a good idea to pick up in San Antonio would be greatly apreceated as I dont want to get any useless garbage, But I do want to get all the verry nessicarey equipment for safely keeping venomus snakes that I can. Thanks and have a great day.
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RE: venomus equipment recomendation.
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by Fishmich on September 26, 2007
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midwest makes some great products as far as equipment goes. its always a good idea to have more than one hook in your hot room and some feeding forceps suitable for the snake you are keeping. you shouldnt need tongs for the snake you are keeping but they can be handy if you wanted to pick something up in the cage without removing the snake. check out tongs.com to get and idea of what midwest has to offer. as far as vision cages go, i dont use any but i have worked with snakes in other collections that are kept in them. i liked vision cages but some people will tell you different, sometimes it depends on the animal being kept in them. the nice thing about them is they are easy to clean and stackable. if you plan on expanding your collection, i would go with vision, if not id say get something nicer on the eyes. and if you do go with vision, i suggest picking up one of those mirrors on a stick for checking that lip above the opening. good luck.
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RE: venomus equipment recomendation.
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by Stinkfoot74 on September 26, 2007
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Thanks much. IThe $1,000 is for the most part dedicated to secure caging. I do plan on aquiring more then one Pygmy rattlesnake . I just want a cageing syastm that is secure and allows me to view my herps . I dont plan on breeding them.
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RE: venomus equipment recomendation.
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by LarryDFishel on September 26, 2007
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Some of the most important things are very cheap.
First, pull everything out of your herp room or at least away from the walls. Go over every inch of the room, floor to ceiling and seal up are escape route. Remember that even a pigmy can climb up any shelves/cages you have and possibly reach a vent in the ceiling.
If there's a gap under the door, deal with it. (I prefer to remove the door and screw a strip of wood to the bottom, cut to exactly fill the gap. I don't trust weather stripping.)
Try to minimize places for the snake to hide in the room if it gets away from you.
Make yourself an appropriatly sized holding container. I prefer something like the grey containers on this page:
http://madprogrammer.com/snakes/handling/
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RE: venomus equipment recomendation.
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by LordViperTX on September 26, 2007
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I would agree on the Vision. While convenient space wise, they aren't terribly attractive, and provide a poor "stage" for your beauty.
I prefer aquariums and adjustable chrome shelving from Home Depot. I have a small collection with a few naja and crotalus, amongst other things.
For appearances I usually place a background on the tank, and I use various substrates from Repti-bark to sand or gravel, or a mixture of the last two based on their native environment. I also add decorative environmental accouterments such as rocks, fake plants, and the like. I enjoy the beauty of these animals, and like to see them in an attractive environment.
The enclosures I prefer are available at Petsmart and are by “All Living Things” brand. They have sliding, lockable screen lids that are secure and durable. They largest they make is 40gallon, so I can’t use them for everything. Either way, I like top-opening enclosures due to the fact that an animal can’t bolt out the front and onto the floor. If I can’t get a slider I will pick up a piano hinge and hinge the lid onto the tank like I did with the 75 that my albino N. kaouthia lives in.
Other than that I would suggest the following:
* Polycarbonate hook from Animal Capture Equipment (www.ace-cap.com)
I highly recommend these, and use many sizes myself. They stay closer to the ambient temperature, so it reduces the initial “shock” of cold metal touching your snake. I have noticed quite a difference when using these on many of my animals as they don’t tend to jump as much when you first touch them with it, and they tend to ride it better.
* A long-handle poop-scoop
You can make your own from a long dowel and a large, plastic kitchen spoon. You want the handle to be long enough to allow you to scoop out the defecation, and some of the surrounding substrate, without getting your hand inside the enclosure. Anything that you can do to keep the chance of an accidental strike down is a great boon.
* Long feeding forceps or tweezers
Again, keeping your hands outside the enclosure is a good way to lower the risk of getting tagged.
* Large tongs
Useful for taking out watering dishes and such.
* A decent-sized plastic tub with a lid that snaps on securely
This is handy when you have to remove the animal for any reason. You’ll want to drill plenty of vent holes in the lid.
If you read stories of keepers getting tagged it usually involves complacency and reaching into an enclosure while the animal is in it. By setting up handling protocols, and adhering to them, you can greatly reduce the risk of an accident that can affect both your health, and the image of our beloved hobby.
You should also set up your room with as few, if any, places that a snake can crawl up underneath or behind. Should your snake, somehow, get away from you while transferring it, you will find it will be much easier to reclaim.
You also need to add some sort of treatment to the bottom of the door to the room that prevents anything from crawling underneath it.
Hope you find this helpful
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RE: venomus equipment recomendation.
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by LordViperTX on September 26, 2007
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Sorry for the redundancy. I was composing while you guys were posting. The price of being verbose I guess. LOL
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