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Hatchling Housing...So I was at the Dollar Store and...

starsevol

starsevol

Cohabbing is cruelty...
saw these little Sterlite drawer systems. They had 3 drawers each and are designed for a tabletop. They look like the perfect solution to my hatchling housing problem. (Well ok, I HAD no hatchlings this year but I have had this problem in the past and hope to have it in the future!). They looked sturdy and the idea of housing 3 hatchlings for only $5 looks very appealing! How escape-proof are these things?
I have been using plastic "critter keepers" but they tend to be expensive and take up alot of room in large numbers.
 
I wouldn't trust them. The ones I have seen are not very sturdy and probably have a lot of gaps that could be used to escape.

Why not just get $1 sterilite shoebox tubs? If you drill side holes you can even stack them.
 
All of those things made for storage aren't secure enough to hold any reptile. They can squeeze right out of the top because of how they are made. If you can figure out a way to create a sort of lid for each tub, they could work...But that sort of defeats the purpose of a rack.
 
What I did this year was to use plastic pencil boxes from Wal Mart. They were 50¢ a piece and are stackable. Only draw back is if you need to get to a hatchling on the bottom of the stack, but it worked great. Nice and secure, and easy to clean. They were made by sterilite.
 
Those pencil boxes are $.25 each now at my local WalMart. I bought a half dozen even though I don't have any current use for them. The covers seal tightly and would be perfect for new hatchlings.
 
No, not ventilated. 1/8" or smaller holes should be safe. You could always put window screening over the holes if you are really worried. =)
 
Most people have nightmares about demons or clowns...I have nightmares about escaped hatchlings!
 
I always melt holes with the small tip of a soldering gun (there are usually two sizes). That seems to work fine for babies.
 
Kathy, that's exactly what I do, too!
(It's kinda fun!)
But I'm still paranoid about my "itty bittys".
The girl I got from you is in a critter keeper.
She's doing great, btw. I couldn't be happier.
 
I don't know about "fun"...kind of stinky!

Glad she is doing well - hope she continues to do great!
 
starsevol said:
Are they ventilated?
I am always afraid that any holes I put in them will be too big.
Click to expand...

They're not ventilated, but they're not air tight, so you only need a couple of extra holes. I've never had an escape with melted soldering holes, but if you were worried you could just use a 1/16" drill bit or something small like that.
 
I tryed a drill and it seemed to make the edges of the holes a bit ruff and i did'nt like that. So i had to smooth them out. I now use a sodering iron and Kathys right it really stinks bad. The size i have is way to small for any snake to get thru. I do it out side as im afraid the smell might be toxic to my birds and other animals.
 
Drills don't work too well drilling sterilite plastic.
I currently use a rotary tool, like a dremel tool, with a 1/8" diamond coated drill bit at about 12,000 rpm. It works very well with nice clean holes.

It drills nice clean holes in these boxes as well for my tarantulas.

FlatSer1_Med.jpg
 
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