HUGE Tank Upgrade! (Progression Thread)

Exactly what I was thinking, bleach or vinegar in a bathtub. Soak it and rotate it (it will float) for a while then let it dry THOROUGHLY. If it is still damp it could grow mold, this happened to someone a few months ago.

But I love the look of driftwood and cool stones in the vivs.

Driftwood is usually pretty smooth, but before you soak it, I would also check for any sharp or rough areas and sand them down. Otherwise your plan sounds good.

Originally Posted by hypnoctopus

Driftwood is usually pretty smooth, but before you soak it, I would also check for any sharp or rough areas and sand them down. Otherwise your plan sounds good.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Yup, that. Anything you add to the viv should be thoroughly checked, whether from the store or nature.

Originally Posted by smigon

Exactly what I was thinking, bleach or vinegar in a bathtub. Soak it and rotate it (it will float) for a while then let it dry THOROUGHLY. If it is still damp it could grow mold, this happened to someone a few months ago.

But I love the look of driftwood and cool stones in the vivs.

Yes, I'm going to get up early tuesday morning, around 8am, and leave them to soak/be scrubbed in my bathtub until noon or shortly
after, and then leave them outside on my porch to dry all day. My 'nice weather window' is tuesday to mid thursday. If they're not dry enough for my liking by the time the sun does down, I'll bring them in for the night and then put them back put the next day

Originally Posted by hypnoctopus

Driftwood is usually pretty smooth, but before you soak it, I would also check for any sharp or rough areas and sand them down. Otherwise your plan sounds good.

Yes! Definitely. There are some jagged edges where (I'm guessing) the piece broke off the tree it was attached to so I'll get all those taken care of this weekend.



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Sounds good! I'd love to see more pictures as you progress.

I will keep it updated as things start going in! I'm just waiting for the stench of vinegar to fade away haha, the tank has been clean for two days now but still reeks of vinegar. While we were cleaning it, my boyfriend couldn't walk out of the room it's stored in without wanting me to make fries for us afterwards lol

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Ok so! The vinegar smell has resided, finally.
I've decided that instead of covering the entire tank with aspen shavings, I'm going to split it 60/40 aspen/newspaper. Peaches is a big fan of making tunnels and burrowing, so I give her deep aspen, and it would take a ton to fill the whole bottom of the tank.
I plan on cutting a piece of 1" thick acrylic the width of the tank, and then wedging it into the tank where I want the split between bedding. I'm thinking of making it about 3.5" or 4" tall to ensure aspen isn't constantly being spilled over to the newspaper and will be sanding the edges to make sure they're nice and smooth.

And if I'm lucky, which of course I won't be, hopefully Peaches chooses to do her business on the newspaper half. As she is now, I swear she makes a game out of pooping. It's never in the same spot and she ALWAYS either goes under all the aspen on the bottom glass of the tank, OR poops inside one of her hides. -_-

I just have to make my screen insert to go between the lights/hood and the opening to the tank, pick up/clean a few more things to decorate the inside with, put the heat pad on, and then move Peaches over!



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It's ready! And she's in! This first photo is a comparison between her last and new tank.


Newspaper side is the cool side, and the aspen portion is where the heat pad is. I decided to put it at one end for now and in the case that I want to split the tank later on I can remove it and put it in the centre.




Definitely needs some more greenery, I want more of a naturalistic theme, but that will be accomplished bit by bit and the tank will likely be everchanging once I have extra supplies and can switch them in and out.

Right now I think she's lost, lol. She went over to the heat pad and is completely under the aspen except her head is sticking out and looking all around. I'm not entirely sure that she knows the tank is in two halves, and that she can go to the other side. She went up to the board I have separating the sides, sat there, looked, turned and left haha. Now she's hiding and staring outside. I think I'll leave her alone for a bit hopefully by the time I'm done cleaning she's exploring more.


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Wow that is one big home! Hope she enjoys it

It's neat to see her old tank next to her new one. Man, that thing is huge! You should definitely get some branches or something to take advantage of the height. With one of my taller tanks, I actually got a wooden pole from the craft store and cut it so it just fits diagonally from one corner to the other. Then I wrapped it in fake leaves, so the snake has something to grip. Another thing my snakes seem to like are those reptile hammocks.