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Sterilite/Rubbermaid okay?

JasonGranger

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I'm thinking of buying another snake within a half year or so(ooner :D). In the interest of saving money, is a tub made by Sterilite, etc., okay? I'd have a heat pad under it, aspen shavings, water bowl, hide box, thermometer, air holes, etc... would this take care of basic husbandry needs if there was no heat lamp? I know breeders use racks, but this would be long term.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. the snake would either be a corn, king, or BP.
 
I wouldn't reccomend a strelite for a BP. well for the first little while. But I would deffinatly get a proper Viv for your next snake if I was you.
 
Search for rack systems, tubs, or bins. Lots of people keep their corns in large tubs, and I believe some use Sterilite brand. You can't stick at UTH on plastic, though. So you'll need to look into some other heating option--heat cable or tape. I can't give any advice on that matter but I know there's lots of info. around the boards on people's different solutions to the matter. I'll be doing my own research on it before November (which is when it gets cool again here).
 
Yea, that sounds like perfect conditions for a corn. I can't say anything about kings or Ball Pythons because I don't have experience with either of those. I do have a Milk Snake and although he's in a ViV I think he'd do just the same in a tub.
Make sure you get one with a secure lid.. sounds like your husbandry will be right on. Rubbermaid tubs are a great way to expand your collection while you don't have a whole lot of extra money to work with.
 
If I recall correctly from when I got mine, the directions said so. But I think there may be a tiny size (for hermit crabs or something) that can. Maybe you have that size? I believe the issue is that the UTH may get too hot for plastic.
 
For my hoggie, i use an old photo frame sheet of glass under the plastic tub and then the UTH under that. I also have a few sheets of newspaper inside the critter cage. Perfectly insulated and temps are what they should be inside the tub.

If it is a corn you are getting, why not buy an inexpensive 20g long viv for the duration of its life? This size of tank is good for the average adult corn.

If it is a money issue, why not wait until you have the money to pay for the viv?

If it is a space issue, why not look into building a custom viv somewhere into your home, eg an unused corner?
 
Thanks for all your replies.

Tula_Montage - it was more of a question of "would it be bad to house a corn in a sterilite tub if you could save money," because I'd rather spend ~$60 (including snake) than ~$160-170.
 
I keep lots of my animals in sweater boxes but i wouldn't do it without having a rack to hold the lid in place as snakes are notorious escape artists....as for heat i use heat rope which is embedded in the rack towards the back 1/4 of the shelf

nmrmpic2.jpg


hope this helps

MCHouse
www.Nightbreedreptiles.com
 
depending on the footprint of the tub, I'd think it wouldn't make a lot of difference to the snake if it was in a tub or a viv, mine are in the next to biggest tubs I could find, as they grow I'll consider whether to invest in viv-building, but they are in bigger tubs than I the size of viv I could afford right now, and as the tubs are almost completely clear, I still get to see them cruising around.
Making my ghetto rack was enough of a challenge for my carpentry skills, so vivs will have to be a longer term project :)
 
Thanks for all your help! I do have a sort of shelf that I can put it in, if not, I'll just put lots of stuff on top :D

dionythicus - the link somehow wouldn't work for me; I'll try it later... I might just go with the ZooMed heat pads with the glass in between the pad and the tub.
 
If you use a rubbermaid or sterilite tub, use clippies to keep the lid secure. Absolutely DO NOT depend on the lid itself to be secure enough, and don't depend on rubber bands or weights to keep the lid tight enough.

Weights in the middle of the lid just bend it and will actually make it easier to squeeze out of the box.

Rubber bands will make it easier for the snake to strangle itself to death once it gets its head out of the box.

Here are the binder clips I'm talking about.
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do...-_-Shopping Comp-_-Datafeed-_-Office Supplies
 
Serpwidgets said:
If you use a rubbermaid or sterilite tub, use clippies to keep the lid secure. Absolutely DO NOT depend on the lid itself to be secure enough, and don't depend on rubber bands or weights to keep the lid tight enough.

Weights in the middle of the lid just bend it and will actually make it easier to squeeze out of the box.

Rubber bands will make it easier for the snake to strangle itself to death once it gets its head out of the box.

Here are the binder clips I'm talking about.
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=825190&cm_mmc=Froogle-_-Shopping%20Comp-_-Datafeed-_-Office%20Supplies

Hey Serp,

I just picked those up for when my eggs hatch. I've got 6qt sterilite shoe boxes. Would two on each side be overkill, better safe than sorry or is one on each side in the middle sufficient?--Thanx!
 
dwyn127 said:
Hey Serp,

I just picked those up for when my eggs hatch. I've got 6qt sterilite shoe boxes. Would two on each side be overkill, better safe than sorry or is one on each side in the middle sufficient?--Thanx!
With the shoeboxes you can put one clippy in the middle of each long side. The ones I use for the shoeboxes are 3/4" wide. Also make sure the ends snap securely. :)

If two makes you feel better, then by all means use two, but IMO it's not necessary. :)
 
Serpwidgets said:
With the shoeboxes you can put one clippy in the middle of each long side. The ones I use for the shoeboxes are 3/4" wide. Also make sure the ends snap securely. :)

If two makes you feel better, then by all means use two, but IMO it's not necessary. :)
That'll work. I'll feel x-tra secure since the ones I bought are 1 1/4".


Thanx!
 
I'm not trying to persuade you to do one thing or the other, but this is just the way I would see it.

I waited to say this to see if anyone else would mention it. As far as price goes, yes, sterilites are much cheaper but I would look at it like this:

Two Options: 1) Sterilite (or tub of your choice)
2) Glass Viv

In both cases the supplies are basically the same with the only big difference being the viv itself. Let's say you buy a super fancy sterilite for $5 and with the rest of your supplies the total cost comes out to $70.
You can find a 20L glass tank that will work for the snakes whole life for $35. That would make your total $100.

For only a $30 difference you could have a nice display viv. If you really want to, imagine spreading that $30 over the 15-20 year lifespan of the snake and it's pretty cheap. And you're still well under your $160-170 estimate. Of course, I'm using made up numbers. The point is that an extra one-time expenditure of $30 isn't all that much, IMO. Just something to consider :)
 
I'm new here, so I just want to make sure the info is correct... it's fine to house a corn in a sterilite type viv?

If no, how come? But it looks like that it's okay to use one. I just want to know, because I'm interested in getting a corn and was thinking a Rubbermaid viv would be what I'd get.
 
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