Some pre-first acquisition questions...

[a.beck]

Hi,

Firstly, wall of text incoming! Apologies if these are specifically answered elsewhere, but I've been reading the forums/wiki here for a week+ now and still have some questions I've not found answers to....

We are about to get our first snake. I've applied for my R1 a little over a week ago, and we're all pretty excited. We've been trying to decide what to get, and after much reading, browsing lots of photos, and many questions, we think we're settled on some male (less humongous is better) black and gold jungle hatchling, somewhere in the 6 months age bracket so we can watch him grow.

So the first thing: I've realized that the click-clack I've got (made according to the great instructions found here) might be too big for a younger animal. Do you think I should get something smaller than 28 litres initially, and then move him into the 28l one once he grows a bit, as a transition before a full size vivarium? Or would it be better to swap enclosures as seldom as possible, and therefore start him off in a small one or the one we've got, only moving to a viv/proper enclosure once he's fully grown?

I ask because I've been doing as much reading as I can on the husbandry side of things, in order to be best prepared to properly care for our new addition when our licence does arrive, and most folks on here seem to recommend a click clack around 10 litres or less for hatchies (we had initially considered a yearling or an adult, hence the larger container). It's easy (and cheap) enough to get and put together another, smaller click clack if that's a better way to go. Whatever will be best for the snake!

We've currently got a small (15cm X 25cm) 10 watt heat mat and a digital thermostat. Should I grab a heat lamp and cage of some sort as well? The thermostat we have has 2 power points, one is thermostat-controlled (for the mat), while the other is on a timer (I assume for a light). Also, are the ceramic heaters that fit into a light socket preferable to a normal heat light? I've asked at a couple of pet shops, but (as I'm sure you know) pet store employees don't exactly seem authorities on the subject.

This snake will ostensibly be a birthday present for our 14 year old (though we will all enjoy it), and as his birthday was last weekend, he got some snake-keeping things as gifts. We currently have:
1) a possibly too large click-clack (28 litres as mentioned above)
2) the above mentioned heat mat
3) an "Eco Tech" branded digital thermostat w/timer
4) an "Exo Terra" brand 10cm tall x ~28cm x ~23cm fake rock "hide" (little half-circle entrance cut out of one side)
5) another plastic fake rock water dish (about 15cm square, fits in a corner)
6) feeding tongs
7) a bottle of "Repti-Hand" sanitizer

There's a pet shop near(ish) to us that sells frozen pinkies/mice/rats, so that's covered, and I'll be getting a book or two on the subject in the next couple days (Care of Australian Reptiles in Captivity seems universally recommended).

The only other thing I can think of is to locate my closest reptile vet. Any suggestions for someone good around northwestern Sydney (Wahroonga) would be appreciated.

My last question then, is am I missing anything? Any obvious oversights here?

Thanks heaps in advance! There's a lot of info here already, and it's been interesting learning so far.

Cheers,
-Andrew

 

[lisa5]

The click clack you have should be alright, just make sure that it is absolutely escape proof, with no gaps around where the lid connects. If you feel that it is too big, I use the sistema click clacks (the biggest rectangular ones 7L, I think). They are good as they click around all sides. The heat mat will be fine until you transfer over into a larger enclosure, then get the heat lamp and cage- don't be in too much of a hurry to do this though, they are fine in their click clacks for a good while. Not too sure about the ceramic heaters- we tried out one, but the wattage seemed too high (100W) and therefore couldn't get a good temperature gradient. See what others have to say about them. Only other thing I could suggest is a piece of dowel going across the click clack or something to climb on and possibly a small snake hook, if you haven't already thought of these. Good luck!

 

[marcmarc]

It looks like you pretty much have it al sorted to me, I love it when I hear about newcomers to the hobby!!

Like previously mentioned the tub you have will be fine, just provide a few hides here and there and even the odd bit of fake plant to make it look nice and also provide a bit more cover. Place the tub over half of the heatmat, there needs to be some floorspace that is not heated and also somewhere for the snake to cool down if it desires. The dowell previously mentioned is a good idea for perching or you can get some of that plastic trellis stuff and fold it so it has a nice arch going from one side of the click-clack to the other, easy to remove and clean etc. Make sure any tank ornaments/objects placed in a tank can not be tipped over and squash your critter!

Please make sure the tub is escape-proof (save a lot of futeure pain) you can place something with weight over the top of the lid if there is any chance of squashing through any gaps. Never ever take your eyes off the snake if you let it roam out of it's enclosure (once it is of decent size).

Best of luck!! Ask away if you ever have any other problems, everyone asks the odd silly one so don't worry about that.

 

[hrafna]

ok, firstly welcome to the hobby, i hope your whole family gets much joy out of your hatchy (when you get it).
there is a vet in north ryde that has an exotic vet at their surgery, sorry but i can't remember his name, but it was def north ryde near macquarie shopping centre.
i would recommend a second hide so you can have one in the cool end and one in the hot end (just a toilet roll will do). i wouldn't worry about lighting just yet. wait for the animal to get to about 1-2 yrs old and you are putting it in a "adult" enclosure. as long as there is heat (heat mat) and it gets a cycle of light/dark (light can be normal room lighting during the day ie the sun through windows.)
i agree with lisa about the sistema click clacks, the 7L rectangular ones are awesome, no worries about any escapes with them!

also. i would recommend getting to know someone who breds and sells mice, you will save money in the long run.

 

[a.beck]

Okay great, thanks for the replies so far. The bin I've got has just the 2 handle clasps at either end, so yesterday while I was putting the airholes in, I also put 2 holes through the top and the lip on each side, so I can secure the lid with zip ties on one side (kinda creates a hinge, of sorts) and something that can be unlatched (re-usable zip ties, maybe?) on the other. I've already put in a couple of dowels (actually cut sections of a plain wooden broom handle that's never been used) as per the "how to build a click clack" post.

Thanks heaps for the North Ryde tip, I'll look into that, as we're not far from Macquarie Centre. Very handy.

Time to hunt down that book... thanks again.
Cheers,
-Andrew

 

[Jackrabbit]

A little further away in Crows Nest is David Vella, he is a well known know herp vet too.

As to the food I would check ALL the pet shop prices. I have found the shop @ Macquarie to be very expensive compared to others so I always go elsewhere unless I am desperate, which thankfully was only once. Not that going hungry for a week or two is going to hurt the snake.

Good lukc with your new snake.

 

[t.Man]

A great way to secure the lid of larger Click-clacks is with baby proofing locks, I use them for my Jungle's home, you can get them from Office works and Bunnings etc.

 

[a.beck]

Baby locks, what a great idea. I'm all over that.

I'll look into David Vella also.

The pet place I was thinking of before was at Castle Hill - they've got a large display freezer full of frozen rodents, and seem to be pretty reasonably priced. I've just been up to Hornsby, and found that CJ Petmart (who miraculously had a copy of the book I was after) also has frozen mice/rats, so that's good to know also.

Anyway, my licence arrived today in the mail! Very exciting. However, I've just tried to register for the electronic record keeping system, but it just gives me this page after I put in my info. I'm guessing there's just a bit of a lag time while one department sends my details to the other... is this the case?

Thanks again for all the tips!
-Andrew

 

[hrafna]

for an example of rodent prices, the pet shop at macquarie sells 7 weanling mice for 37.50, from a breeder i got 40 weanling mice for 40. huge difference also the sizes at the pet shop seemed to be quite dodgey. ie "fuzzie" mice looked alot like slightly bigger pinkies!

 

[MissVampz]

RE: heat lights or ceramic emitters. I spoke to my local reptile expert and he's saved me so much money by telling me to go for the ceramic heat emitters, because the heat light's we get here are designed for American electrical systems. Apparently our electricity over here fluctuates a lot which blows the bulb! I was going mad because it was costing me a fortune and it's such an easy problem to solve.

 

[Schnecke]

I'm also going Ceramic Bulbs (as well as a UV light to try and highlight my Jungle's colouration as he grows) my partner chose a 150W black ceramic bulb for his Bredli, but I'm really not certain which size to go for and it's been really hard trying to find a solid answer.

The enclosure is (in cm) 85L x 38D x 130H and is a converted display cabinet with a solid wood back/roof/floor and panelled sides (not full glass, about 50% glass and 50% timber for the 2 sides and front. I'm wondering if a top/right mounted 100w black ceramic globe with a basking area 50cm under it will get hot enough... It might be a case of trial and error. I was a little concerned about not having enough of a gradient if I went for a 150w globe.

 

[Chris]

So the first thing: I've realized that the click-clack I've got (made according to the great instructions found here) might be too big for a younger animal. Do you think I should get something smaller than 28 litres initially, and then move him into the 28l one once he grows a bit, as a transition before a full size vivarium? Or would it be better to swap enclosures as seldom as possible, and therefore start him off in a small one or the one we've got, only moving to a viv/proper enclosure once he's fully grown?

I'm in the same situation as you, I'm about to buy my first python this weekend, I've just about finished the enclosure (3'x2'x2'). The only difference is that I have been told (by 2 separate well known SA breeders) to put the juvenile straight into the enclosure & that there's no need to go the 'click clack' method (although they also said there's nothing wrong with using a 'click clack'). Interesting the differing opinions.

 

[fugawi]

Sometimes if the enclosure is too big the littleun can stress a bit. Maybe cut a partition to make the enclosure smaller at the beginning and as it grows, remove the partition.

 

[Schnecke]

I think I'll use the enclosure as the "jungle gym" for my Jungle as a bit of excercise, as he seems SO keen to come out of his CC sometimes, so I think that'll be a slow introduction to that (by popping the CC into the bottom of the bigger enclosure and letting him come out on his own accord about once a week) then I'll move him up to a larger CC, then eventually into the enclosure. That way I'm not throwing him into the deep end so to speak.