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[Browndog]

Hello Folks,
Better start off with an introduction. Browndog is the name and I've recently moved to Brisbane from Sydney and have decided to indulge in one of my childhood passions and take on a Python as a pet. Being 40 I grew up in a outer northern suburb of Sydney and if I was not at school then I was down the bush annoying the local wildlife. We were always bring home Water Skinks (only the huge ones) Blue tongues, Beardies, Easterns, Cunningham Skinks and the occasional Goanna or Diamond Python. Probably the rarest Herp to come my way was a Burtons Legless Lizard. These fellows were kept for varying amounts of time before eventually being released back down the scrub.

I'd really love to get a Diamond, though SWMBO would not be impressed by the cost when I can get a Carpet Python from a local guy for $120 so a Carpet Python it is. I am a carpenter by trade and did a spell as an aquarium builder so I'm going to build all my enclosures myself. Now for the questions.

Will an 18"L*12"H*10"H aquarium be suitable to keep the fellow in for the first year or so and if so, how do you go about keeping part of it warm and not turning the whole thing into a snakey type sauna ?

I have two pieces of 6mm glass 900mm * 900mm and intend to use these to create an 1800mm high by 900mm wide by 600mm deep. Would it be better if I just made the enclosure 900mm * 900mm * 600mm then after another year or so add the other section to bring it up to the 1800mm height ?

On another note, not long after my wife and I move in, she was out the front clearing an overgrown garden bed and alerted me to the fact that she had seen a blue snake I didn't believe her but sure enough I saw it with my own eyes. It was about 18 inches long and sky blue in colour. At the time I thought it was a legless lizard but searching on the internet has failed to find a blue lizard or snake. Anyone have an idea what it might be ?


cheers

Browndog