New Ideas for Enclosures

[dan_lizard]

I have been thinking about the new enclosures I will be building soon, and I have a few ideas. Just wanted to run them by this list and see what everyone thought of them, or if someone who has more knowledge than me has anything to say about them...

1) Air Flow - Instead of using holes drilled into the sides, or air vents on the sides, i was thinking about using 2 computer fans (1 at either end). One fan would suck air into the cage, and the other at the other end, would blow the air out. This would actually create an air flow rather than still air. The fans would be covered with "punched aluminium" to stop the animals getting near the fans (or escaping!). Both fans would be wired to the same variable power supply, and using a low voltage would make the fans run dead quite, and limit the air flow to a usable amount.

2) Shadecloth - On an outdoor enclosure, using shadecloth rather than wiremesh. I would use the shadecloth that lets through the most amount of UV so as to supply the animals with as much UV as possible. The shadecloth looks alot more attractive, and blends in better with the trees, gardens, etc... Part of the enclosure would be covered with wood or metal to keep a dry hide area for them.

3) Nose Rubbing - I have heard many bad stories about this, but just wish to hear a bit more about it. Has anyone had any problems with this where their herps rub their noses on the enclosure and causes them injury? Would the shadecloth above be better or worse for this?

If anyone has any ideas on any of these, i would be really thankful.

Daniel

 

[pythonss]

enclosure

hi dan..
having two fans causing that air movemnent , i would stay away from...this will interfer with your humidity levels and cage heating. you would be unable to provide a warm end and a cool end whick reptiles require to thermo regulate

we have never tryed shade cloth on our out door enclosures. but with first thought i would be weary of that. if a snake nose rubbed and got a scale caught in a thread it may tangle or pull far enough to leave a loop which may cause a bigger problem at a later date.

with nose rubbing..we have also seen some nasty results.. how ever we havent had a problem with this...we keep olives , coastals, jungles and have had water pythons in out door set ups
we use two layers of netting..the out side is heavey with about a 2 inch square hole. the inside is then covered with the finest snake prrof mesh you can get. this makes a smooth serface that make it hard for a snake to catch his scales in.
before we put the animals in there home we spray all the netting with black paint from the out side..this takes the shine of the netting and makes it easy for viewing..
hope that helps..
cheers paul.

 

[dan_lizard]

Paul,

Those are some issues I had with the fan idea as well.... Hmmmm, well back to teh drawing board on that idea.....

That is a good point about the shadecloth catching. I didn't think about that. Does anyone know what the mesh is that is used on the cages available on the Herp Shop?

Just wondering Paul, why do you use 2 layers of mesh? And what is the size of the holes on the inner layer? I guess I could always use a green paint to get the same effect as the shadecloth instead of the black.... It would have the same effect I guess.

Cheers for your help Paul.

 

[pythonss]

enclosures

hi dan the fine mesh we use has about a 4 mil square hole..

the large mash is heavy duty and we get that in sheets from the metal land place.
have never tryed a green paint but yeah like you said it should have pretty mch the same effect.
we use 2 layers of mesh for supprt really the fine is very plyable so we felt that if they puched on it they may be able to mis shape it and cause high spots with in the mesh that would then provide spots to catch scales on..
with the heavey mesh it stops all movement and gives plenty of places to attach bracches etc..
also security.. its easy to cut the fine...differant story with the heavey stuff.
was also parinoid about the dogs tearing a hole in it..
cheers paul.

 

[dan_lizard]

Sorry Paul, just one more question , what guage mesh are they? I take it that the inner mesh would be light, whereas the outer is a much higher guage....

 

[pythonss]

enclosures

hi dan
yeah the heavey mesh is made from thick wire of 4m..
i think there is a pic on pour site of the olive cage..
have a look in the images page, then species olive..
cheers paul.
http??pandmreptiles.esmartweb.com/

 

[Hawkeye]

Also with the fans, I think simply and its just another thing electrical to go wrong and fail/explode/catch fire etc etc. If you create a good gradient air will move happily by entropy and position vents at either end will allow good air flow without compromising heating and or humidity.

Cheers Hawkeye