aquarium conversion

[rusty8687]

Hey everyone,

I have a 260 litre aquarium...currently full of fish which im about to pass on to another person. I was thinking of selling the aquarium however had a wonderful idea of using it as terrarium for a snake!

but, would like some advice.

heat - this will be an issue with glass and keeping it regulated. im thinking thick substrate, heatmat with a thermostat and a heat lamp.

top - I will need to build something to support the lighting (current canopy is all plastic)

cleaning- will need to clean the absolute crap out of it - will vinegar and water be ok? or recommend something else?

my biggest concern - airflow and ventilation. I am going to talk to a glazier to determine if its possible to carve out 2 to 4, 20-30cm holes in the side....but is it really necessary? this im not too sure on.

any advice would be appreciated!!!!

 

[Smittiferous]

Hi!

While I've never kept snakes in aquariums, I do use them for my mertens.

Heat: insulate as many walls as you can. Clark rubber sell adhesive insulating foam. It's around $45ish per metre. You could stick that stuff to the outside. They also sell non-sticky stuff for $29 a metre but you'd have to figure out a way to stick that yourself (spray adhesive etc). You could also go to the effort of constructing a background inside the tank which would do the same job, and look nicer. Benefit of shielding as many walls as you can is it will make the occupant feel more secure.

Top: The lids are really easy to make. Four lengths of dressed pine (two long and two short) with blocks inset an equal distance all round for the bottom, so it stays sitting at whatever height you want. Here's an example of a lid I'm building for a 1800x600 tank:

Because of the longer length I have spars running front to back in the same place as the glass braces on the aquarium to keep it straight.

For ventilation on my mertens' current tank I simply used a rear piece that was thinner than the front and sides, to create a gap, and stapled galvanised gutter guard over it.

If you're going to use a heat emitter or globe, make sure to put a cage over it to prevent thermal contact burns, and get a registered electrician to do the wiring work. My local pet supplier does sell pre-wired light sockets set into a light cage, as an alternative solution, for $70 each. Thinking about it, that's actually probably the cheaper and easier way to go!

Hope that helps with ideas. I can also vouch for vinegar, it seems to work very well cleaning glass. There's plenty of methods for removing really stubborn grime also on the Internet. Good luck!

 

[rusty8687]

thanks for all your advice! I got all tank cleaned out and created a basic canopy for it. (not that skilled with woodwork) and its doing the job.

got it setup with a UVB tube, a basking lamp for day and a infrared heat lamp for night plus all the interior decorations.

I have gone with a astro turf substrate however was wondering what others options there may be out there? don't want newspaper (for the aesthetics) and not going to use any type of sand. The aquarium is also not a rectangular or square shape, it has a curved face - so has to be something that I can easily mould to the base of the tank. is astro turf a good option to use?

 

[Smittiferous]

I have my Darwin on Kritter Krumble.... There's also aspen bedding or even euci mulch, imo better than a green patch of fake grass.

 

[rusty8687]

Sorry I should have mentioned that it's no longer a snake. We have set it up for bearded dragons... hence the turf.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[pinefamily]

The artificial turf is fine for snakes, although it can get smelly, but definitely get sand in there for a beardie. Bunnings sell washed playsand, which is perfect. You just need to dry it out before putting it in there.

 

[Smittiferous]

I'd add some decent rocks for the beardies to climb on, it'll help wear down their claws. Just make sure they're grounded and not sitting on the substrate itself, as beardies may dig under and dislodge a rock, squishing them