General Material Questions

[Maximum]

Hey guys,

Still 4 months before I even get my first hatchy (my friend introduced me to his awesome Coastals recently and got me hooked! Had always had cats prior to this) and then obviously about a year before I even entertain the thought of a proper enclosure. This being said though, I am a rather handy person and enjoy building stuff and making it look really good. Possibly something to do with coming from an Auto Spraypainter background! :lol:

Anyway, below I will list my plans and would love some insight from some other more experienced Reptile and Snake keepers!

- Glass Enclosure with opening (lockable) rear glass with adhesive picture (on outside of glass)
- Long resting branch across the middle of enclosure with Hide at the back.
- Heat mat underneath glass with either Pebbles or bark shavings along the bottom. Bit iffy about this as I have concluded pebbles may get too hot and burn and the bark may be sharp and hurt as well. Can this be clarified?
- LED Strips in UV and White along top of cage connected to switches that I can select at will for a Day/Night theme if I wish.
- Metallic Gloss 2pack exterior painting

Are any of these things at all hazardous/unadvisable for a Snake Habitat?

Cheers!~

 

[saximus]

You might find you have issues keeping the heat in with an all glass enclosure. I'd also suggest a heat cord over a heat mat. Since you say you're pretty handy you can fairly easily rout a track in a piece of wood for the cord to lay in and make it nice and neat.
I wouldn't bother with the UV. If you want something to watch it at night just go for coloured lighting like blue or red. That should save you a bit of money

Also pebbles will just be a bitch to clean. I'd personally just go for the bark or kitty litter

 

[Maximum]

UV lights will simply be a Neon Car Tube lol on a switch just for a cheap but cool looking alternative to normal light. This was part of that question above, will the UV neon car tube be safe to use in the habitat or are there any dangers that could arise from using them?

 

[Virides]

The UV Rating of a tube should be stated on the product.

Refer to Ultraviolet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You would assume that if reptiles survive under normal UV conditions produced by the sun that a light of less intensity (UV output) would offer a safe environment for the reptile over prolonged periods. UVA wavelengths are considered safe whereas UVB & UVC are capable of changing DNA (Cancer).

 

[Flamedude18]

if you dont get an all glass enclosure, and only the front is glass, which will hold in the heat in ( a wooden enclosure that is), careful what paint you use on the inside, cause it can be hazardous